Homemade Jerk Seasoning

On January 08, 2025

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With Caribbean-inspired flavors, my Jerk Seasoning brings smoky, sweet, spicy notes to your chicken and more, and it’s ready in just minutes.

Homemade Jerk Seasoning

Give your backyard menu a little Caribbean flair with my Homemade Jerk Seasoning. This versatile blend brings together a wide range of flavorful herbs and spices, warming allspice, and some peppers for heat to create that authentic jerk flavor. While traditional jerk seasoning often starts as a wet marinade, this dry blend captures all the bold flavors in a convenient mix. You can use it right away, or as part of a marinade. Whether you’re grilling chicken, shrimp, pork, or even vegetables, this seasoning delivers a killer combination of sweet, savory, and spicy that makes jerk recipes so irresistible. Let’s get started.

What is jerk seasoning?

Jerk is actually a cooking method that involves marinating meat before it hits the fire, which originated in Jamaica. Marinades often include spicy peppers (scotch bonnets, traditionally), warm spices like allspice and cinnamon, and aromatic herbs, to create a depth of flavor that’s become popular worldwide.

Jamaican Jerk vs Caribbean Jerk

While this powerful seasoning originated in Jamaica, you can find variations of the blend throughout the Caribbean islands. Authentic jerk relies on allspice and scotch bonnet peppers, but the heat level and warming spices vary from recipe to recipe. This recipe stays close to those traditional flavors while keeping it realistic with ingredient availability (more on that later).

Jerk vs Cajun Seasoning

Though sometimes mistaken for one another, jerk and Cajun seasonings couldn’t be more different. While Cajun seasoning uses paprika and cayenne with herbs like oregano and thyme, jerk seasoning utilizes warm spices like allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cajun seasoning has more of a savory heat, and I’ve got a great recipe here, if that’s more your style. This jerk mix balances that spiciness with sweet and aromatic notes for an unbeatable combination.

14 separate, small piles of various seasonings on a marbled countertop.

Ingredients for this Recipe

I know it looks like a lot of ingredients, but trust me, each one is crucial for that sweet, spicy, jerk flavor profile. Here’s what you need to make it:

1 Tablespoon coarse Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
2 teaspoons dried parsley
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (dried scotch bonnet pepper flakes are traditional, but quite hard to find)
½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves

*Traditionally, scotch bonnet peppers are traditional, but dried flakes can be difficult to find. I used red pepper flakes for this recipe, but use dried scotch bonnet pepper flakes, if you get your hands on some.

How to Make Jerk Seasoning

Alright, now that you know everything you’ll use to create your Jerk Seasoning, it’s time to get to business. Just follow these simple steps, and you’ll have a flavor-packed blend ready to amp up your cooking:

Make the seasoning. Combine all your spices and herbs in a small bowl. The key to a perfect blend is making sure everything is evenly distributed, so use a whisk or fork to break up any clumps. Keep mixing until you see an even distribution of all the spices, especially those red pepper flakes.
Use or store. Your jerk seasoning is ready to use right away, so you can start bring the Caribbean to your grilling immediately. You can store any unused seasoning easily for future use.

A jar of seasoning tipped over next to the lid, spilling onto a countertop.

Storage and Shelf Life

If you want to make your jerk seasoning ahead or need to store leftovers, that’s no problem. To keep the seasoning fresh and flavorful, store it in a glass spice jar or other airtight container in your pantry. When stored properly, this blend will maintain its flavor for up to 6 months. After that, while it’s still safe to use, you might want to mix up a fresh batch to ensure you’re getting all those bold flavors in every bite.

Raw chicken legs on a baking sheet next to bowls of marinade ingredients, and a pile of jerk seasoning.

More Seasoning Recipes

Once you start making your own seasonings at home, you won’t want to stop. Creating your own spice blends is addictive, and the results are delicious. Check out some of my other favorite seasoning recipes so you can keep your spice rack stocked and your grilling menu fresh:

Rubs

Homemade Ranch Seasoning

Sauces & Rubs

Everything Bagel Seasoning

Rubs

Carne Asada Seasoning

Rubs

Classic Burger Seasoning

Jerk Seasoning Recipe

Give your grilling a Caribbean kick with this homemade Jerk Seasoning. After you’ve made your first batch, don’t forget to leave a 5-star rating and tell me how you used it in the comments below. If you’re proud of your turnout, tag @heygrillhey on Instagram and Facebook with some drool-worthy photos so we can all get inspired to fire up the grill.

You can find even more mouthwatering seasoning and rub recipes just like this one in the Hey Grill Hey App, as well as your Recipe Library. Want to see how I make my seasonings? Make sure you’re subscribed to my YouTube channel, so you can get a firsthand look at how I make these recipes and become a Backyard BBQ Hero.