Make your own Nando's TODAY using the restaurant's exact recipes for chicken (2024)

RISHI Sunak spoke for the nation when he welcomed news of the reopening of branches of Nando's yesterday.

There are now 93 open for business during the pandemic — but if you can't get to one, you can make your own Nando's dinner at home.

The Chancellor hailed the mass reopening of Nando's as "the good news we've all been waiting for".

The brand — a favourite of celebrities like Ed Sheeran, Kendall Jenner and David Beckham — ran a ‘Bring the Heat Home’ Live Cookalong on the @nandosuk Instagram.

Nando’s head chef Tim cooked grilled chicken pitta, rainbow slaw and halloumi with Manchester United star Jesse Lingard.

But don't fret if you missed it, you can still make the perfect Nando's dinner at home by following these recipes.

PERi-PERi chicken wings, PERi salted chips and garlic bread (serves 2)

PERi-PERi chicken wings
Ingredients:

• 12 Chicken wings
• Nando’s Medium PERi-PERi Sauce (or whichever spice you prefer), 125ml bottle
• To serve: Your favourite Nando’s sauce

Method:

1. Put the wings in a bowl and rub all over with the marinade.

2. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and put in the fridge for at least one hour to marinate, preferably overnight.

3. Heat the oven to 180C (standard setting, not fan) or gas mark four.

4. Transfer chicken wings to a roasting tray.

5. Cook for about 30mins until the wings are just cooked.

6. Heat up a grill pan on the stove (or fire up your BBQ!)

7. When it’s smoking hot, put six wings in the grill pan.

8. Leave the wings without moving them to get Nando’s unique grill marks.

9. Turn over once the skin has grill marks and repeat on the other side.

10. Generously brush over your chosen Nando’s sauce on both sides.

11. Turn the oven down to 100C (under gas mark one) and keep the grilled wings warm while you repeat with the remaining wings.

PERi-Salted Chips
Ingredients:

• 3-4 Large Maris Piper potatoes
• 3ltr Sunflower oil
• Nando’s PERi-PERi Salt

Method:
1. Peel and wash the potatoes.

2. Cut into slices about 1.5cm thick, then cut into chips the same thickness.

3. Place the chips in a colander and rinse off the starch under cold running water for about 2-3min.

4. Drain and lay chips on a tea-towel. Pat dry.

5. Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to 140C. You can also use a high-sided pot to heat the oil and use a digital thermometer to check the heat. Don’t fill the pot more than halfway.

6. In batches, cook the chips for eigh minutes until they are soft but still pale.

7. Lay chips in a single layer on a tray and put in the fridge to cool.

8. Now heat the oil to 180C.

9. Working in batches again, fry the chips a second time until golden brown, about 3-4min.

10. As soon as the chips come out of the fryer, tip into a large bowl and toss with PERi-PERi Salt.

11. Keep chips warm whilst frying remaining batches.

Garlic bread
Ingredients:

• 125g Salted butter
• 4 Garlic cloves, crushed
• Handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 2 pinches of dried red chilli flakes (add more if you like it hot!)
• 2 Crusty bread rolls

Method:
1. Leave the butter at room temperature until soft.

2. Put the butter on a large plate.

3. Add the garlic, parsley, lemon juice and chilli.

4. Using a fork, mash everything together until thoroughly blended.

5. Slice the bread rolls in half horizontally.

6. Spread each half with garlic butter.

7. Put the rolls back together and wrap in foil.

8. Heat the oven to 180C (gas mark 4). Bake the rolls for 10-15min.

9. Remove the foil.

10. In a non-stick pan on medium heat, place the rolls garlic side down and toast until golden. You can also do this step under the grill, just watch the bread doesn’t burn.

PERi-PERi chicken thighs, spicy rice and macho peas (serves 4)

PERi-PERi Chicken Thighs
Ingredients:

• 12 Boneless chicken thighs, skin on
• Nando’s Medium PERi-PERi Sauce (or whichever spice you prefer), 125ml bottle
• To serve: Your favourite Nando’s sauce

Method:
1. Put the chicken thighs in a bowl and rub all over with the sauce.

2. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and put in the fridge for at least 1 hour to marinate, preferably overnight.

3. Heat the oven to 180C (standard setting, not fan) or gas mark 4.

4. Transfer the chicken thighs to a roasting tray skin side up.

5. Cook for approx 20mins, or until the chicken is just cooked.

6. Heat up a grill pan on the stove.

7. When it’s smoking hot, put the 4-6 thighs skin side down in the grill pan.

8. Leave the thighs without moving them to recreate Nando’s unique grill marks.

9. Turn thighs over once the skin has the grill marks and grill for another 1-2mins.

10. Turn the oven down to 100C (under gas mark 1) and keep the grilled thighs warm whilst repeating with remaining thighs.

11. Brush over your chosen Nando’s sauce and serve.

Spicy Rice
Ingredients:

• 200g Basmati rice
• 450ml cold water
• 2 tbsp Sunflower oil
• ½ White onion, peeled & finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• ½ Green pepper, finely diced
• 1 Small green chilli, thinly sliced
• ½ can Chopped tomatoes
• ½ tsp Ground turmeric
• ½ tsp Cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp Smoked paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• Juice from 1 lemon
• Small handful coriander

Method:
1. In a sieve, wash the rice under cold water.

2. On a medium heat, heat the oil in a saucepan that you have a lid for.

3. Add the onion and salt. Cook for 5mins until the onion softens.

4. Add the garlic, chilli and green pepper.

5. Cook for 5mins until the pepper begins to soften.

6. Add the turmeric, cayenne pepper and smoked paprika, and cook for 1min until fragrant, then add the chopped tomatoes.

7. Stir through the washed rice, and then pour in the water.

8. Bring to the boil, cover with a tight fitting lid and turn heat to low.

9. Cook for 10mins.

10. Without taking the lid off, turn the heat off and leave to stand for 10mins.

11. Stir through the lemon juice and coriander.

12. Taste for seasoning.

Macho Peas
Ingredients:

• 400g Frozen peas
• Water
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 tbsp Butter
• 3-4 sprigs fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 2-3 sprigs fresh mint, finely chopped
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 good pinches of dried red chilli flakes (add more if you like it hot!)

Method:
1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil.

2. When boiling, add the peas and cook for 3mins.

3. Drain peas in a colander.

4. In the same pot, heat the butter and olive oil until butter has melted.

5. Add the salt and chilli flakes and cook for 30 seconds.

6. Add the peas back to the pot and stir through the chopped herbs.

7. Mix the peas and herbs thoroughly through the butter mix.

8. Taste for seasoning and serve.

Grilled chicken pitta, rainbow slaw and halloumi

Ingredients:

• 6 Chicken breast inner fillets (or 2 small chicken breasts, sliced into 3 strips each)
• Nando’s Medium PERi-PERi Sauce (or whichever spice you prefer), 125ml bottle
• 2 Pitta breads
• 1 Block halloumi
• 6 semi-dried tomatoes, sliced in half
• PERi-Slaw (see recipe below)
• 1 Avocado, sliced (optional)
• To serve: Nando’s Lemon & Herb PERi-PERi Sauce (or your favourite Nando’s PERi-PERi sauce)

Chicken
1. Put the chicken in a bowl and rub all over with the sauce.

2. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and put in the fridge for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight.

3. Heat up a lightly oiled grill pan on the stove (or your BBQ!)

4. Grill the fillets for 3-4mins, then turn over to cook on the other side.

5. Ensure fillets are cooked with no pink remaining throughout.

6. Remove from the pan and place the chicken in a bowl.

7. Pour your chosen Nando’s sauce over the chicken and mix to coat and keep warm.

Rainbow Slaw
Ingredients:

• ¼ White cabbage
• ¼ Red cabbage
• 1 Spring onion, finely sliced
• 2 Radishes, sliced (same width as a £1 coin)
• Small handful fresh coriander or parsley
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Greek yoghurt, 1 heaped tbsp
• Generous squeeze of Nando’s PERinaise
• Pinch of salt
• Ground black pepper

Method:
1. Remove the cores from the cabbages slice very thinly (no more than 5mm).

2. Add the sliced radishes and spring onion.

3. Roughly chop the coriander or parsley.

4. Mix all the veg and herbs together in a bowl.

5. Add the yoghurt, PERinaise and lemon juice and mix through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Halloumi
1. Slice the halloumi widthways into slices just under 1cm thick.

2. When the chicken is ready, heat a non-stick frying pan with a drop of olive oil on medium heat.

3. When the oil is hot, add 4 slices of halloumi and cook for 1-2min until golden brown.

4. Turn halloumi over and cook for 30 secs.

5. Take the pan off the heat.

6. Leave the halloumi in the pan to keep warm while you assemble the pitta.

Assembling the pittas
1. Warm the pittas in the toaster, then slice open to create a pocket. Be careful, its hot!

2. Add 2 tbsp of PERi-Slaw per pitta.

3. Per pitta, add 2 warm halloumi slices, 6 tomato pieces and 3-4 avocado slices (if using).

4. Add 3 chicken fillets per pitta.

5. Lastly, a bit more sauce won’t hurt.