Jerk chicken is a Jamaican dish through and through, so I want to start by giving it the credit it deserves. I haven’t actually had an authentic version myself, but a video stopped me mid-scroll a few weeks ago and sent me down a full jerk chicken rabbit hole. I did as much research as I could, specifically looking at what Jamaican cooks and chefs recommended, then tested a handful of sauces I could actually get my hands on. Grace’s kept coming up again and again, and after trying them, it was the clear winner for me.
From there, I took those flavours and ran with them in my own direction: sticky jerk chicken piled into a bowl with coconut-lime rice, rum-charred pineapple, crunchy cucumbers and plenty of toppings. Definitely not traditional jerk chicken, but very much inspired by it—and very much the kind of dinner I want to eat.
sticky jerk chicken bowls with pineapple and coconut lime rice
TOTAL TIME: 45 minutes
SERVES: 4
tools i use.
tips.
make it GF: ✅ Grace’s Jerk Sauce is unfortunately not GF but you can find GF varieties out there!
make it DF: ✅ swap the butter for another tablespoon of avocado oil or a plant-based butter. Everything else is already dairy-free.
Make it easier:
simplify: buy pre-cut pineapple and use a mandoline for the cucumbers. You can also skip the peanuts or crispy shallots if you don’t need two crunchy toppings, but you know how I feel about texture. And if you are in a pinch - no shame in packet rice.