How to make Jerk Chicken | Jerk Chicken Recipe

This is my easy to follow Jerk Chicken Recipe – showing you exactly how to make Jerk Chicken. There is something about homemade jerk chicken that leaves a fiery tingle on your lips and enough Jamaican flavour to keep you coming back for more!

If you’ve ever wondered how to make jerk chicken then look no further! My jerk chicken recipe is all about the jerk marinade; once you’ve made that you can add it to whatever you want, yes, and chicken! Hot scotch bonnet chilli’s, thyme, allspice and a bucket of love… welcome to my easy Jerk Chicken Recipe.

My Jerk chicken recipe sings of summer bbq’s and winter days of oven roasted jerk chicken – I defy you to eat jerk chicken without smiling!

Understanding how to make jerk chicken is is all about the marinade, once you’ve mastered making your jerk chicken marinade, or actually it’s not jerk chicken marinade – it’s just Jerk Marinade. I’ve cooked my jerk chicken in the oven but it is amazing cooked on the BBQ. Oh and check out my video recipes for more!

If you taste your marinade in it’s raw form it will blow your socks off! But! once it’s been cooked it will mellow.

Put the jerk marinade into a jar and store in the fridge (you can even freeze some for another day).

Jerk cooking originated in Jamaica and is primarily a marinade consisting of scotch bonnet chillies, thyme and allspice, they’re the main headline flavours. From there the mix of spices and liquids is really a personal preference. I’ve written how to make jerk chicken recipe below but feel free to play with it a bit.

How to make Jerk Chicken –

Jerk Chicken Recipe – Ingredients:

Chicken thighs and legs (cut incisions into chicken to help marinade penetrate the meat).

Jerk Chicken Marinade:

1 whole scotch bonnet chilli
1/2 red bell pepper
8 cloves garlic
3 inches fresh ginger
6 spring onions
1.5 teaspoons ground allspice
1 teaspoon salt
10 black pepper corns
3 tablespoons soft brown sugar
Juice 1 orange
Dash of vegetable oil
1/3 cup dark soy sauce
8 sprigs of thyme (about 1 tablespoon of leaves)
2 cloves
1 bay leaf (stalk removed)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Jerk Sauce – Ingredients:

1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 tablespoons fresh coriander

1/2 cup water

Jerk Chicken Recipe – Method:

1. Blend all the marinade ingredients together till smooth then add to the chicken and leave to marinate overnight (if you have time).
2. Remove chicken from the fridge 1 hour before ready to cook, shake off excess marinade before placing in roasting tray.
3. Lay chicken out on a roasting tray and cook for 45 minutes in a preheated oven (200c) turning halfway through.
4. Jerk Sauce: With the marinade left over in the bowl; pour this into a saucepan and add the Jerk Sauce ingredients. Bring this to a rolling boil then reduce to a simmer for a few minutes (remember this has had raw chicken in it so needs to be cooked thoroughly.
5. Once the chicken is done, let it rest for 5 minutes, garnish with some fresh coriander and gently drizzle over some of the sauce. Serve with the rest of the sauce on the side.

Goes well with some Toots and the Maytals playing in the background (ideally ’54-46 that’s my number’ – awesome track), sunshine and lots of love and laughter!

NOTE – nothing beats cooking jerk chicken on the BBQ but for the British weather the oven works almost as good!