This Peruvian Air Fryer Whole Chicken is covered in a delicious garlic and herb marinade and then roasted to perfection. Crispy skin, juicy meat, and amazing flavor.
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Full Recipe/Instructions are available in the
recipe card at the bottom of the post.
You can find important tips/tricks in the
blog post.
Growing up, my mom would make roasted chicken...a lot. About 3 times a week, I could expect roasted chicken on our dinner table. It always tasted amazing but a traditional roast chicken can get redundant.
I was introduced to Peruvian chicken when my friends brought me to a local restaurant that specializes in this kind of chicken. It was so amazing that I began to frequent the restaurant quite often. Then I figured, why not make this at home.
I’ve made many variations of this recipe over the years and fell in love with this method of making it in the Air Fryer. You can have rotisserie style Peruvian chicken without a rotisserie machine. It’s faster than the oven, it doesn’t heat up the house in the summer, and the skin is so crispy on the outside while the meat stays so juicy on the inside. On top of that, the flavor is like no other thanks to the marinade.
How to make Peruvian Air Fryer Whole Chicken
First, prepare your marinade by adding extra virgin olive oil, lime juice, garlic cloves, kosher salt, paprika, black pepper, cumin, oregano, brown sugar and soy sauce to a food processor and process until smooth. I use my mini food processor for this part.
Then you will want to wash and dry your chicken and remove any inside giblets. For this recipe I used a whole chicken that I received in my shipment with Butcherbox. It’s a 5 lb bird that I can fit into my 5.3 qt Air Fryer.
Then, rub your marinade all over the chicken. Gently lift the skin and rub the marinade under the skin as well. Pour some marinade inside of the chicken.
Cover the chicken and allow it to marinate for at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours. The longer the better.
Once you’re ready to cook your chicken, place it in the air fryer basket breast side down. Discard any remaining marinade that is left behind.
Close the Air Fryer basket and set Air Fryer to 360 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes is done, open Air Fryer basket. Your chicken should look like the photo below. Do not fret, it’s not burnt nor is it done.
At this point, flip the chicken and cook on 360 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 more minutes.
Once timer is done, open Air Fryer basket and use a quick read thermometer to test to the chicken. Knowing where to check the chicken is very important. You can watch this video on how to check the temperature of a whole chicken.
I use my Thermoworks mK4 Thermapen to test my chicken as it’s the most accurate and quickest thermometer on the market.
When chicken has reached an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit, remove chicken from the Air Fryer basket and allow it to rest on a carving board. I let my chicken rest for about 15 minutes. Cutting it any sooner will make all the juices run out.
Cut your chicken up and prepare to be amazed.
What to serve Peruvian Air Fryer Whole Chicken with?
I like to serve this chicken with my homemade Peruvian Green Sauce. I fell in love with this bold sauce at the Peruvian restuarant as well. It's an amazing addition to this chicken.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.
Pro Tip:
Use leftover chicken to make rotisserie chicken salad.
Serving side suggestions:
Looking for other Air Fryer Chicken Recipes? Try these out:
- Air Fried Chicken
- Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Breast
- Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs
- Cornish Hens
- Air Fried Spatchcock Chicken
Air Fryer Whole Chicken (Peruvian Style)
Ingredients
Equipment
Instructions
- Blend marinade ingredients in food processor until smooth. Set aside.
- Wash and dry chicken. Rub all over chicken, including under the skin and on the inside. Allow chicken to marinate for 6-24 hours, the longer the better.
- Place in Air Fryer, breast side down. Cook on 360 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Open Air Fryer basket and flip chicken. Then cook on 360 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 more minutes.
- Your chicken is done when a quick read thermometer in thickest part of chicken registers at 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Allow chicken to rest for 15-20 minutes before carving.
Nutrition
Notes
- You will need a larger size Air Fryer to make this whole chicken.
- You could also use this marinade on chicken pieces if you cannot fit a whole chicken in your Air Fryer. Just make sure the pieces are in a single layer so they can get crisp.
- You can sub your favorite seasoning for this whole chicken. Cook times will remain the same.
- This chicken goed great with this Peruvian Green Sauce recipe.
Becky says
Love the marinate! Can I use leg quarters instead of a whole chicken? Also, can they be cooked in the oven? What temperature and how long?
Thanks!
Tanya says
Hi Becky, You sure can...this marinade is amazing on leq quarters. in the oven, I'd roast on the middle rack on 425F degrees for about 45-55 minutes or until cooked through.
Tammy Langster says
Love this! Have made this with pork and Cornish hens. Delicious! About to make marinade now for a Pork Loin Roast to slow cook in oven tommorow! Thanks for such a great recipe!?
Tanya says
Thanks Tammy! So glad you enjoyed the recipe. I'll need to get some cornish hens and use the marinade on them too. Great idea 🙂
Lili says
Can I use chickent thighs instead? Would it be the same cooking time and temperature?
Tanya says
Hi Lili, you can use chicken thighs but the cooking time would need to be reduced. Depending on if it's boneless (15-17 minutes) or bone-in thighs (22-25 minutes).
Brooke says
I absolutely love this recipe! I have an instant pot so I wasn't sure if the whole chicken would fit but it sure did, just barely. I cooked 30 mins on each side. I loved it so much, I have another chicken marinating now for tmrws dinner!!
Hannah says
I made this chicken for dinner last night with the aji verde, pickled red onions and black beans, and it was amazing!! Thank you so much for this recipe 🙂
Tanya says
Thank you so much Hannah!
Rob says
Excellent food made it at home. Then for 40 2 days later. Trying ribs tonight. Ty
Tanya says
You're welcome 🙂 So glad you liked the recipe.
Billy says
Hi, this looks great will try it for sure.
My Air fryer is 2.5L (2.65 quart) do we think the chicken will fit really want to try it whole chicken,
Tanya says
Hi Billy, A whole chicken won't fit in your basket. The smallest basket you could use is a 3.2 qt. However, a cornish hen would fit.
Gerdia says
This was excellent..I had to use Cornish Hens because i needed it for one person. Also I have a 2 quart air fryer.....It was absolutely ? And I will be cooking this again
Great recipe ??
Tanya says
Awesome! So glad you liked the recipe and I'm happy to hear that cornish hens work well with this marinade.
Edmund says
Hi Tanya, I wanted to know if you ever tried Cornish hens with this recipe and if so what would the time be for the cooking? Also wanted to say I love your recipes.
Tanya says
Hi Edmund, thanks so much for the nice comment. I actually haven't tried cornish hens in the air fryer yet but it's on my list to try out. For hens, the marinade should work, I would just decrease the cook time by a bit. I would start checking for doneness around 25 minutes just to make sure they don't overcook.
Leigh-Anne Soules says
I have the rotisserie attachment would it be the same amount of time?
Tanya says
Hi Leigh-Anne, it's been a while since I used my rotisserie on my Air Fryer oven. I only used it once and preferred this basket method. I would suggest following the cook times in the manual with your device for the whole chicken. Everything else would remain the same.
Tisha says
Using an airfryer is genius! This chicken looks perfectly crispy on the outside and so juicy on the inside! Packed full of flavor!
Tanya says
I agree! Chicken in the Air Fryer is a game changer.
Suzy says
Absolutely perfect flavor! We will be making it again!
Tanya says
Awesome! So glad you liked it 🙂
Cynthia says
This was so delicious. Thank you for showing my family a new use for our air fryer keep them coming!!!!
Heidi says
Wow flavour country!!! I marinated the whole chicken for 2 days and wow, it was so tasty. It was a tad too spicy for my young kids but I think it’s perfect to make for my foodie friends. Which I will definitely do! Thanks for sharing! This is a keeper;)
Rose says
Can you sub something for the soy sauce and can I use a sugar substitute ? Thsnks
Tanya says
Yes, for the soy sauce liquid aminos would work. I use it quite often when I can't find my soy sauce. As far as the sugar substitute, I don't see why not. I haven't subbed it myself but it should work.
Yolanda says
I used a brown sugar substitute by Swerve and also used Coconut Aminos instead of soy sauce. I did have to cook it a lot longer than recommended but it turned out delicious. So crispy and moist on the inside. Thank you