Lisa's Jerk Chicken

Chicken breasts are grilled outdoors after a wild night of marinating in hot peppers and spices for a Jamaican-inspired dish that's sweet, hot, spicy, and tangy all at the same time.

• Preparation Time: 25 mins
• Cooking Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 55 mins
• Calories: 433 Calories

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 3 onions, chopped
• 1 lime, juiced
• ½ cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger, or more to taste
• 2 tablespoons ground allspice
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 8 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or more to taste
• 6 Scotch bonnet chiles, chopped (wear gloves)
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, or more to taste
• 3 pounds bone-in chicken breast halves with skin

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat grill for medium-low heat and lightly oil the grate.

Step 2

Pour orange juice, vinegar, olive oil, soy sauce, and lime juice into a blender; add onions, Scotch bonnet chiles, garlic, sugar, thyme, allspice, salt, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Pulse several times to mix ingredients, then blend until jerk marinade is pureed.

Step 3

Set 1/2 cup marinade aside in a small bowl and refrigerate. Place chicken breasts into a large nonreactive bowl and pour remaining jerk sauce over chicken; stir to coat. Refrigerate chicken in marinade 8 hours to overnight.

Step 4

Remove chicken from marinade, discarding used marinade. Cook chicken on the preheated grill until meat is no longer pink inside, the skin is browned, and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a breast, not touching bone, reads at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C), about 30 minutes. Baste chicken with reserved 1/2 cup of marinade as it cooks, turning chicken occasionally.