Serve this tasty sauce alongside fresh vegetables or pita-wrapped falafel. It is best to prepare it a few hours ahead of time, however it can be served right away. Before adding the additional ingredients, I chop the garlic and let it sit for five to ten minutes. Allicin production is boosted as a result, and research has revealed that it has antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antiprotozoal properties.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Additional Time: | 2 hrs |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 50 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into chunks
- 1 cup water
- 4 limes, juiced
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons ground allspice
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 onions, chopped
- 1 ½ cups chopped green onions
- 2 habanero peppers, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
Instructions
- Place chicken in a medium bowl. Cover with water and lime juice. Set aside.
- Place oil, allspice, thyme, black pepper, salt, brown sugar, ginger, and nutmeg in a blender; blend until well combined. Add onions, green onions, habanero peppers, and garlic; blend until almost smooth.
- Pour most of the blended marinade mixture into the bowl with chicken, reserving a small amount to use as a basting sauce while cooking. Stir chicken until well coated. Cover the bowl and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat and lightly oil the grate.
- Cook chicken slowly on the preheated grill, turning frequently and basting often with reserved marinade mixture, until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of chicken should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 221 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 13 g |
| Cholesterol | 68 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 29 g |
| Saturated Fat | 1 g |
| Sodium | 474 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 6 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I expected my flavor from this recipe. I had it marinating for over a day. Not sure if I would make it again.
Out of all the jerk recipes I’ve seen on this sites, this one most closely resembles true jerk. But you need to remember a couple of things here: real jerk MUST use scotch Bonnet habaneros; no other variety will m give the authentic flavour. Secondly, the term “jerk” actually means grill. Traditionally really jerk meat, whether chicken, pork, or seafood, was done on a grill with pimento wood charcoal. Since it’s hard to get this wood overseas, you need to at least use real charcoal grill to cook the meat. Gas grilling and, heaven forbid, oven baking, will not suffice, if you’re trying to approximate real Jamaican jerk as closely as possible. Also marinate overnight in a fridge if possible.
I used chicken thighs instead of breasts. That provides more fat, so I left out the oil. As another reviewer pointed out (look through the comments), I added about a half cup of Bourbon and instead of marinading for at least 2 hours I marinated for at least ~24 hours. I really like the Jamaican Jerk Chicken at our local farmers’ market, but this was better. Thank you for the recipe! This is a do again for sure.
I didn’t have all the ingredients so I added some bourbon. It made the chicken sweet and juicy!
A lot of work for little flavor. Yes, it was completely edible. Time return on investment was a disappointment. I’ll keep searching for a reliable recipe.
I put all the marinade ingredients into the food processor and blended it away vs folding it in. This was just spicy enough and I was told it was a make again.
Really did not taste like jerk chicken to me…
As close to the jamaican recipe i got when I was in Kingston! So good!
Not my favorite
Added dried habaneros and worked fine. One word…Yum!
Finally got a chance to make it . Didn’t have enough limes, so substituted bottled lemon juice to dilute and soak chicken. I skinned thighs. Added more white onions, I didn’t have scallions. Used 2 scotch bonnet peppers Followed recipe to a T. Baked covered for 1 1/2 hrs at 350°. Yummy! Family already wants me to make it again ASAP! I will double the marinade to save for next time. Thank you for such a yummilicious recipe
Next time I will reduce the amount of Lime juice/water and increase the heat a little. We did not use habanero peppers we used a milder pepper. Out side of that, we really enjoyed this dish.
I let the chicken sit overnight to absorb more flavor before grilling
Very disappointing. The lime was overpowering, to the point that no spices could come through. However, there was the perfect amount of heat from the habaneros, even though it had no effect on the taste. Marinated for 9 hours, but all I could taste was lime, lime, lime. Doubt I’ll try again; I’ve made jerk chicken using other recipes that tasted far more authentic to the chicken I tasted in Jamaica than this citrus showcase.
This was a great recipe. I usually use a commercial Jerk Paste/Marinade which is quite expensive. This was the first time that I made the marinade from scratch. Using freshly ground allspice and ginger made this recipe so much better than the store-bought paste. I made the following changes: added a tablespoon of rum, used 1/2 cup of water, substituted the habanero for jalepeno pepper, added a teaspoon of ground clove and bone-in chicken breasts.
Oh, so good! I didn’t have the Habeneros and used a couple of Jalepenos from the garden (seeded to tame it a bit). I added another tablespoon of oil to the basting jerk mix and cooked the chicken on the charcoal grill…..tasty!!
This is such an awesome recipe,I love trying new things and I’m so glad I found this recipe and tried it,I ate it with Jamaican rice and peas such a good combination,my boyfriend can’t get enough of it…
This is completely par for a good jerk seasoning, and it could be put on chicken, pork, beef, goat, lamb, fish, shrimp, it doesn’t matter, it’d still be good. However, those that don’t like too much spice (first of all stay out of the caribbean/latin america, but if not then…) don’t marinade this for so long. Instead, stab your meat with a fork a bunch of times and add the paste only just before cooking and use the excess to baste it. If you do like the spice (meaning “heat”) to be strong, do this and marinade, and add like 4 extra peppers because 2 over 6 chicken breasts is just silly. Also, this recipe needs rum. I prefer spiced but white is fine. It tenderizes your meat. Good additives: (fresh, cubed) ginger, rosemary (don’t ask why, it’s just good), amchoor (indian grocery stores– not traditional but great, it’s powdered green mango, very tart), cloves, mine usually has cumin and cilantro, but I learned it from a trinidadian… Serve with black beans and coconut rice. Very authentic recipe : )
I used bone in, skin on chicken, substituted scotch bonnet peppers for habaneros, and baked it in the oven on a cookie sheet (use aluminum foil underneath to minimize cleanup) for 45 minutes at 400 then put it on broil to crisp up the skin. Worked well, but needed more spice. Also recommend putting the chicken and marinade in a freezer bag, squeezing out the air, to get better coverage.
Sounds wonderful, but those habanero peppers scare me! I’ll use jalapeno peppers.
i loved it so much that it hopped out my mouth and went to jamaica and singed