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Jamaican jerk seasoning is an aromatic blend of spices including nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, paprika, and more. This bold homemade spice mix is perfect for seasoning grilled meats like chicken and pork, and it’s also delicious over veggies.
Once you’ve mixed up your homemade jerk spice, store it in the pantry and use it to make Jamaican jerk chicken or spice up this one-pot Rasta pasta!
I’m all about creating dishes that take my tastebuds on vacation. From mojo chicken and grilled mahi mahi to coconut lime cake, it’s the best way to bring the taste of the islands to my kitchen. When I found myself longing for the spicy flavors of the Caribbean recently, I was thrilled that I had everything I needed to make this authentic Jamaican jerk seasoning in my spice rack. It’s quick, easy, and versatile. Take it from me, you’ll never buy jerk spice from the store again!
Why Make Your Own Jerk Seasoning?
- Adapt the flavors. Making jerk seasoning from scratch means having full control of the quality and proportion of each spice. It’s easy to adapt the heat and flavor of your seasoning to match your taste buds.
- Better than store-bought. If you’re using fresh spices, this homemade jerk seasoning is a million times fresher and more flavorful than the blends you’ll find in stores.
- Budget-friendly. Making your own seasoning blends, whether it’s fajita seasoning or jerk spice, is a more affordable option if you use these blends often. You can make a big batch for less!
- Versatile. I can almost guarantee you’ll be using this spice in more than just Jamaican-inspired recipes. It’s the perfect way to bring some island heat to everything from grilled chicken to vegetables, and more. Jerk seasoning is great as a dry rub, or you can mix it into a marinade.
Ingredients You’ll Need
I make this homemade jerk seasoning from a blend of common pantry spices. You’ll find the full recipe amounts and instructions in the printable recipe card below the post.
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Cayenne pepper
- Dried thyme
- Dried parsley
- Sugar
- Salt
- Paprika
- Allspice
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- Nutmeg
- Cinnamon
Why Is It Called Jerk?
Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica. It involves coating meats like chicken, pork, beef, or fish with a dry rub or marinade made of fiery spices, called jerk seasoning. Afterward, the food is slow-cooked over a fire or grill.
Is It Spicy?
Yes, jerk seasoning is intended to be hot and spicy. Authentic recipes use Scotch bonnet peppers, one of the hottest varieties! My recipe uses cayenne and chili flakes to bring the heat. The best part about making it at home, though, is that you can make your seasoning as mild or fiery as you’d like.
How to Make a Simple Jerk Seasoning
Creating this spice blend is as easy as combining the spices listed above, either in a bowl or you can seal them in a mason jar and give that a shake. That’s it! This homemade jerk seasoning is ready to use right away, or you can store it in an airtight jar in a cool, dry place. See below for more storage tips.
Ways to Use It
This isn’t just a seasoning blend, it’s a ticket to Jamaica, and you’re all invited. 😃 Mix up a sorrel drink and bake up a banana pound cake for dessert. Then, use this versatile jerk spice to transform the flavors of your favorite grilled and roasted meats, fish, and vegetables, slow-cooking recipes, and more. These are some of my favorite ways to use it:
- Grilling recipes. Try it on spicy jerk pork chops or slather it over a spatchcock chicken or grilled swordfish.
- Curry. I have a fiery, delicious Jamaican curry with chicken that I make whenever I have this spice in the cupboard. Serve with flatbreads or biscuits for dunking!
- As a marinade. Add spicy jerk seasoning to marinades for steak, pork, or chicken.
- Vegetables. Sprinkle jerk spice over grilled vegetables with halloumi or add it to crispy air fryer potatoes.
Recipe Tip
Start with a small amount of seasoning, then adjust based on your spice tolerance. The flavors intensify during cooking, so a little goes a long way!
How To Store
Store your homemade jerk seasoning blend in an airtight jar or container away from heat, light, and moisture. It stays fresh for up to 3 months!
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Jamaican Jerk Seasoning
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Combine. Add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl. Mix and stir until thoroughly incorporated. You should end up with a little over 1/3 cup of Jamaican jerk seasoning.
- Store. Store your seasoning mix in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Equipment
Notes
- This recipe makes about 1/3 cup of seasoning, and each serving is approximately 1/2 teaspoon.
- Store this jerk seasoning blend in an airtight container away from heat, light, and moisture. It stays fresh for up to three months.
- Adapted from MyRecipes
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
Very delicious,i will keep this recipe for ever,thank you.
So glad to hear you loved it! Keeping a favorite recipe forever is a wonderful idea. Thank YOU! 🙂
How does the seasoning have so many carbs??
it has sugar in it…thats how so many carbs…
I don’t understand why there’s 24 carbs. There’s only 8 carbs in 2 tsp of sugar. I have a diabetic child so I have stuff memorized
Hi!
The serving size for this seasoning mix is 1/2 teaspoon, which is about 1 gram of carbs. Most of the carbs come from the sugar in the mix, but you’re absolutely right—there shouldn’t be 24 carbs total. I double-checked the nutrition info and have fixed it. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!
I just put this together and cooked my chicken in some Olive oil. I applied it liberally and still have plenty left over. I’m hooked!
Good tasting and useful recipe for Jerk rub. One correction: you would have to eat the whole jar of seasoning by yourself to get that many grams of sodium. There is only 2325 g in 1 teaspoon of salt. My husband is salt restricted so I just leave it out and honestly we don’t even miss it. Thanks for the recipe.
A little pet peeve of mine; people who rate a recipe they haven’t even tried are not helpful.
My husband is a HUGE fan of chicken and spicy food! I mixed up this seasoning, let it soak into the chicken for a little while, and cooked it in a skillet with some olive oil. We LOVED it!
LOOKS GREAT… HOWEVER… IN JAMAICA… THEY USE HABANERO PEPPERS ALSO/// AKA… SCOTCH BONNET PEPPERS… REMOVE SEEDS AMD DRY AND CRUSH… MARTY… CALIFORNIS…
Great to know! Thanks so much for chiming in, Marty!!
Habeneros and scotch bonnets are not the same pepper. They are related but not the same.
So I am obsessed with the jerk seasoning but actually didn’t know what went in it….but it also had an epic name. See what Australia lacks? We have salt, pepper, salt, low sodium salt…but not this.
Time to douse everything with it!
I love everything about this, cannot wait to make some soon – so flavorful!
I am the huuuuugest sucker for jerk ANYTHING, but I always hate using the storebought jerk seasoning because it’s got so many nasty ingredients in it! I could definitely see myself whipping up batch after batch of this awesome stuff!
Where can you buy the store bought one?
I’ve tried plenty and they never taste that great! So I’ve gotta make it! I have not tried this yet. But I will soon.
i use scorpion peppers
In the section of the grocery that has spices.
As soon as I saw this I had to stop by. I LOVE making my own seasonings and my go-to is a adobo seasoning. I’m excited to try this to mix things up a bit. Great recipes Katerina!