Mexican-inspired grilled chicken

And the hunt for a very specific ingredient.

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On a recent trip, the best thing I ate came from a roadside rotisserie chicken stand that was recommended by our wine tour guide. Using a massive, open-air rotisserie built into a brick hearth, this stand only sells half and whole chickens that come with onions and potatoes that have been cooked in the chicken fat that rains down as the machine rotates around a fire.

It reminded me of other Mexican dishes I’d had that were made with achiote, a spice that comes from the annatto seed, and is commonly used in the Yucatán and across the Caribbean. On its own, it’s got a bit of an earthy-sweetness, but mixed into a marinade, it takes on a more pungent, umami flavor and gives food a bright orangey-red color.

The first time I cooked with achiote, it came in a paste, but when I was playing around with this recipe, I could not find it anywhere in my neighborhood. After three grocery stores, the closest thing I could find were packets of sazón, an annatto-based spice blend that’s common in Puerto Rican cooking. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but I grabbed it as a backup.

A few more stops later and still no paste, I found whole seeds, so I decided to give that a try. I tossed the seeds and some spices into my mini food processor and the seeds just did not break down. After what felt like an eternity of trying to grind the seeds to a smooth paste, I gave up and ended up with a bunch of half-ground seeds. I still marinated the chicken in it and it still tasted great, but I also ordered this spice grinder for a future attempt.

I was pretty hung up on getting the achiote paste, but I realized that running around to all of these stops isn’t something most people are interested in doing. And frankly, by the third stop, I was over it too. My spice grinder arrives soon, so I’ll try that version again, and Burlap & Barrel makes their own Sazón, which will be in my next order.

I eventually made a marinade with the sazón and it turned out perfectly. It was exactly what I was craving and it was incredibly easy, which is sometimes the goal.

Mexican-inspired grilled chicken

This recipes uses sazón packets because they seem to be the easiest to track down. Because I also recipe tested using the seeds, I will leave some notes if you have a spice grinder and want to go that route. If you have access to a rotisserie, first of all invite me over, second you should use it and take this recipe to the next level. Serve with tortillas, limes, and other grilled vegetables for a complete meal.