Juicy Roasted Jamaican Jerk Chicken
This flavorful and incredibly tasty roast Jamaican Jerk chicken is juicy and will win you over. Cornish chickens baked in the oven, generously seasoned with aromatics, and basted with a mouthwatering garlicky lemon sauce. This is the ideal chicken supper to prepare for any other event or on a weeknight!
Yield: 4
Materials
- 2 whole cornish hens cavities emptied- about 2 – 2 1/2 lbs each
- 1 tablespoon herbs de provence
- kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 6 leaves fresh sage
- 4 cloves of garlic crushed
- 4 slices of lemon thinly-sliced
- olive oil for drizzling
- 1 10-ounce jar Walkerswood Jamaican jerk seasoning
For the basting/finishing sauce:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 small lemon zested & then juiced
- 1 small shallot finely minced
- 1 tablespoon lightly dried parsley
- 2 cloves of garlic minced or pressed
- kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and place a rack in the center. Use whatever baking pan you have that has a wire rack installed, such as a quarter sheet pan. Fitting your baking pan with a wire rack will guarantee that the bottom of the chicken roasts to a delicious crispy brown. After giving the wire rack a quick coat of cooking spray, place the baking pot aside.
- With paper towels, pat the birds' skin dry. Combine the herbs de provence and salt/pepper to taste in a small dish. Mix well to mix in the spice mixture and leave away. Use a little amount of the spice mixture to season the birds' cavities. Next, insert two crushed garlic cloves, two lemon slices, three sage leaves, and three thyme sprigs into each hen's cavity.
- Olive oil should be drizzled on each hen's exterior. Then season each hen's exterior with the remaining spice mixture. Let's now use the jerk seasoning to bathe the birds. Make sure to lather each fowl in jerk seasoning, getting into all the crevices and nooks, using your hands (covered with disposable gloves if preferred). I cover each hens with approximately 1/2 cup of spice, but you may use more if you'd like.
- Then, to keep the hen legs in place, insert the tips of the wings into the slits in the legs and truss them together with kitchen twine. After preparing the baking pan or wire rack, place the birds on it.
- For one hour, roast the chickens without a cover. Let's make the basting sauce in the meantime, around ten minutes before that hour is up. Put the butter, lemon zest and juice, chopped shallot, parsley, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste in a small skillet over medium heat. After combining all the ingredients, simmer for two to three minutes. After that, turn off the heat and leave the sauce aside.
- Return to the birds and take them out of the oven, but leave the heat on. Make sure to smear the birds all over with half of the sauce. After 20 minutes or until each hen's internal temperature reaches at least 165°F, return the birds to the oven.
- Take the chickens out of the oven. After brushing the leftover sauce over the roasted birds, allow them to rest for a minimum of ten minutes. Next, use kitchen shears or a sharp knife to cut the hens in half. Serve this Jamaican jerk chicken right away, after roasting. This roast chicken is so delicious served with rice, plantains, and peas. Have fun!
Notes
- Please read the blog post in its entirety for more tips + tricks.