Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Poulet Braisé (Cameroonian Grilled Chicken)
Chicken marinated in garlic, ginger, and scotch bonnet, gently simmered tender, then charred over coals and basted with its spiced marinade.
Cameroonian · medium · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 40 min
~695 cal · 86g protein · 10g carbs · 31g fat · 2g fiber · 3g sugars · 7g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Poulet braisé is the sound and smell of a Cameroonian evening: chicken sizzling on grills set up along the streets of Douala and Yaoundé, the air thick with garlic, ginger, and smoke. Despite the name braisé, it is grilled chicken, first simmered gently in its own aromatic marinade so the inside cooks through, then finished over hot coals until the skin blisters and chars.
The marinade is the heart of it: garlic, ginger, onion, thyme, a fierce , and a hit of Maggi bouillon, the flavour base that runs through West and Central African cooking. Brushed on again and again as the bird grills, it builds a sticky, deeply savoury crust.
Served with , grilled or fried, and a raw onion and tomato relish or a fiery pepper sauce, poulet braisé is street food and celebration food at once. It is what a Cameroonian orders at a roadside grill-house with friends, pulled apart by hand and eaten late into the warm night.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
3 lbs chicken, cut into serving pieces
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 inch piece fresh ginger, grated
1 onion, grated
1 pepper, chopped
1 tbsp fresh thyme
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 lime, juiced
1 chicken bouillon cube (Maggi)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Blend the garlic, ginger, grated onion, scotch bonnet, thyme, white pepper, lime juice, crumbled bouillon, oil, and salt into a marinade, and coat the chicken well. Marinate at least 1 hour, ideally overnight.
2
Tip the chicken and its marinade into a wide pot with a splash of water and simmer gently, covered, for about 20 minutes until almost cooked through. Lift out the chicken and reserve the reduced marinade for basting.
3
Grill the chicken over medium coals (or under a hot broiler), turning and brushing generously with the reserved marinade, for 12 to 15 minutes until charred at the edges and cooked to the bone.
4
Rest the pieces a few minutes, then serve with fried or grilled plantains and a raw onion and tomato relish or pepper sauce.
Douala street-grill tradition, Cameroon.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Littoral (Douala). Littoral is Cameroon's port region around Douala, where ndole, bitterleaf simmered with ground peanuts and fish or beef, is the dish that tastes like home. Plantain, cassava sticks, and grilled mackerel from the Atlantic fill out the everyday table.
🗺️
Cameroon. Cameroon is called 'Africa in miniature,' and its food is just as varied, ndolé (bitterleaf and peanut stew), grilled fish, and fufu-style staples from plantain to cassava. Palm oil, groundnut, and fiery pepper define the plate.
🌍
Africa. Much of what reads as timeless African cooking is younger than the Atlantic crossings. Maize, cassava, groundnut, chilli and tomato all arrived from the Americas after 1500 and pushed older crops aside; millet, sorghum, teff, yam and fonio are the ones that were already here, and the map still shows the join.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Cameroon
NdoléCameroon’s national dish: bitterleaf greens simmered with ground peanuts, beef, and shrimp into a deep, satisfying stew.
Puff-Puff and BeansSweet fried dough balls served with a savory stewed bean pot, a filling Cameroonian breakfast.
Poulet DGFried chicken and sweet plantain simmered with peppers and vegetables in a rich tomato sauce, a Cameroonian celebration favorite.
Browse all Cameroon recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Grill or barbecue, Blender.
Storing it: Best straight off the heat. Leftovers keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and reheat well in a hot oven rather than the microwave.
Make it a Cameroon meal
Cameroonian Banana CakeDessert
Eru (Wild Greens with Waterleaf)Lunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Poulet Braisé (Cameroonian Grilled Chicken)?
Chicken marinated in garlic, ginger, and scotch bonnet, gently simmered tender, then charred over coals and basted with its spiced marinade.
Where does Poulet Braisé (Cameroonian Grilled Chicken) come from?
Poulet Braisé (Cameroonian Grilled Chicken) is a Cameroonian dish from Littoral (Douala), Cameroon.
Can Poulet Braisé (Cameroonian Grilled Chicken) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Poulet Braisé (Cameroonian Grilled Chicken) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Poulet Braisé (Cameroonian Grilled Chicken) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Poulet Braisé (Cameroonian Grilled Chicken) take to make?
About 65 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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