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Home » Recipes » Instant Pot

Grilled Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Published: Jul 15, 2017 | Updated: Aug 2, 2023 | Author: Neena Panicker

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

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 RedI 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.

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Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken Recipe Ingredients

Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken Ingredients - ketchup, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, jerk seasoning, salt, pickapeppa sauce, soy sauce, chicken drumsticks - Paint the Kitchen Red

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

Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken Instructions collage - marinade ingredients in inner pot, stirred, chicken added - Paint the Kitchen Red

  • 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.

Instant Pot Duo Manual mode 10 minutes collage - close lid, press manual, press - or +, display shows 10- Paint the Kitchen Red

  • 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 Manual mode collage - Display reads On, float valve up, display reads L0:00

  • 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’.

Instant Pot Duo release steam and open collage - move steam release handle to venting with help of a towel, float valve is down, Instant Pot Duo is open - Paint the Kitchen Red

  • 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.

Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken Instructions collage - cooked chicken, on plate, sauce in inner pot - Paint the Kitchen Red

  • Remove chicken pieces from the inner pot and set aside.

Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken Instructions collage - arrow pointing to saute, spoon out marinade, chicken on grill - Paint the Kitchen Red

  • 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 L1 - Paint the Kitchen Red

Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken features succulent bone-in chicken with boldly spiced island flavors, beautifully finished on the grill.
4.91 from 21 votes
PRINT PIN RATE
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes minutes
Servings: 6 pieces
Calories: 209
Author: Paint the Kitchen Red
Prevent Screen from Going Dark

Equipment

  • Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
  • Grill

Ingredients
  

  • ½ cup ketchup
  • ¼ cup dark brown sugar
  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar
  • 3 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoon Pickapeppa sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Jamaican jerk seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 6 chicken thighs or drumsticks

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.
  • Pressure cook for 10 minutes on High Pressure.
  • Do a quick release of pressure and carefully open the Instant Pot.  [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods].
  • 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.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 piece of chicken | Calories: 209 kcal | Carbohydrates: 9 g | Protein: 11 g | Fat: 3 g | Saturated Fat: 1 g | Cholesterol: 52 mg | Sodium: 1139 mg | Sugar: 10 g
Course Main Dishes
Cuisine Jamaican
Main Ingredient chicken
Have you made this recipe? I love seeing your photos! Tag me on Instagram @PaintTheKitchenRed or #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!

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Comments

  1. Carolyn says

    July 24, 2024 at 4:14 pm

    5 stars
    Absolutely scrumptious! Served it with rice and beans made with coconut milk. This will be a family favorite. Thank you so much!

    Reply
    • Neena Panicker says

      July 25, 2024 at 3:41 pm

      Carolyn, thank you for sharing! I love the addition of coconut milk to your rice 🙂

      Reply
  2. Giselle says

    June 19, 2024 at 6:09 pm

    Our family absolutely loved this. We also agree with a previous poster that it is not exactly how authentic jerk chicken tastes like, but it is absolutely delicious anyway! My husband had suggested that we get a recipe for jerk chicken, and I reminded him of this recipe. We all agreed that we loved the taste and would love to have it again! Thank you so much for your time and preparing this!

    Reply
    • Neena Panicker says

      June 21, 2024 at 12:50 pm

      Giselle, thank you for trying the recipe and I’m glad you liked my interpretation of this classic Jamaican jerk chicken.

      Reply
  3. James says

    April 21, 2021 at 4:28 pm

    Delicious. I added a little lime juice but I doubt it was necessary, I’m just partial to it 🙂

    Reply
    • Paint the Kitchen Red says

      April 22, 2021 at 9:51 am

      Thank you James!

      Reply
  4. Brenda says

    March 31, 2021 at 5:08 pm

    Great flavour! Ended with 5 mins on the BBQ and wasn’t any leftovers. Three happy teenager and a husband. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Paint the Kitchen Red says

      April 05, 2021 at 1:46 pm

      I’m thrilled that you liked the recipe, Brenda 🙂

      Reply
« Older Comments
4.91 from 21 votes (6 ratings without comment)

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Hi, I'm Neena Panicker, and welcome! I am the creator, photographer, and author of recipes and tips at Paint the Kitchen Red. I live in the glorious west in Salt Lake City, Utah with my family.

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