Months ago, during the beginning of quarantine, I was craving some delicious jerk chicken but I didn’t feel like taking the time out to cook it.
I didn’t cook it, instead, I headed over to a local Jamaican market, close to the West side of Chicago, to support a local business. During my trip, I stocked up on Jamaican seasonings and spices as well as ordered some of their jerk chicken platters.
Since I’m always trying to figure out ways that I can recreate my favorite dishes at home, I decided to experiment in the kitchen with those seasonings that I purchased that day.
The great thing about jerk seasoning is you can make any meat (or non-meat) into a real Jamaican classic. Just grab your choice of Beef, Pork, Fish, or even Tofu and give it that delicious Jamaican Jerk treatment. Today I decided to use chicken but feel free to swap out the meat for what you will enjoy.
I’d love to see how your dish turned out, post a photo of your masterpiece below or on social media. Be sure to tag me on Twitter, FB or Instagram
Quick & Easy Restaurant Style Jerk Chicken
No more having to order take out at your favorite Jamacian resturant, you can experience the same spicy, savory and delicious flavors right in the comfort of your kitchen
Ingredients
- 1 lbs Chicken Thighs Bones
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 dash Liquid Smoke
- Maggi Season-Up All Purpose Powdered Seasoning
- JCS Boston Dry Jerk Seasoning
- JCS Boston Jerk Seasoning Mild Hot & Spicy
Instructions
-
Remove chicken thighs from the packaging and rinse chicken well
-
Score the chicken (*see notes)
-
Place chicken thighs in a large plastic bag or a container
-
Drizzle chicken with olive oil
-
Sprinkle chicken thighs with Maggi Season-Up All Purpose Powdered Seasoning, JCS Boston Dry Jerk Seasoning, and a few drops of liquid smoke. Make sure to season well and get the seasons under the chicken skin.
-
Marinate for 30 mins in fridge. (*For extra flavor, marinate overnight in the refrigerator)
-
Remove chicken from the fridge and fire up the grill.
-
Grill skin-side down first for about 5 mins. It's important not to disturb the meat when it cooking.
Once you flip the meat over on the bone side, take a spoonful of JCS Boston Jerk Seasoning Mild Hot & Spicy and let it sit on top of the chicken. Allowing the seasoning to soak into the chicken and the slits from scoring it earlier. If you flip while the seasoning is sitting on top of the chicken and hasn't been allowed to soak in, then you will run the risk of the seasoning sliding off.
-
After cooking 5 mins on the bone side, flip back over on the skin side and let the JCS Boston Jerk Seasoning Mild Hot & Spicy cook into the meat. Add the seasoning on the bone side this time and repeat the process of allowing it to soak.
-
Cook chicken thoroughly
-
Remove from grill and let the meat sit for a few mins so the juices can redistribute.
-
Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- JCS Seasonings can be found at your local Jamaican/Caribbean market, I went to in Chicago or you can find JCS products on their website:
- Scoring the chicken is a process where you make slits in the chicken. Take a knife and slice just through the chicken. Note: your chicken doesn’t get sliced deeply. I usually score the chicken while marinating it for frying or for some other dishes.
