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"No, PT. II" jerk marinade

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Forget the store-bought stuff, instead make your own batch of homemade jerk marinade with this easy, straight-forward recipe.

jerk marinade in jar

I make a lot of jerk recipes, and for a long time relied on a few different commercial brands like Grace and Walkerswood. Both are decent and serve their purpose, especially when you need convenience. However, I always felt like I could level up.

This jerk marinade recipe tastes fresh and natural, mainly because it is both those things. So there is just no point going back once you’ve made this one.

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Jerk Marinade Ingredients

Fresh is da word with this jerk paste. Fresh thyme, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, fresh scallions, and fresh onions. Good pimento (all-spice) is the key ingredient. Pimento is Jamaican pepper but sweeter and looks like whole dried berries. It has a warm, fragrant aroma and combines multiple flavors from cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

jerk marinade ingredients on tray

How To Make Jerk Paste

You can easily use ground ingredients for easier, more convenient jerk paste. However, the key to jerkilicious paste is to grate fresh nutmeg and ground your own pimento seeds.

Step 1: Grate the nutmeg

Step 2: Grind the pimento

pimento berries in coffee grinder

Step 3: Puree

jerk marinade ingredients in blender

Serving Suggestions:

I put this jerk marinade on both meat and vegetables, especially in recipes calling for a wet marinade.

Jerk Fried Chicken

Smoked Jerk Duck Leg

Instant Pot Jerk Chicken Thighs

Smoked Jerk Oxtails

Jerk Chicken Leg Quarters

Jerk Red Snapper

Jerk Whole Roasted Cauliflower

Roasted Onion Steaks

Expert Tips For Making Jerk Marinade

  • Where possible use fresh ingredients for more clean and natural flavor
  • To dial heat up or down adjust for seeds and veins. For milder jerk paste remove seeds and veins
  • Texture can be tweaked based on liquids (oil, soy, vinegar) to solids (thyme, onions, scallions) ratio. For more of a paste consistency dial down the liquids
  • Use a coffee grinder to grind the pimento seeds into all-spice. If no grinder available then use a quality ground all-spice mix.

For similar recipes you might like, try these:

Cuban Ketchup

Israeli Zhoug Sauce

West African Peanut Sauce

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Jerk BBQ Sauce

Chipotle BBQ Sauce

If you make this delicious jerk paste recipe or any other from the site, please come back and leave me a comment below with your feedback. Definitely take a photo of the dish and be sure to tag #foodfidelity so that I can see them.

You can also keep up with my food exploits as well as original recipes! You can find me on InstagramFacebookTwitter, and Pinterest. If you like any of the music you find on the site, visit me at Spotify to find curated monthly playlist.

jerk marinade in jar

Jamaican Jerk Marinade

Fragrant and flavorful jerk marinade
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 1 minute
Course: Sauce
Cuisine: Caribbean, Jamaican
Servings: 2 cups
Calories: 471kcal
Author: Marwin Brown

Equipment

  • Blender

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup Allspice Berries ground
  • 1 tablespoon Fresh Thyme 10 sprigs
  • 2 whole Scotch Bonnet Peppers
  • 4 green onions Scallions whites and green parts chopped
  • 2 tablespoon Fresh Ginger
  • 6 Garlic
  • ½ Whole Nutmeg grated
  • 2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoon Brown sugar
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup Soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoon Red wine vinegar
  • 1 medium Onion
  • 1 tablespoon Salt
  • 2 teaspoon Pepper
  • 2 limes juiced

Instructions

  • Grind pimento berries in coffee grounder and place in mixing bowl.
  • Grate the nutmeg directly into same mixing. Set aside
  • Add remaining ingredients to blender starting with liquid ingredients first.
  • Add ground pimento and grated nutmeg to blender. Pulse to paste consistency

Video

YouTube video

Notes

  • Where possible use fresh ingredients for more clean and natural flavor
  • To dial heat up or down adjust for seeds and veins. For milder jerk paste remove seeds and veins
  • Habanero is a good substitute for scotch bonnet
  • Texture can be tweaked based on liquids (oil, soy, vinegar) to solids (thyme, onions, scallions) ratio. For more of a paste consistency dial down the liquids
  • Use a coffee grinder to grind the pimento seeds into all-spice. If no grinder available then use a quality ground all-spice mix.

Nutrition

Calories: 471kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 5148mg | Potassium: 730mg | Fiber: 13g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 694IU | Vitamin C: 62mg | Calcium: 323mg | Iron: 5mg
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Recipe Rating




Mick

Monday 20th of December 2021

Thanks a lot for this. For allspice - do you take a 1/4 cup of berries and grind them, or do you grind them and then add 1/4 cup of ground allspice?

Marwin Brown

Monday 20th of December 2021

I take a 1/4 cup of berries then grind them. If using ground allspice it is about just a little more than 1 tbsp. You can adjust up or down depending on your preference.