Jerk Chicken Wings Recipe

By
Joshua Bousel
a photo of Joshua Bousel, a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Joshua Bousel
Joshua Bousel is a Serious Eats old-timer, having started sharing his passion for grilling and barbecue recipes on the site back in 2008. He continues to develop grilling and barbecue recipes on his own site, The Meatwave, out of his home base of Durham, North Carolina.
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Updated August 30, 2018
Jerk chicken wings cooking on a grill.

The essence of jerk is the amazing mixture of herbs, spices, and chilies, and when it comes to wings over any other piece of chicken, the marinade-to-chicken ratio tips well in favor of the jerk. That means more heat and more spice with just enough juicy chicken to temper the seasoning to the perfect amount.

Recipe Details

Jerk Chicken Wings Recipe

Active 45 mins
Total 12 hrs
Serves 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 small onion, roughly chopped

  • 3 scallions, roughly chopped

  • 4 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped

  • 3 Scotch bonnet or habanero chiles, stemmed and seeded

  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons salt

  • 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

  • 2 teaspoons ground allspice

  • 2 teaspoons black pepper

  • 3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 3 pounds whole chicken wings

Directions

  1. Place onion, scallion, garlic, habaneros, lime juice, soy sauce, olive oil, salt, brown sugar, thyme, allspice, black pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon in the jar of a blender and puree until smooth.

  2. Place chicken wings in a large Ziploc bag and pour in marinade. Seal bag, pressing out as much air as possible and refrigerate overnight to 24 hours.

  3. Soak bamboo skewers in water at least 30 minutes prior to use. Remove chicken from the refrigerator. Thread wings onto skewers lengthwise, spreading wings out to their full length. Let chicken come to room temperature while preparing grill.

  4. Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and arrange the coals on one side of the charcoal grate. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate. Place wings pieces on the hot side of the grill and cook until well browned on all sides, about 3-5 minutes. Move chicken to cool side of the grill, cover, and continue to cook until darkly browned and chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes more. Remove from grill, allow to cool for 5 minutes, and serve.

Special Equipment

Grill

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
472Calories
30gFat
7gCarbs
37gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories472
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 30g39%
Saturated Fat 8g41%
Cholesterol 213mg71%
Sodium 1428mg62%
Total Carbohydrate 7g3%
Dietary Fiber 1g5%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 37g
Vitamin C 6mg29%
Calcium 61mg5%
Iron 2mg11%
Potassium 436mg9%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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