How to make a Jamaican jerk marinade for chicken, beef or pork

Tracey Koch

Photography by Amy Shutt

June 2, 2025

Jamaican jerk marinade

Yields 3 cups

1 cup chopped onion

4 cloves minced garlic

1 cup pickled jalapenos

1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger

1 tablespoon orange zest

1½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon dried jerk seasoning

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup pineapple juice

1 cup vegetable oil

Place the onion, garlic, jalapenos, grated ginger and orange zest, along with all of the dry ingredients, into the bowl of a food processor.
Turn the food processor on and slowly add in the wet ingredients.
Continue processing until everything is fully incorporated. Carefully pour the jerk marinade into a jar or bottle with a tight-fitting lid and chill until you are ready to use. This marinade will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

This article was originally published in the June 2025 issue of 225 Magazine.

By Tracey Koch

Tracey Koch has been creating recipes, instructing cooking classes for both kids and adults, and writing food columns in the Baton Rouge area for over 25 years. She began writing her favorite column, “Dining In,” back in 2013. Find it featured in the Taste section of 225 Magazine every month. When she is not in the kitchen developing and testing new recipes, she is writing stories for her children’s book series about a little goose from Toulouse.