It’s mid-month and hopefully, you are in a groove with your healthy eating habits – you’ve got the basics down and are perhaps even looking to “spice it up” a bit. You are in luck with this savory – but with a touch of sweet – tender, flavorful Jerk Chicken recipe. I came up with this one night when I was craving Jerk and fortunately had some time on my hands to experiment with different spice levels and ratios. Since then, I have made it a handful of times and my fiancé still declares this is the best thing I’ve made among the hundreds of dishes to come out of quarantine. I realized it also happens to be Whole30 so I added it to my healthy January repertoire and hope you will enjoy it as much as we have!

Spicy Jerk Chicken with Sweet Potatoes
Total Time: 30 min
Makes: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 MEDIUM ONION
- 2 GARLIC CLOVES
- 1 TBS FIVE-SPICE POWDER *SEE NOTES
- 1 TBS ALL-SPICE
- 1 TBS BLACK PEPPER
- 1 TSP CAYENNE PEPPER *SEE NOTES
- 1 TSP NUTMEG
- 1 TSP SALT
- 1 TBS VEGETABLE OIL
- ½ CUP SOY SAUCE
- 4 PIECES OF BONE-IN CHICKEN (BREAST OR THIGH WILL WORK)
- 4 SWEET POTATOES
- 2 TSP CINNAMON
- 1 TSP SALT
- 1 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
Directions
Notes
- If you don’t have five-spice powder, the spices that make it up are cinnamon, fennel seeds, star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, and cloves. One time I didn’t have “five-spice” but had most of the 5 spices (I subbed black peppercorns and coriander for the Sichuan Peppercorn) and blended them all in a food processor. Now I keep five-spice powder on hand but it’s an easy substitute.
- Similarly, if you have fresh scotch bonnet peppers or habanero peppers, feel free to use ONE in place of the cayenne pepper powder. Many recipes call for real peppers but I usually do not have those on hand and I found cayenne worked just fine for a spicy kick.