Oven Baked Jerk Chicken Recipe – Crispy, moist, flavorful chicken smothered in spicy jerk sauce is easy to make and a real taste bud explosion! Enjoy a Caribbean vacation right out of your oven. 😎
I love jerk chicken oven-baked, but then who doesn’t? Most people who travel to the Caribbean say it is the highlight of their trip. Well, second to coconut rum drinks, of course. 😜
This meal comes together super fast, especially after you have all the ingredients together, which makes it a great weeknight meal everyone can get excited about. I marinate jerk chicken overnight in the refrigerator. It saves me time the next day, and it allows the flavors to come together beautifully.
Content…How Spicy Is It? |
How Spicy Is Jamaican Jerk Chicken?
If you’ve never had the opportunity to try jerk chicken before, it’s a Jamaican dish popular throughout the Caribbean. Traditionally, it is a super spicy dish. However, you can adjust the ingredients to turn down the heat.
This particular recipe is very mild if you leave out the scotch bonnet. But if you’re a heat seeker like me, just keep the scotch bonnet as per the recipe. For those of you who enjoy next-level spicy dishes, add as much hot pepper as you can handle. ❤️🔥
Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken – I love making this with chicken legs, but you can use any chicken cuts you have on hand. Just adjust the cooking time for the cut you use. And while leaving the chicken skin on is optional, it crisps up beautifully for extra decadence.
- Lemon or Lime – Before marinating the chicken, I rub it down with lemon or lime juice. It adds flavor and helps the dry seasoning stick to the chicken.
- Creole Seasoning – Before marinating, but after the lemon juice, I give the chicken a good coating of Creole seasoning. It adds a little more heat and an extra flavor layer to the dish as a whole.
- Jerk Marinade Ingredients – Jerk sauce has a long list of ingredients that includes scotch bonnet, garlic, onion, scallions, fresh thyme, fresh ginger, cinnamon, allspice, white pepper, freshly grated nutmeg, brown sugar, bouillon powder, soy sauce, and pineapple juice. Trust the process here; the final product tastes so amazing you’ll be glad you put in the work. (Plus, homemade jerk sauce? That’s just impressive! 👏)
How to Oven-Bake Jerk Chicken
Prep the Chicken and Make the Marinade
- Trim chicken of any excess fat and pat dry with a cloth or paper napkin.
- Rub each piece down with lemon and creole seasoning, plus salt and pepper if you desire.
- Heat oil in a sauté pan or skillet set to medium heat. Then, add the scotch bonnet pepper and garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes, or until it gets nice and browned.
- Spices – Add the nutmeg, brown sugar, allspice, and cinnamon. Keep stirring until the sugar melts and the mixture starts to clump together.
- Cool – Take it off the heat and let it cool.
- Blend – Place the mixture in a food processor or blender. Add the thyme, white pepper, ginger, green onions, soy sauce, bouillon powder, onion, and pineapple juice. Pulse for about 30 seconds until blended.
- Marinate – Drench the chicken with jerk marinade in a ziplock bag or another airtight container. Chill it in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.
Bake the Jerk Chicken
- Preheat your oven to 425℉ (220℃). Line your baking pan with foil, then top it with a wire rack.
- Drain – Remove chicken from the jerk marinade and let any excess drip off. Reserve the marinade.
- Place the chicken legs in a single layer on the wire rack. While the chicken legs bake, the fat will drip to the bottom of the pan for crispier skin.
- Bake the chicken legs until cooked through and the skin is crispy, for 45-50 minutes. Rotate the chicken halfway through, around the 20-minute mark.
- Jerk Sauce – In a small saucepan, simmer the remaining jerk marinade for about 7 minutes to cook it. You can serve the jerk sauce on the side or drizzle it directly over the cooked chicken.
Recipe Variations
- Add fresh pineapple. Add chunks of fresh pineapple to the marinade and then bake them alongside the chicken for an extra fresh and tangy twist on your baked jerk chicken recipe.
- Make chicken skewers! For a fun party version of this dish, thread chicken breast onto skewers. You can marinate the meat on the skewers and then bake them in the oven as directed; just know they’ll cook a lot quicker.
- Coconut jerk chicken. Add shredded coconut and coconut milk to your jerk marinade for a creamy, tropical take on this Caribbean classic.
- Wings elevated. Use the same recipe for oven-baked jerk chicken wings for your next game-day event.
Tips and Tricks
- Try not to touch the jerk marinade with your hands because it is extremely spicy hot. If possible, use gloves. You don’t want to get this stuff into your eyes accidentally! 😭
- Give it plenty of time to marinate. The longer you marinate the chicken, the deeper the flavors will penetrate. Overnight marination is ideal.
- Use a meat thermometer to check doneness. It’s the best way to make sure your chicken is fully cooked and to avoid overcooking it to the point of drying it out. 🙅🏿♀️
Make-Ahead Instructions
To make this dish ahead of time, simply follow the recipe and store the baked chicken drenched in the jerk sauce in an airtight container in the fridge.
To reheat it, use the microwave or dump those saucy legs in an oven-safe dish and reheat them at low heat for about 15 minutes. Take them out as soon as they’re heated through to keep them from drying out. You can also freeze this dish for up to three months. Thaw the chicken in the fridge the night before you want to serve it.
Serving and Storage Instructions
Serve this dish with plenty of tasty sides as soon as it comes out of the oven! Refrigerate leftover jerk chicken for 3-5 days in an airtight container. Or freeze them for up to 3 months.
What Goes With Oven Baked Jerk Chicken
I love me some baked jerk chicken with a hearty helping of Caribbean rice and beans. However, it goes great with Mexican rice, which you can bake at the same time. I like to add some baked plantains to the menu as well, along with a tall, cool glass of sorrel drink.
More Jammin’ Jamaican Recipes to Try
Oven Baked Jerk Chicken
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Ingredients
- 1 lime or lemon
- 8 chicken legs or a 2½-3 pound (1-1.5k) chicken, cut up
- 2 teaspoons (8-9g) jerk seasoning replace with salt and pepper or chicken spice
- 1 or more scotch bonnet or habanero
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- ½ tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ tablespoon allspice, coarsely ground
- ½ teaspoon white pepper, coarsely ground
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
- 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
- 3 medium scallions, chopped
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ¼-½ cup pineapple juice or water
- 1 tablespoon bouillon powder (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Trim chicken of excess fat and pat dry with a cloth or paper towel. Rub with lemon, 2 teaspoons jerk seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Heat oil in a skillet or sauté pan over medium heat. Then add scotch bonnet pepper and garlic, and sauté until browned, 2-3 minutes.
- Add the nutmeg, brown sugar, allspice, and cinnamon, and continue stirring until the sugar melts and the mixture starts to clump together.
- Remove from the heat and let it cool.
- Place the mixture in a food processor or blender, add the thyme, white pepper, ginger, green onions, soy sauce, bouillon powder, onion, and pineapple juice, and pulse for about 30 seconds until well blended.
- Drench the chicken with jerk marinate, place in a ziplock bag, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. Avoid touching the jerk blend with your hands because it's extremely spicy hot (use gloves if possible).
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425℉ (220℃). Remove the chicken from the jerk marinade and drain the excess marinade. Reserve the marinade.
- Line a baking pan with foil, and top with a wire rack. Arrange chicken legs in a single layer. While the chicken legs are baking, the fat will slowly drip to the bottom of the baking pan.
- Bake chicken legs until cooked through and the skin is crispy, 45-50 minutes. Rotate the chicken halfway through, roughly 20 minutes.
- In a small saucepan, simmer the remaining jerk marinade along with the extra from the chicken for about 7 minutes. Serve the chicken with the marinade on the side or drizzle it on the chicken, and serve with Caribbean rice and beans.
Tips & Notes:
- Avoid touching the jerk marinade with your hands because it is extremely spicy. If possible, use gloves. You don’t want to get this stuff into your eyes accidentally!
- Give it plenty of time to marinate. The longer you marinate the chicken, the deeper the flavors will penetrate. Overnight marination is ideal.
- Use a meat thermometer to check doneness. It’s the best way to make sure your chicken is fully cooked and to avoid overcooking it to the point of drying it out.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Lisa says
I made this with the Carribean rice and beans recipe that was suggested and it was a huge hit with my family! I used boneless skinless chicken thighs, habenero pepper (without seeds) and used water instead of pineapple juice for the marinade. Soooo good and flavorful!!! Can’t wait to make this again. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe, Imma! Five stars indeed!
ImmaculateBites says
Yay!!!! Thank you so much!
Maryori Ryan says
Loved it!! My whole family did as well!! I cooked it in cast iron pan and it was amazing, even though I had to skip the marinara time! I can only imagine how much better it will be next time! Full of flavor oh, the only thing I wonder what happened with the heat,, mine wasn’t spicy at all 🙁 but we added it 🙂 I was thinking maybe, because I took the seeds out of the habanero?? Still was delicious! Thanks for sharing! God bless your cooking! One more thing I love how most of the ingredients were natural spices!
Maryori Ryan says
I gave 5 not sure why it has 4 🙁
Massiel says
this looks so good…I haven’t worked with habanero peppers before…how you prepare them before sautéing? Chopped finely?
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Massiel, It depends on your tolerance level, here I included it in the ingredients before blending. If you can tolerate heat then chop finely and include in your meals. I would say start with a tiny bit and keep adjusting as you proceed. A little goes a long way. So be forewarned it is spicy hot!
Graham says
Hi Immaculate:
I’m a bit of a spice head, and was wondering how many scotch bonnets you would normally use to get a good kick from this??
Thanks.
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Graham!
I would say go say 2, one makes it spicy hot and two gives it that good kick.Please let me know how it works
ImmaculateBites says
About 1/4-1/2 cup pineapple juice.
Laraine says
Hi immaculate, how much pineapple juice do you add? It’s not listed on the ingredients for oven baked jerk chicken. Thanks so much for quick response.
Laraine says
Is this oven baked recipe for jerk chicken missing an ingredient? You refer to it as a marinade, but I only see soy sauce as one liquid. Is there supposed to be pineapple juice perhaps? Also what is Maggi? Thanks
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Laraine! You add pineapple juice or water to blend the ingredients in the blender..creating a marinade. Maggi is another kind of soy sauce – replace with soy sauce or completely eliminate.
Halimah says
Hi, in your written recipe it says nothing about adding any pineapple juice\water? I’m gutted because I’ve just finished making it and it looks nothing like yours 🙁
ImmaculateBites says
I am so sorry for the omission. It’s been fixed. Which I could make some and send to you. Again my apologies.
Heidi says
will this come out fine if we don’t have the peppers and dried garlic?
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Heidi! You can leave out the peppers. Garlic though is essential in this baked Jerk Chicken. It is going to taste good but not great. Let me know how it works for you
jmg says
Awesome recipe! I looked at several recipes before choosing this one… this was the only one i found that did not use ingredients i couldnt get ahold of. Tasted every bit as good as the jerk chicken at the jamaican place i love to eat at. I tripled the recipe and barely have leftovers! Love it when the kids are silent at supper!
ImmaculateBites says
I know what you mean…. Silence on the table is always Welcome- when you have kids. So glad you picked my recipe, made it, love it and came back with feedback. For that I am GRATEFUL.
artavia says
All 5 stars
artavia says
I just made this recipe and it is great… spicy the way I like it.
Leslie says
It tasted amazing! However, for some strange reason when I blended everything together the marinade was green! Is that normal?
ImmaculateBites says
Leslie, it is normal – don’t sweat it. Glad you liked it!
Philo says
Oh my gosh this was sooo good…I used whole chicken instead and cut it into pieces. I went a bit easy on the habanero since I’m not a spicy girl 🙂 other than that the chicken was delicious… Thanks…
Catheryn says
Where is the recipe for oven baked bean and rice
ImmaculateBites says
Here is the link to the rice http://africanbites.com/?p=6970
DocChuck says
” r soy sauce”??