Roasted Pineapple Jerk Chicken

Bruh I meant to have this Roasted Pineapple Jerk Chicken recipe up two months ago! Apologies for the delay, it required me to make it a few more times than I’d planned to get decent photos, and also perfect the recipe. If you watch the videos of me preparing this on any of my social like Instagram or TikTok you’ll notice that each time I’ve made it differently. What you’ll find below is the final form.

This Roasted Pineapple Jerk Chicken is just what it sounds like: chicken marinated overnight in a sauce made of fresh pineapple and jerk seasoning, then roasted at a high temp until done inside, with an optional broiler finish to crisp up the skin. While this recipe will work with any cut of chicken – boneless skinless chicken breasts, a whole bird, cornish hens, bone-in thighs, etc – I developed it for an entire chicken cut into 8 pieces, with the skin on. If you swap out the type of chicken, you’ll need to adjust the recipe accordingly.

Pineapple Jerk Chicken Ingredients

Feel free to jump to the full recipe, but here are helpful notes about the ingredients you will need to make this Pineapple Jerk Chicken recipe:

• Jerk marinade: I like Walkerswood’s Hot and Spicy. Use your favorite, make your own, whatever.
• Pineapple, brown sugar: Use fresh pineapple. If you don’t feel like bussing down a whole one you should be able to find what you need in the produce section by the other cut produce. Canned pineapple stored in water with no added sugar will be a fine substitute as long as you drain it very well. Brown sugar is optional. Only add it if you’re pineapple is a little lacking in sweetness, or if you want to increase the sweetness overall.
• Chicken: A whole bird, cut into eight pieces. Or, about 3-4 pounds of whatever other kind of chicken you want to use or have on hand.
• Green seasoning: You might call it sofrito. It’s basically an herbaceous, flavorful paste you can add to almost any dish to up the ante. You can sometimes find it in the grocery store or in Caribbean markets. I make my own by blending the following together: one red bell pepper, one green bell pepper, five fat garlic cloves, one medium white onion, one bunch of flat-leaf parsley, two bunches of cilantro (one bunch of cilantro, and another of culantro if I can find it), a handful of fresh basil, a handful of green onions and a touch of kosher salt. If I can find scotch bonnet peppers I will add a couple of those as well. There are plenty of recipes all over the internet if you need an exact one.
• Paprika, browning: For color. It’ll look a lil’ pale if you omit either or both of these, but the flavor will still be amazing.
• Kosher salt: Flavorrrr.

How to Make Pineapple Jerk Chicken

Full instructions are included in the recipe below, but here is a basic overview of what you’ll need to do, along with some important tidbits to help you make the most of this Pineapple Jerk Chicken recipe:

• Prepare the chicken. Add your chicken pieces to a large bowl. Add the oil to the bowl, then sprinkle in the salt and paprika. Use your hands to work the seasonings and oil into the chicken, especially into the skin. Drizzle the browning into the bowl and work that into the chicken, making sure the sauce has been well distributed and all pieces are coated. Repeat this process again with the green seasoning, then set the chicken aside.
• Make the Pineapple Jerk marinade. Cut your pineapple into chunks and add them to the bowl of your blender – or a high-capacity food processor, along with all of the jerk marinade and brown sugar (if using). Pulse until the pineapple and jerk sauce are combined, then blend on high until it forms a sauce. 
• Marinate it. Pour the pineapple jerk marinade into the bowl of the chicken, and again use your hands to work the marinade into the meat. Make sure to get under the skin, and leave no spot behind! Cover the bowl with clingwrap or a lid and refrigerate overnight, or for at least 12 hours. I wouldn’t tell you to wait if you didn’t need to, just trust me! About 30-45 minutes prior to cooking pull the chicken out of the fridge and let it set on the counter.
• Roast the Pineapple Jerk Chicken. Preheat your oven to 425°F and center one of the oven racks. Choose your favorite heavy roasting pan or dish – make sure it’s large enough to hold everything. Add your chicken in a single layer, skin side down. Roast the chicken in the oven until a meat thermometer in the center of the largest piece reads 165°F, which should take around 30-40 minutes. It’ll vary based on just how fat your pieces of chicken are. 
• Broil the Pineapple Jerk Chicken. Once the chicken is done, pull the roasting pan from the oven and turn the broiler on high. Use tongs to flip the chicken over so that the skin side is up, then use a small spoon to spoon the roasted jerk sauce from the bottom of the pan back onto the chicken pieces. Put the chicken back in the oven under the broiler until the skin is crisp and the color of the chicken has deepened – about 5-7 minutes, then pull. Serve hot and enjoy. Dassit! 

What To Serve With Pineapple Jerk Chicken

You can make endless variations with this Pineapple Jerk Chicken (or my Honey Jerk Chicken!) recipe, so please feel free to customize yours to taste!  For example, you could…

Obligatory Pinterest Pin – 

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