Jamaican Jerk Spatchcocked Chicken
This Jamaican Jerk Chicken Recipe is so fragrant you are going to wish you made an extra batch of this tasty Spice paste! This authentic Jamaican Jerk Chicken recipe combines the flavors of the Caribbean to give you moist, juicy chicken with crispy skin. This recipe calls for Spatchcocked Chicken but this paste can be used on any kind of chicken or pork.
Servings: 4 -6 servings
Ingredients
Jamaican Jerk Spice Paste:
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 4 scallions
- 1 tbsp allspice berries ground is okay too
- 1 tbsp black pepper corns
- 2 tsp dried thyme fresh is even better
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground sea salt
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- dash hot sauce
- ¼ tsp chopped habanero or scotch bonnet pepper with seeds removed if you cannot handle heat, you can omit this part, but please still add the dash of hot sauce
- zest and juice of one large lime don't skip this step, the lime zest adds a lot of flavor
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Puree all the ingredients in the order they are listed, gradually adding the olive oil at the end. Puree until the paste reaches a uniform consistency.
How to Prepare and Grill a Spatchcock Chicken:
- 1) Butterflying the chicken: I'd recommend buying the chicken at a butcher where you can ask them to do this for you! If you don't have them do it, you will need to use kitchen shears to cut out the backbone and then press down on the chicken with the palm of your hand to help flatten the bird.
- 2) Use your finger and loosen the skin on the bird, but be careful not to tear it. Rub the spice paste under the skin all over the chicken and then repeat on the outside of the skin. Cover the bird or put in a ziplock and let it marinate in the fridge for at least 24 hours.
3) GRILLING:
- Remove the marinated chicken from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- Add your smoke chips and all spice berries. I am really loving Bourbon Barrel Chips but use a fruit wood or oak if you don't have these.
- Preheat your grill to medium-high heat with a direct and indirect zone. This means the coals are moved to one side creating two distinct zones.
- Brush the grill grates with oil to prevent sticking.
- Grill the chicken on indirect heat for 30 minutes, letting it smoke and absorb flavor from the grill on indirect heat while coming up to temp slowly. Once the internal temp has reached 150 degrees in the breast of the chicken, get ready to grill it on both sides on direct.
- Grill the chicken, skin side down, for about 5 minutes, or until the skin is crispy and well-charred. Flip the chicken and continue grilling for another 5 minutes minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part of the meat.
- Serve with your favorite coleslaw, grilled romaine or favorite grilled veggies and Texas toast. If you make this for your family, they will think you are a grilling goddess!
Notes
"Spatchcocked" is really just a funny way of saying grilled butterflied chicken. Much like you need to butterfly a Cornish game hen (which is a small chicken) so it will lay flat on the grill, you need to do the same with a whole chicken. Removing the backbone allows the bird to lay flat so the bird can cook more evenly on the grill.