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Jamaican · Caribbean

Jamaican jerk paste (wet jerk)

Vegetarian

Scotch bonnets and spring onions blended with toasted allspice berries, thyme, garlic, ginger, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, soy sauce and lime. A fiery, fragrant paste for jerk chicken and pork cooked over pimento wood.

Jamaican jerk paste (wet jerk) is a Jamaican condiment, ready in about 23 minutes and made with fresh red chilli, spring onion and allspice. It serves 9 and is rated easy to cook.

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Prep
15 min
Cook
3 min
Rest
5 min
Total
23 min
Serves
9
Level
Easy
Calories
45

Ingredients

9 portions (about 30 g, for 300 g meat each)

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Dry-roast the allspice (opens in a new tab) berries and peppercorns (opens in a new tab) in a pan over medium-low heat for 2 minutes, shaking, until fragrant and the allspice smells of cloves. Cool on a plate for 5 minutes, then grind finely.

  2. Step 2

    Put the lime juice (opens in a new tab), soy sauce (opens in a new tab), oil, garlic (opens in a new tab), ginger and Scotch bonnets in the blender (opens in a new tab), then the spring onions (opens in a new tab) and thyme (opens in a new tab), ground allspice (opens in a new tab) and pepper, cinnamon (opens in a new tab), nutmeg (opens in a new tab), sugar and salt.

    Food safety: Scotch bonnets are extremely hot: wear gloves, and do not lean over the blender when you open it — the fumes sting.

  3. Step 3

    Blend to a coarse, thick paste; no extra liquid is needed. Jar it.

About this dish

Origin
Jamaica · Well documentedJerk developed among the Maroons of Jamaica; allspice (pimento) and Scotch bonnet are the defining flavours. Soy sauce and sugar are modern but now standard in household and roadside jerk.Also popular in United Kingdom, United States, CanadaMore food from Jamaica
Dish
Condiments, chutneys & relishes
Cooking method
Blended, Toasted
Taste
spicy (chilli heat), aromatic / warmly spiced, herby, sweet & spicy
Diet
Vegan · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · Low-carb
All labelsVegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-carb · DASH-style
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Make-ahead · Freezer-friendly
Cook more with
Fresh red chilli · Spring onion · Allspice · Thyme (fresh) · Garlic · Fresh ginger
Techniques
Toasting · Spice roasting (dry-roasting) · Wet grinding · Emulsification

Allergens

  • Contains: Wheatfrom soy sauce
  • Contains: Glutenfrom soy sauce
  • Contains: Soyfrom soy sauce

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

45 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 31 g · recipe makes 9

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 7%
  • Carbohydrate 42%
  • Fat 50%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g
Energy45 kcal146 kcal
Protein0.9 g2.9 g
Carbohydrate5.3 g17.1 g
Net carbohydrate4.3 g13.9 g
Sugars——
Added sugars1.3 g4.2 g
Fibre1 g3.1 g
Fat2.8 g9 g
Saturated fat0.3 g0.9 g
Trans fat0 g0 g
Cholesterol0 mg0 mg
Sodium559 mg1797 mg
Salt equivalent1.4 g4.5 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
97 mg
Calcium
29 mg
Iron
0.5 mg
Magnesium
11 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
8 µg
Vitamin C
9 mg
Vitamin D
0 µg
Vitamin B12
0 µg
Folate (DFE)
9 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Rub deep into slashed meat and marinate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
  • Throw a handful of extra allspice berries on the coals when grilling for the pimento-wood smoke.

Common mistakes

  • Using ground allspice that has sat in the cupboard for years — it is the dominant flavour, so it must be fresh.

Serve with

  • Jerk chicken, jerk pork, jerk fish, jerk tofu and jerk-spiced wings, with rice and peas and festival.

Food safety

  • Wear gloves or wash your hands well after handling chillies, and keep them away from your eyes.
  • Contains soy and wheat (soy sauce). Never reuse marinade that has touched raw meat without boiling it.

Storage

  • In a clean jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks (the salt, lime and soy preserve it); freeze in portions for 3 months.

Variations

  • Dry jerk rub: Ground allspice, thyme, chilli, garlic and onion powder, sugar and salt, rubbed on dry for grilling.
  • Boston Bay style: Hotter, with more Scotch bonnet and black pepper and less sugar.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

About this masala

Type
Wet masala
Texture
Coarse paste
One batch makes
about 280 g
Keeps
about 2 weeks
Store
Covered, in the fridge
Recipe
Traditional

Jamaica. Makes Jamaican jerk seasoning (wet), the ingredient our dish recipes list. All masalas

Used in

Amounts are each dish’s own quantity, for the servings it is written for. “Make enough” opens this recipe scaled for that dish.

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in step 2

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