A Jerky Chicken

OK, so maybe I am merely a novice in the kitchen, but here I am preparing this dish (it's marinating as we speak) and my hands start burning. How was I supposed to know not to touch the pepper with my hands? Apparently (now that I have researched the Habenero peppers online) you are not supposed to touch these peppers with your bare hands (i.e., you are supposed to wear rubber gloves) and you must wash the cutting board and knives to prevent the spreading of this capsaicin in the pepper which can burn your skin upon contact. I THINK THIS IS SOMETHING THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THE RECIPE DIRECTIONS!! Some sort of 'handling instructions or warning' and what to do if you happen to come into contact with this capsaicin. I am so disappointed, I am ready to dump the dish and start something else for dinner.

If you haven't eaten jerk chicken this is a good recipe but there are better ones out there. The ones I've used have these ingrediants and a lot more, like orange juice, white wine vingar in addition to the red wine, scallions, ginger, etc. If you like this recipe, then look around for others and sample the differences. Once you come up with a great jerk sauce, you can use it on chicken, beef, pork, etc.

This didn't turn out for me. It didn't look anything like the picture either. Although my husband and son liked it, I didn't care much for it. I may try again, but grill instead of broil. **Update to my first review. I am now giving this 5 stars. I made some mistakes the first time I made this, so when its prepared correct it's delicious. The one thing I keep forgetting to do is hold out part of the marinade to pour over after cooking, but even without it the flavor is great. We also grilled it this time instead of broiling and it is definitely better cooked on the grill.

Great! A little hot (I will only use a small or 1/2 pepper next time) but very good. I let it marinade for 1 hour and served it with white rice. I will make this again!

I thought this recipe was absolutely terrific! I used chicken thighs instead of breasts and baked at 475 for about 40 minutes turning once and left the marinade in the pan so the chicken wouldn't stick to the bottom. The only thing is I didn't think it was spicy enough with the one habanero for it to be true spicy jerk. Next time I'll use to peppers instead of the one. Thanks so much for this recipe, it's a great one.

So this isn't a "traditional" jerk- WHO CARES!!! It's wonderful! I just made this tonight, and my husband wants it again tomorrow night with shrimp instead of chicken! I used onion powder and dried thyme because it was easy, and went for a whole habenero. Now I like spicy, but habeneros scare me. I de-seed completely (WITH GLOVES!) and left a little of the menbrane. It was just spicy enough, and my husband who likes super spicy was fulfilled with the reserve sauce to kick up the heat. Our seven year old devoured it- spicy side sauce and all. The sweet is fairly subtle, and the spice creeps up slowly. Very Good. We will make this a regular. Thank you.

Yummy, yummy in our tummies! This was great, and very easy. If you can't take the heat, I suggest cutting the habanero pepper in 1/4 or 1/2, but even our youngest loved this chicken. Also, we cooked our chicken outside on the grill - yummy! :)

Recently returned from a trip to Jamaica, this was just the thing to take our tastebuds back! Not TOO hot, a little bit sweet - a perfect blend of spices and flavors. I served it over long grain chicken-flavored rice, with a cold Red Stripe! Excellent!!

I made this recipe exactly as given. It was excellent. There was definitely some heat, but not too much so to make inedible. If I were to change anything....I might save more marinade for the sauce, but that's only because I ate this with rice and the sauce would be nice to use on the rice.

I made this for my daughter's birthday party and it was a big hit. I followed the recipe to a T, except I used two habanero peppers and 4 cloves of garlic...to kick it up a notch. One warning--it is a total must to use gloves when handling habanero peppers. My fingers and nails were burning for an entire day! (Boy have I learned my lesson in not under estimating the powerfulness of these tiny things.)

Good recipe, but I looked at the previous ratings before I made it and decided to go with only half a habanero pepper instead of a whole one. That turned out to be a good idea and even though the meal was enjoyed, I was asked to cut the pepper down to a "half of a half" for the next time I make it. Good recipe, would definitely make it again, but be sure you like spicy food before you put the pepper in and MAKE SURE YOU PROTECT YOUR HANDS WHEN HANDLING THE HABANERO. If you get caught without any gloves you can use, at least put a baggie over each hand so you're not touching it with your bare skin.

This chicken was really good! i followed everything exactly as the recipes stated except for i used a whole serrano chile instead because i was cooking for my two children.. i will def make this again with a habanero tho!

Sause was DELISH! It definately had an Asian flare to it from the sesame oil. A keeper!!

This was absolutely delicious. I heeded the warnings about the heat of the Habenero peppers and used Serrano instead. That made it just right. Spicy, sweet, and fiery: I will definitely make this again.

This came out perfect! My mom typically doesn't like spicy food but loved this dish...right blend of sweet and spicy!

Just ok

Very tasty. Not as hot as I expected. More of a warm spice taste.

I doubled the marinade - used 1/2 to marinate the chicken overnight and heated up the other 1/2 to put over stir fry vegetables and chicken. Served over rice. Excellent flavor!

loved this.

made exactly as stated. not that impressed.

Easy and super tasty. I used a jalapeno instead of habanero, so it wasn't too spicy. We also grilled the chicken. Next time we are going to add a little cashews or peanuts and cilantro and make chicken lettuce wraps.

This is one of my boyfriend and I's favorite recipes. I recommend making extra sauce. DO NOT forget to keep some aside to pour on after its been broiled! This isn't jerk chicken, but it is delicious. Its spicy and the chicken comes out very juicy. Try it with turkey too!

Wow. Very easy to make and I am a picky chicken chef. I make chicken all the time and this was so delicious. I plan to make again :)

Advice!! I made this recipe for dinner and my whole family loved it! I had the chicken marinade for four hours. It was alittle dry so i dipped it in the left over heated marinade. I did not use the habanero pepper, but it turned out perfect. I served it with rice and brocoli. *Next time though I think I will make more of the marinade so I have enough to pour on top of the chiken once done!!* This recipe is defenitly a keeper!! * One other thing I only cooked it for 10 minute total, I cooked one side for 5minute then turned them over na dcooked the other side for another ten minutes!!* But in all it was great!!

OK this was really excellent. I am pleased. I made some substitutions out of need, but it negligible. I think the real secret was to let it marinate overnight. The sauce had penetrated every micrometer of the chicken. It was bursting with flavor. I will definitely make this again.

Even though I didn't have time to marinate the chicken, it came out delicious. I used chicken tenders (2-1/2 lbs.) and only had to broil them a few minutes on each side. I broiled them with all of the sauce. This one is a keeper!!

This was a HUGE hit in my house! I didnt broil it, I simply put it in the oven for about 30 min, and then turned on the broier for about 10 min. I thought it has PLENTY of heat, however my husband says it needs 2 habeneros!

when you work with peppers spray your hands with oil first

One of the best chicken recipes I have ever had! The marinade/sauce was just unbelievable cannot wait to make this again!

This was awesome! I didn't deviate from the recipe at all. If I had a complaint (which I don't), it would only be that this is pretty hard to use as the main dish. It wasn't too spicy at all (it was perfect) but it's too spicy to eat a full chicken breast worth. My solution would be to make extra sides to fill up on, or even have it as an appetizer. All in all: Great! Also: Wear gloves! The most helpful review on here is a one star about the pepper burning her hands. That just goes to show how helpful reviews are! Finally, if you're worried about this being too spicy for your taste, don't make it for a meal. First make it in a small amount. If you think it's too spicy give it away. I'm proof that there are people out there that like it exactly as the recipe prepares it. The next time, adjust the habenaro to your spicy liking and enjoy! ***Edit*** I've made this many times now and still love it as is, but doubling the recipe for the sauce. FYI there is a major difference in spicyness when you use fresh peppers as opposed to canned or jarred. Fresh peppers will be LESS spicy.

Yummy! And very spicy. I used a couple small peppers for a serving for two (at least what the grocer told me were habanero peppers), and that left quite a kick. The only change I made was to broil the chicken with the marinade, just because I find it tends to make the chicken much more tender, and you don't have to worry as much about saving enough marinade at the end.

This was really good and simple. I followed the directions and the result was great. Why do you all change the directions/ingredients, then complain? you aren't even following the recipe!

A wonderful blend of sweet and spicy flavors. One of the best chicken dishes according to my son.

This dish is a little spicy, but delicious. I will use this recipe in the future as a marinade.

Marinaded chicken in this sauce for a few hours. Then cooked it on the grill. Super yummy!

This recipe is perfect the way it is. I've even used it with turkey and it was still very juicy and tender. The spice and taste are awesome and my boyfriend loves it! Thanks for this great recipe, it's a keeper!

This was great! I did not use the habanero peppers at all! I doubled the marinade recipe so I could have more dipping sause! I suggest this to everyone!! Maybe next time tho I may tripple the marinade!

Pretty tasty, though this is more like a teriyaki than a Jerk.

I've never cooked with habanero before and i was afraid it would be too hot so i removed all the seeds and ribs. It turned out to be very mild. Next time I will be a little more bold and leave all the hot stuff in! I thought the meat turned out a little dry so I will leave the chicken breasts whole while they marinate and cook, and slice them after giving them a chance to rest.

I thought it was alright as so did my family.

I used two Serrano peppers and the family loved the spices, even the little ones. I used the recipe for 8 and it was just enough, if I had eight adults I would have not had enough. I also used Serrano peppers as a garnish.

This was great! The only thing I changed was added a bit more garlic and onion. The one habanero adds a great kick! Was afraid it would be too sweet with all the brown sugar, it was perfectly balanced and added a GREAT caramelization. Oh, and I did keep the chicken breasts whole, since we had it with veggies instead of rice. Can't wait to make it again!

Yum, yum, yum!!

This recipe was really unique and my husband who orders anything "jerk" was a fan! I used hot chili oil instead of sesame and I think just a green pepper for the habanero. Yum, yum :)

This was fabulous, simply put. The only change I made was using 2 habanero peppers instead of one. I marinated the chicken for a little over 2 hours. Boy, is this spicy. Not the "gag me I want to puke" spicy, but the "this is spicy delicious" spicy. I see some people comparing this to "Jays Jerk Chicken", also on this site. I have tried both. They are very different recipes, neither better nor worse than the other. Jays Jerk Chicken is a much sweeter recipe, not as firey. This isn't very sweet, but boy is it hot. So, however your tastes are, pick the recipe that you and your family would like best. My husband says he slightly prefers A Jerky Chicken. I can't decide, but I couldn't eat A Jerky Chicken on a consistent basis unless I bought stock in Pepcid!

This was too spicy for us to even enjoy the flavor, but it was relatively simple to whip up and serve.

Really Delicious. This was my first time using a Habenero pepper. I will be using them again! Perfect heat! I grows on you as you eat, but not overwhelming. Followed recipe to a tee.

Wow! Thats all I can say. This chicken was great. I enjoyed it so much I started eating the marinade. I make beef jerky alot and plan on using this recipe for the marinade on my jerky too. I also recommend trying this recipe with goat to go the true Jamacian way, mon!

This was just DELICIOUS!! I had to make one substitution because I thought I had soy sauce on hand, but didn't. Instead, I used oyster sauce. Served with some boiled baby red potatoes tossed with olive oil, white wine vinegar and minced fresh mint, and a side salad. Great meal! Thanks so much!!!

this chicken was so good i made double the sauce because what the recipe called for didn't look enough for me. i added 2 hobaneros instead of one because we like things hot. it's not that hot with one because of the brown sugar it calms the heat and makes it really sweet. it was the perfect balance of sweet and hot. i will def be making this again.

This is one of my go-to recipes. I always add more veggies, usually 1/2 an onion and a head of broccoli and serve over brown rice = delicious. I used two habeneros the last time I made it and it was spicy like WOAH. But still tasty. Powdered thyme works just fine too.

I loved it. I doubled the chicken so I tripled the marinade....i wish i had quadrupled it. i let it marinade all day. I used serrano peppers and there wasn't a bit of spiciness to it. I lined a shallow pan with tin foil laid the chicken in a single layer and then poured most of the marindae it was soaking in on top so it cooked in its own sauce. Then i poured the rest of the reserved over the top after it was done cooking. It was tender and juicy and delicious and me and the kids gobbled it up. My husband hated it and refused to eat it so i probably won't make again....what a shame.

Awesome recipe, especially when paired with a bed of white rice. Someone rated this poorly because they mishandled the habanero peppers and felt it should have said something in the recipe about not touching with bare hands...yeah and maybe we should tell you not to rub onions in your eyes, or maybe we should tell you not to cross contaminate raw chicken? Give me a break this recipe is terrific!

If I could more than 5 stars I would! I love jerk chicken, so I was so excited to find a recipe for it. I was wrorried making it, but I was so happy with the results. *Note- I used pre-breaded chicken strips and it worked fine. The only thing was, and I don't know maybe it was just my broiler, or that the recipe has sugar in it, or that it was pre-cooked/frozen chicken, but I only needed to cook myn for about 10 min.

Excellent!

Very good and easy. I only marinated the chicken 1 1/2 hours and was surprised how flavorful it was. My husband shredded the chicken, put it on top of a green salad and used the extra marinade as a dressing. Will definately make this again. Also, I did not have a habanero pepper so I just used red pepper flakes.

It was a little too sweet for my liking- I think next time I'll use less brown sugar....

Very tasty- I reccomend not using the Pepper if you have small children.

Easy recipe to follow. I cut the chicken in too small of strips and it dried it out too much (my mistake). The flavour was excellent...like others suggested, I doubled the marinate so that we could use the extra as a sauce (I used 1 pepper in total-seeds and membranes removed).

Delicious! I used 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes instead of the pepper.

My, oh my was this good. I doubled the marinade and did half on chicken pieces and half on slices of portabello mushrooms. Both were fabulous. There wasn't much marinade left over to use as a dip so I mixed in an equal amount of plain yogurt--soooooooooooooooo good! I highly recommend that you try this for a dip. It would be good on anything!

This chicken is ideal in burritos. Combine with a little rice, black beans, monterey jack and mango salsa, and you have a heavenly meal.

This was really tasty! Made a couple of changes- used onion powder instead of onion and crushed red peppers instead of habanero pepper- mainated all day. The chicken was moist and juicy- perfect on the grill.

I'll admit: I've never tried "jerk" anything, so I don't have anything to compare this to, but I thought this chicken was delicious. Spicy, but not too hot (I'll probably go a bit hotter next time, and so tasty! Everyone loved it. I was a bit concerned that, because my broiler cooks so hot, my chicken would burn on the outside and not cook through, so I baked it in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes, and then broiled each side for 5 minutes - PERFECT! Thanks!

This chicken was very good. I used only half a pepper because I was afraid it would get too hot. It did not!!! I wished I had added more, I was looking forward to spicey and it wasn't. I marinated it for 24 hours and put it on skewers and served it over salad. Everyone loved it. I had some chicken left in the marinade that I used after 2 days of marinating and it was even better. Enjoy!!

This was a good recipe, but it was more like a teriyaki chicken than a jerk chicken.

The family LOVED this! I did use the grill instead of broiling, and only 1/4 of the pepper...tender mouths here! I have this saved as a keeper!!!

This was a great recipe and the spicier the better! I make double the marinade to put on top of white rice with the chicken. I have made this recipe twice and love it. I served this at a dinner party and my friends enjoyed it very much!

MODIFIED FOR LESS HEAT-- A PERFECT 5 FOR US! My family can't take too much heat (like medium salsa is good for us), so I changed out the habenero for 1/2 of a serrano pepper (still used gloves), bumped the brown sugar up to 1/4 cup, and marinated in the fridge for a full 24 hours. It was great, and will be AWESOME in wraps. The sauce has a great heat + sweet kick this way, and I can't wait to use the leftovers tomorrow. Thanks!

This is awesome! The only modification I made was vegetable oil instead of sesame, and I doubled the sauce. Next time I will triple the sauce....oh so good! Oh and about that habernero (sp?) pepper...thank goodness I deseeded that baby because it would've been a little to much to take with more heat! Thanks so much for sharing, this recipe is now in heavy rotation in my household.

This recipe was OK - not nearly as good as the jerk chicken we had in Jamaica - still looking for the perfect recipe!

This chicken begs to be grilled! I love this recipe. This is one you'll want to add to your rotation of quick, healthy, easy recipes. I wasn't looking for a sweet marinade so I cut the sugar to 2 T. but I think 1 T. would have been just fine too. Anyway my hubby loved this....he paused mid meal and said "I think this is the best chicken I've ever eaten." works for me!

Great!!! If spicy is not your thing, leave out the peppers and it becomes a sweet jerk, and still as great.

Im really not sure why but I did not like this recipe at all. The only reason I gave it two stars is b/c my husband liked it. I followed the recipe to a T, but wasn't what I expected.

This chicken is awesome!! It is very tasty. I think you should use whatever type of pepper you like.It will taste yummy no matter what because of all the other ingredients!

It wasn't that bad even though I didn't have all of the ingredients. I substituted the fresh thyme for parsley, the habanero pepper for ground pepper, and I didn't have any sesame oil or ground allspice. Plus I made my own red wine vinegar (I just mixed my sweet red wine w/reg. vinegar). So you really didn't need all of those ingredients to make a good, quick meal!!!!

Note from the author: The recipe DOES NOT call for Jalapeno peppers. Jalapeno peppers have a distinct flavor and will affect the outcome of the recipe. You can find Habanero peppers in most stores in fresh produce and canned/jarred. In addition, Habanero peppers should be handled only with gloves so please be careful. I like to make double the recipe and reserve 1/2 for a dipping sauce.

great recipe. very flavorful. this is my 3rd time making this dish and everyone goes wild over it :)

This came out great. Both my husband, who likes hot, and my 7 year old devoured it. I will be making this again many times.

This was yummy! I used half as much chicken (there's only 2 of us) and half of a habanero, then I cut the chicken into strips and put it on skewers. We grilled the chicken after it marinated overnight, and it turned out great! We turned ours into a salad, and I used the leftover marinade (after boiling it) to make a vinaigrette with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and that was our salad dressing! We will definitely make this often- it was easy and full of flavor.

This recipe was terrific! Cut the seeds out of the habenero to keep the flavor and mellow out the heat. I only marinated for the min. hour and it was very flavorful. i will make this one again. thanks for sharing.

I followed the recipe but used a jalapeno pepper instead of the habanero cause my super market was out. I didn't throw out the sauce that was in the bag I seasoned the chicken in, because I poured it in the glass tray with the chicken to broil. Then I turned the chicken over at 8 min. The chicken came out so nice and tender. I still made 1/3 the sauce on the stove to use as gravy. It was a lovely dish.

I sort of made a cross between this recipe and "Jay's Jerk Chicken," also on this site. I added freshly chopped ginger and lime juice. I also broiled it for about 20 minutes because the chicken was still pink in the middle. Can't wait to try it on the grill! Take my suggestion and make more marinade so there is more sauce to drizzle over at the end. See also: comments under Jay's Jerk Chicken.

Excellent dish. I am a fan of spicey foods so I doubled the amount of peppers...don't do this. It would have been plenty spicey with a single pepper.

The whole family agrees, this is a keeper. Just the right amount of spice and heat. We grilled the chicken and it turned out perfectly. We've had Jamaican Jerk chicken in the past that, while it was very flavorful and tasty, it was as fire-breathing hot coming out as it was going in. This recipe is perfect and it makes great leftovers when stored with the extra sauce. Served it with grilled zucchini and yellow squash and brown rice with black beans, corn, cilantro and taco seasoning (taco seasoning was from this site called Taco Seasoning I). All went perfectly together.

This is awesome! After reading the previous reviews of this one, I decided to use an entire hablano and double everything else, essentially cutting the heat in half. It is still mildly spicy, so I can imagine the heat if I used a whole pepper. I would've loved it, but I have children, so I'm glad I did this. Also, refer to prior reviewer that didn't use gloves...use the plastic bag to handle and you should be just fine. Those hablanos can bite ya!

YUM YUM YUM YUM YUMMMMY!!! I looked over this recipe, and happened to have all the Ingredients for it, so I quickly put it all together, ran some errands, came back, made the chicken and it was like angels singing! The chicken was amazingly GOOOOD!! My husband loved it SO much, he went out and bought the ingredients AGAIN! So, thank you so much for this recipe!!!

I wasn't to impressed with this recipe. I followed it to the T and even decided to make it a second time with a jalepeno pepper instead and still did not like it.

It would have been better on the grill. Otherwise, quite tasty!

LOVED this recipe. Sub'ed red pepper flakes for the habanero but other than that followed recipe with great results. I let it marinate overnight-lots of flavor. This is a keeper!

Wow, this is great! I'd never used habaneros before, so I left out about 3/4 of the seeds and membranes. The result was a definite heat, but not TOO much -- next time we'll see if we can handle the whole pepper! They have a great, unique flavor, try not to substitute other varieties. Our only other change was using 1 tsp dried thyme instead of fresh, and grilling outside instead of broiling. The result was fantastic! The combination of hot & sweet was just right. We only marinated for about 5 hours, might be even a better, deeper flavor if it was marinated overnight. Highly recommended!

This is fantastic and SO easy! A single big habanero is just enough spice - use two if you want it very warm! I was surprised to read the review from the woman whose hands were burning after cutting the pepper, but I guess it's all in what you're used to. We cook a lot of spicy food down here, and I've chopped up a dozen habaneros at a time before without getting even a finger tingle. I'd never heard of anyone wearing rubber gloves before. :S

Great recipe! I used boneless, skinless breasts and thighs and bumped the sugar up by 1 Tbs (accidently.) There were teens hovering around the kitchen as the chicken began to broil and not a single shred of leftovers.

Just OK. Didnt taste like anything "jerk" I've ever had. Used a jalapeno instead of habanero, not hot enough. Forgot to save sauce for serving. Maybe thats why it was so blah.

This is our favorite recipe! We even started growing our own habaneros just to make this chicken. We like to throw in 3 or 4 habaneros to make it extra hot.

This recipe was delicious! I cubed the chicken and added ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange and lime juice to the marinade. I also couldn't find a habanero, so had to use a serrano and added some chipotle puree that I had on hand. The chipotle added a really nice flavor to the mix along with some extra heat. After marinading for a few hours we skewered the meat and tossed it on the grill! My husband and I both really enjoyed this recipe - thanks!

Though I wouldn't say this is what I think of as a true Caribbean jerk recipe, this recipe was great. I had to make a few substitutions because of what I had on hand. I substituted green onions for the onion, 1 tablespoon of worcestershire for a tablespoon of soy and added 1 clove of garlic. I served it over plain white rice. This was fantastic, but, be warned that it is VERY spicy if you do not deseed the habanero. It doesn't say to do so on the recipe, so I didn't, because we do love spicy. I am making this again as a marinade for wings for a party tomorrow and will make a batch with the deseeded habanero for those who may not be able to handle the heat. A definite keeper recipe.

Let me start off by saying I have never had jerk chicken before, so I had no idea what this was supposed to taste like. All I know is it turned out to be very yummy chicken and both my husband and I loved it. The only change I made was to use a serrano pepper instead of a habanero because I knew the latter would make it way too spicy for us. I served it over brown rice.

It was really good! The marinade had a really strong vinegar smell, but after cooking it was awesome, lots of flavor! -It was weird but, it tasted 10x better cold! ?