Nando's Rewards Explained: What Your Green, Orange and Red Rewards Actually Get You
How Chillies work, exactly what each reward covers (and what it doesn't), plus the small print most guides get wrong
Nando's Rewards looks simple on the surface. Spend £7, get a Chilli, collect Chillies, get free chicken. But the details trip people up, and a lot of what's written about the scheme online is out of date. Nando's quietly updated its Rewards terms in February 2026, and those terms now exclude specific menu items from each reward tier, spell out how the Chilli counter resets, and confirm that your £7 is measured after any discounts. We've gone through the current terms line by line so you know exactly what you're entitled to before you get to the till.
What is Nando's Rewards?
Nando's Rewards is the chain's free loyalty scheme, and it works like a digital stamp card. Every day you spend £7 or more at Nando's, you earn one Chilli. Collect enough Chillies and you unlock free food, starting with a starter or quarter chicken and building up to a whole chicken meal.
You'll sometimes hear it called the Nando's Card, because that's how you use it. Sign up for a free account on the Nando's Rewards page and you get a digital card to add to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, plus one bonus Chilli just for registering. Physical cards still exist too. You can pick one up at the till in participating restaurants while they have stock, but you'll need to register it online or in the app before you can redeem anything. Chillies can be earned on an unregistered card, but rewards can't be claimed until it's linked to an account.
To join you need to be 14 or over and live in the UK. That's it. There's no fee, no tiers to maintain and no minimum number of visits.
How Nando’s Chillies work: £7 spend, one Chilli per day
The earning rule is short but has more small print than people realise. You get one Chilli per day when you spend £7 or more, and that £7 is counted after any discounts or rewards have been applied. So if you use the NHS discount, a promo code or a free reward and your bill drops below £7, no Chilli. Worth knowing before you stack every saving in one order.
A few more things that don't count towards the £7: gift card purchases, bag charges, delivery fees and small order fees. It's food and drink spend only.
You can earn Chillies eating in, on Click & Collect, and on delivery ordered through Nando's website or app. At the till, tap your phone (or hand over your physical card) at the contactless reader before you pay. Ordering online or at the table through the QR code, just make sure you're logged in to your Nando's account first. This is the trap that catches most people: if you use Guest Checkout when ordering at your table, you earn nothing, even though you're sat in the restaurant spending well over £7. Log in every time.
Two limits to remember. It's strictly one Chilli per day, no matter how many qualifying orders you place, and Chillies are personal to your account. They can't be pooled with a friend's card or merged across multiple cards, so if you're eating in a group, paying separately on your own accounts is the only way everyone earns.
Chillies usually appear in your account within 48 hours for in-restaurant orders, and up to three days for delivery orders.
The Green Reward: 3 Chillies
Your first reward lands at three Chillies. A Green Reward gets you a free quarter chicken, three chicken wings, or any starter, with one exclusion: the Dare to Share (the pick-three starter combo) doesn't qualify.
If you're chasing value, the quarter chicken is usually the priciest eligible item at around £5.50 to £6, though a chunkier starter like the halloumi sticks runs it close. Prices vary slightly by restaurant, so it's worth a glance at the Nando's menu for your local before you decide.
The Orange Reward: 6 Chillies
At six Chillies you unlock an Orange Reward: a free half chicken, or any single burger, pitta or wrap. The word single matters, as double versions aren't included, and neither are four of the fancier options. The Sunset Burger, Garlic Churrasco Burger, Chickle Burger and Butterfly Burger are all excluded under the current terms. The Garlic Churrasco in particular still gets recommended in older guides as the best Orange Reward pick, but it no longer qualifies, so don't get caught out ordering it.
With those off the table, the half chicken is generally your strongest choice at around £9 to £9.50, and it's the classic Nando's order anyway.
The Red Reward: 10 Chillies
The big one. At ten Chillies, a Red Reward is worth a free whole chicken, any single burger, pitta or wrap with one or two regular sides, a PERi-PERi chicken meal with one or two regular sides, or a salad or bowl with a protein.
Take the two sides if you're going the meal route. It's one or two regular sides, and plenty of people only claim one because they assume a "meal" means a single side. That's a free portion of chips or spicy rice left on the table.
The Red Reward has the longest exclusion list of the three, so here's what doesn't qualify under the February 2026 terms: PERi-Mac & Cheese, Portuguese Tomato Salad, Charred Corn and Rostinas can't be your regular sides, and you can't redeem it against 10 Chicken Wings, 10 Extra Saucy Wings, Wing Roulette, Nandinos kids' meals, Sharing Platters, Fully Loaded Chips or the Butterfly Burger. Limited-time and trial items are generally out too. And if you customise a burger, pitta or wrap with extras like halloumi or avocado, the reward covers the base item and you pay the difference.
On pure value, the whole chicken (around £16) and a burger with two regular sides come out roughly level, so order whichever you'd actually enjoy. The full exclusions live in the Nando's Rewards terms and conditions if you want to check an item before you visit.
Do Nando’s Chillies reset when you use a reward?
No, and this is the bit almost everyone gets wrong, including some big money-saving sites. Redeeming a reward has no effect on your Chilli balance or your progress towards the next reward. Your Green and Orange Rewards are banked as you pass three and six Chillies, and they sit in your account whether you spend them or not.
The counter only restarts when you hit ten Chillies and earn your Red Reward. And here's the detail buried in the terms that no one seems to mention: your balance doesn't reset to zero, it resets to one. In other words, the day you bank your Red Reward, you're already a Chilli into your next cycle. Over a couple of years of regular visits, that quietly shaves a visit off every loop.
Do Nando’s Chillies or rewards expire?
Chillies never expire. Rewards do. Each reward is valid for 366 days from the day you earn it (a full year, leap years included), and anything unredeemed after that is removed from your account for good. You can check what you've got and when it runs out in the rewards section of the app or your account at nandos.co.uk, so set yourself a reminder if you've got a Red Reward gathering dust.
Forgot to scan your Nando’s Card? How to claim missing Chillies
If you paid without scanning your card, keep the receipt. You have 180 days from the date of the order to claim the Chilli back through your Nando's account, which is one of the most generous claim-back windows of any UK loyalty scheme. Log in, add the receipt details, and the Chilli should appear within a couple of days. Six months is plenty of time, but it only works if the receipt survives, so photograph it before it fades in your coat pocket.
Can you earn Nando’s Chillies on delivery, Deliveroo or Uber Eats?
This one confuses people because Nando's delivery is actually powered by Deliveroo behind the scenes, yet the rules treat the two completely differently. Order delivery through the Nando's website or app while logged in and you'll earn Chillies and can redeem rewards. Order through the Deliveroo app or website itself (or Uber Eats, or Just Eat) and you get nothing: no Chillies earned, no rewards redeemable. Same food, same driver in some cases, very different loyalty outcome. Always start your order at nandos.co.uk or in the Nando's app.
One more online quirk: when you're eating in, you can redeem as many banked rewards as you like in one visit, but online orders are limited to one reward per order. If you've got a Green and a Red saved up for a takeaway feast, you'll need to split them across two orders or save one for a sit-down visit.
If you order delivery often enough that the fees sting, our guide to Deliveroo Plus covers whether the subscription pays for itself, though remember Deliveroo orders won't feed your Chilli count.
Where to find your Nando’s Card number
Your card number sits with your digital card in the Nando's app, and you can also see it by logging into your account at nandos.co.uk. If you're at the till without your phone, staff can look you up, or just keep the receipt and claim the Chilli later. Lost a physical card? If it was registered, log in and use the Request Card option and Nando's will send a replacement to your registered address with your balance intact. Unregistered cards can't be recovered, which is the best argument there is for registering yours today.
How to get the most value from Nando’s Rewards
The scheme rewards habits more than spending, so a few small changes make a real difference. Pay separately when you eat in a group, because one bill earns one Chilli for one account, while four people paying £7 each earn four. Aim your order at the £7 line rather than well past it, since a wrap and a bottomless drink clears it comfortably. Add your card to your phone's wallet so scanning is never the thing you forget. And check your banked rewards before you order, because a forgotten Green Reward is a free starter you paid full price for.
Rewards also stack with discount codes. Nando's confirms you can earn and redeem rewards on the same order as a promo code, so it's worth checking the latest Nando's discount codes before you order. Just remember the £7 Chilli threshold is measured after the discount comes off, so on a small order a code can save you money but cost you the Chilli. Decide which you'd rather have. And if you're spreading your loyalty around, our roundup of restaurant deals covers savings at the other big chains too.
Is Nando’s Rewards worth it?
Yes, and by loyalty scheme standards it's unusually generous. There's no points-per-pound maths to do, rewards arrive from your third visit rather than your thirtieth, and because redemptions never dent your progress, there's no strategy required. Compare that with supermarket schemes where you're converting points into pennies. If you like that side of things, our guides to the Morrisons More Card and the Boots Advantage Card show just how differently those schemes behave.
A regular who visits twice a month will bank a free whole chicken meal roughly every five months, plus a Green and Orange Reward along the way, for spending nothing extra. The only ways to lose are ordering through third-party apps, forgetting to log in, or letting a reward hit its 366-day expiry. Avoid those three and it's free chicken for showing up.
Nando's Rewards FAQs
Can you get more than one Chilli a day?
No. It's one Chilli per account per day, however many qualifying orders you place. Two visits in one day still earn a single Chilli.
What's the minimum spend for a Chilli?
£7 in a single day, measured after any discounts or rewards are applied. Gift cards, bag charges and delivery fees don't count towards it.
Can I use two rewards at once?
Eating in, yes, you can redeem as many banked rewards as you like. Ordering online for collection or delivery, it's one reward per order.
Do Chillies expire?
No. Chillies stay on your account indefinitely. It's the rewards they unlock that expire, 366 days after you earn each one.
Can I earn Chillies on Deliveroo?
No. Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat orders earn nothing and can't redeem rewards. Only orders placed directly with Nando's count, including Nando's own delivery via its website and app.
I forgot my card. Can I still get my Chilli?
Yes. Keep the receipt and add it to your account online or in the app within 180 days of the order.
