Jamaican Jerk Seasoning

What is jerk?

Jerk is a style of cooking that originated in Jamaica and is common throughout the Carribbean. This method of cooking involves marinating the main ingredient, typically chicken, but also many other proteins and vegetables, with a blend of aromatic spices, herbs, and spicy peppers. The marinated food is slowly cooked over a fire or grill, traditionally using green pimento wood placed above smoldering coals. The smoky aroma and flavor from the wood smoke are essential elements that contribute to the unique and fiery flavor of jerk dishes.

Of course, jerk seasoning is a must for grilled jerk chicken, but don't stop there! This delicious and versatile marinade can be used on steaks, pork chops, shrimp, salmon, tofu, or veggies. This Caribbean jerk seasoning is a dry spice blend. The key ingredients that give Jamaican jerk seasoning its distinctive taste are scotch bonnet peppers, allspice berries, (pimento berries), nutmeg, and thyme.

Why make your own jerk seasoning blend?

• Easy: It couldn't be any easier to make your own seasoning mixes. Just stir everything together and you're done!
• Versatile: This Jamaican jerk seasoning blend can be used on everything, from grilled meats or seafood to roasted vegetables. It adds a spicy, smoky flavor that enhances the taste of any recipe.
• Customizable: Creating your own homemade Jamaican jerk seasoning allows you to customize the blend according to your preferences. I'm sharing my own favorite personal blend here, but you can adjust the heat level, sweetness, and flavor to your own preference.
• Healthier: When you make your own seasoning blends you aren't getting any anti caking agents or MSG, and it's always gluten-free. You also get to control the amount of sugar and sodium.
• Economical: Save money making homemade seasoning blends. (Next, you may want to try these other flavor packed homemade seasonings: Cajun seasoning, taco seasoning, pumpkin pie spice, or garam masala).

Ingredient Notes

To create the perfect Jamaican Jerk Seasoning, you'll need a combination of aromatics, sweetness and spice. Full ingredient quantities are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Onion Powder
• Garlic Powder
• Brown Sugar: A little sweetness is a great way to balance the spice level.
• Scotch bonnet pepper powder: One of the traditional elements of jerk spices, the Scotch bonnet, has a fiery heat balanced by a delicious fruity flavor. If you can't find Scotch bonnet powder at your local grocery store, habanero pepper is a very close substitute. You can also use cayenne pepper powder or crushed red pepper flakes. Cayenne is much milder as far as hot peppers go, so you may want to increase the amount if you like it spicy.
• Black Pepper
• Salt
• Ground Allspice Powder This ingredient, with it's distinctive warm and peppery notes, is essential for authentic Jamaican flavor.
• Dried Thyme 
• Smoked Paprika
• Ground Nutmeg 
• Ground Cinnamon

How to make Jamaican jerk seasoning

1. Place all ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Whisk together until evenly blended.

Variations

This versatile spice blend can be easily customized.

• Sweetness: I have tested this recipe without sugar, and it still works. However, some sweetness adds another dimension of flavor that I felt was missing. Although I'm using brown sugar, you can easily use coconut sugar, or turbinado sugar (cane sugar) instead, or even white sugar.
• Spices: Besides the the sweet spices of allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger, you can also use ground cloves, or ground cumin. 
• Marinade: Make a wet marinade by mixing jerk seasoning with a little olive oil and lime juice.

How to use your Jamaican jerk rub

Beside the classic grilled Jamaican jerk chicken, I use this Jamaican jerk marinade recipe as a dry rub on chicken breasts for my jerk chicken salad. It's also perfect for grilled chicken thighs, grilled shrimp, pork tenderloin, salmon, and even vegetables like corn on the cob, and roasted sweet potatoes. 

Try seasoning french fries or chicken wings with jerk spice, too. And whatever you season with this easy recipe will be delicious served with Jamaican rice and peas.