This is seriously the easiest and tastiest chicken inasal recipe! Chicken Inasal is the Philippines’ famous barbecue or grilled chicken. The marinade made from vinegar, lemon, and sprite permeates the entire chicken, making it tender and tasty. The basting sauce not only adds vibrant color to the meat but also a lot of flavors, so you’ll want to eat all of the chicken skin, which gets so crisp and delicious! This can be roasted in the oven or grilled.

 

Before hubby met me, he only ate chicken and beef when it came to meat products. He didn’t like eating fish or pork for that matter. Thankfully, after being married for nearly 17 years his tastebuds have improved some and now he eats seafood and pork, no problem – I call that a success! So, what’s my point and what does it have to do with a yummy chicken recipe?

When he first came to the Philippines, he was worried that he may not be able to eat that much being unfamiliar with our food culture. Yes, he may find a lot of chicken and beef dishes there, but what if they’re not to his taste(s)? To ease him into our food, we didn’t give him anything too exotic right away. I knew he loved chicken so I started introducing to him dishes made with it.

Chicken adobo, being our Philippine national dish, he had to try it first and I was glad he enjoyed it. To this day, when we go to a Filipino restaurant, adobo is always included in the order.

Honestly, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like our chicken adobo! Then after that, he probably had some chicken afritada, even Jollibee’s chicken joy (incidentally, there’s now a branch of Jollibee in Manhattan right across the New York Times building!) and his favorite fried chicken of all time Max’s Restaurant’s Sarap to the Bones fried chicken!

We actually went to Max’s restaurant for my birthday this year. It was in March and the quarantine just started that day so we were not allowed to eat in but had to eat our fried chicken in the car!!!

Still, it was a fun and definitely a memorable birthday (celebrated inside the car!)!

But there was one Filipino chicken dish he could never forget and totally loves. Every time we go back to the Philippines, he’d request me to bring him to Bacolod Chicken Inasal Restaurant in Makati. It’s essentially the most famous Filipino chicken barbecue or grilled chicken that originated from the central Philippines and is now hugely popular all over the country.

How can it not be so popular? One bite of this tasty, juicy chicken and you’re hooked, just like my hubby and me! And it’s quite an eye-catching food with that deep and bright yellow-orange hue!

Look at this yummy grilled version below!

I thought that I would only be able to enjoy Chicken Inasal while vacationing in the Philippines and not when I’m back in the US. But thankfully, a very dear and sweet friend of mine, who hailed from Bacolod City kindly shared with me her favorite recipe of Chicken Inasal – an authentic and delicious recipe straight from the place where this chicken dish was first invented! Wow!

However, I had to tweak the recipe a little because I couldn’t find the local lime we use for this in the Philippines called calamansi – it’s smaller than key lime but wow, it’s so high in taste and tanginess in the citrus scale if there was one!

I subbed with lemons and I think I still captured the essence of this lemony chicken. But, believe you me, the secret to this chicken’s tenderness and juicy-ness is not even the local calamansi lime but the very exotic ingredient called “SPRITE!” (or any lemon-lime soda for that matter!).

It’s pretty common in the Philippines to use 7 UP or Sprite for grilling as not only does it add sweetness to the meat but it tenderizes the meat!

Traditionally, chicken legs, quarters or breasts pieces are used for the recipe but I experimented with a spatchcock chicken and it worked perfectly too, as you can see. In the Philippines, Inasal. is always grilled but I thought I would try it first in the oven? It was still so cold to grill outside when I made my first attempt at Chicken Inasal so I tried oven roasting it first. And it worked so yummy and it was crazy easy as well – no need to constantly check if the chicken in the grill is already done and no fear I may not be able to cook it properly. It was roasted perfectly after 45 minutes at a 400 degree F oven.

I say it’s easy to make because all you need to do is simply marinade the meat for at least about 3-4 hours, then roast in the oven! The ingredients are not even hard to find at all. The annatto seeds (which you use to get the annatto oil for color), I simply replaced with annatto powder which you can find in any Mexican or Asian store – not a crazy exotic ingredient at all! The rest are common and easy to find ingredients that may be in your pantry already! Just don’t forget the Sprite or 7 UP, whichever is your preference – that’s very important.

As you can see the chicken is truly yummy, juicy, and just packed with a lot of flavors. So next time you are looking for a new chicken recipe for oven roasting or grilling for summer – you got to try this!

FOR FULL RECIPE & INSTRUCTIONS and to PRINT, SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW.

WHAT ARE THE INGREDIENTS FOR CHICKEN INASAL?

• 4-5 pieces chicken legs (thighs and drumsticks intact) or 1 spatchcock chicken

Marinade

• 1 cup rice or white vinegar
• 1 (20 oz) bottle  lemon lime soda like Sprite
• 2-inch piece ginger, peeled, sliced and slightly crushed
• 1 whole garlic, cloves peeled and crushed
• 1 large lemon, juiced
• 1 tablespoon salt, (this measurement is correct!) 
• 2 teaspoons black pepper, freshly ground

Basting Sauce

• 1/4 cup oil of choice
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons achuete (achiote) or annatto powder
• 1/2 lemon, juiced

Dipping Sauce

• 1 dipping sauce, equal amounts of spiced vinegar and soy sauce

HOW DO YOU COOK CHICKEN INASAL?

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Take the chicken pieces and pierce a few times on the meaty side. This will allow the chicken to absorb more flavor from the marinade. Place the chicken meat side down in a non-reactive baking dish (like a 9×13 pyrex). Pour in the marinade all over the chicken. Marinate for 3-4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Make the basting sauce or ready it while the chicken is roasting. Remove the meat from the marinade and place it in a roasting tin. Roast the chicken for 45 minutes, basting it every 5 minutes for the last 10-15 minutes or so. Chicken is done when a meat thermometer inserted at the thickest part of the chicken registers 165F. Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes.

Alternatively, you can also grill the chicken, threading each piece in a wooden skewer, and use the sauce to baste. If grilling the chicken, make about two to three 1-inch slashes on the chicken legs just before grilling so the chicken cooks faster and more evenly. If using a gas grill, preheat the grill then place all the chicken legs in the middle of the grill. Use only the burners on either side of the grill adjusted to between 350-375 F temperature (don’t go higher than 400 F). The gas burner(s) in the middle should be completely turned-off. Grill the chicken low and slow for about 30-40 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches about 165 F. Grilling this way would ensure the chicken cooks properly without burning the outer skin and undercooking the inside.

Traditionally, this chicken is eaten with a dipping or drizzling sauce on the side. Simply combine equal amounts of spiced vinegar (available at Asian stores – get Filipino brand, if possible, or simply add 1-2 sliced Thai red chilies) and soy sauce in a small bowl. Drizzle a little of the sauce as you eat the chicken. Enjoy with rice.

Last updated on September 4th, 2024 at 03:07 pm