This Jamaican curry chicken recipe is the ultimate Caribbean comfort food of chicken seasoned with Jamaican curry powder and simmered in creamy curry sauce. It's so easy to make!
We're cooking up a wonderfully comforting and spicy curry dish in the Chili Pepper Madness kitchen, my friends. Care to join me?
Curry is an ideal dish for any spicy food lover. Curries usually incorporate an intriguing mix of locally found ingredients that blend to a flavor powerhouse.
Chili peppers are often highlighted, with varying heat and spice levels, forming a base for a variety of curry pastes and curry seasoning blends.
This particular recipe is no different, though today we're moving away from Thai and Indian cuisine where curries are more common and into the Caribbean region of the world.
We're talking Jamaican Curry Chicken, my friends! Did you realize the Caribbeans enjoy curry?
You'll find curries in many parts of the world. Jamaican curry flavor profile is different from Indian curries in the overall choice of seasonings.
You'll find a heavier use of turmeric and other seasonings that form an addictive flavor base, so addictive that I think this just might become one of your favorite new recipes.
Curry Recipes Vary from Cook to Cook. You'll find variations of Jamaican curries from restaurant to restaurant and from cook to cook, speaking with great passion about whether or not to include certain seasonings, tomato or no tomato, coconut milk or not.
At the end of the day, this is your dish, so you can adjust it to the way you prefer. I've included some options in the ingredients, though this is the way I like it.
I'm very curious how you will make yours!
Jamaican-style curry chicken very easy to make, and also huge on flavor.
Let's talk about how to make Jamaican Curry Chicken, shall we?
Jamaican Curry Chicken Ingredients
- Chicken. I usually use either a whole chicken, cut up, or leg and thigh quarters, though you can easily make this with boneless chicken. It's great with chicken thighs.
- Jamaican Curry Powder. Try my homemade Jamaican curry powder recipe for outstanding flavor, or use your favorite store bought blend. I use 4 tablespoons of curry powder, though use it to taste.
- Additional Seasonings. Allspice, adobo seasoning, turmeric, thyme, and salt and black pepper. You can use your favorite Jamaican staples. General chicken seasoning is popular.
- Vegetables. Onion, bell peppers or jalapeno peppers and/or Scotch bonnet peppers, carrot, garlic, ginger, green onion, potatoes.
- Liquids. Coconut milk or chicken broth (chicken stock) - your choice.
- Extras. Olive oil for cooking, and your favorite hot sauce to taste.
How to Make Jamaican Curry Chicken - the Recipe Method
Wash the Chicken. Wash the chicken with vinegar or citrus, if desired.
Cut and Season the Chicken. Cut up the chicken into smaller pieces and add to a large bowl.
Season the Chicken. Rub the chicken pieces with 2 tablespoons Jamaican curry powder, adobo seasoning, allspice, dried thyme, turmeric, and salt and pepper to taste.
Cook the Vegetables. Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat or medium-high heat. Add the onion and peppers, and cook them down 5 minutes to soften.
"Burn the Curry". Add the garlic, ginger, and 2 tablespoons Jamaican curry powder. Cook for 2 minutes in the oil to let the seasoning bloom.
This is called "Burning the Curry", which isn't actually burning it, but cooking out the raw seasoning flavor.
Brown the Chicken. Add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes to brown all sides, flipping half way through.
NOTE that the chicken may release liquid, which you can keep in the pan for simmering, though you may want to adjust how much liquid you add later.
Liquids and Potatoes. Stir in the coconut milk or chicken broth, potatoes, and carrots. Taste and adjust with salt, pepper and hot sauce to your personal tastes.
Add a few sprigs of fresh thyme here if you'd like.
Cover and Simmer. Cover the curry and reduce the heat. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are done and the chicken is tender and cooked through.
It should measure 165 degrees F internal when measured with a meat thermometer.
Serve! I like to garnish mine with fresh chopped parsley and red pepper flakes.
Boom! Done! Jamaican curry chicken is ready to serve! Looks wonderful, doesn't it? I'm sure your kitchen smells awesome.
It usually drives me crazy as it simmers, making me wait for it.
I love this curry dish. Nice and spicy to my preference.
Recipe Tips & Notes
- The Chicken. You can easily make this recipe with any cut of chicken, either bone-in or boneless skinless chicken. Today I used chicken leg and thigh quarters, but it’s great with a whole chicken for a larger group, chicken breasts, chicken thighs or any combination. Many Jamaican Curry Chicken dishes I've seen cut up the chicken into smaller pieces, bones and all, though I love the larger pieces. To your preference!
- The Peppers. I use jalapeno peppers for this recipe for a touch of everyday heat, but they aren't very spicy for some people. If you're looking for more authentic Caribbean flavor with some wonderful heat, use either Scotch Bonnet peppers or habanero peppers. Both can reach to over 350,000 Scoville Heat Units on the Scoville Scale, making them 70 times hotter than the average jalapeno. Perfect! Use them sparingly. Use bell peppers for a milder version. You'll still get amazing flavor.
- Seasoning. There are many variations of seasonings for Jamaican curries. I use Jamaican curry powder with adobo seasoning, turmeric, allspice and thyme. Other popular options are sazon seasoning, general chicken seasoning, garlic powder, fresh herbs and others. Some recipes call for Jamaican "every day" or "all-purpose" seasoning. Great if you have access to it!
- Variations. You can update this recipe to include any and all of your favorite ingredients. Consider the following:
- Other Meats. Try this recipe with lamb, pork, beef, fish, shellfish. So good!
- Go Vegetarian. Make this a vegetarian dish and focus on chickpeas and more potatoes, or use jackfruit.
- Other Vegetables. I make mine with potato, but you can easily include other root vegetables like sweet potato, rutabaga or celery root. Toss in green beans, corn or more peppers to round it out. You can really make this recipe your own.
- Serving. I alternate serving my Jamaican chicken curry with either steamed white rice or noodles. Rice will absorb all that wonderful curry sauce. Brown rice is good, too. For the noodles, I love either wheat noodles or rice noodles.
Storage Information & Leftovers
Store any leftover Jamaican curry chicken in the refrigerator in sealed containers for up to 5 days. To enjoy again, gently reheat it in a pan. You can freeze the curry for up to 6 months in vacuum sealed containers.
That's it, my friends. I hope you enjoy this outstanding Jamaican chicken curry recipe. Super tasty! Let me know if you make it. I'd love to hear how it turned out for you. Keep it spicy!
Cookbook Recommendation
If you'd like to learn more about Jamaican cooking, check out the following cookbook, which I used to help adapt this recipe.
- Original Flava, by Craig and Shaun McAnuff (affiliate link, my friends!)
Try Some of My Other Popular Recipes
Other Jamaican Recipes You Might Enjoy
Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
Jamaican Curry Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
FOR THE CHICKEN
- 3 pounds chicken washed with vinegar and cut into bite-sized pieces (I used leg and thigh quarters today)
- 2 tablespoons Jamaican curry powder
- 1 tablespoon adobo seasoning
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- Salt and black pepper to taste
FOR THE CURRY
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 large bell pepper chopped
- 1 Scotch Bonnet pepper chopped (optional, for a spicy version)
- 1/4 cup chopped green onion
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped ginger
- 2 tablespoons Jamaican curry powder
- 1 cup coconut milk (optional - use only chicken broth as an alternative, or water)
- 1 pound yellow potatoes diced (peel if desired)
- 1 large carrot peeled and chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Hot sauce to taste
Instructions
- Cut up the chicken and add it to a mixing bowl. Rub the chicken pieces with curry powder, adobo seasonings, allspice, dried thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and peppers to the pot and stir. Cook for 5 minutes to soften.
- Add the green onion, garlic, ginger and Jamaican curry powder. Cook 2-3 minutes, to let the curry powder bloom. This is called "burning the curry", which is not actually burning it.
- Add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes to brown all sides, flipping half way through.
- Stir in the coconut milk or chicken broth, potatoes and carrots. Taste and adjust with salt, pepper and hot sauce to your personal tastes. Add a few sprigs of fresh thyme here if you'd like.
- Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened and the chicken is fall-off-the-bone tender and cooked through. It should measure 165 degrees F internal when measured with a meat thermometer.
- Serve! I like to garnish mine with fresh chopped parsley and red pepper flakes.
Notes
Nutrition Information
NOTE: This recipe was updated on 9/7/22 to include new photos and information. It was originally published on 1/20/21.
Eleisha Davis says
I am allergic to coconut. May I use evaporated milk instead?
Mike Hultquist says
You sure can, Eleisha. Perfect sub. Let me know how you like it!
Mikey says
This was one top-notch meal, and surprisingly easy to do. That made it welcoming when it turned out to be one of my biggest hits with my parents. An initial plan was for if occasions aligned, and I was at my parents' apartment when an aunt from down south visited - but that was not meant to be. There were a few recipes which I nominated to cook, and this was the first cab off the rank. Regardless of the situation, I was intent on cooking this recipe somehow.
It started at the beginning of the week when I made several hits in the kitchen. I can't remember if nominating this recipe begat my dad buying a kilogram of chicken thigh fillets, or if the chicken thigh fillets begat a recipe search; what is important is we are here today. Jamaican, or simply the Caribbean as a whole, is not necessarily common or popular within Australia, so a few aspects of the recipe needed tweaking. Instead of the curry powder, it was a couple of packets of Jerk seasoning. Abodo was replaced by all-purpose seasoning, and I could not find Scotch bonnet at my local supermarket. For that latter substitution, I used a small bird's eye chilli.
And this was a rousing success. To supplement on the side, I got some chipatis out of the freezer to pan-fry in the last few minutes before serving. Those might have been far better than any rice to go with this sort of curry, since it reminded me more of a Malaysian hawker sort of meal than the usual Indian association of curry. Which, unpopular opinion, I kind of prefer Malaysian to Indian - but I digress. It was a complexity of fresh, of hot, and had deep notes of flavour.
While I like to have the slow method of cooking for several hours, in multiple steps, this managed to have the best aspects of that in a short amount of time. That was seeing the onions sauté, seeing how the meal builds up overtime, and not to mention the colours in the pan. There was little reason for this not to be so good, and to emerge a massive winner was merely a bonus.
This recipe gets the distinction of being a dead-set legend: easy to make, and tasty enough to fool people otherwise.
Mike Hultquist says
Outstanding to hear! Well told, Mikey. VERY happy it was enjoyed. Thanks so much! I do appreciate it.
Kelly says
This recipe is a mega hit, every time!! Substituted coconut oil instead of olive oil, two jalapenos for the scotch bonnet, Cool Runnings' Cajun spice for the Adobo, and cooked it in a crock pot.
Pair with a nice spachcock Jerk chicken, coconut rice and Coleslaw to feed a crowd. Restaurant worthy!!
Mike H. says
Thank you very much, Kelly. Enjoy!
Charles Pascual says
Terrific recipe, as always, Mike. Straight-forward & easy to follow. Also, easy to scale (there are two of us). Substituted a jalapeño for the scotch bonnet as that was what I had (spicy enough for my wife so score one for me) and I added more coconut milk to increase the liquid (that part didn't scale as well). I used a boneless, skinless breast so the cooking time was less - and the chicken was tender and juicy - turns out to be a good way to make chicken breasts. I'll make this again.Thanks.
Mike H. says
Thank you for the review, Charles, and super happy you guys have enjoyed it!
Phil Clark says
This is a very good recipe. I added 1 choko, missed a couple of spices as didn’t know what adobo was. Added a full can coconut cream plus 3/4 can of water from the emptied coconut cream. Used chicken breast so I rubbed it with spice, refrigerated for an hr, browned in a separate pan and added 1/2 way through the cook so as not to overcook the breast. Brilliant. Thank you
Mike H. says
You are welcome, Phil - glad you've customized it to your liking!
Michael B. Pleasant says
This is an excellent recipe, coming from someone with Jamaican and Guyanese/Indian grandparents. The rub is nice combination of spices, I highly recommend an hour or so in the frig before cooking. I added a couple more potatoes and an extra carrot, and the whole can of coconut milk, a scotch bonnet and a pinch more spices to compensate for the additional vegetables and coconut milk. The dish has really good spice with a little kick without being overwhelming. We thoroughly enjoyed this dish, thanks for sharing.
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks so much, Michael. This means quite a lot. I'm very happy you enjoyed the recipe. It's definitely one of favorites here. I greatly appreciate it!
Lisa says
This is a beautiful recipe, spicy and delicious! I serve this with basmati rice. I'm about to cook this for the 3rd time. ❤️
Mike H. says
Super glad you are enjoying it that much, Lisa. It's one of my favorites!
Chris says
I do all my curry pastes from scratch and I remember the first time I did Thai red chicken curry and the wonderful aromas and taste that spices like galangal bought to it. Well you’ve beaten that with this recipe for Jamaican Chicken - it was mindblowing, wonderful taste, lingering flavour on the tongue, just enough heat. I added half and half chicken stock and coconut cream with a nice thick sauce as a result. I still have half the Jamaican Curry powder left in the cupboard but no doubt that will be used in the coming weeks. Thanks for this recipe “straight to the pool room” as dad would say.
Mike H. says
I am happy to read your review, Chris. Thank you for sharing it and enjoy!