Chicken Suya is an extremely popular Nigerian Chicken recipe. Nigerian Chicken Suya is simply Yaji Spice infused grilled Chicken. Chicken Suya can be made with either boneless or boned Chicken. When making it with boneless chicken, it’s more ideal to use Chicken thigh rather than breast as the thigh is softer and more flavourful.

I always prefer to make my own Spice/marinade blend when making Chicken Suya although it’s much easier to simply buy the premixed stuff and be done with it. I just don’t find the premixed stuff on it’s own flavourful enough. There is no standard recipe for Yaji as Ingredients vary according to personal and regional preferences. Common ingredients include Ginger, Onions, Black pepper, Salt, Groundnut cake (kulikuli), Groundnut (Peanut) and Maggi cubes.

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken Breast or Thigh

1/2 Cup Roasted Peanuts or 80g Kulikuli

2 Tablespoons Peanut/Groundnut Oilor Canola Oil

1 Tablespoon Onion Powder or Fried Onion Flakes

1 Teaspoon Ginger Powder

1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

1 Tablespoon Smoked Paprika

1-2 Tablespoons Cayenne pepper

2 Knorr or Maggi Cubes

3 Tablespoons Suya spice

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Preparation:

Firstly, soak the Skewers in water for 30 minutes, this will prevent them from burning while grilling. Chop the Chicken into bite size pieces, then season with Chicken seasoning and allow to marinate for half an hour…

Mix all the ingredients, except the Groundnut oil, then blend till smooth. You may wish to blend coarsely if you prefer crunchy Peanuts in your Suya Chicken. Alternatively, you may wish to use premixed Suya spice mix instead of making it from scratch.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius at this time!

Dry the chicken pieces with a paper towel, the chicken needs to be considerably dry so they don’t end up soggy. Now, thread the Chicken onto the Skewers, you may thread as much as you wish…

Arrange them on a roasting tray or oven rack, then brush the chicken skewers with the Peanut oil…

Now, smother the Chicken with the paste, making sure they’re well covered. If you’re using premixed spice only, simply cover the Chicken with as much as you can. Set aside for an hour…

Place them in the preheated oven and grill or bake for 30 minutes or until fully done. Remember to turn them over during cooking for even heat distribution…

Yummy! Serve with some more Suya spice….