Healthier Adeje Chicken

Those of you who visit Tenerife regularly will probably already be well aware of Adeje chicken, but for those of you who don't know about it, here's a brief rundown. Adeje chicken is probably one of the most famous Tenerife recipes there is, only just beaten to the mark by Canarian potatoes and red and green mojo sauces. There are a few different restaurants on the island which serve it, so depending on who your talking to, the Adeje chicken recipe will vary slightly.

One of the Adeje chicken recipe rumours I came across when researching was that you need to combine huge quantities of oil with red mojo sauce and deep-fry the chicken in it to achieve the same amazing results as pulled off by Restaurante Otelo next to Barranco del Infierno. Not being a fan of high-fat foods and not being an owner of a deep-fat fryer either, I set out to make my own healthier Adeje chicken recipe and here it is!

Instead of being deep-fried in an oil and mojo mix, this chicken is marinated for up to two days in homemade mojo sauce and then roasted in the oven so the meat is juicy, the skin is crispy and the whole thing is flavour-packed!

But before we get to the recipe, have you ever fancied moving to Tenerife? If you do, you should definitely check out Moving to Tenerife: All You Need to Know. It's a super-helpful ebook I co-authored with Joe Cawley - the man behind More Ketchup than Salsa. Don't forget to connect with us online via the Moving to Tenerife Facebook page!

Back to the recipe! Here are some step-by-step photos to guide you through the recipe. First you'll need to place your whole chicken into a baking tray and make the mojo sauce. You can find red and green Canarian mojo sauce recipes here.

After you've blended all your red mojo sauce ingredients together, you'll need to smother the chicken in it. In the photo you can see I've stuffed some of the sauce under the skin, too, for extra flavour. It's not totally necessary, but you can do it if you want to go that extra mile. Make sure both sides of the chicken are covered in the sauce.

Then you need to cover the chicken in cling film and leave it in the fridge overnight to marinate. The longer you leave the chicken in the fridge, the stronger the flavour will get. I recommend leaving it to marinate for at least eight hours, but no more than two days.

When you're ready to cook your chicken, pre-heat the oven to 240C/470F for 15 minutes. When hot, place the chicken in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 200C/400F. Roast the chicken in the oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

After 30 minutes of cooking, remove the chicken from the oven, pour off the juices and smother with more red mojo sauce. If you think the skin is blackening too much (this can happen with this type of marinade) cover the chicken with foil, then remove the foil 15 minutes before the chicken is due to come out of the oven to allow the skin to crisp up again.

After 1 hour and 20 minutes in the oven, you'll be left with a juicy roast chicken packed with Canarian mojo flavour.

Leave the chicken to rest for 10 minutes (no matter how tempting it is to dive right in there and start eating it with your hands!) before plating up and serving. If you're looking for side dish options, check out my Canarian potatoes recipe.

📖 Recipe

Healthier Adeje Chicken

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings of chicken

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken or 8 chicken thighs or 8 chicken legs
• ½ batch red Canarian mojo sauce

Instructions

• Place your chicken in a large baking tray and cover it Canarian red mojo sauce, making sure you cover the top and the undersides. If you want as much flavour as possible, stuff it under the skin, too.
• Cover the chicken in cling film/plastic wrap and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 8 hours and up to 2 days.
• When you're ready to cook, preheat the oven to 240C/470F for 15 minutes.
• Put the chicken in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 200C/400F. Roast the chicken for a total of 1 hour and 20 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, remove the chicken from the oven and pour off the juices in the bottom of the tray. Spoon over more red mojo sauce. Return the chicken to the oven.
• If you're worried about the skin burning, cover the chicken in foil and remove it15 minutes before the full cooking time is over.
• When fully cooked, leave the chicken to sit for 10 minutes before serving.