Jerk Chicken Recipe

Jerk chicken is a popular Jamaican recipe, where the marinated chicken is slow cooked or grilled. It is a super flavourful and spicy chicken recipe perfect for lunch, dinner or special occasions. It is so easy to make and perfect for busy nights.

A special sweet, spicy marination sauce is prepared and spread all over the chicken pieces , then baked or grilled until tender and juicy. This delicious jerk chicken can be enjoyed with hot rice, pulav, pasta or with salads. 

Jerk Chicken

I have been eyeing on this recipe for quite a long time and yesterday i got a chance to make and this and I am telling you, it is delicious. I made this and served with mushroom baked pasta, i even shared a picture in my Instagram. 

Jump to:

• About Jerk Chicken
• Ingredients
• Step by Step Pictures
• Expert Tips
• FAQ 
• Variations
• 📖 Recipe Card

What is Jerk Chicken

The Jerk chicken recipe originated from Jamaica and is popular in the Caribbean region. The term "Jerk" in Jamaica refers to a style of cooking meat with marination. Marination enhances the flavour and also tenderizes any meat like chicken, beef, shrimp, fish or vegetables like paneer, tofu, mushrooms. It also helps the meat or vegetable not be too dry or rubbery while grilling or baking. 

The meat is slow cooked on fire or grilled using a special wood called pimento wood in Jamaica. The unique flavour of jerk chicken comes from the special ingredient called scotch bonnet pepper. It gives the authentic Jamaican flavour and smokey aroma. It will be really hot, as research says that it will be 70 times hotter than jalapeno. But it can be easily swapped with regular green chilli, dry red chillies. 

About Jerk Chicken

Jerk chicken is made using chicken and marinated with spices like onion, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, chilli, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and lemon juice. The marinated sauce has a unique taste of sweet and spicy flavour. Chicken is then baked or grilled in the preheated oven. This is one of the simple, easy to make recipes and it tastes absolutely delicious.

This jerk chicken can also be fried in a grill pan or non-stick pan. When you crave for some grill chicken recipe, then give this recipe a try as it includes minimum effort and has lip smacking flavors. 

Simple and flavourful : The recipe is so simple, just blend ingredients and marinate with chicken. It is ideal for busy days and perfect for lunch, dinner or for special occasions. This jerk chicken has the balanced flavours of nutmeg, honey, cinnamon, clove and chilli in the marination. The overnight marination makes the chicken tendery, juicy and flavourful.

Similar Recipes

Grilled Chicken
Oven Fried Chicken
Tandoori Chicken
Tangri Kebab

Hacks

Marination : Blend all the ingredients except chicken in the blender into a paste. Now take the chicken thigh or drumstick piece, put some slits using a knife. Mix and coat the marination paste into each chicken piece well. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours or let it marinate overnight. 

Baking : Preheat the oven to 180 degree celsius. Line a baking tray with foil. Place the marinated chicken pieces and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. At the end, turn the grill and set it to 250 degree celsius. Grill the chicken for a minute to turn it into a golden brown color. 

No oven ? A simple grill pan or non-stick pan also works for frying this jerk chicken. Place the marinated chicken in the pan, cook on medium heat. Also occasionally brush the leftover marinated paste over the chicken. Cook each side for about 5 to 10 minutes. 

Added glaze : At the end of grilling or baking, brush some sauces like barbeque sauce, tomato sauce, honey mustard sauce or even honey for extra glaze and taste. 

Ingredients

Chicken thighs or chicken drumsticks : Use chicken thighs or drumsticks for a juicy and delicious taste. You can also use boneless chicken breast, as it takes less time in cooking. 

Onion : Onion adds a mild sweetness to the marination and also blends well with chicken. 

Ginger and Garlic : Ginger garlic are cleaned, peeled and roughly chopped. You can also use ginger garlic paste. It adds a warm, pungent aroma to the chicken. 

Green chillies : Traditionally in Jamaica, scotch bonnet pepper also known as Caribbean red pepper is used. But I substituted with regular green chilli. 

Spice powder : I have used whole spice powders like cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, clove powder and red chilli powder. These spices provide a unique fragrant, sweet and spice flavor.

Honey : I added honey for sweetness and to balance the spice flavours. But you can substitute with brown sugar or regular white sugar. 

Oil : Use any oil like canola oil, vegetable oil or olive oil to bind the flavours and to grill the chicken. 

Lemon juice : Lemon juice is added for the zesty flavour and also tenderizes the chicken. 

Soy sauce : A spoon of soy sauce is added for the umami flavour. 

Step by Step Pictures

Expert Tips

• While serving, squeeze lemon juice on chicken for the extra zing.
• Garnish the jerk chicken with chopped coriander leaves or spring onion. 
• Prick some holes using a fork or slit the chicken using a knife. This will tenderize the chicken and also help to absorb the flavours.
• Add some pineapple juice while marinating the chicken for the tropical flavour. 
• Add some fresh herbs like thyme or parsley for marination.
• You can serve the leftover marinated sauce as a dipping sauce for the chicken. 

Serving & Storage

Store the marinated chicken in the freezer for 1 to 2 weeks. You can grill or bake it whenever you wish to have. The leftover jerk chicken can be refrigerated for 3 to 5 days. Keep them in an airtight container and place it inside the fridge. 

Serve the hot juicy and spicy jerk chicken with any pulav, rice or with pasta. It can also be served along with vegetable or meat salad. 

FAQ 

Q.What does " jerk " mean ? 

The word " jerk " refers to a method of cooking in Jamaica. It involves marinating meat with spices and then slow cooking or grilling them in fire using a special wood called pimento wood. 

Q. Is jerk chicken spicy ?

Jerk chicken has the balanced flavours of sweet and spice. But you can adjust the spice quantity based on your spice tolerance. 

Q. Can I make this recipe with whole chicken ? 

Yes you can make the recipe using whole chicken. Just double or triple the marination ingredients and mix it with chicken. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Also the cooking time differs accordingly. 

Q.Can I use the jerk marination for other ingredients ? 

Yes ! The marination paste will work for other meat like pork, shrimp or with vegetarian options like mushroom, paneer and tofu. 

Variations

Jerk chicken salad : Slice or shred the cooked jerk chicken, mix it with vegetables like lettuce, tomato, bean, corn, avocado. Add your favourite salad dressing like honey mustard sauce, italian salad dressing or honey lime juice and enjoy. 

Spicy chicken skewer : Spicy chicken skewer is a juicy, delicious and flavourful recipe. Chicken breast is cut into small cubes and marinated with the special spices. And also add some cubed pineapple, mushroom and onion along with chicken before grilling. Serve hot with mayonnaise. 

Thai red curry chicken roast : This is a Thai chicken baked / grilled recipe. The chicken is marinated with special Thai red curry paste and with other spices like chilli, cumin, onion, coriander, and lemon grass.

📖 Recipe Card

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