Is Nando's Halal? Yes and No, Here's Why

Nando’s is a famous fast-food company. It is a South African multinational fast-food chain specializing in its famous flame-grilled Peri Peri-style chicken.

The franchise was founded in Johannesburg in 1987 and operated at least 1200 outlets in 30 countries.

Nando’s famous logo has a rooster of Barcelos on it. This rooster is one of Portugal’s most common symbols. This symbol appears on the various Nandos sauces, which are readily available all around the world and in the market area as well. The sauces make cooking at home so much easier and delicious.

Since the sauces are all halal, Muslims that have the disadvantage having of non-halal restaurants near them can enjoy Nando’s chicken at home or at a Nando’s restaurant nearby thanks to their halal chicken and Nandos sauces. Nando’s provides halal chicken at their outlets.

However, it depends on the area and the country where the Nando’s location resides in. There are very few halal outlets globally and surprisingly enough, the U.S. facilitates zero halal Nando’s restaurants!

If you would like to know whether a specific location near you is halal or not, all you have to do is visit their website and officially check out the country you reside in and the area within that country.

Go to the FAQ section of Nando’s website, you need to type “halal” in the search box and find out whether Nando’s is serving halal chicken in your vicinity or not.

It is excellent nonetheless how transparent Nando’s is with its policy. You can easily get all the information you need regarding their ingredients and their policies through their website.

The official Nando’s website contains information about every country where Nandos has a branch in.

After being directed to your own country via the official website, you will be able to catch a glimpse of the menu, order and even go into the FAQs and find out which locations are halal, if any.

Furthermore, since Nando’s is spread worldwide, the restaurants in Muslim countries such as Pakistan, Kuwait, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia are all halal because the chicken is shipped from a halal poultry source.

This means that the entire restaurant of those country is halal in this way. Most restaurants are not as transparent with their services, and one needs to look around on different websites to find out whether they are certified halal or not.

Nando’s provides all this information on their website, making it easier for people to find answers.

Is nandos chicken halal

The reason why most outlets are non-halal is that their staple food is chicken. The U.S. seems to have no halal Nando’s branch in the country.

This is because the chicken in the US is not halal; for the chicken to be non-halal means that it is not slaughtered the way Muslims slaughter their chicken.

Even in Canada, none of the Nando’s branches are halal except the Ontario locations, and as for the U.K., amongst the vast number of branches, only 67 are halal.

Nando’s specialty is their flame-grilled chicken. This makes it exceptionally difficult for the branch to sell halal food.

Of course, other things on the menu that do not involve meat and are vegetarian could be considered halal. Still, since the staple is the grilled chicken and it is haram, many Muslims frown upon this and are prevented from dining in the place.

The U.K. branch explains and testifies that the branches that ARE halal in the country are verified and that the chicken, when slaughtered, is handled by a Muslim slaughterer that follows the halal way.

The story behind Nando’s itself is represented by the symbol of the Barcelos Cockerel, which radiates faith, justice and good fortune concerning a legend where a pilgrim was accused of theft in Portugal and convicted of a life sentence.

When he was brought to the judge to plead innocent, the judge was ready to feast on a roasted Cockerel. The pilgrim proclaimed, “if I am innocent may that Cockerel get up and crow “before everyone knew it, the Cockerel really did get up and crow heartily. This led the judge to send the pilgrim on his way.

In this way, the story does embody the Cockerel as a symbol of justice. It explains why Nando’s still has its specialty in chicken. But of course, it is not halal in every location and therefore requires confirmation and assessment beforehand.

Is Nando’s peri-peri halal

Nando’s is most famous for its Peri-peri sauces. Nando’s sauces can be bought online and from various grocery store outlets. All the Nando’s Peri-Peri sauces are halal and contain primarily natural products with preservatives.

However, one does not go to a restaurant just for the sauce. Depending on the branch of the restaurant, most Nando’s outlets are non-halal in most countries. Nando’s serves chicken that is not 100% halal-certified. On their website, it’s claimed as such.

Nando’s is quite passionate about its Peri-Peri. On the website, as well as the franchise and logo itself, the color represents the exact color of Peri Peri, and this color is called us peri-red.

The color was matched by taking a bucket of African bird’s eye chilies in hand and asking a South African Manny Pieterson, a color specialist, to help match the color.

Is Nandos in the UK Halal?

There are a total of 367 Nando’s restaurants in the U.K. Amongst all these Nando’s restaurants; only 67 serve halal chicken. These are signposted in the restaurant and online.

A tiny portion of this chicken is served in other restaurants, but no one knows which ones because it’s not labeled halal anywhere.

Nando’s claims that day continues to look at ways to offer non-halal chicken dishes. On their website, they list various restaurants in the U.S. which serve halal chicken only.

Their halal chickens are supplied by the Kargil Freemans of Newent and authorized by the Islamic Institute of jurisprudence. They are also one of the U.K.’s leading suppliers of halal chicken.

Older chickens are indoor raised and pre-stunned to minimize the suffering. This is done by using a high-frequency stun.

The chickens are still alive but unconscious when manhandled and slaughtered. Muslim slaughterman also licenses them. Their slaughter process is overseen by Mr. Ali, who has been a practicing Muslim slaughterman for 20 years.

The halal restaurants are authorized only to receive poultry from the approved distribution centers.

They claim to serve halal chicken before they decide where the restaurant opens based on the population and the type of restaurant, which includes its potential future openings in the area.

They also claim to keep the halal branches the way they are without any change.

Is Nandos in the US Halal?

Nando’s is a trendy place to go to in the United States. There are a total of 367 restaurants in the United States.

In 2021 it was counted that 43 restaurant outlets reside in the United States, which means Washington and Chicago metropolitan areas only, 12 in Illinois, six in Washington DC, 15 in Maryland and 10 in Virginia.

However, it’s pretty unfortunate that none of Nando’s restaurant branches in the United States are halal. Pretty shocking because there are so many branches, but none are halal.

Of course, chicken is not non-halal in Islam. It’s just the way that it is slaughtered that makes it non-halal. Probably Nando’s in the United States does not slaughter their chicken the way Muslims do.

The fact that Nando’s doesn’t serve halal chicken in the united states is stated by them here: https://www.nandosperiperi.com/help/food/does-nandos-serve-halal-chicken/

Is Nandos chicken Halal in Canada?

In Canada, Nando’s is a popular place to go for delicious food. Nando’s has been operating since 1994 in Canada. In 2021 it was counted that there are as many as 32 branches of the franchise in Canada, with 11 in Ontario, four in Alberta and 17 in British Columbia.

Luckily some of the Nando’s branches in Canada do offer halal food. They are famous for their flame-grilled chicken there.

Unfortunately, Nandos confirms from Nando’s Canada website in their FAQs that only the Ontario location branches are halal and that all the other branches residing in British Columbia and Alberta are not halal.

This is probably because most of the Muslim population in Canada lives in Ontario, and therefore there is greater demand for halal food there.

The halal branches in Ontario or a total of 11 in number and or certified as 100% halal. This means that Muslims can enjoy the food at the Ontario Nando’s branches without any hesitation or restrictions.

Is Nando’s hot sauce Halal?

Nando’s may have a wide selection of delicious food, but it’s actually most famous for its sauces, especially the peri-peri hot sauce. The ingredients in the sauces are pretty simple, and therefore the sauces are halal.

The sauces made by Nandos include the following types,

Lemon and herb peri peri
Garlic peri-peri
Medium peri-peri
XX Hot peri-peri
Coconut and lemon peri-peri
PERinaise
PERinaise Hot

This sauce is readily available to buy separately at grocery stores, including Islamic stores, because it is by all means halal.

The hot sauce usually is just a blend of peppers in Chili oil. Nothing non-halal about that. You can even order from different sources through Nando’s food online ordering.

The tantalizing flavors and spicy kick in this sauce helps turn ordinary meals more flavorful and tasty. And it’s much better because more people can enjoy it since it’s halal.

The sauce is also vegan and therefore suitable for vegetarians.

Is Nando’s Halal?
Nando’s Halal?	Some of the branches are halal
Is Nando’s in the US halal?	No Branches are halal in the US
Is Nando’s in the Canada halal?	Some of the branches in Canada are halal
Is Nando’s in the UK halal?	Yes, Some of the branches in UK are halal