Easy Jamaican Jerk Chicken Recipe

Try this Easy Jamaican Jerk Chicken Recipe for a deliciously simple version of Caribbean style roast chicken. This super tender, flavorful jerk chicken will quickly become a family favorite. Perfect for meal prep dinners.

Video: Watch Us Make This Recipe

What is Jamaican Jerk Chicken?

Here’s a fun fact: the word jerk refers to a way of cooking that’s popular in Jamaica. All varieties of meats and even vegetables are traditionally marinated in a paste or rub that includes allspice and Scotch bonnet peppers. Then it’s slow smoked over long sticks of pimento wood.

Nowadays, you can get authentic Jamaican jerk eats from delicious smelling jerk huts on their island stomping grounds. So if you’re lucky enough travel to Jamaica, send me some tasty pics and I’ll live vicariously through you for a moment.

Since most of us aren’t going to soak our chicken overnight in Scotch bonnet peppers and then slow-smoke it over long sticks of pimento wood, I’m here to share this simplified way of making delicious jerk chicken – lazy but 110% incredibly tasty.

Key Recipe Ingredients

• Chicken: to make this recipe as simple as possible, we use chicken legs instead of cut-up whole chicken pieces. Chicken legs are easy to prep and cook up faster.
• Oil: use healthy olive oil for binding the seasonings to the meat and for flavor.
• Brown Sugar: brown sugar adds a molasses-like sweetness to balance out the spices.
• Thyme: plenty of thyme provides an earthy herb essence to this dish. Be sure herbs are fresh, as older herbs have lost most of their flavor.
• Spices: a fragrant mixture of allspice, paprika, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cayenne lend incredible depth and flavor to the chicken. If you can use smoked paprika, the flavors will be even more complex.
• Seasonings: garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper are essential for the aromatics and savory aspects of this recipe.

Step-By-Step Instructions

1. Prepare Ahead: The spice mixture can be prepared days ahead of time. Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, sugar, thyme, cayenne, allspice, onion, garlic, and smoked paprika can all be combined in advance.
2. Dry and Poke: Thoroughly dry chicken pieces with clean paper towels and use a fork to poke holes throughout all the pieces.

3. Season: Rub all that aromatic goodness onto and under the chicken skin. That’s always my secret to well-seasoned poultry: get that rub under the skin – wear gloves if you’d like, but absolutely work the seasonings on top and underneath the skin throughout.
4. Bake: Place chicken on large rimmed/foil-lined baking sheet, with space in between each piece. For smaller-sized chicken legs, bake about 40 minutes; for larger-sized chicken legs, bake about 50 minutes or until nicely browned.

What to Serve with Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Rice and Grains

• We 100% recommend and love this Rice and Beans  recipe that’s both easy and tasty; it’s great with almost any meal. Even eaters who don’t think they’d like rice and beans surprise themselves by going back for seconds!
• This Coconut Rice is aromatic and delicious with chicken. We love it with any stir fry, vegetable, or protein dish.
• Quinoa with Black Beans has a Tex-Mex flair, but is so delicious with any chicken dish.

Vegetables

• Mango Black Bean Salsa Dip. Good enough to eat with a spoon all by itself, but really refreshing next to jerk chicken.
• Plantains are a delicious side option for jerk chicken! Their easygoing crispness offer the texture you crave.
• Cinnamon Roasted Butternut Squash has the same cinnamon flavor profile and is the perfect pairing.

Drinks

• Can’t resist including this island Mai Tai  cocktail; so good…in fact, it’s kind of always a good thing when this tropical cocktail shows up with your meal.
• Big Batch Pineapple Margaritas Recipe – this fruity sweet cocktail pairs perfectly with the spicy kick of jerk chicken.