Mojo sauce is a bright, flavorful sauce used to marinate chicken and pork. There are different variations of this sauce in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Canary Islands, but some of the main ingredients are citrus, garlic and cumin. Other add ins will vary wildly depending on where your family recipe was developed, but this is my favorite mojo sauce used to make a simple roasted chicken quite exciting and I can’t wait to share it with you.
Let’s get started…
To bring your mojo sauce together, you will need a cup of orange juice, 1/3 cup of lime juice, 2 teaspoons of lime zest, 1/3 cup of olive oil, a large shallot, 8 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon of sea salt, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of Mexican oregano, 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper and 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro leaves.
Combine the ingredients in a blender and blend until the shallot and garlic are fine and everything is completely combined. Things should be smelling quite wonderful by now….
Divide the mojo sauce between 2 separate bowls. One of the bowls we will be using to marinade and baste the chicken with and the other will be served with the roast chicken later on.
Begin by patting a whole chicken dry with paper towels and brush the entire bird with some of the mojo sauce. Let the chicken sit at room temperature for 45 minutes before roasting it. This time serves to both quick marinade the chicken and let things come to room temperature to keep the chicken nice and juicy during the roast.
Once the chicken is marinated, brush it with a little more mojo sauce and roast it uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 22-25 minutes per pound. Brush with additional mojo sauce several times throughout the roasting time.
Lightly cover the chicken with foil if it begins to brown too much during the roasting time. The chicken is ready to come out of the oven when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
Let your beautiful mojo roasted chicken rest a little bit before slicing into it to give those delicious juices some time to work their way throughout the bird.
Once you carve up your chicken, grab that extra mojo sauce and dig in! The sauce is bright and tangy, smokey, earthy and a little spicy. It is absolutely delicious and you should have enough sauce leftover to spoon over both the chicken and any rice or greens you serve with it.
If you are looking for a delicious latin inspired chicken recipe then I would love for you to give my mojo roast chicken a try and if you aren’t feeling a whole chicken then feel free to brush it over chicken thighs, breasts or wings too. You will love it all!
Salud!
Mojo Roasted Chicken
Ingredients
Mojo Marinade
- 1 cup of orange juice
- 1/3 cup of lime juice
- 2 teaspoons of lime zest
- 1/3 cup of olive oil
- a large shallot, peeled
- 8 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1 teaspoon of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon of cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon of Mexican oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro leaves
Chicken
- a whole chicken (4-6 pounds)
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until completely combined
- Divide the marinade between 2 separate containers, using 1/2 for marinading the chicken and 1/2 to serve as a sauce for the cooked chicken
- Unwrap the chicken, rinse and pat dry and transfer into a deep pan
- Brush some of the marinade over the chicken and let it sit at room temperature for about 45 minutes
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
- Transfer the chicken onto a roasting pan, brush with additional marinade and roast for 22-25 minutes per pound or until the chickens internal temperature reaches 165 degrees at the thickest part near the thigh (tent with foil if the chicken begins to brown too much before it is fully cooked)
- Brush the chicken with the marinade every 20 minutes or so throughout the baking time
- Let the chicken rest lightly covered with foil for 15-20 minutes before serving
- Serve with additional marinade
