Ghost Pepper Lime Chicken Recipe

Smoky, spicy and delicious ghost pepper lime chicken smoked to perfection.

I want this chicken to be extra delicious and spicy. On top of the ghost pepper lime marinade, I made a habanero seasoned salt that really took the flavor and spice level up to a perfect level. The flavor in the chicken is very well rounded. I love this recipe when the chicken gets cooked on my offset smoker. If you don’t have a type of smoker, grilling the chicken on a charcoal grill (or gas) will work great too or you can bake it in the oven.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, broken down

1/4 c seasoned salt, recipe below

1/2 c marinade, recipe below

Habanero seasoned salt:

1/4 - 1/2 c fine sea salt

2 dried habaneros

1 lime, zested (juice gets saved for the marinade)

2 tbsp whole peppercorn medley

2 tsp anise seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp cinnamon

Ghost pepper lime marinade:

6-8 ghost peppers (in the video I added a couple serrano peppers and 6 tabasco peppers)

3 garlic cloves

2 limes (1 gets zested and both get juiced)

1 shallot

1/2 c avocado oil

1/4 c white balsamic vinegar

Pinch kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Tools needed:

Cutting board

Sharp knife

Measuring cups and spoons

Large mixing bowl

Small mixing bowl

Saute pan

Spice grinder

Smoker, oven or grill

How to make it:

You can choose to keep the chicken whole if you like. I prefer to break it up into pieces (breast, thighs and wings) as I found it takes on more of the marinade and cooks way quicker.

First, let’s make the spicy seasoned salt.

Cut the dried habanero in half and remove the seeds. With dried peppers, I find that the seeds can be bitter sometimes. Therefor, seed removal is a step I like to take. Rough chop the peppers. Get your saute pan and put it on low heat. Put all the spices and habanero pieces in the pan and lightly toast for around 5 minutes. The mixture will become very fragrant when ready. Stir the spices around occasionally and keep an eye on it to make sure nothing burns. Turn off the heat and let cool for a couple minutes. Put all contents into a spice grinder and grind down to a rough powder. Add the ground spices to a mixing bowl and add the salt. Get 1 lime and use a microplane zester to zest the rind. Add the zest the the bowl, mix thoroughly.

The longer the seasoned salt sits on the chicken, the more flavor it will have.

Break down the chicken into breast, wings and thighs. Season the chicken rather generously with the seasoned salt. Place on a plate and place in the refrigerator while the marinade gets made.

This is a great marinade that can also be used as a salad dressing.

For the marinade, rough chop the shallot, garlic and peppers. Add ingredients to a different mixing bowl from the seasoned salt. Add a pinch of salt along with the zest of 1 lime and the juice of 2. Add the vinegar and mix thoroughly. Place the chicken in the bowl with the marinade and keep in the refrigerator. Let the chicken marinade for around 45 minutes to a couple hours.

When you’re ready to cook the chicken, place the bowl of chicken on the counter top while your smoker, grill or oven warms up. I love to cook this chicken recipe on my offset smoker. I use lump charcoal as the heat source and use oak/apple wood for a beautiful smoke flavor.

Remove the chicken from the marinade place on your smoker, grill grates or on an oven safe baking dish. Cook the breast until it registers 165 f internally. The thigh meat can get get cooked up to 175-180 and still be delicious, tender and juicy. I like to keep the pieces of marinade on the chicken as it gives the chicken a great flavor while it cooks. When the chicken is done, let rest on a plate for 8-10 minutes.

Cut up into servings and enjoy! This chicken is great when used to make chicken salad, on top of a salad (the marinade recipe is a good on e for the dressing), on a sandwich or served with roasted asparagus and potatoes.

Logan