Name: Rotisserie-Style Brazilian Chicken
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 335 min
Ingredients: 1x 5lb whole chicken; 1 bunch of parsley leaves (about 1/2 cup to a cup); 2 tablespoons onion powder; 1 tablespoon garlic powder; 1.5 tablespoons kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon of ground achiote pepper ((optional)); 1 teaspoon ground paprika; 2 teaspoons of dry oregano; 1/2 tablespoon sugar; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1/2 cup water; 1 lime, juiced; ground black pepper to taste; 1 tablespoon butter

Jump to Recipe

This Rotisserie-Style Brazilian Chicken is a flavor-filled weeknight classic. The secret to this juicy recipe is in the rotisserie chicken marinade, which calls for a blend of spices and a few wet ingredients. And one of the best parts is you don’t need a rotisserie oven to make this recipe: you can use your regular oven! Plus, come get all the baking tips you need to make the best oven rotisserie chicken ever.

Close up of a Rotisserie-Style Brazilian Chicken in a cast iron roasting pan

Why I love this Oven Rotisserie Chicken

Oi Gente!

I grew up eating franguinho de padaria—rotisserie chicken—from our neighborhood bakery with all the fixings like rice, salsa vinaigrette, farofa and sometimes potato salad, too. It was always one of our favorite meals of the week.

Seriously… there’s something truly magical about rotisserie chickens. From how tasty they are to their simplicity and ease: just purchase, serve and enjoy!

And making rotisserie chicken at home can be just as easy. (And no, you don’t need a rotisserie oven to make it happen!)

A whole roasted chicken sits on a bed of greens on a white plate

Sliced pieces of Oven Roasted Chicken sit on top of greens on a white plate

I make this Rotisserie-Style Brazilian Chicken recipe time and time again because it’s easy, and it reminds me of home!

This has even been my secret weapon on a few of our intimate holidays, too.

Believe you me: you’ll find yourself busting out this recipe all year long!

Beijinhos xx

Oven Rotisserie Chicken Ingredients

Collage of two images showing a raw whole chicken sitting next to a bowl with mixed spices and another image of the same chicken sitting next to the spice bowl with fresh parsley being poured in

Brazilian Kitchen Abroad is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

This recipe doesn’t require a whole lot of fresh ingredients. In fact, the vast majority of what you need to make this oven rotisserie chicken can already be found (hopefully!) in your pantry.

5 lb. whole chicken
Fresh parsley
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Kosher salt
Achiote powder, optional
Ground paprika
Dried oregano
Granulated sugar
Olive oil
Juice of one lime
Black pepper
Butter

Tools to make Oven Roasted Chicken

How to make Oven Rotisserie Chicken Marinade

We start by making the marinade, and to do that, we toss all the ingredients, except for the chicken and butter into the food processor. Buzz, buzz, buzz and our rotisserie chicken marinade is done.

A collage of two images showing how to pull a chicken's skin from the meat with your hands to insert salt and a rotisserie chicken marinade

Next, we need to prepare the chicken so it can soak up all that delicious marinade properly.

First, we clean the chicken by discarding the bag with giblets from inside the cavity (if it has one) and remove any excess fat and leftover feathers from around the cavity.
Second, we need to separate the skin from the meat by gently lifting up the skin with your fingers like in the image above. As the skin lifts up, stick your finger/hand beneath it to continue pulling the skin away from the breast meat without tearing.

If you have long nails or if the thought of sticking your hands under chicken skin freaks you out, just use the back of a spoon to do this part.

A collage of two images showing how to insert rotisserie chicken marinade beneath the skin of a raw whole chicken using your hands

Next, we’re going to generously salt the chicken all over—inside the cavity and under the skin, and let it sit a few minutes.

Speaking of salt…

You’ll notice there’s already salt in the marinade. However, it’s not enough to really season the whole chicken properly. This way, you can control the salt amount in the recipe according to how much of it you like.

After we salt the chicken, we can rub the Rotisserie Chicken Marinade under the skin, inside the cavity and on the surface of the skin.

A collage of two images showing how to insert rotisserie chicken marinate beneath the skin of a raw chicken and the same chicken after the marinade was rubbed all over it

Transfer the marinated chicken to a ziptop bag, along with the marinade, and let it marinate in the fridge for 4 hours, preferably overnight.

I like to flip mine belly down so that the marinade I poured into the cavity can now pool toward the back of the breasts instead of the back of the chicken, which is a part that no one will really eat.

A collage of two images showing a whole chicken with Rotisserie Chicken Marinade in a bag and that same bag holding the chicken in a casserole dish before marinating in the refrigerator

How to Make Brazilian Chicken in the Oven

Before you bake:

After your Rotisserie-Style Brazilian Chicken has marinated for at least 4 hours (or overnight), remove it from the fridge and the marinade about an hour before you intend to cook it. Why? This will help make sure the chicken bakes evenly.

You’ll also want to remove all the excess marinade by patting the chicken dry with a paper towel. This will help make sure the skin is nice and dry and ready for that crispiness to form!

A collage of two images showing a raw Rotisserie-Style Brazilian Chicken before baking and the same chicken after baking in a cast iron baking pan

Don’t skip Trussing the Chicken:

To truss means to tie poultry. Some may think this is an unnecessary step, but I promise you this easy little step ensures even cooking, and will make your oven roasted chicken look a lot prettier, too!

There are many ways to truss chicken for a roast. I like to use kitchen twine for this, but you can also use aluminum foil to tie the chicken legs together.

How to truss a chicken:

Place the chicken breast side up on a cutting board with the legs facing you.
Measure and cut the kitchen twine. It should be about 3-4 times the length of the chicken—more is always better than not enough because you can cut off the excess after the final tie.
Truss! Place the center of the string over the neck, and pull it down the sides of the wings and legs. Then, tie one knot in front of the cavity and under the lower breast plate. Next, bring the string around the legs and tie them together. You want the chicken to be like a tight little package!
Finally, press and tuck the wing tips under so they’re protected by the breast. This will protect them from burning.

As I type these steps I realize I can write a whole post and include some step-by-step photos and additional information on how to truss, but I hope this helps you get started.

And, if a whole truss is too much for you to process, one hack is to just tie the legs, and tuck the wing tips. This will at least keep your chicken pretty to serve!

Baking your Oven Rotisserie Chicken:

I like to use a cast iron roasting pan because it generates loads of great heat and a baking rack to keep the chicken elevated and to help air circulate around it. This combination helps the cook the chicken more consistently and assists in getting that magical crispy skin.

Nestle your trussed chicken onto the baking rack, and brush it with butter. Sprinkle the marinated chicken with salt and pepper, too.

Close up of a trussed Rotisserie-Style Brazilian Chicken after baking in a cast iron roasting pan

How to Roast Brazilian Chicken

This part is all about working the temperature and hot spots in the oven and using that to our advantage to get the perfect Oven Roasted Chicken. We’re going to start hot at 425F, then we’ll decrease the temperature twice to finish cooking at 375F.

I like to place my roasting pan in the oven with the chicken legs facing the back of the oven because that’s where the oven is hottest. Roast the chicken for 30 minutes this way, then rotate the chicken to have the breast side toward the back of the oven and reduce the temperature to 400F.

Roast the chicken for another 30 minutes, then rotate the Brazilian chicken again to have the legs facing the back of the oven.

Reduce the heat again, now to 375F, and roast for another 15-30 minutes. This time will depend on the size of your chicken, so keep an eye on it!

How to tell when your Oven rotisserie chicken is cooked

You want the juice to run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh of your roasted chicken. The internal temperature needs to reach 175-180F. You can get this by inserting an instant read meat thermometer into the chicken’s thigh.

When your Oven Roasted Chicken has reached this ideal internal temperature, remove it from the oven, and let it rest for 20 minutes before carving.

A whole roasted chicken sits on a bed of greens

What to Serve with Oven Roasted Chicken

Make this a complete Roasted Brazilian Chicken experience by serving it with some of these classic fixings:

Or you can serve this Oven Rotisserie Chicken with either one of these salads. Just make sure to ALWAYS include the farofa!

Close up of a Whole Roasted Chicken leg and other pieces sitting on greens on top of a white plate

Other chicken recipes you’ll love:

Love this Rotisserie-Style Brazilian Chicken? You’ll adore the following chicken recipes, too…

FOR MORE BRAZILIAN FOOD INSPO, BE SURE TO FOLLOW ME ON

5 from 83 votes