Hairy Bikers Piri Piri Chicken

Hairy Bikers piri piri chicken is a spatchcocked, skinless whole bird marinated in a chilli, garlic, lemon and paprika paste, then roasted at 210°C. It serves 5 at just 295 calories per serving and needs at least 4 hours of marinating.

This comes from The Hairy Dieters: Eat for Life (2013), republished as a tribute for Dave’s Day 2024. What sets this apart from a standard piri piri is the skin removal. Si and Dave strip it all off before marinating, which keeps a whole chicken under 300 calories.

The spatchcocking is the other key step. Removing the backbone and pressing the bird flat means it cooks evenly in under an hour. The slashes through the thickest parts of the legs and breasts let the marinade penetrate deep into the meat.

Hairy Bikers Piri Piri Chicken

Recipe by Pinch PerfectCourse: Dinner, LunchCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

5

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

Calories

295

kcal

Total time

1

hour 

30

minutes

A skinless, spatchcocked piri piri from The Hairy Dieters: Eat for Life (2013). The marinade is blitzed in a food processor with two types of chillies, then massaged into every surface of the chicken. Roasted on a rack at 210°C and rested for 10 minutes before carving.

Ingredients

• 1 large fresh chicken, about 2kg

• fresh watercress, to garnish

• lemon wedges, to serve

• For the piri piri marinade:

• 4 plump red chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped

• 2 red bird’s-eye chillies, stalks removed, sliced

• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved

• 20g bunch of flat-leaf parsley (with stalks)

• juice of 2 lemons, about 65ml

• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar

• 1 tsp smoked paprika, sweet or hot

• 1 tsp oregano

• 1 tsp caster sugar

• 2 tsp flaked sea salt

Directions

• Make the marinade: Put all the marinade ingredients in a food processor and blitz until well mixed and chopped small.
• Spatchcock the chicken: Turn the bird breast-side down and cut either side of the backbone with scissors or poultry shears. Discard the bone. Cut off the foot joints and wing tips.
• Remove the skin: Strip off all the skin apart from the wing ends, snipping the membrane between skin and flesh as you go. Snip off any obvious fat with scissors.
• Flatten and slash: Open the chicken out, breast-side up, and press down heavily with your palms to break the breastbone and flatten it. Slash through the thickest parts of the legs and breasts with a sharp knife. Place in a shallow non-metallic dish.
• Marinate: Spoon over all the marinade and massage it into both sides. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or ideally overnight.
• Roast: Preheat the oven to 210°C/Fan 190°C/Gas 6½. Place the chicken on a rack inside a baking tray, breast-side up. Roast for 50–60 minutes until cooked through and the juices run clear. Cover with foil and rest for 10 minutes. Serve with watercress and lemon wedges.

FAQs

Why remove the skin?

This is a Hairy Dieters recipe, so every calorie counts. Chicken skin adds roughly 100 calories per serving, and removing it is the single biggest calorie saving Si and Dave make here. Without skin, a 2kg chicken serves 5 people at just 295 calories each.

The marinade compensates for the lost crispiness. Without skin to crackle, the chilli and paprika paste forms a thin, flavourful crust directly on the meat. It doesn’t crackle like roast chicken skin, but it gives colour and spice that coat every bite rather than staying on the surface.

Why use two types of chillies?

The 4 large red chillies are deseeded, so they add fruity pepper flavour and colour without serious heat. The 2 bird’s-eye chillies bring the fire, and Si and Dave leave the seeds in for maximum kick.

This two-chilli approach lets you control the heat level easily. Want it milder? Drop to 1 bird’s-eye, or leave them out entirely. Want it hotter? Add a third. Si and Dave say to add more “if you like your food hot, hot, hot.”

Why marinate for at least 4 hours?

The lemon juice and vinegar gently break down the surface of the chicken. This lets the spices penetrate deeper than a quick rub ever could. Four hours is the minimum, but overnight gives the best result.

The slashes through the legs and breasts are what make the marinating really effective. Without them, the paste sits on the surface. With the cuts, it works into the thickest parts of the meat. The Hairy Bikers chicken skewers use a similar long-marinate approach for the same reason.

What does spatchcocking do?

Removing the backbone and flattening the bird means it lies flat on the rack. The breast, legs and thighs all cook at roughly the same rate once flat. With an upright whole bird, the breast dries out before the legs are done.

Si and Dave say to press down hard with your palms to break the breastbone. If you can’t crack it, don’t worry. As long as the chicken sits flat, it cooks evenly. The Hairy Bikers beer can chicken takes the opposite approach, cooking upright, which shows there’s more than one way to solve the dry breast problem.

Can I use chicken pieces instead?

Si and Dave suggest skinless thighs and breasts as an alternative, baked for 20–30 minutes. The marinade works exactly the same way on pieces, and the shorter cook time makes it a faster weeknight option.

Use bone-in thighs for the best flavour and boneless breasts if you want quicker cooking. Slash the breasts as you would the whole bird so the marinade gets into the meat. The calorie count stays similar per portion, and the 20–30 minute bake time makes this a genuine weeknight option.

How do I store leftovers?

Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Cold piri piri chicken works brilliantly in sandwiches, wraps or shredded over a green salad the next day. The chilli and paprika flavour actually intensifies once it’s been sitting in the fridge overnight.

Reheat portions in the oven at 180°C for 10 minutes until hot through. It freezes for up to 2 months, though the texture of the meat is better fresh. Slice or shred it before freezing so it defrosts more quickly.