Hi everyone and welcome back to Tasting My Heritage! For this week’s newsletter, I’m going to be sharing a recipe from Jamaica! That recipe will be on how to make Jerk Chicken!
This is one of the most popular dishes, if not the most popular dish in Jamaica. The recipe for it is actually fairly easy and simple to make! That part was very exciting for me because as I’ve mentioned before, I want this site to be a learning experience for me as well as my audience.
Jerk chicken has a kick to it and I made mine spicy but not too hot! Therefore, follow my recipe but you can lessen the spicy seasonings if you choose.
Ingredients (Please note that for my spices, I eyeball it and use just as much as I think feels right but you can go for about a teaspoon of each if measurements are more helpful to you):
- Raw boneless and skinless chicken breasts (I used about a pound of chicken for this recipe)
- Drizzle of olive oil or an oil of your choice
- Thyme seasoning
- Coriander
- Ground allspice seasoning
- Salt
- Brown Sugar
- Red pepper flakes (You can lessen this if you don’t want it as spicy)
When making this recipe, I made enough to last me for a few days, as I am a college student and meal prepping my food is most convenient for me.
This recipe will be made using my crockpot – which is an essential for me as a college student because you can just turn it on and not worry about your food until it’s done!
Step 1: Wash and dry your chicken to prep it to go into the crockpot.
Step 2: Add oil to your chicken in a bowl and mix. This is going to help your spices marinate well in your chicken.
Step 3: Start adding your seasonings to your chicken. Add thyme seasoning, coriander, ground allspice seasoning, salt, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes.
Step 4: Mix everything together and make sure each piece of chicken is coated well.
Step 5: Cover your chicken and let it marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight if you can. The longer it marinates, the stronger the taste will be and the better the flavors will come out.
Step 6: Drizzle more oil into the crockpot and add your marinated pieces of chicken in.
Step 7: Cook your chicken on either high for 3-4 hours (depending on the size and thickness of your meat) or 5-6 hours on low (also depending on the size and thickness of the meat).
Step 8: Once it’s ready, serve with a side of your choice! I had mine with rice and peas (recipe coming soon).