Ga Roti is a traditional finger-licking-good Vietnamese Roasted Chicken recipe from Saigon.

Also known as Ga Ro Ti, the tasty dish is typically prepared with fattier cuts of the bird like chicken legs and drumsticks.

The popular southern Vietnamese comfort food dish is typically served as an entree alongside sliced cucumber and tomato, pickled daikon and carrots, fresh herbs and steamed rice.

Our homemade Vietnamese Roasted Chicken recipe is quick and easy to make at home, flavoured with garlic, ginger, Chinese five spice powder, Maggi sauce and fish sauce.

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What Is Ga Roti?

Ga Roti (Gà Rô Ti) is a popular chicken dish from Saigon in southern Vietnam.

The most common translations are Vietnamese Rotisserie Chicken and Vietnamese Roasted Chicken. Also “Ro Ti” does sound a lot like a short version of “rotisserie”.

Vietnamese crispy roasted chicken is unique since it’s both sweet and savoury, thanks to its marinade featuring white sugar, fish sauce and salt.

In Vietnam the dish is typically prepared with chicken legs or chicken drumsticks, fattier cuts of the bird with lots of skin that gets nice and crispy when roasted.

Many Ga Roti recipes use a cooking method that requires frying in a skillet over the stove but we like to use a hot oven to roast the marinated chicken so the skin gets additively crispy. In Vietnam is it not common to have an oven in your home so Vietnamese Roasted Chicken is most commonly prepared by local cooks over a stove or barbecue.

Some regional variations of the dish used by Vietnamese cooks require you to first cook the chicken pieces in oil until the skin is crispy and then simmer them in coconut water to impart a tropical and sweet taste to the meat. This ends up producing a braised chicken where the skin isn’t as crispy so we don’t often use this method.

Traditional Ga Roti Vietnamese Roasted Chicken recipe ingredients.

Travel to Vietnam by Cooking Ga Roti at Home

I love traveling through Asia.

My first visit to Asia had me living in South Korea for a year as a teacher and it’s where I was first introduced to fermented vegetables like kimchi.

After my contract ended in Seoul I travelled throughout southeast Asia for 6 months, visiting the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

I spent over a month traveling by bus through Vietnam. I started in the south, spending a few days in Saigon before exploring the floating markets in the nearby Mekong Delta. I then took a series of night buses north making stops in Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue, Halong Bay and Hanoi.

What I found most fascinating is Vietnam’s distinct regional food cultures. Much like the regional cuisines found in France, Germany, Italy or Spain, each town in Vietnam had its own local speciality.

I fell in love with the exciting street food culture in Vietnam. In Saigon I’ll never forget the first time I ate Ga Roti. I ordered crispy Vietnamese Roasted Chicken from a street food vendor and sat on a plastic chair on the sidewalk overlooking a busy intersection while pulling apart the tender meat with my sticky fingers.

The skin was so flavourful and crispy and the meat fell right off the bone! The lightly spiced chicken is traditionally served with crunchy cucumber and sweet tomato slices a well as a small bowl of steamed rice, which helps balance out a healthy meal. You can also serve it with pickled daikon and carrots too!

Marinate chicken pieces and place in a roasting pan.

Where To Eat Vietnamese Roasted Chicken

If you live in a large city in Canada or America you’ll likely have access to a local Vietnamese restaurant that serves Ga Ro Ti.

Haven’t traveled to Vietnam before? It may be helpful to first sample Ga Roti at a local Vietnamese restaurant to better understand how the dish is served. You can determine if you want to use drumsticks, thighs or legs, what flavours to include in the marinade and the perfect side dishes to compliment the meal.

In Toronto, popular Vietnamese restaurants that may serve their own authentic Ga Roti recipe include Pinky’s Ca Phe, Pho Phuong, Pho Vistro, Anh Dao, Pho Hung, Pho Asia 21 or The Golden Turtle.

Ga Ro Ti Vietnamese Roasted Chicken features crispy skin when removed from the oven.

Ga Roti Recipe Health Benefits

Our easy Vietnamese Roasted Chicken recipe is packed full of wholesome ingredients!

It is only recently that scientists have begun to identify the components responsible for garlic’s myriad health benefits. Rich in phytochemicals and potassium, garlic helps boost your immune system, fight cancer and protect your heart.

Ginger contains at least 14 phytochemicals, many of which have impressive antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It also has a good source of copper, which supports your bones, blood and nervous system.

Chives are a humble vegetable packed with vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. Regular consumption of onions can help boost digestive health and reduce the risk of developing heart disease.

Chicken is high in protein and provides B vitamins such as niacin, which helps your body access the energy in foods.

Ga Roti is flavoured with ginger, garlic, and Chinese Five Spice.

Ga Ro Ti Recipe Cooking Tips

This homemade Vietnamese Roasted Chicken recipe is quick and easy to make at home. We’ve included a few tips and tricks to get you started.

The best cuts to purchase at the butcher when making Ga Roti are dark meat, bone-in and skin-on, like chicken legs and drumsticks. You can also use chicken thighs and wings.
We have sweetened the marinade with white sugar but you can use brown sugar or honey if you prefer.
We’ve flavoured the marinade with Maggi sauce but you can substitute for hoisin or oyster sauce.
We’ve used canola oil in this recipe but you can use another flavourless vegetable oil like avocado oil.
We like to garnish the dish with chives but you can also sprinkle the roasted chicken with cilantro or crispy fried shallots.

Ga Roti Vietnamese Roasted Chicken Photo Image.

What To Serve with Vietnamese Roasted Chicken

Vietnamese Ga Roti is typically served as a main course entree for lunch or dinner.

The roasted chicken is often served with a selection of fresh herbs, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, pickled daikon and carrots, and steamed rice or noodles.

If you’re hosting a Vietnamese dinner party or potluck, we suggest pairing our Ga Ro Ti recipe with other popular dishes like:

Vietnamese Roasted Chicken keeps well in the fridge for 3-4 days so store it in an airtight container and enjoy as leftovers.

Garnish Ga Roti with finely chopped chives.

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Vietnamese Roasted Chicken is traditionally served with sliced cucumber & tomato and steamed rice.

What Is Chinese Five Spice?

Chinese Five Spice Powder is a spice mixture of five or more spices used predominantly in Chinese recipes, though it is also popular in Hawaiian and Vietnamese cuisine. The five flavours of the spices refer to the five traditional Chinese elements.

While there are many variants the most common to be featured in Five Spice blends include: star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorn, fennel seeds, ginger and nutmeg.

Our Ga Ro Ti marinade is flavoured with Chinese Five Spice, making this Vietnamese Roasted Chicken recipe finger-licking-good.

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How To Make Traditional Vietnamese Ga Roti

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