Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

One of the most popular and sought after dishes from Jamaicans and tourists alike when visiting our country is Jamaican Jerk Chicken. I guarantee that this is a menu item in almost every Jamaican restaurant local or abroad. 

Here I have created an awesome traditional and ideal homemade Jerk Seasoning that can be used for Jerk Chicken, pork or any meat of choice. In this post, I will be focusing on making jerk chicken starting with making the sauce from scratch. 

I did a previous post on Jamaican Jerk Seasoning where I mentioned that Jerk Seasoning is a traditional Jamaican spicy sauce or paste used to season different meats before cooking. Jerk is specifically for the spicy food lover.

If and when you visit Jamaica, we have a variety of popular Jerk restaurants or spots , (as we Jamaicans call them), all across the island that would definitely satisfy your palate. However, until then you can try my homemade jerk recipe which I think is quite good and will satisfy your “Jamaican Jerk” craving.

This recipe, we specifically use with chicken in my home, but can also be used with other meats. I have another post for Jamaican Jerk Pork as well using this same recipe combination. You can make the batch of sauce and bottle and refrigerate the rest for future use. 

Ingredients for Jerk Seasoning

• Scotch Bonnet Peppers
• Scallion
• Garlic
• Pimento Berries
• Thyme Leaves – preferably fresh
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• Brown Sugar
• Cinnamon Powder
• Nutmeg
• Dark or Mushroom Soy Sauce
• Vinegar

Preparation Steps for Jamaican Jerk Chicken

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1. To make this recipe, you would combine the ingredients for the sauce in a blender until smooth.
2.  You would then rub the jerk seasoning  on the chicken and marinade in a seasoning bowl for at least 2 hours.
3. I would reccommend about 1/4 cup of jerk sauce to about 8 pieces of chicken or adjust more or less to your preference of spiciness.
4. Bottle the rest of sauce you are not using and place in the fridge for future use. 
5. Then you would place the chicken in a non-stick baking pan where you would bake according to the directions. I bake at 350 degrees for about 1-1/2 hours, turning the pieces every 20 minutes and maybe broiling the last 5 minutes or so to make browner. 

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Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time 6 minutes

Servings 4 People

Author Dianne

Ingredients

• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1 tsp. Black Pepper
• 1 tsp. Pimento Berries
• 6 cloves Garlic
• 6 Scotch Bonnet Peppers
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 2 sprigs Fresh Thyme Leaves
• 2 stalks Scallions
• 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon Powder
• 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg grated
• 3 Tbsp. Dark or Mushroom Soy Sauce
• 1/4 cup Vinegar

Chicken

• 4 Chicken quarters or parts of choice Of choice
• 1/4 Jamaican Jerk Seasoning or adjust according to preference

Instructions

Jerk Seasoning

1. Combine all Jerk Seasoning ingredients and place in blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

2. Place unused sauce in a jar in fridge for futures.

Jerk Chicken

1. Season chicken with about 1/4 cup of sauce, rubbing under skin as well.

2. Cover in seasoning bowl or bag and place in fridge to marinade at least 2 hours for best results.
3. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken quarters 1" apart on a baking pan. Cover with foil. Bake for 40 minutes.

4. Uncover and turn on other side. Bake 20 minutes, turn and bake another 20 minutes.

5. Increase temperature to 400 degrees or broil and bake 10 minutes on each side to brown. Or broil for about 5 minutes on each side. (If using breast quarters, it may require less cooking time than leg quarters to prevent dryness)