We're not exaggerating when we say this is the best jerk chicken marinade! It's a smoky, spicy, and slightly sweet blend of jerk seasoning, onion, garlic, fresh lime, and jalapeño. It's a quick and easy recipe that makes the most tender and juicy chicken every time!
Place the onion, lime juice, oil, soy sauce, jerk seasoning, garlic, and if using the jalapeño pepper into your blender.
½ medium onion, ¼ cup lime juice, 2 tablespoons cooking oil, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons jerk seasoning, 4 cloves garlic, 1 jalapeño pepper
Blend on high speed until the marinade is mostly smooth.
Place the chicken in a shallow bowl or baking dish and pour the jerk chicken marinade over the top. Mix it around a little so that all the chicken is coated in the marinade then let the chicken marinate for at least 30 minutes - or up to 24 hours in your fridge.
2 lb chicken thighs or breast
Cook the chicken
Bake: Put the chicken onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit, uncovered, for 15 minutes for boneless thighs, 20-25 minutes for breast, and 35-40 minutes for bone-in thighs.Grill: Remove the chicken from the marinade and grill over medium heat for 10 minutes for boneless thighs, 18-22 minutes for breast, and 30-35 minutes (over indirect heat) for bone-in thighs.
Optional: freeze the chicken
Put the raw chicken into freezer bags (we love these Stasher freezer bags!) then pour the marinade over the top. Squish the bag around a little so that the chicken is coated in the marinade then seal the bag and put it into your freezer.
Notes
We use our homemade jerk seasoning in this recipe. While it has a fairly long list of spices in it, most are common pantry ingredients. We recommend making the full recipe to save you time next time you make a jerk recipe, but if you only want to make enough for this marinade, use these quantities: