Walkerswood is one of the best jerk chicken marinades and is the standard to which all jerk chicken is measured. In this recipe, we use chicken quarters marinated overnight with Walkerswood jerk marinade & neutral oil. Slow-cooked to dissolve the fat and tendons and then cooked under high heat to crisp and brown them. Served with an incredible jerk chicken sauce that is so complimentary to the chicken. Side it up with some rice & peas, corn on the cob, fries, or a salad.
Walkerswood Jerk Chicken Ingredients
Chicken Quarters, Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning, Neutral Oil, Jerk Sauce (Water, Ketchup, Maggi Chicken Bouillon, Ginger, Sugar, Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning)
Chicken
The best cut of chicken to use is quarters. See How to Prepare Chicken, which has a section on chicken quarters and how to clean and trim them. After the chicken is cleaned and trimmed, dislocate the joint in both the thigh and leg and place them into the jerk marinade to coat thoroughly. Optionally pierce the chicken a bunch of times all over the chicken.
Jerk Chicken Marinade
The jerk marinade itself is either the Walkerswood Mild or Hoy & Spicy Jerk seasoning that comes in a bottle. In general, 1 oz or 2 Tbl of paste is used for 1 lb of chicken. Rub all over the chicken and cover to refrigerate for 4 hours, with an overnight marinade recommended for deeper concentration of flavors. This is your base jerk chicken marinade.
Many people and even Walkerswood themselves add additional ingredients to the jerk marinade. Check out Walkerswood Jerk Chicken recipe. Which includes additional ingredients alongside the paste that is used. Other than that, other ingredients that can be added are soy sauce, lemon/lime juice, Red Stripe or Appleton rum, liquid smoke, various herbs & spices, and oil, which I include for mixing the paste to create the jerk marinade. Adjust how you see fit and add what you like.
If you only use 1 Tbl of Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning (Hot & Spicy) per 1 lb of chicken, there really won’t be any heat at all. So if you’re after that, then this amount won’t be enough. For those that are heat sensitive, then 1 Tbl per 1 lb of chicken is good. Using 2 Tbl per 1 lb of chicken is decent for most, and using more will yield a spicier dish. Adjust for your heat preference.
Jerk Sauce
The jerk sauce, or Jamaican jerk ketchup, is a complementary sauce for jerk chicken and so easy to put together. Just combine all the ingredients together in a pot. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium, and simmer for 5 minutes. Use it as a dipping sauce or ladled directly over the jerk chicken. You can adjust the heat level by however much jerk seasoning you add.
Jerk Chicken Sides
The most common side for jerk chicken is rice & peas. Although you don’t have to, you can switch it up with corn on the cob or fries, which works wonderfully with the jerk sauce or even a salad. For bread sides, just a slice of buttered bread, cornbread, or johnnycakes.
Ingredients
- 8 Tbl Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning - Mild or Hot & Spicy, see notes
- 4 Tbl Neutral Oil
- 4 Chicken Quarters - cleaned and trimmed, joints dislocated
Jerk Sauce
- 1 C Water & Ketchup - each
- 1/4 C Cane Sugar - can use white or brown sugar
- 1-2 Tbl Walkerswood Jerk Paste - depending on heat preference
- 1 inch Ginger - Sliced thinly
- 1 Cube Maggi Chicken Bouillon - or equivalent in chicken broth powder
Instructions
- Prep Chicken: Clean and trim the chicken and bend the joints back in both the thigh piece and leg piece to dislocate the joints.
- Marinade: Combine the jerk paste and oil and mix well. Add the chicken and massage all over the chicken. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Jerk Sauce: Combine into a small pot the ingredients for the jerk sauce and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Slow Cook: Transfer the chicken to a broiling or roasting pan, presentation side down, and cover with tin foil or a lid. Leave it out on the counter while preheating the oven to 300 F. Bake for 1 hour.
- Brown & Crisp: After 1 hour, turn the heat up to 400 F and remove the cover. Continue to cook, flipping it over as needed, for about 30 minutes, or until nice browning & crisping of the skin with charring. Use the fat in the bottom of the pan to dab the chicken and promote crisping. Remove and let rest.Either serve the chicken in whole pieces with sauce drizzled over the top or serve it on the side in a small dipping bowl. Or chop the chicken right through the bone with a butcher's knife into small pieces and drizzle the sauce over the top to serve.
Notes
- Mild: 1 Tbl of Hot & Spicy Jerk Seasoning per 1 lb of Chicken. There is really no heat using this much.
- Medium: Use 2 Tbl of Hot & Spicy Jerk Seasoning per 1 lb of Chicken. This is a decent heat and good for most.
- Spicy: Use 3 Tbl or more per 1 lb of chicken. Additional heat can also be added to the jerk sauce by using the desired amount of jerk seasoning. Even more with your choice of hot sauce over the chicken.