Ottolenghi’s jerk chicken
- Portion size: Serves 4
- Prep time 10 min, plus at least 6 hours marinating. Cook time 50 min, plus 10 min resting
- Difficulty: easy
Give chicken thighs the Ottolenghi treatment with this easy jerk recipe from Yotam and his test kitchen team. Here’s why it’s a winner for a spring lunch…
- The spices: The recipe for the jerk blend of all-spice, bay, paprika and chilli was passed down to Ottolenghi Test Kitchen’s Helen Goh from Stephanie Kamener, a Jamaican chef. The result is a fragrant blend with sweet hints of cinnamon and mixed spice.
- The chicken: Give your chicken a six-hour marinade for maximum flavour before roasting until the skin is perfectly crisp and golden.
- The sides: The spicy chicken pairs beautifully with this potato salad and roasted carrots with curry leaf dukkah.
Ingredients
- 1 tsp allspice berries
- 2 bay leaves, roughly torn
- 1½ tsp hot chilli powder
- 1½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground mixed spice
- 25g light soft brown sugar
- 1½ tbsp runny honey
- 1-2 jalapeño chillies, finely chopped
- 1-2 red scotch bonnet chillies, finely chopped
- 2 spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 small red onion, cut into 1cm pieces
- 50ml olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1kg chicken thighs
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
Method
- Put the allspice and bay leaves in a dry pan and toast them for 1-2 minutes until the bay leaves have blistered. Using a pestle and mortar, crush to a powder, then tip into a large bowl along with all the remaining ingredients, apart from the chicken and vinegar. Mix well to combine, then add the chicken. Massage well so all the thighs are well coated, then cover and transfer to the fridge to marinate for at least 6 hours (or overnight).
- Half an hour before you’re going to cook the chicken, take it out of the fridge, add the vinegar and toss to combine.
- Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Spread the chicken out on a large lined baking tray, skin-side up. Roast for about 45 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through, until the chicken is crisp and golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
- 752kcals Calories
- 48g (11g saturated) Fat
- 63g Protein
- 17g (16g sugars) Carbs
- 1.8g Fibre
- 1.5g Salt
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Reviews
Im Sorry Yotam, but this resembles Jerk chicken about as much as much as I resemble a martian. It may be a good recipe but please omit the “Jerk”. I would never make Latkes and use different ingredients, neither would I buy a Ferrari and call it a Ford. The food however looks delicious and calling it Carribean inspired would be far less disrespectful. Thank you. No rudeness intended just honesty.
Thanks for your feedback. As you point out, jerk marinades typically have some key ingredients in common but often vary between cooks, and the recipe for this jerk blend was shared by a Jamaican chef, Stephanie Kamener. We hope that helps toward explaining the title choice. Do let us know what you think if you choose to make the recipe.
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