Slow Cooker Jamaican Jerk Chicken
25 Comments Mar 04, 2024
Updated Jun 27, 2025
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Add a delicious twist to your chicken tonight with this Slow Cooker Jamaican Jerk Chicken. It’s spicy, flavorful, and super easy to make.
Recipe Highlights
- Slow Cooker Jamaican Jerk Chicken is packed with spicy island heat.
- Forget the grill—my version lets the crock pot handle the magic.
- Fall-off-the-bone chicken thighs get drenched in bold, zesty sauce.
- It’s an easy weeknight dinner that’s anything but boring.
Key Ingredients
Chicken Thighs: Grab a 6-pack of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs for this recipe. Using this cut not only creates tender meat but also juicy and flavorful.
Homemade Jerk Sauce: Green onion, yellow onion, garlic, ginger, lime juice, jalapeno pepper, soy sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, thyme, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice.
Vegetable Oil: Used for searing the chicken.
How to Make Crockpot Jamaican Jerk Chicken
- Sear the seasoned chicken until the skin is golden and crisp.
- Add the sauce ingredients to a food processor.
- Blend until smooth.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken and let the slow cooker do its magic.
How to Serve
- Serve the Jamaican jerk chicken thighs with rice and a squeeze of fresh lime juice and chopped cilantro. Consider serving with traditional Jamaican sides like plantains, crockpot black beans, and crockpot collard greens.
- Turn this into jerk chicken tacos by easily pulling the meat off the bones and placing it in tortillas.
Sarah’s Tips & Variations
Spice level: Adjust the spiciness of the dish by adding more or less jalapeno pepper, depending on your preference. For even more heat, use a habanero pepper (just one is enough).
Infuse: For a deeper flavor, marinate the chicken thighs in the sauce overnight.
Storing: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat gently in the microwave or oven before serving.
Cut Swap: Although this recipe calls for chicken thighs, you can use chicken breasts or chicken drumsticks.
Slow Cooker Jamaican Jerk Chicken
How to Video
Ingredients
- 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 green onion, whole
- ½ yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 2 tsp. ground thyme
- ½ tsp. ground cloves
- ½ tsp. ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp. ground allspice
Instructions
- Season both sides of the chicken thighs with salt and pepper.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken on both sides to brown—no need to cook through, the slow cooker will finish the job.
- Transfer the browned chicken thighs to the slow cooker.
- In a food processor, combine the green onion, yellow onion, garlic, ginger, lime juice, jalapeno pepper, soy sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, thyme, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice. Pulse until smooth and well combined.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken thighs in the slow cooker, making sure to coat them evenly.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
- Serve the chicken with the desired sides and garnish with the cilantro if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
More chicken thigh recipes
Craving something sweet and savory? Try Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken or Root Beer Chicken for a fun twist on classic flavors.
For a fun weeknight dinner, also try my Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs, or Slow Cooker Crack Chicken, which never disappoints.
Looking for comfort food? Basil Chicken and Rice or Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore are cozy and satisfying picks. Another classic must-try dinner is my Crockpot Chicken Thighs.
I made this recipe all the time before you updated it. My family loved it. I see you updated it, and now it’s more complicated to make. Unfortunately I learned this after trying to make it in a hurry this morning. I’m sure the updated version is great, but is there anyway to still access the original? I just loved how quick and easy is was to make, and my family loved it.
BUSSIN
I’ve done this recipe twice, with a couple of alterations:
– chilli flakes to increase the heat
-7 hours rather than 6
It’s great!
I have some bottled Jamaican jerk sauce, both Walkerswood and Grace, that I want to use up. Seems that it would be easy to just cook the chicken in one of those and call it a day?
Yes, you may want to season the chicken a little first.
There are great jerk sauces and marinades I use..great stuff