Jerk Chicken

By Julia Moskin

Updated July 1, 2024

  • Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
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Total Time
About 1½ hours, plus at least 12 hours’ marinating
Rating
5(1,269)
Comments
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Done right, jerk chicken is one of the great barbecue traditions of the world, up there with Texas brisket and Chinese char siu. It is Jamaica to the bone, aromatic and smoky, sweet but insistently hot. All of its traditional ingredients grow in the island’s lush green interior: fresh ginger, thyme and scallions; Scotch bonnet peppers; and the sweet wood of the allspice tree, which burns to a fragrant smoke. “It’s not a sauce, it’s a procedure,” Jerome Williams, a Jamaican-born Brooklyn resident, told The Times in 2008 on a Sunday in Prospect Park, where families arrive as early as 6 a.m. for lakeside grilling spots, a few of which are actually authorized by the parks department. “It has to be hot, but it cannot only be hot, or you get no joy from it.” This recipe delivers that joy.

Featured in: Sweet Heat: For Jamaicans, It’s About Jerk

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Ingredients

Yield:8 servings

  • 2 3 ½- to 4-pound chickens, quartered, or 8 whole legs, or 5 to 6 pounds bone-in, skin-on thighs

  • 1 large bunch scallions (about 8), white and green parts

  • 2 shallots, peeled and halved

  • 4 to 6 Scotch bonnet chili peppers, stems removed, or habaneros

  • 1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped

  • 6 garlic cloves, peeled

  • ¼ cup fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried

  • 2 tablespoons ground allspice, more for sprinkling

  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce

  • 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

  • 1 tablespoon salt, more for sprinkling

  • 1 tablespoon black pepper

  • ½ cup vegetable oil

  • 1 tablespoon white or apple cider vinegar

  • Freshly squeezed juice of 2 limes

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

11 grams carbs; 319 milligrams cholesterol; 1084 calories; 37 grams monosaturated fat; 16 grams polyunsaturated fat; 19 grams saturated fat; 79 grams fat; 1 gram trans fat; 2 grams fiber; 1277 milligrams sodium; 81 grams protein; 4 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    At least 1 day before cooking, pat chicken dry with paper towels. Combine remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor and grind to a coarse paste. Slather all over chicken, including under skin. Refrigerate 12 to 36 hours. Bring to room temperature before cooking and lightly sprinkle with more salt and ground allspice.

  2. Step 2

    Prepare a charcoal grill: Clean and oil grates, and preheat to medium heat using one chimney of charcoal. The temperature can start as high as 300 degrees and go as low as 250. For best results, coals should be at least 12 inches away from chicken. If necessary, push coals to one side of grill to create indirect heat. Add two large handfuls of soaked pimento (allspice) wood sticks and chips (see note) or other aromatic wood chips to coals, then close grill. When thick white smoke billows from grill, place chicken on grate, skin side up, and cover. Let cook undisturbed for 30 to 35 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Uncover grill. Chicken will be golden and mahogany in places. Chicken thighs may already be cooked through. For other cuts, turn chicken over and add more wood chips, and charcoal if needed. Cover and continue cooking, checking and turning every 10 minutes. Jerk chicken is done when skin is burnished brown and chicken juices are completely clear, with no pink near the bone. For large pieces, this can take up to an hour. Serve hot or warm, with rice and beans.

Tip

  • Pimento wood sticks and chips are available at www.pimentowood.com.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
1,269 user ratings
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Comments

Kay

Skipped wood sticks and chips and baked thighs at 300 in the oven then finished off on the grill. This resulted in crispy skin, perfect texture, flavor and delighted dinner guests

Anne C.

Made today. Instead of the bonnet chili peppers, I used Serrano peppers, so we would not burst into flames . I had only 3 hours for the marinating, then roasted the chicken in my oven, 350 for 45 minutes. Served with sweet potatoes and quinoa. Delicious!

Cindy

TIP: You can get cheaper prices for pimento wood sticks and chips at www.pimentowoodproducts.com . I find their products to better as well. This marinade was alright. i suggest adding more brown sugar and it is missing some of the main ingredients in jerk such as nutmeg, cinnamon ect. there are a lot better recipes out there online than this

Todd Hanlon

Made this exactly as written after a 24+ hour marinade, but cooked it slow and low at 325 convection for about 2 hours before blasting it under the grill. The flavour was incredible, but WOW the heat level did not come to play. Served it with red beans and rice plus cornbread, but the jerk flavor steamrolled everything else. Next time I’m adding fried plantains, extra lime, and maybe a cooling sour cream-lime crema because my mouth is still negotiating peace terms with the Scotch bonnet.

Max from San Diego

I used drumsticks, 5 habaneros with seeds, a 36 hour marinade, a wood pellet grill at 275, pulled them at 180-185 (over an hour), and no pimento wood just Kirkland pellets. This might be the best chicken I’ve ever eaten. I can’t imagine how it could have been more perfect. Reminds me of “Best in the West” in Negril which is my highest compliment. A hundred stars. I might get pimento wood next time and Green Egg them.

Monisha

Did everyone use the recommended amount of scotch bonnet chilies? I made this today and jumped ship on the chilies after trying one. 6 seems unthinkable!

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