Description
Slow Cooker Jamaican Jerk Chicken is a flavorful and tender dish featuring bone-in chicken thighs marinated in a vibrant blend of traditional jerk spices and seasonings. This recipe uses a slow cooker for an easy, hands-off cooking method, resulting in juicy chicken infused with a perfect balance of heat, sweetness, and aromatic spices.
Ingredients
Scale
Chicken
- 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
Jerk Sauce
- 1 green onion, whole
- ½ yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 2 tsp. ground thyme
- ½ tsp. ground cloves
- ½ tsp. ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp. ground allspice
Instructions
- Season the Chicken: Season both sides of the chicken thighs generously with salt and pepper to enhance the flavor of the meat.
- Sear the Chicken: Heat the vegetable oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken thighs on both sides until browned. This step adds depth of flavor, though the chicken won’t be fully cooked yet as it will finish in the slow cooker.
- Transfer to Slow Cooker: Place the browned chicken thighs in the slow cooker, arranging them evenly to prepare for cooking.
- Prepare the Jerk Sauce: In a food processor, combine the green onion, yellow onion, garlic, fresh ginger, lime juice, jalapeno pepper (with seeds removed), soy sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, ground thyme, ground cloves, ground nutmeg, and ground allspice. Pulse until the mixture is smooth and well blended.
- Add Sauce to Chicken: Pour the jerk sauce over the chicken thighs in the slow cooker, ensuring the chicken is fully coated for maximum flavor infusion.
- Slow Cook the Chicken: Cover the slow cooker with a lid and cook on LOW heat for 8 hours or on HIGH heat for 4 hours. The chicken should be cooked through and fork-tender when done.
- Serve: Serve the jerk chicken hot, optionally garnished with fresh cilantro. Pair with your favorite sides such as rice and peas or steamed vegetables for a complete meal.
Notes
- For extra heat, leave some seeds in the jalapeno pepper or add a pinch of cayenne pepper to the sauce.
- Skin-on chicken adds flavor and moisture, but you can remove the skin after cooking to reduce fat.
- Searing the chicken is optional but recommended for better flavor and texture.
- This dish pairs wonderfully with traditional Jamaican sides like rice and peas or fried plantains.
- Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 chicken thigh with sauce
- Calories: 350 kcal
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 900 mg
- Fat: 20 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 13 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 8 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 30 g
- Cholesterol: 110 mg
