Hey guys, most of you know Chicken Inasal right? so one of my daughter’s favorite food is chicken. Whether it’s fried, grilled, sinigang (chicken in sour soup), her appetite is just crazy when we’re having chicken. With this in mind I decided to share my recipe for Chicken Inasal. “Inasal” means “chargrilled” or “roasted meat” that originated in the City of Bacolod, Philippines. The chicken is marinated with lemon, soy sauce, garlic, lemon grass, pepper and vinegar. This grilled dish is a sure winner with your family and friends. So let’s start and get those grills fire up!

The secret ingredient is always LOVE
Tips on cooking Chicken Inasal
- You don’t necessarily need a charcoal grill or be outside to make the dish. For this recipe we used an electric grill and cooked it in our kitchen.
- To get best results, marinate the chicken overnight.
- If you really want to enjoy this, dip it in soy sauce, vinegar, chili, salt and chopped onion dipping sauce.
Chicken Inasal
This is a very easy dish to prepare. Marinating the chicken overnight is the key so that the chicken will soak up the sauce and will give you a very tasting chicken inasal after grilling.
Ingredients
- 4 pieces chicken thigh and legs
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 piece lemon or calamansi
- 1/2 cup vinegar
- 1 stalk lemon grass
- 2 tbsp salt to rub on chicken
- 1 tsp ground pepper
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil for basting
- 1 tsp achuete powder for basting
Instructions
For Marinating the Chicken:
- First wash the chicken thighs thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels. Put in a big bowl.
- Cut some slits on the chicken diagonally so the meat inside will cook properly. Then rub in the salt.
- In a different bowl. mix in the soy sauce, lemon, vinegar, lemon grass (cut into pieces) and pepper.
- Rub the marinate mixture on the chicken and cover with cling film. Let it soak for 2/3 hours or if you can, leave it for 24 hours.
- In a frying pan. heat vegetable oil and mix and the achuete powder. Stir well. When the achuete and the oil mixed well. transfer in a bowl and set aside to be used for basting later.
For grilling the chicken:
- You can start up the grill whether you are using charcoal, oven, turbo broiler or electric grill
- Put the chicken on the grill and after 2 minutes bast the chicken with the marinate sauce first.
- Keep on basting with the marinate sauce and when the chicken is half cooked, take out the achuete and oil mix and use that to bast the chicken.
- Continue basting with the achuete and oil mix until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.
- As a serving suggestion, you can use banana leaves and place it between the chicken and serving plate to give it a more authentic feel. Enjoy!