A skewered take on Jamaica's jerk tradition: chicken or pork marinated in the scotch bonnet, allspice (pimento), thyme and scallion jerk paste, then grilled, ideally over smoking pimento wood. Popular at Caribbean street stalls and cookouts, it delivers jerk's fire-and-spice profile in kebab form.
Also known as: jerk chicken skewers, jerk pork skewers, Jamaican jerk kebabs, jerk kabobs
Watch it made
Ingredients
- 700 g chicken thigh or pork shoulder, in 3 cm chunks
- 2 scotch bonnet peppers
- 4 spring onions
- 1 tbsp allspice berries, ground, plus a handful of whole berries for the coals
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- juice of 1 lime
How to make it
- 1
Blitz the scotch bonnets, spring onions, ground allspice, thyme, ginger, garlic, soy, sugar and lime into a rough jerk paste.
- 2
Massage it into the meat — gloves help — and marinate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
- 3
Thread onto skewers and set over medium coals scattered with the soaked whole allspice berries (or bay leaves) for smoke.
- 4
Grill with the lid down 15-18 minutes, turning and basting with leftover paste, until charred in patches and cooked through.
Pro tip: Real jerk is smoke plus scorch: pimento berries on the coals stand in for pimento wood, and the closed lid keeps their smoke where it belongs.
The story of Jerk Skewers
Jerk skewers apply Jamaica's jerk tradition to the kebab format: chicken or pork marinated in scotch bonnet, pimento (allspice), thyme and scallion paste, then grilled, ideally over smoking pimento wood. They are a fixture at Caribbean street stalls and cookouts and deliver jerk's fire-and-spice profile in a portable form.
Jerk itself descends from the cooking of the Maroons — communities of escaped enslaved people in Jamaica's interior — who smoked meat slowly over pimento wood in pits. The skewer version is a modern convenience rather than a traditional form, but the marinade and the wood are the same, and those are what define jerk.
The technique that defines it
Allspice — pimento — is the non-negotiable ingredient, and Jamaicans use both the berry and the wood. The berries go into the marinade whole or ground; the wood, burned, releases the same aromatic compounds into the smoke. Using pimento wood is the single biggest upgrade available to anyone cooking jerk outside Jamaica.
The marinade is a wet paste blended from scotch bonnets, scallion, thyme, allspice, ginger, garlic, brown sugar and soy or vinegar, and it needs time — overnight at minimum. Grilling for skewers is hotter and faster than traditional pit jerk, so the marinade does more of the work and the smoke does less.
Choosing your ingredients
Chicken thigh, or pork shoulder in cubes. Both have the fat to survive a hot grill and a heavily spiced marinade. Scotch bonnet peppers are the correct chilli and there is no true substitute — habanero is the nearest relative.
Whole allspice berries, freshly ground. Fresh thyme rather than dried, scallions in quantity, and fresh ginger. Pimento wood chips are sold online and are worth the effort; failing that, allspice berries thrown on the coals give a hint of it.
Mistakes that ruin it
Using ground allspice only
Grind whole berries fresh. Pre-ground allspice loses its aromatics quickly and the dish depends on them.
Short marinating
Jerk needs overnight at minimum. The paste is thick and takes time to penetrate.
Removing all the seeds from the scotch bonnets
Jerk is meant to be hot. Reduce the number of peppers rather than seeding them, since much of the fruity flavour sits near the seeds.
Grilling over plain charcoal with no smoke
Pimento wood is what makes jerk taste like jerk. If you cannot get it, throw allspice berries on the coals.
How it is served
With festival (the sweet fried dumpling), rice and peas, grilled corn, and a scotch bonnet sauce for those who want more heat. Cooling slaw on the side. Red Stripe or a sorrel drink. It is cookout food and it is eaten with the hands.
Questions about Jerk Skewers
What makes jerk taste like jerk?
Allspice — pimento — in the marinade and, ideally, pimento wood in the fire, together with scotch bonnet, thyme and scallion.
What can I substitute for scotch bonnet?
Habanero is the nearest relative in both heat and fruitiness. Nothing else is really close.
How long should jerk marinate?
Overnight at minimum. The paste is thick and needs time to penetrate the meat.
Is jerk traditionally skewered?
No — traditional jerk is whole cuts smoked slowly over pimento wood in a pit. The skewer version is a modern convenience using the same marinade.
