This Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken recipe features succulent bone-in chicken with boldly spiced Caribbean flavors, beautifully finished on the grill. This tender, juicy chicken with aromatic jerk spices can also be made in the oven.
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read the disclosure.
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.
Authentic 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.
Absolutely scrumptious! Served it with rice and beans made with coconut milk. This will be a family favorite. Thank you so much!
Carolyn says ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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.
This is my interpretation 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.
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.
I love to serve Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken with fried ripe plantains, black beans and rice, and a peach 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.
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.
➡ If you’re looking for more grilled chicken recipes, try my tandoori chicken, peri peri chicken, and Korean chicken.
Ingredients and Tips
🧂 Ingredients for Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken
💡 Ingredient and Recipe Tips
🌶️ Spice Level: This recipe uses mild Jamaican jerk seasoning. Want more heat? Add hot sauce or finely chopped Scotch bonnet peppers to the marinade—but use sparingly, they’re fiery! Substitute milder chili peppers if preferred.
🥣 Marination: I don’t marinate the chicken ahead of time, and it still tastes amazing. However, if you marinate the chicken for 4 to 6 hours, it will be even more flavorful.
🍶 Pickapeppa Sauce: Pickapeppa sauce is a Jamaican tamarind condiment is available in most grocery stores near the barbecue sauces or on Amazon.
💦 Reducing Sauce: Watch for splatter when reducing the sauce. Use a splatter screen to protect your countertops.
🔥 No Grill?: Finish the chicken under the oven broiler instead, turning once until both sides are caramelized. Or skip the grilling, and pressure cook the chicken for 12 minutes.
🍗 Pre-Made Option: Try authentic Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning for grilling. I haven’t tested it in the Instant Pot, but if using, thin it out with water first.
How to Make Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken
⏲️ Instant Pot 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 the lid.
- Select Pressure Cook mode and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes.
- The display will go from On to 10:00. The float valve will go up after a few minutes. The display will count down to 00:00.
- Do a quick release of pressure. Once the float valve goes down, the lid can be opened. 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 it on the grill.
♨️ Oven Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (204 degrees C).
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with oil.
- Mix the sauce ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes. Reserve half the sauce for serving.
- Coat the chicken pieces with the sauce.
- Arrange the chicken on baking sheet.
- Bake chicken for 50 minutes to 1 hour, flipping halfway through and basting with sauce.
See the recipe card below for detailed instructions.
Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken
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
Instant Pot and Grill
- Stir together 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, and 1 teaspoon salt in the Instant Pot.
- Add the 6 chicken thighs or drumsticks 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 mango salsa or fried plantains, and beans and rice. Serve remaining sauce on the side.
Oven
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (204 degrees Celsius).
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray it with oil.
- Stir together ketchup, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, soy sauce, Pickapeppa sauce, Jamaican jerk seasoning, and salt in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Reserve half the sauce for serving.
- Coat the chicken with the remaining sauce and arrange on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the chicken is tender.
- 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
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.
Did you know that the best way to support your favorite bloggers is to comment and rate recipes, and share on social media? If you loved this recipe, please comment and give it a five ⭐ rating in the comment section below. If you’re a pinner, pin this post using the Pin buttons at the top and bottom of this post and in the recipe card above. Thank you for your support!
Carolyn says
Absolutely scrumptious! Served it with rice and beans made with coconut milk. This will be a family favorite. Thank you so much!
Neena Panicker says
Carolyn, thank you for sharing! I love the addition of coconut milk to your rice 🙂
Giselle says
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!
Neena Panicker says
Giselle, thank you for trying the recipe and I’m glad you liked my interpretation of this classic Jamaican jerk chicken.
James says
Delicious. I added a little lime juice but I doubt it was necessary, I’m just partial to it 🙂
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thank you James!
Brenda says
Great flavour! Ended with 5 mins on the BBQ and wasn’t any leftovers. Three happy teenager and a husband. Thank you!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I’m thrilled that you liked the recipe, Brenda 🙂