Bring some tropical flavors to the dinner table with this simple Jamaican jerk seasoning. It's slightly spicy, sweet, and perfect for chicken, shrimp, beef or even vegetables!
It's amazing how much flavor you can get from simple pantry spices. Some of my family's favorite spice blends include homemade fajita seasoning, Greek seasoning blend, and this jerk seasoning.
While we love a good traditional Jamaican jerk recipe, sometimes we don't have time to dig out the food processor and deal with handling spicy scotch bonnet peppers.
This Jamaican jerk seasoning simplifies the process immensely: with a few simple pantry spices, we get those delicious jerk flavors: warm spice flavors from the allspice and thyme, a spicy kick from the cayenne and a subtle sweetness from the brown sugar...it all goes so so well together.
Just a few shakes onto your chicken, shrimp, beef or vegetables, and you get those delicious jerk flavors without the hassle of the food processor.
And by making our own seasoning, we are avoiding any unhealthy additives like MSG or anti-caking agents that can sometimes be found in store-bough spice blends. This spice blend is gluten-free, clean eating, vegan and paleo compliant!
Why you’ll ♡ Jamaican jerk seasoning
- it's simple and ready in under 10 minutes
- you don't need to handle scotch bonnet peppers or dig out a food processor
- it's delicious on chicken, shrimp, steak or vegetables
Don't forget to pin this recipe to save it for later!
What is Jamaican jerk?
Jerk refers to a technique used to cook meat (chicken, beef, pork, seafood and more) originating in Jamaica (1). Traditionally, the meat is slathered in a marinade or a dry rub, then cooked over an open fire (often including pimento wood). The marinade can vary greatly by chef, but typically consists of allspice, scotch bonnet peppers, onions and thyme, as well as many other ingredients (2).
This seasoning recipe was inspired by traditional Jamaican jerk flavors, but made with pantry staples which are easily found in North American (US/Canada) kitchens. While it is not an authentic Jamaican recipe, my hope is that it will honor the traditional flavors while introducing it to new home chefs.
How to prepare the seasoning
To prep this seasoning, we will combine brown sugar (or coconut sugar), thyme leaves, ground allspice, garlic powder, cinnamon, black pepper, salt and cayenne. Stir to combine. Use the seasoning right away, or store in the pantry in an air tight container for up to a year.
Recipe tips
- sugar- most jerk seasoning recipes do not include sugar, but I found it to compliment the flavors really well. Leave it out if you'd prefer
- cayenne- as written this spice blend has a mild spice to it. Feel free to increase the cayenne to 1 teaspoon for a spicy version or reduce to ¼ teaspoon for a mild version. It's also fine to leave it out completely.
- marinade- turn this into a marinade by combining with lime juice and olive oil. You can use this on chicken, shrimp and steak. Find full quantities in my Shortcut Jamaican Jerk Chicken Marinade post
- salt- this seasoning blend includes salt, so you should not need to add salt to whatever you are putting it on.
- this recipe makes close to ½ cup but can easily be doubled or tripled and stored long term.
How to use this seasoning?
I recommend tossing the protein or vegetable that you will be cooking in some olive oil and lime juice to help the seasoning stick. It's best to rub the seasoning onto the chicken/steak with your hands so that it sticks and coats it evenly. For shrimp or vegetables, you can toss to coat a bowl.
Cook as you normally would, and serve with fresh mango if you can (the combo of jerk seasoning and fresh mango is really hard to beat!)
How much seasoning to use?
Don't be afraid to use this seasoning aggressively. I advise using 2-3 tablespoons per pound of chicken, shrimp or steak.
(Pictured above: this seasoning used as a chicken marinade with some olive oil and lime juice)
Ways to use this seasoning
- chicken marinade- add a bit of olive oil and lime juice and use it as a chicken marinade (refer to instructions in this post)
- sheet pan dinner- try this Jamaican Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner
- meal prep recipes- try these Jamaican Chicken Meal Prep Lunch Bowls
- it's great on roasted vegetables such as cauliflower
- it's great on shrimp
- I bet it would be great on salmon (I must try this!)
More seasoning blends + dry rub recipes
- 7 Easy Spice Blends
- Homemade Taco Seasoning
- Brown Sugar Chili Seasoning
- Homemade Indian Spice Blend
- Homemade Moroccan Spice Blend
Jamaican Jerk Seasoning
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne (for mild spice; up to ½-1 teaspoon for a spicier version)
Instructions
- Stir together all ingredients.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 1 year.
- Don't be afraid to use this seasoning aggressively! Use 2-3 tablespoons per pound of chicken, shrimp or steak.
Ken Stevens
As a trained cook, this is VERY simple and delish rub that can be whipped up on the fly......great job !!
Denise Bustard
Hi Ken! So happy to hear you enjoyed the rub. Five stars from a trained cook means a lot, thank you!
Cooker
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood!
Did on shrimp, on a cast-iron griddle on high heat on bbq. Nice and caramelised, such good flavour, and versatile! I did about a teaspoon cayenne, and even still it wasn't very spicy. Still in mild zone, might bump it up with more cayenne depending on what im using it for.
Denise Bustard
YAY! So happy to hear you enjoyed. THank you so much for coming back to leave a review <3
Barbara Marco
Hi Denise: Best turkey we had in years and so different, everyone in the family loved it. I followed the recipe exactly just added a little more heat as everyone loves hot spicy food. Started cooking and every 20 minutes I basted with the drippings. It became crispy and dark brown just the way I wanted it to. Now here is the good part - there was lots of juice on the bottom of the roaster so I decided to make gravy out of all that juice that contained all the spicy rub. I have never tasted such a wonderful gravy in my life. So different from the regular juice that comes off a plain roasted turkey. Will never go back to the old way. Carved, moist and delicious. I am going to use the same jerk spices to do a roast of beef tomorrow. So glad I found this.
Kirstin
Wow can I ask how you made your gravy?
Mera
This combination of spices will upgrade the typical dry rub. But, it won’t come near an authentic jerk flavor. Fresh, wet seasonings plus the essential fresh scotch bonnet peppers or pepper sauce are a must to get the real jerk taste . Leaving out the “wet” ingredients is like making spaghetti and leaving out the tomato sauce or substituting sun dried tomatoes. It’s just not the same taste. Scotch bonnet pepper is a pepper with intense heat and a big bold flavor that can’t be left out of jerk cooking. It’s essential as salt in Jamaican cooking and is used daily in every savory dish to some degree. I buy the bottled sauce on Amazon. Hard to find fresh scotch bonnets in my area. I can only handle 1 teaspoon or less to the entire dish before cooking! It takes very little to add a large amount of flavor and heat. It’s one of the hottest peppers in the world. (I ALWAYS use gloves and utensils when handling fresh scotch bonnets! It’s an emergency room visit if it gets from hand to eyes! )
The other wet ingredients are fresh English thyme, green onions, garlic, key limes, vinegar and a shallot strength small onion. The wet ingredients including the pepper (seeds removed will lessen heat) are ground in a blender or mortar/pestle with a little coconut oil and rubbed onto the chicken, or meat. Place on fish 1 to 2 hours before cooking. Marinate in ziplock bags with air pressed out.
Tips: Grind allspice and black pepper (telicherry) seeds in blender for strongest flavor. Use key limes versus the larger Persian limes since they have a milder less acrid taste. Never use bottle reconstituted lime juice because of the after taste.
I’m a native Jamaican from a long line of excellent cooks with a son formally trained as a chef. Unfortunately, I started cooking on my own since growing up in a multi generational household of excellent chefs means most of the cooking was done by the elders. Kids were allowed to peel, husk, grater, scrape, watch and fetch things, but, not allowed to spoil the pot when the main course was cooking! You honed your skills in your own kitchen after learning the basics at home! Lol!
Barbara Marco
Well it sure sounds good and I hope that it works. I am going to use it as a rub over an entire ten pound turkey, lol
Denise
Wow that sounds delicious! Let me know how it goes for you, Barbara!
Megan
We LOVE this seasoning and use it on everything- chicken, veggies, shrimp, steak...it's so good paired with fresh mango!
Denise
So happy you enjoyed! Thanks so much for your review!