Pollo asada (pollo asado) is a popular Mexican dish featuring marinated and grilled chicken. This pollo asada recipe is seasoned with a mixture of spices, citrus juices, garlic, and herbs, which gives the chicken a flavorful and smoky taste. Serve with Instant pot Mexican rice, beans, and tortillas!
If you enjoy my carne asada marinade recipe, you'll love this Pollo asada recipe too!
The pollo asada marinade blends the vibrant citrus flavors of orange and lime juice for a tangy kick and is seasoned with garlic, cumin, oregano, and chipotle powder.
I also add achiote paste, which gives the chicken its beautiful, vibrant orange color. When grilled, the chicken develops a smoky char that really enhances the flavor!
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😍 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- This pollo asada recipe is easy to prepare and tastes amazing!
- You can make a chicken California burrito by swapping the carne asada with chopped pollo asada instead.
- This recipe can be prepared with chicken breast, chicken thighs, or drumsticks, or chop up a whole chicken!
- Grilled pollo asada is also excellent when chopped and served over a green salad. I especially love it on this Greek cucumber salad.
🛒 What You Need For This Recipe
🔖 Ingredients & Substitutions
- Chicken: Four pounds of chicken. You can use your favorite cut of chicken (bone-in or boneless) including chicken breast, drumsticks, or thighs.
- Orange & Lime Juice: To add citrusy flavor, you will need orange juice and lime juice, either fresh or bottled.
- Mexican Spices: Salt, black pepper, Mexican oregano, smoked paprika, onion powder, chipotle pepper, coriander, cumin, and Trechas Chile Powder or Tajin.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic cloves or 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder.
- Achiote Paste: Achiote is made with ground annatto seeds and other herbs and spices including garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt, oregano, clove, cinnamon, vinegar, and citrus juice. It adds a ton of flavor and gives the grilled chicken a beautiful red color. It comes in a 3.5-ounce block, but you'll only need 1 ounce for this recipe. You can find it at most Mexican markets or on Amazon.
🍗 How to Make Pollo Asada
Step 1: Prepare pollo asada marinade by whisking olive oil, orange juice, lime juice, and vinegar in a small bowl or a measuring cup. Mix in crushed garlic, crumbled achiote paste, Mexican oregano, sea salt, coriander, smoked paprika, chipotle pepper, black pepper, cumin, onion powder, and Tajin.
Step 2: Add defrosted chicken pieces to a large ziplock bag and pour marinade over them. Remove excess air from the bag and seal shut. Marinade chicken for 4 hours. Bring to room temperature before grilling.
Step 3: Heat grill to medium high heat (between 400-450°F). Once hot, use a wire brush to clean the grill grate and remove leftover residue. Fold a few oil-soaked paper towels and hold with a pair of tongs to oil the grate or use cooking spray.
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Step 4: Add chicken to grill, then cover with lid. Grill chicken breasts for 10-15 minutes (flipping halfway through) or until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part reaches an internal temp of 165℉.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
To serve pollo asada as a main, serve it along with corn tortillas, creamy guacamole, beans, cilantro lime sauce, and Elote in a cup (Mexican street corn). And whatever you do, don't forget the spicy Mexican pickled carrots!
🌯 What to do with leftovers?
Pollo asada leftovers can be enjoyed in a variety of ways! For starters, you can make mouth-watering pollo asado tacos topped with pico de gallo. This pollo asada recipe makes an excellent addition to a Mexican rice bowl or your favorite salad. Leftovers can also be chopped and used to make a quesadilla, (similar to making a carne asada quesadilla), carne asada fries, or added to a smoked pizza!
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
Achiote is a spice made from the seeds of the annatto tree. The seeds are usually ground into a powder or turned into a paste. They have a slightly sweet and peppery taste. Achiote is known for its bright red-orange color, which it imparts on food, making it a great choice for adding both flavor and a pop of color to pollo asada.
The word "pollo" means "chicken" in Spanish and the term "asada" or "asado" generally refers to "grilled" or "roasted meats," for example, carne asada or grilled steak.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, for up to 5 days.
- Reheat pollo asada in a microwave for a minute, or until heated through.
- To reheat in the oven, place chicken in a 325 degree F oven for 10-15 minutes.
🍖 Related Recipes
If you enjoy this pollo asada recipe, be sure to try these related recipes!
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📖 Recipe
Pollo Asada (Mexican Grilled Chicken)
Equipment
- 1 Grill
Ingredients
- 4 lbs chicken thighs/drumsticks/breasts
- ½ cup orange juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 4 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 1 ounce achiote paste
- 2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
- 2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1½ teaspoon chipotle pepper
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Trechas Chile Powder (link, or Tajin)
Instructions
- Prepare pollo asada marinade by whisking olive oil, orange juice, lime juice, and vinegar in a small bowl or a measuring cup. Mix in crushed garlic, crumbled achiote paste, Mexican oregano, sea salt, coriander, smoked paprika, chipotle pepper, black pepper, cumin, onion powder, and Tajin.
- Add defrosted chicken pieces to a large ziplock bag and pour marinade over them. Remove excess air from the bag and seal shut. Marinade chicken for 4 hours. Bring to room temperature before grilling.
- Heat grill to medium high heat (between 400-450°F). Once hot, use a wire brush to clean the grill grate and remove leftover residue. Fold a few oil-soaked paper towels and hold with a pair of tongs to oil the grate or use cooking spray.
- Add chicken to grill, then cover with lid. Grill chicken breasts for 10-15 minutes (flipping halfway through) or until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part reaches an internal temp of 165℉.
- Grill bone-in chicken legs for 15-20 minutes, or until they reach an internal temperature of 175-180℉. Allow chicken to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
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- Store leftovers in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, for up to 5 days.
-
- Reheat pollo asado in a microwave for a minute, or until heated through.
-
- To reheat in the oven, place chicken in a 325 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.
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