Baked Jamaican Jerk Chicken Wings

If you like Jamaican jerk chicken, then you will love these bite-sized jerk chicken wings. They are easy to make and great for parties. No need to fire up your grill as they are conveniently baked in the oven. Make them mild or as spicy as you desire!

(This recipe was originally published in February 2014, but was updated with new photos and content in 2021).

The term "jerk" refers to a dry rub, wet marinade, and also a cooking technique, all of which are native to Jamaica. Jerk seasoning is usually used on chicken or pork, but is fabulous on other meats, seafood, and vegetables as well. In this case we are using it for chicken wings.

As noted above, Jamaican jerk seasoning can either be a dry rub or a thick, wet paste which is the case for the jerk sauce I use in this recipe. The actual jerk seasoning I use is adapted from a Caribbean cookbook I own, but there are countless ways you could make it adjusting the amounts of spices or even using some different ones. It's easy to make from scratch with the help of an electric blender, and works really well for these wings!

While modern-traditional jerk chicken is typically grilled over charcoal, these Jamaican jerk chicken wings are baked in the oven. The high oven temperature results in crispy skin without frying. Basting with additional jerk sauce partway through ensures a perfectly coated wing with tons of flavor baked right in.

Ingredient notes

• Chicken Wings: Chicken wings, just like whole chickens, can vary in size. You'll need 3 pounds of chicken wing pieces for this jerk chicken wing recipe (for me it was 18 large wing pieces). You can purchase chicken wings split with the flats/wingettes and drumettes already separated and the wing tip discarded. If you purchase the full wings to split yourself, discard the wing tips or save them for stock. You may want to purchase extra wings by weight in that case since you aren't using the wing tip.
• Scotch Bonnet Pepper: These intensely spicy chile peppers are traditional in Jamaican cuisine. If you're unable to find them you can substitute habanero peppers which are similar. They're what I typically use because they're more readily available in American supermarkets than Scotch bonnet peppers. You could use 1 to 3 chile peppers depending on how spicy you want these wings to be. I stick with 1 and even remove the seeds to yield a moderately spicy wing, but leave the seeds in for an extra kick.
• Scallions: Scallions are also known as spring onions or green onions, and you'll need 6 for this recipe. I usually just rip them by hand into a few large chunks before throwing them into the blender to speed things along but you could technically throw them in whole (the blender will do the work) or even roughly chop them before using.
• Spices: You'll need a variety of spices to make this traditional Jamaican jerk sauce. These include fresh or dried thyme, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

How to make it

To make the Jamaican jerk sauce, mash all the ingredients except for the wings together in a mortar and pestle until smooth, or place ingredients in a blender and puree into a thick and smooth paste. You should have about ¾ cup sauce.

Reserve ¼ cup of the jerk sauce and combine the chicken wings with the remaining ½ cup sauce to thoroughly coat. Cover and refrigerate 3 hours to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper. Arrange the chicken wings skin-side up on the pan.

Bake the wings for 35 minutes until crispy and lightly browned, then remove from the oven and baste with the remaining ¼ cup jerk sauce. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.

Expert tips

I recommend wearing food safe gloves when you stem (and potentially seed) the chile(s), and massage the Jamaican jerk sauce onto the chicken wings. These chiles are very hot and can leave residual oils on your fingers even after washing your hands. If you were to touch your eyes afterwards... ouch!

Speaking of spice, this jerk chicken wing recipe is versatile based on your spice threshold. Use anywhere from 1 to 3 Scotch bonnet (or habanero) chile peppers. If you want it a touch less spicy, stick with 1 and be sure to remove the seeds, where most of the heat is found in chiles.

When you taste the Jamaican jerk sauce on its own it will taste a lot spicier than when it is cooked onto the chicken, so don’t panic if it tastes spicier than you would normally prefer. With that said it is best to start it with less chiles the first time you make it if you are not too sure about your spice tolerance.

Other recipes you may like

• Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken
• Jamaican Beef Patties
• Rasta Pasta with Jerk Chicken
• Jamaican Rice and Peas
• Trinidad Macaroni Pie
• Saigon Chicken Wings
• Korean Fried Chicken
• Chicken Saag (Indian Chicken and Spinach Curry)
• Buffalo Chicken Nachos
• Home-Style Chicken Kebat

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