Jerk Chicken Drumsticks are an easy to make Caribbean style oven baked chicken recipe with a spicy jerk seasoning and sauce. The chicken turns out to be extremely tender and juicy. The sauce has a bold, aromatic spicy flavor that contributes to the success of the recipe!
This is such a great recipe to prep ahead for meal planning since the longer you marinate the jerk chicken drumsticks, the better they will taste! You can also freeze the marinated chicken to defrost and bake at a later time.
I love this easy chicken dinner recipe. It’s hard to overcook the chicken since it’s sitting in a juicy marinade while baking. And the marinade is perfectly seasoned, giving this chicken that classic jerk flavor. If you’re a fan of drumsticks, you may also like to try our sweet lemon drumsticks or our slow cooker coconut chicken drumsticks.
What is Jamaican Jerk?
It’s a style of cooking that originated from Jamaica. It’s known for its bold, spicy, smoky flavor. Meat (chicken or pork) is marinated in herbs, spices and other ingredients, and then it’s slow smoked over an open flame or grilled.
The technique dates back to the Maroons, escaped African slaves, who developed this method of cooking as a way to preserve and flavor meat in the mountains of Jamaica.
Ingredients Needed:
- Green Onion: You’ll chop all of the white part and some of the green part of a whole bunch of green onions.
- Garlic: The cloves will be chopped.
- Jalapeno: Habanero chiles are the traditional chile to use for jerk seasoning. We’re going to use a jalapeno instead. If you really like a lot of heat, feel free to use a habanero. Jalapenos are quite a bit milder.
- Lime: Lime juice is going to add some tang to the marinade, and it will help balance out the spice.
- Oil: Use extra virgin olive oil. It’s part of the marinade. You can also use avocado oil.
- Brown Sugar: A little sweet added to the spicy marinade is perfect. Alternately, you can use honey.
- Spices: Ground allspice, dried thyme, ground cinnamon and Kosher salt.
- Chicken Drumsticks: In this recipe, I instruct you to take the skin off the drumsticks and trim the fat too. You can leave the skin ON, if you’d like.
How to make Jerk Chicken Drumsticks:
In a blender, you’re going to make the marinade. You’ll blend all of the ingredients in the recipe together except for the chicken! Take 1/4 cup of marinade out of the blender, and set it aside. You’ll heat it up and use it for drizzling when you serve the drumsticks.
Place all of the chicken drumsticks in a large zip baggie. Pour the marinade into the bag with the chicken. Zip it, and refrigerate. It needs to marinate for a minimum of 2 hours, but it can marinate overnight too.
At 375 degrees F, you’ll bake the drumsticks in a 9×13-inch baking dish with the marinade drizzled over. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Heat the reserved marinade, and use it for drizzling over individual servings of the drumsticks.
What to serve with Jerk Chicken:
Serve jerk chicken drumsticks with a side of cauliflower rice, sweet potato fries, coconut rice or coconut polenta. Rice and beans is another traditional dish to serve with jerk chicken.
Recipe Tips
- When working with jalapenos, use gloves. Make sure you get rid of the ribs and seeds or you’re going to add a lot more spice to your marinade. Be sure to wash off the cutting board after you chop the jalapeno.
- Make the marinade up to a week ahead of time and keep it refrigerated.
- Try this same marinade on chicken wings or chicken thighs.
What you will love about this recipe:
- It’s easy clean-up! You’ll only have to wash the blender jar and the baking dish.
- If you enjoy things that are a little spicy, you’ll most likely be a fan of jerk chicken. It’s not extremely spicy, but it definitely has a little kick to it.
- It’s the perfect weeknight dinner, since it’s so simple to make!
Jerk Chicken Drumsticks
Ingredients
JERK MARINADE:
- 1 bunch green onions, some of the green part included, chopped (about ¾ cup)
- 2 medium garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 medium jalapeño, chopped (seeds and ribs removed for less heat, if desired)
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons water
CHICKEN:
- 8 medium chicken drumsticks, skinned and trimmed of excess fat
Instructions
MAKE THE MARINADE:
- In a blender, combine green onions, garlic, jalapeño, lime juice, oil, sugar, allspice, thyme, cinnamon, salt, and water; blend until smooth. Set aside ¼ cup for drizzling after baking.
- Place chicken in a large zip baggie. Pour remaining marinade over chicken and roll it around in the bag to coat. Zip it closed and refrigerate, turning once or twice, at least 2 hours, or up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 375℉.
- Place the drumsticks in a 9×13 inch pan and pour marinade on top. Bake until chicken is cooked through, 50 to 60 minutes.
- Heat the reserved marinade and drizzle on top of baked chicken for serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
