Aji Amarillo Grilled Chicken Thighs — Peru’s Favorite Flavor, Right in Your Backyard

The best Peruvian chicken starts before the grill ever heats up. These aji amarillo chicken thighs are built on a bold, deeply savory marinade and finished with a char that comes from patience — not rushing. Bone-in, skin-on thighs are the move here: they stay juicy under high heat, and the skin crisps into something you'll be eating straight off the grill before anything else hits the plate.

Why Bone-In Thighs?

Boneless thighs cook faster but dry out more easily. Bone-in thighs give the meat insulation and keep the juices locked in even when you push the heat. For Peruvian-style chicken, where the goal is a deeply flavored, charred exterior with a moist, tender interior, bone-in is the right call every time.

The Marinade

This marinade is built around our Aji Amarillo sauce, which delivers the fruity, floral heat of Peru's most important pepper without the sourcing work. Paired with garlic, cumin, soy sauce, and lime, it creates a marinade that penetrates the chicken, seasons the skin, and forms a crust on the grill. The soy sauce isn't traditional — it comes from Peru's Japanese-Peruvian (Nikkei) culinary tradition, which has shaped the country's food for over a century.

Ingredients

• 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2½ lbs)
• 3 tablespoons Aji Pepper Sauce Aji Amarillo
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, grated
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Juice of 1 lime
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Marinate. Whisk all marinade ingredients together. Score the chicken skin lightly with a knife to help penetration. Coat thoroughly. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, overnight preferred.
2. Bring to room temperature. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before grilling. Cold chicken slows the cook and makes even cooking harder.
3. Grill. Preheat to medium-high (around 400°F). Start skin side down over direct heat. Cook 5–6 minutes until the skin releases cleanly and has visible char. Flip. Cook another 5–6 minutes. Move to indirect heat if flare-ups occur. Internal temp should reach 165°F — typically 30–40 minutes total for large thighs.
4. Rest. 5 minutes minimum before cutting.

To Serve

These thighs are good with almost anything — rice, roasted potatoes, simple greens. The classic Peruvian pairing is Aji Verde for dipping. The herby, bright verde against the savory, smoky thigh is one of those combinations that immediately makes sense.