Inspired by Jamaican cuisine, this grilled jerk chicken is juicy, sweet, tangy and bursting with savoury flavours. Topped with a fresh mango salsa, this dish is simply delicious and makes you travel while at home!
What’s Jerk Chicken?
Jerk is a style of cooking native of Jamaica in which the main ingredient is coated in spices and grilled. All varieties of meats and even vegetables are traditionally marinated in a paste. Jerk chicken is a traditional Caribbean dish and it’s often served with rice and beans.
How to Make Jerk Chicken?
- Choose your chicken. In this recipe, we’re using chicken thighs but feel free to use chicken breasts. For a crispy texture, choose chicken with skin.
- Prepare the marinade. We just combine all the ingredients tin a food processor. Add the marinade and the chicken to a ziploc bag.
- Let it marinade for at least 3 hours, overnight is even better. This is the key to get a juicy and tender chicken.
- Grill on the barbecue, on medium-high heat for 5 minutes on each side.
Marinade Ingredient List
We simply add aromatics and spices to a food processor and blend until we get a smooth texture.
- Onion & green onions: a small yellow onion diced as well as 3 sliced green onions.
- Garlic cloves: minced.
- Spices: a mix of ground allspice and ground nutmeg.
- Lime juice: 4 limes to add some acidity.
- Soy sauce: salty and rich flavours to the chicken.
- Maple syrup: to balance the flavours. You can also use honey.
- Spicy pepper: Use bonnet pepper or habanero chili. You need the heat for this jerk chicken recipe.
- Oil: use virgin olive oil.
Tips to Perfect this Recipe
- Use spicy pepper to your preference. Adding one at a time to adjust the heat.
- Be patient and let the chicken marinade overnight. I suggest a minimum of 3 hours!
- Grill on the barbecue and brush the chicken with the sauce while cooking. You can also cook it on the stove or in the oven, but won’t get the same smokey taste we’re looking for!
- Use ripe mangoes for the salsa and season well.
Mango Salsa Variations
If you’re not able to find ripe mangoes or if you don’t like this fruit, swap for some peaches or pineapple. We’re looking for a sweet tropical fruit to balance the flavours!
Grilled Jerk Chicken with Fresh Mango Salsa
4
servings15
minutes10
minutes3
hoursInspired by Jamaican cuisine, this grilled jerk chicken is juicy, sweet, tangy and bursting with savoury flavours. Topped with a fresh mango salsa, this dish is simply delicious and makes you travel while at home!
Ingredients
- Jerk Chicken
8 chicken thighs with skin or without skin (can sub for chicken breasts)
3 green onions, sliced
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
Juice of 4 limes
3 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of maple syrup
1 tbsp of ground allspice
½ tsp of ground nutmeg
1-2 scotch bonnet pepper or 3 habanero chili (seeds removed and sliced)
⅓ cup of olive oil
- Mango Salsa
1 ½ cup of diced mangoes (approx. 2 mangoes)*
⅓ cup of shredded coriander (packed)
⅓ cup of diced red onion
1 tbsp of olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
Instructions
- Prepare the marinade. Combine all the chicken ingredients (except the chicken!) in a food processor. Blend until smooth. I recommend adding 1 scotch bonnet pepper first and to add the other one if you want it to be spicier. Add the marinade and the chicken thighs to a ziploc bag to blend.
- Marinade for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the barbecue to medium heat and remove the chicken from the fridge.
- Prepare the mango salsa. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Season well.
- Grill the chicken on the barbecue for 4-5 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
- Serve the jerk chicken with mango salsa.
Notes
- If you’re not able to find scotch bonnet pepper, you can replace it with habanero chili (I suggest 3).
- Use ripe mangoes for the salsa.
Serve it with: Sweet Kale Salad With Yogurt Dressing
