Name: Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup ketchup; 1/4 cup dark brown sugar; 1/4 cup red wine vinegar; 3 Tbsp soy sauce; 2 Tbsp Pickapeppa sauce; 1 Tbsp Jamaican jerk seasoning; 1 tsp salt; 6 chicken thighs or drumsticks

This Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken recipe features succulent bone-in chicken with boldly spiced Caribbean flavors, beautifully finished on the grill.

Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken drumsticks on white plate with hot peppers and fried bananas in background - Paint the Kitchen Red

Note: I’ve updated this recipe to pressure cook for 10 minutes. I used to recommend 12 minutes, but the chicken can get overcooked especially if you’re grilling afterward.

If you’re looking for a change from traditional barbecue chicken, you’re going to love this boldly spiced Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken recipe.

Traditonal Jamaican jerk chicken has the perfect blend of spices (sweet, sour, hot), is grilled in the ‘jerk’ style and is sold at roadside stands throughout Jamaica.

Jerk chicken is normally made with Scotch bonnet / Caribbean red peppers, which are a relative of the habanero pepper and are very spicy, with a slightly sweet touch. Another important flavor component in Jamaican jerk chicken recipes is allspice.

In this recipe, I show you how to make my oven version of Jamaican Jerk Chicken adapted for the Instant Pot. I don’t use chicken breasts in my cooking much – I much prefer the taste of chicken thighs and drumsticks, which are especially well-suited for the Instant Pot.

And I don’t marinate the chicken ahead of time – I just add the ingredients to the Instant Pot, cook the chicken, reduce the marinade and finish the chicken on the grill. It’s super easy.

I find that meat cooked in the Instant Pot is perfectly tender with no babysitting required. And I like the flavor and look of finishing the chicken on the grill. It takes less than 5 minutes of grilling time – just enough to give the chicken a nice sear.

Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken Plantains collage - raw sliced plantains in frying pan, fried, served on plate - Paint the Kitchen Red

I love to serve Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken with fried ripe plantains, black beans and rice, and a peach or mango salsa. So good! To make the fried plantains, peel them, cut them on a bias, and fry them in a non-stick frying pan with a little bit of oil until both sides are a rich golden brown.

Two ripe plantains for jerk chicken side dish

Be sure to use plantains and not bananas, and they should be ripe. A ripe plantain looks kind of over-ripe in the photo above.

Tips and Substitutions

This recipe uses Jamaican jerk seasoning that is not too spicy.

If you want to make it spicier, you can add Scotch bonnet hot sauce or finely chopped Scotch bonnet peppers to your chicken marinade.

Be sure to use a light touch, because they’re spicy peppers! Alternately you could use a milder chili pepper.

The recipe calls for Pickapeppa Sauce which is a Jamaican condiment containing tamarind. I am able to find it in my regular grocery store where the barbecue sauces are sold. You can also find it on amazon.

When you’re reducing the sauce, watch for splatter. I use a splatter screen.

If you don’t have access to a grill you can finish it off in the oven on the broil setting, turning once until both sides are caramelized.

If you want to just grill chicken with a pre-made sauce, try the authentic Jamaican Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning. I have not used this marinade in the Instant Pot; I’ve only grilled with it. If using in the Instant Pot, you might need to thin it out with water.

If you’re new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, please read the Instant Pot DUO Beginner’s Quick Start Guide or the Instant Pot ULTRA Beginner’s Quick Start Guide first and then come back here to learn how to make this Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken.

GO DIRECTLY TO RECIPE

Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken Recipe Ingredients

Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken Recipe Step-by-Step Instructions

Add ketchup, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, soy sauce, Pickapeppa sauce, Jamaican jerk seasoning, salt to the inner pot of the Instant Pot.
Stir until mixed well.
Add chicken pieces and stir to coat.

Close Instant Pot Lid, and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
Press ‘Manual’ (or ‘Pressure Cook’) and ‘+’ or ‘-‘ until display reads ‘10’ (10 minutes).

Instant Pot display will change to ‘On’.
Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.
The display will count down from 10 to 0; it will switch to ‘Keep Warm’ mode and display ‘L0:00’.

Do a Quick Release: move the steam release handle to ‘Venting’. I like to place a folded towel over the steam release handle and move it to the venting position. Remove the towel after turning the knob. *
When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.
It’s now safe to open the Instant Pot. (Press ‘Cancel’ to turn off Instant Pot.)

* You can choose to do a natural pressure release (NPR) if you’re not going to grill the chicken.

Remove chicken pieces from the inner pot and set aside.

Press ‘Saute’ and reduce the marinade/sauce until thickened, about 5 to 7 minutes.
If necessary, use a splatter screen to prevent splatters.
Grill chicken for just enough time to get sear marks, and to give it a grilled look and flavor, about 2 minutes per side.
You can either baste each side while you grill, or coat the chicken in the sauce before placing on the grill.

Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken

4.86 from 14 votes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: pieces

Calories: 209 kcal

Author: Paint the Kitchen Red

Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken features succulent bone-in chicken with boldly spiced island flavors, beautifully finished on the grill.

Print Pin Rate

Ingredients

Instructions

Stir together ketchup, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, soy sauce, Pickapeppa sauce, Jamaican jerk seasoning, and salt in the Instant Pot.
Add chicken pieces and stir to coat.
Close Instant Pot Lid, and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
Cook on ‘Manual’ (or 'Pressure Cook') for 10 minutes.
Do a quick release of pressure and carefully open the Instant Pot.
Remove chicken pieces and set aside.
Press ‘Saute’ and reduce the sauce until thickened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Use a splatter screen if necessary, to prevent splatters.
Grill chicken for just enough time to get sear marks, and to give it a grilled look and flavor, about 2 minutes per side. You can either baste each side while you grill, or coat the chicken in the sauce before placing on the grill.
Serve with peach salsa or fried plantains, and beans and rice. Serve remaining sauce on the side.

Notes

Adapted from Cuisine at Home magazine Weeknight Meals
If not finishing on the grill, increase pressure cooking time to 12 minutes.
Natural Pressure Release also works fine for this recipe
See the blog post for more detailed recipe tips.

Nutrition

Course Main Dishes

Cuisine Jamaican

Main Ingredient chicken

Have You Made This Recipe?I love seeing your Photos! Tag Me on Instagram @PaintTheKitchenRed or tag #paintthekitchenred.

Thank you for visiting Paint the Kitchen Red. All photos and content are copyright protected. Please don’t use any content without prior written permission. If you’ve made this recipe and would like to share it with your friends, please link back to this recipe. Thank you!

I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.

If you loved this recipe, please give it a 5 Star rating in the comment section below and please share it on social media using the social media share buttons at the top and bottom of this post. Thank you so much!

BACK TO TOP