Forget the store-bought stuff, instead make your own batch of homemade jerk marinade with this easy, straight-forward recipe.
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.
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.
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
Step 3: Puree
Serving Suggestions:
I put this jerk marinade on both meat and vegetables, especially in recipes calling for a wet marinade.
Instant Pot Jerk Chicken Thighs
Jerk Whole Roasted Cauliflower
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.
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Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Allspice Berries ground
- 1 tbsp Fresh Thyme 10 sprigs
- 2 whole Scotch Bonnet Peppers
- 4 green onions Scallions whites and green parts chopped
- 2 tbsp Fresh Ginger
- 6 Garlic
- 1/2 Whole Nutmeg grated
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp Brown sugar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup Soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Red wine vinegar
- 1 medium Onion
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 2 tsp 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
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.
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