Dinner
Portuguese Inspired Piri Piri Chicken Drumsticks
Crisp air-fried chicken drumsticks brushed with piri piri sauce near the end, served with creamy mashed potatoes and charred asparagus. The late coating keeps the sauce from scorching and leaves the chicken with a hotter, cleaner flavour.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Pat the drumsticks dry with kitchen paper. This helps the skin crisp.
- Put the drumsticks in a bowl and add the olive oil, smoked paprika, garlic powder, oregano, black pepper and a small amount of salt. Toss until evenly coated.
- Preheat the air fryer to 200°C.
- Put the potatoes into a large saucepan and cover with cold, salted water.
- Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15–20 minutes, until completely tender.
- Arrange the drumsticks in the air-fryer basket in a single layer. Do not overcrowd them. Cook in batches if necessary.
- Air fry for 12 minutes, then turn the drumsticks over.
- Cook for another 7–8 minutes.
- Brush the drumsticks generously with the piri piri sauce.
- Air fry for another 3–5 minutes, turning once if needed, until the sauce has clung to the chicken and the skin is lightly charred.
- Toss the asparagus with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Grill until charred.
- Squeeze the lemon over the asparagus.
- Drain the potatoes well and leave them in the hot pan for a minute to steam dry.
- Mash with the butter and enough warm milk to reach the texture you want.
- Season properly with salt and black pepper.
- Serve the chicken hot with the mash and asparagus. Spoon any juices from the plate over the potatoes.
- Add the piri piri sauce near the end rather than at the start. It keeps the sauce from scorching while the chicken cooks through, and gives you a hotter, cleaner flavour on the finished skin.
Posted on July 18, 2026
