Big, big, BIG flavours. Spicy. Punchy. Salty. Sweet. ♥ I can’t transport you to the Caribbean. But I can give you a taste of the tropics in your own home! Happy days!
One of the best nights I remember from my holiday to the Bahamas was at a beach bar where we drank cheap beer, danced barefoot on the sand and lined up in long queues for dinner served on paper plates. It was an extensive banquet consisting of peas ‘n rice, corn on the cob, a green salad and jerk chicken….. 🙂
No one was complaining about lack of choice, believe me! That was my first jerk chicken experience and I’ve never looked back. It hits my sweet spot perfectly – big, punchy, spicy flavours.
Look at the thick sticky marinade on the chicken!
I’ve tried quite a few jerk chicken recipes, including from celebrity chefs. But this Oven Baked Jerk Chicken recipe by Imma from Immaculate Bites is my favourite. As soon as I saw her recipe, I knew I would try it and I’ve made it twice already. Recipes for jerk chicken, like many signature dishes of cuisines from around the world, vary wildly though they have common ingredients. What I love about Imma’s recipes is that she shares home cook versions of Caribbean recipes. Real ingredients that ordinary people can find and cooking methods for ordinary folks like me.
I would love to be able to make real jerk chicken over charcoal with pimento wood. But that just ain’t gonna happen in my backyard! So I’m sticking with Imma’s oven baked version. 🙂 I made these in the photo in the oven, but I’ve provided directions for the grill/BBQ as well.
I served the jerk chicken with Imma’s Caribbean Rice with Red Beans. It’s sensational, the kind of rice that is so flavourful you can eat it plain. 🙂 – Nagi x
MORE CHICKEN DRUMSTICK RECIPES
- Honey Mustard Drumsticks
- 5 Ingredient Sticky Stovetop Balsamic Drumsticks
- Jamaican Jerk Drumsticks
- Greek Chicken – ideal made with drumsticks instead of thighs
- Baked Chicken and Rice – make this with drumsticks instead of bone in thighs!
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Jamaican Jerk Chicken Drumsticks
Ingredients
- 8 (about 2.5lb / 1.2kg) chicken drumsticks (Note 1)
Marinade
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 lime (or 1/2 lemon), juice only (about 2 tbsp)
- 1 onion , coarsely chopped (brown, yellow or white)
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger , chopped (or 1 tsp dried ginger powder)
- 1 or more scotch bonnet pepper or substitute with other chili (Note 2)
- 6 garlic cloves , roughly chopped
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tbsp cinnamon powder
- 1/2 tbsp allspice powder
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg powder (preferably freshly grated)
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme or 1 sprig of fresh thyme
Garnish
- Fresh cilantro/coriander leaves
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel and place in a large ziplock bag.
- Place Marinade ingredients in a food processor and whizz until smooth. Try not to touch the Marinade with bare hands to avoid getting chili on your hands.
- Pour the Marinade into the ziplock bag. Close the bag, squeezing out excess air. Massage the bag from the outside to disperse the Marinade throughout the chicken. Marinate for at least 4 hours, or up to 24 hours.
- When ready to cook, remove the chicken from the Marinade but reserve the Marinade.
Oven
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350 (fan forced).
- Place a wire rack on a baking tray lined with foil. Place the drumsticks on the rack and baste the top with half the Marinade. Bake for 25 minutes.
- Turn the drumsticks and baste the top with the remaining Marinade. Bake for a further 20 to 25 minutes, until the drumsticks are very dark brown.
- Rest for 5 minutes before serving, garnished with coriander/cilantro if using.
BBQ/Grill
- Preheat the grill side of the BBQ on medium (or medium low if your BBQ is strong). Brush the grill with oil, if required.
- Place the chicken on the grill. Brush the top with 1/2 the Marinade. Cook for 10 minutes, then turn.
- Brush the top with the remaining Marinade and cook for a further 5 to 8 minutes.
- Then turn the chicken again (to cook the side that you just brushed Marinade on) and cook for a few minutes. (Total cook time around 20 minutes in total)
- Remove from the BBQ and rest for 5 minutes before serving, garnished with coriander/cilantro if using.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
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Caribbean Rice with Beans
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp oil (canola, vegetable, peanut, olive oil)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 onion , diced (brown, white, yellow)
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme or 1 small fresh thyme sprig
- 1 cup long grain rice (uncooked)
- 14 oz / 400g can red kidney beans , rinsed and drained
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 3/4 cup water (or 1 cup if you like your rice very soft)
- 1 small bay leaf
- 2 tsp cajun spice mix (Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat.
- Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Add onion and thyme, and sauté for 3 minutes until translucent and just starting to turn golden brown.
- Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Put the lid on and bring to boil, then turn the heat down to low.
- Cook for around 20 minutes, until all the water is absorbed (tilt the saucepan - if there is no water, then it is ready).
- Remove from the stove and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before serving. During this time, any residual water will be absorbed and the rice will continue to cook.
- I served this with Jamaican Jerk Chicken Drumsticks.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
This truly is the best recipe I’ve found for Jerk. I have to admit, I’ve tried both the grill and oven and the grill is WAY better. To prevent burning, I grilled over direct heat for 7 minutes per side and then moved the thighs over and continued over indirect heat at 350 for the balance. I didn’t have to baste at all. They came out incredible; so juicy and packed with layers of flavor!! Hands down, my favorite bbq chicken recipe!!! Thanks Nagi 💜
Sounds great Lana!!
Hi Nagi,
I love this recipe and so easy to make but every time I have made this chicken it never turns out like the the pictures you have posted. My marinate is very light in color and the chicken after it is done doesn’t like red and crispy 😫 is there something I need to do? Am I missing something?
Hi Riga, are you basting the drumsticks whilst cooking? Also try turning up the heat a little just before taking them out to get a nice golden colour – N x
Hi Nagi, I do baste the chicken but I’ll definitely try turning up the heat next time I make it. My mother in-law who is Jamaican will be in town next month 🙂 thank you for replying back.
Loved theses two recipes together, I added lemon slices with the chicken during cooking and it was delicious, I used black rice as that’s what I had in the cupboard, cooked it a little longer and then squeezed some lemon over it at serving, very yummy, thanks for all of your great recipes
Hi Nagi, I’ve made this chicken twice now. It tastes amazing but mine never looks as reddish and amazing colour as yours. It’s rather bit brown…anything I am doing wrong? Thanks for sharing awesome recipes.
Hello there , I am in the process of making this meal .
In the computer it looks good ,
in my stomach I will find out .
Had a group of friends over last night for my husbands birthday. Everyone couldn’t stop saying how good the chicken was and the rice. I also made your coriander and lime chicken for those that don’t do spicy and followed it up with three of your amazing desserts. Salted caramel tart, chocolate mousse and tiramisu. You are my go to for recipes when I have people coming over and your recipes never disappoint.
What a great menu, I’m so happy it was a hit!
I made the chicken and the rice for dinner last night and they were both so so delicious. I’ve just had some leftovers for lunch and they are just as good! The chicken tastes great cold 😀 I have made lots of your recipes and every one has been amazing. Thank you so much Nagi!
Thanks so much Morgan, I love hearing what people think of my recipes!!
I made this on Sunday along with the Rice & Beans recipe. Let me tell you this was “lick the plate” good. lol. It is definitely a close second to my favorite place in Jamaica. Very flavorful and it is easy to adjust the spices and heat to your liking. This meal is going into my rotation. Thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed this Jacqueline!! Thanks for letting me know – N x
Made this and it was DELISH! Another winner if you like bold flavors (who doesn’t!)
We did it on the cast iron skillet, did some thighs and some breast (had to add more oil to the breast so it wouldn’t burn out the seasoning)
DELISH!
Can’t wait to try another recipieeee next week!
I don’t have allspice can I use something else?!
1/4 tsp cloves 🙂
I made this again using the marinade on a whole chicken, which I roasted on a vertical roaster. Boy, was it good, and the house smelled wonderful as it cooked! I toned down the heat and used very little , which I think is better for a whole chicken. plus it’s easy to add heat, you can’t take it away! I have half a chicken left over and will use the marinade recipe to make sauce to go with it.
THANK YOU for reminding me about this recipe, now I have a hankering and I’ve just added it to my meal plan for this week! N xx
Nagi. I have been following your blog for about a year or so. After the fish with lemon cream sauce, I was hooked. Your recipes are inspiring even when I haven’t had a chance to make them yet. This is one of them. I will definitely be making this and serving to my Caribbean friends, ASAP! I will come back to let you know how it all worked out.
Drooling!
I hope you get a chance to try this one Lisa! It’s SO GOOD! N xx
Just tried this for the first time today, excellent recipe! Everyone at the office said it was delicious, thanks for the great post!
That’s terrific Sheoak! Thanks for letting me know! N xx ❤️
Can you make the carribean rice with brown rice?
I’m sorry I haven’t tried that ML 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi,
magnificent recipes 🙂 .
Caribbean rice
I was wondering, i need to make 12 cups of rice for the whole family
should I use the same ratio of 1 cup of coconut milk to 1 cup of rice
or should i do 8 cups of coconut milk and top it up with water
Not sure how creamy the rice would get if I do 1 cup per 1 cup of rice
please could you guide me
So pleased you enjoyed this Patrick! Just scale up the recipe, 1 cup of uncooked rice = 3 cups cooked 🙂 Do you want 12 cooked cups? N x
Making 12 cups of raw rice , therefore do I use 12 cups of coconut milk , will it make it to creamy .
Intend making this in a rice boiler , after I fry the rice with all the the ingredients, except water and milk
Hi Patrick – yes 12 cups of coconut milk and all the other ingredients need to be scaled up too 🙂 By x 12
so good! The grill got some of my skin (booo!), but the dish was great! I used two chicken leg quarters and two big pork chops, and went with two jalapenos. The pork was even better than the chicken. And the rice/beans was a great side. Will not be my last time preparing this recipe.
BOO to that!!! 🙂 Quick tip – don’t move the chicken around when grilling, it actually naturally released once cooked 🙂 Little tip I got from Bobby Flay actually!
Omg I’m in love. I initially thought this recipe was too hard because it required so many ingredients + food processor but OH MY GOSH! It’s soooooo easy and worth every step! I used a nutribullet to blend the marinade. I marinated for 24 hours and grilled it. So so so goood. ANOTHER Nagi recipe for the books!!!
Fantastic to hear you enjoyed it Stephanie, thanks for letting me know! N xx
I added one habanero and it’s too spicy should I add more sugar? Help lol any suggestions
Hi Salina, I’m sorry I’m too late for this! My only suggestion would be too scrape off some of the marinade 🙁
Made this last night and LOVED it. I used two habanero peppers and it gave it some good heat. Just another recipe you’ve wowed me and my bf with.
Thanks Nagi!
I’m so glad Amaris!!! Thank you for trying my recipe and coming back to let me know you enjoyed it! N x