Frango Pinga – Cachaça Grilled Chicken

Frango is Portuguese for chicken while Pinga refers to cachaça. Boneless chicken legs, marinated in cachaça, olive oil, parsley and garlic overnight in the fridge, then grilled to perfection--easy to prepare and a crowd pleaser for sure. Serve it with a fresh herb salad, fries, or some rice and black beans. Cachaça, aka pinga or caninha, the most popular spirit in Brazil, is made from sugar cane and apart from being crucial to cocktails such as the caipirinha, it makes a great marinade for meat or fish. Cachaça is available at large liquor outlets, supermarkets or online. If not, use white rum instead.

1.2 kg Chicken legs, boneless
6 tbsp Olive oil
6 tbsp Cachaça
©angiesrecipes
Juice from 1 lime
5 Garlic cloves, minced
1 Small red Onion, finely chopped
15 g Flat parsley or ming leaves, finely chopped (plus more for garnish)
1 tsp Sea salt
Freshly milled pepper, to taste
2 Limes, cut into wedges

Pat chicken legs dry with kitchen paper towels. Set aside. For the marinade, mix olive oil, cachaça, lime juice, minced garlic, red onion, parsley, sea salt and black pepper in a large bowl. Add in chicken legs and massag the marinade into each chicken leg. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or transfer the whole lot to a zip-lock bag and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Remove the chicken from the refrigerator half an hour before you start cooking and let it come to room temperature.
Heat your grill over medium-high heat or heat a griddle pan until hot. Cook on the griddle or grill for 5 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
Cover loosely with foil to rest chicken for five minutes before serving with a sprinkling of chopped parsley and lime wedges on the side.

26 comments:

DEZMOND 25/9/25 13:10: Cacha whatcha?!? LOL Hope it is not too cold up in your northern regions, we are having a very fresh Autumn day after tropical previous weeks.
Tom 25/9/25 14:02: ...Angie, another work of art!
Lucimar da Silva Moreira 25/9/25 14:05: Angie que delicia de frango anotado, feliz quinta-feira bjs.
Lola Martínez 25/9/25 14:29: Tienes cantidad de recetas de pollo muy ricas pero la de hoy me parece especialmente apetitosa.
Lori 25/9/25 15:19: I have had this dish and it is indeed amazing. Your photos are really wonderful.
Anonymous 25/9/25 15:59: This looks so good. I've not heard of Cachaça but we do get white rum easily enough.
Tandy (Lavender and Lime) https://tandysinclair.com
Pantherka 25/9/25 17:30: This is simply beautiful.
Thanks for the recipe.
Brian's Home Blog 25/9/25 17:49: So much flavor, yum!
Carol @Comfort Spring Station 25/9/25 18:00: I use a lot of lemon in my cooking - I need to use more limes! Yum!
Linda's Relaxing Lair 25/9/25 18:03: This looks scrumptious, Angie.
Anne in the kitchen 25/9/25 18:03: I have never used cachaca in a marinade, only in a cocktail. This sounds great!
Pam 25/9/25 18:43: I've never heard of cachaça. The chicken looks perfectly grilled and delicious.
Bill 25/9/25 18:56: The chicken looks delicious, but I never heard of cachaca.
Ananka 25/9/25 19:31: Looks good :-D Same here, donno Cachaca!
Christine 25/9/25 20:29: yummy
Cooking Julia 25/9/25 23:48: Another great chicken recipe !
DeniseinVA 26/9/25 00:15: Looks amazing Angie!
J.P. Alexander 26/9/25 00:56: Gracias por la receta. te mando un beso.
Granny Sue 26/9/25 03:36: Oooo, this sounds so interesting!
Raymund | angsarap.net 26/9/25 05:54: This sounds fantastic, such a vibrant way to showcase how versatile cachaca can be outside of cocktails. The lime, garlic, and parsley must make the chicken so aromatic, and I can just imagine how beautifully it chars on the grill. Definitely a dish I’d love to serve at a summer gathering with plenty of fresh sides.
Margaret D 26/9/25 07:25: Seems delicious and something that I would love, Angie.
eileeninmd 26/9/25 12:08: Another delicious chicken recipe, thanks for sharing.
Take care, Happy Friday! Have a great weekend.
David M. Gascoigne, 26/9/25 12:08: Lime adds a burst of flavour to everything. This recipe looks like a real winner.
My name is Erika. 26/9/25 14:36: That chicken looks really tasty, and once again I learned something new. I hadn't heard of cachaca. But I think it's always fun to cook with alcohol. Have a super start to your weekend.
Pattie @ Olla-Podrida 27/9/25 03:55: These do sound easy, and I love that they are marinated overnight. That means most of the hard work is already done.
Lowcarb team member 28/9/25 01:17: This sounds full of delicious flavours.

All the best Jan