Jamaican Curry Chicken

One of my go-to meals, I make this Jamaican Curry Chicken at least twice a month. It’s so easy and super flavorful, with just the right amount of spice.

Let’s get right in to it.

What to serve with Jamaican Curry Chicken

Some of the most common sides you can serve with this spicy stewed chicken are:

• White rice
• Coconut rice
• Tostones

Jamaican Curry Chicken Ingredients

Chicken thighs: I use boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this recipe, cut into nice chunks.

Peppers: So traditionally you’d use a scotch bonnet pepper for this dish. If you can’t find one, you can do a combination of a habanero (for the heat) and a bell pepper (for the sweetness). I’ve found this this helps get the flavor profile you’re looking for when you use an actual scotch bonnet. If you have scotch bonnets by you, use that instead!

Ginger: Preferably fresh, but you can use ground if needed.

Onions & garlic: For flavor.

Carrots: Chopped.

Potatoes: I use small white potatoes, but you can also just cut a Yukon gold into bite-sized pieces.

Thyme: I prefer fresh for this recipe, but you can use dried or ground if needed.

Spices: I use Jamaican Curry Powder (not to be confused with Indian curry powder), All-Purpose (Jamaican Jerk All Purpose) seasoning and salt.

Pimento berries: Pimento berries are the same as all-spice berries. Note that in some Jamaican All Purpose Seasonings they may already include whole pimento berries in their blends. Even when they do, I still just throw in a few of these anyway.

How to Make Jamaican Curry Chicken

Let’s jump right in.

Step 1: Prep your ingredients.

The first thing you’ll do is prep the ingredients for the marinade — so cleaning and chopping your chicken, chopping the onion, gathering all your spices, crushing your garlic and grating your ginger (if using fresh). No need to chop the carrots and potatoes just yet since they’ll be going in during cooking, but you can if you’d like! (I’d just suggest leaving the cut potatoes in cold water so that they don’t brown.)

Step 2: Marinade your chicken.

Now add the chicken to a clean bowl along with the spices, peppers, pimento berries, onion, garlic and fresh ginger (if using). Mix and let marinade atleast 20 minutes or up to overnight. (If you’re in a rush you can just move along to cooking, so long as your chicken is brought down to room temperature.)

Step 3: Brown the chicken.

Now add some oil to a dutch oven with high sides (or even a saute pan with high sides works perfectly fine). Once hot, brown the chicken in batches. Make sure to keep the bowl that the chicken was marinating in, including any peppers/onions/spices that are left behind.

Step 4: Let the chicken stew.

Now add all of the chicken back to the pot and stir in the carrots and potatoes. Add a decent amount of water to the reserved marinade bowl, stirring to get any spices that are stuck to the sides mixed in. Pour this water over the chicken until the chicken is just covered with the water/remaining marinade. Add the thyme sprigs, bring the pot up to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Cover and let cook for 30 minutes, then uncover and let cook for 15–20 minutes or until the curry is to your desired thickness.

Note: If i’m crunched for time, I’ll sometimes use a cornstarch slurry at the end to thicken the stew up faster. (I just mix 1 tbs cornstarch with 1 tbs cold water and stir it into the curry while it’s bubbling.