Home » Hot Sauce Recipes

Jamaican Jerk Sauce

ByKristen Wood Last updated

5 from 79 votes

This post may contain affiliate links which means we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!

Skip to Recipe Pin Jump to Video

This quick Jamaican jerk sauce is full of complex, smoky, and spicy flavor. It’s easy to blend together and versatile enough to use as a marinade, sauce, or finishing touch throughout the week!

A clear glass hot sauce bottle filled with a dark red sauce.
Want To Save This Recipe?
Enter your email below & we'll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you’ll get great new recipes from us every week!

5-Stars From Our Readers

“It was my first time making this Jamaican jerk sauce and I love the outcome! It is packed with amazing flavors that I really love. Used this last night for tofu and it was a hit, my fam loves it!”
— Sharina

A Note From Kristen

Jerk sauce is a spicy sauce with roots in Jamaican and Caribbean cuisine. One thing that sets jerk sauce apart from most hot sauces, is its robust use of warming spices. It’s the perfect condiment for jazzing up a bit of comfort food in the cooler months! Use this jerk sauce to marinate a protein or vegetable before cooking, as a stir-fry sauce, dipping sauce, or simply to drizzle over rice bowls or soups before digging in.

Enjoy!
~Kristen

A tall glass bottle filled with a reddish brown sauce resting on a gray table scattered with peppers and spices.

What is Jerk Sauce?

Jerk itself is originally a term used to describe a method for seasoning and grilling meat, with its origins in Jamaica. It has since evolved to mean a sauce, seasoning, spice, and marinade, its ingredients evolving over time as well.

An open glass bottle bubbling over with a dark purple sauce.

Ingredient Notes

Please keep in mind that this is just a quick overview. Visit the full recipe for amounts and instructions!

  • Chiles: Traditionally, scotch bonnet peppers are used in a jerk sauce and jerk seasoning, but habanero chiles are usually more easily found and make a suitable substitution, as they are closely related to scotch bonnets. These are relatively hot peppers, so if really want a jerk sauce but cannot handle too much heat, you can use a milder pepper such as jalapeno or serrano in this recipe.
  • Onions: Red, white or yellow onions will work in this recipe. If you are a major spice fan, you might just have a preference for using red onion in this recipe as it does add its own kick.
  • Green onion: Both the white and green parts of green onions (aka scallions) are used in this recipe. If you do not have green onions, you can use chives or simply a regular white or yellow onion.
  • Garlic + ginger: Garlic and ginger are a classic combo for a jerk sauce and adds both flavor and spice.
  • Orange and lime juice: The combo of orange juice and lime juice is kind of the secret ingredient in this recipe. The combination adds both sweetness and acidity and truly makes this sauce hard to stop eating! I do not recommend any substitutions here, but if you only have lemon juice or apple cider vinegar you can use them for a still-tasty sauce (just not quite the same!).
  • Coconut aminos or soy sauce: While soy sauce is a more traditional option, I prefer using coconut aminos in this sauce. Use whichever one you have on hand or prefer the most!
  • Sugar: Any granulated sugar will work, though I personally prefer brown sugar or coconut sugar in this recipe. If you are on a sugar-free diet, use a sugar-free granulated sweetener.
  • Thyme: Thyme is an extremely traditional spice used in Jamaican cuisine, so it’s not surprising that it is also a traditional jerk sauce ingredient as well. I do not recommend omitting or replacing it, though if you want to replace dried Thyme with fresh, you can use a few sprigs instead.
  • Allspice berries: Allspice berries are a very common ingredient in Caribbean cooking, especially Jamaican cuisine. They are dried, unripe berries that come from the Pimenta tree. They have a very unique taste with flavor notes similar to that of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg all combined. It is hard to replace this unique ingredient!
  • Black pepper: Black pepper adds both spice and some subtly smoky notes to this sauce recipe.
  • Cloves: Cloves add bitterness, sweetness, and warmth to this sauce, and are a classic addition to a Jamaican jerk sauce.
  • Salt: I recommended saving the salting for the last step, as not only does everyone have different preferences when it comes to saltiness in foods, but even the sizes of the peppers used can impact how much salt is needed.
Top Pick
SPICES VILLAGE Allspice Berries SPICES VILLAGE Allspice Berries

Our favorite allspice berries!

Buy Now
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
A bottle of hot sauce resting on a gray table scattered with dry spices and orange chili peppers.

How to Make Jerk Sauce

An open blender container filled with veggies and spices.
A freshly blended maroon sauce resting in an open blender container.
An open glass bottle filled with a bubbly homemade hot sauce.
  1. Simply combine all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor, then blend until smooth.
  2. Enjoy!
Top Pick
8oz Swing Top Bottles 8oz Swing Top Bottles

A great way to store homemade jerk sauce!

Buy Now
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
An open swing top bottle filled with homemade jerk sauce.

Serving Ideas

  • You can use this jerk sauce as a jerk marinade for tofu, tempeh, veggies, or if you are not vegan or vegetarian, nearly any kind of meat or fish (with jerk chicken probably being one of the more popular jerk dishes).
  • You can use Jamaican jerk sauce as a sandwich spread.
  • You can drizzle this sauce over soups, stews, quinoa or rice bowls.
  • You can use jerk sauce as a dipping sauce for foods like fries, quesadillas, mozzarella sticks, and more.
A clear glass swing-top bottle filled with a dark brown sauce.

How Spicy is Jerk Sauce?

Depending on the potency of the peppers used and your personal tolerance for spice, jerk sauce sits in the medium to super-spicy range of heat.

A wooden spoon spills over with a dark red sauce.

More Delicious Spicy Sauce Recipes You Might Love

Jerk Sauce Recipe

Author: Kristen Wood
46kcal
5 from 79 votes
Print
Share Go Ad-Free
Prep 10 minutes
Cook 0 minutes
Total 10 minutes
A quick, easy, and flavorful Jamaican jerk sauce recipe you can use for grilling, roasting, and everyday cooking.
Servings 8 servings
Course Condiments, Sauces
Cuisine Caribbean, Jamaican
Diet Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Click to add us as a preferred source on Google

Ingredients

  • 5 fresh scotch bonnet or habanero peppers stemmed
  • 1 red or white onion halved
  • 2 green onions white and green parts
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 one-inch knob fresh ginger root
  • ½ cup orange juice
  • ½ cup lime juice
  • ¼ cup coconut aminos or soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon thyme dried
  • 1 tablespoon whole allspice berries dried
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper ground
  • ¼ teaspoon cloves ground
  • salt to taste

Method

  1. In a blender or food processor, combine the peppers, onion, green onion, garlic, ginger, orange juice, lime juice, coconut aminos, sugar, thyme, allspice, pepper and cloves.
  2. Blend until smooth.
  3. Salt to taste.
  4. Enjoy right away or keep stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.
Want To Save This Recipe?

Notes

Please see the full post above this recipe card for valuable information!

Nutrition

Serving0.25cupCalories46kcalCarbohydrates11gProtein1gFat0.2gSaturated Fat0.05gPolyunsaturated Fat0.1gMonounsaturated Fat0.02gSodium173mgPotassium125mgFiber1gSugar6gVitamin A176IUVitamin C25mgCalcium24mgIron0.5mg

Nutritional information is automatically calculated using a third-party calculator and is an estimate only.

Equipment

Have You Tried This Recipe?

Rate and comment below to let us know how it was!

Kristen is a writer, photographer, recipe developer, and certified functional nutrition expert. She is also the author of Fermented Hot Sauce Cookbook, Vegetarian Family Cookbook, and Hot Sauce Cookbook for Beginners. Her work has been featured in various print and online publications including Elle, NBC, Chicago Sun-Times, Martha Stewart, MSN, New York Daily News, Healthline, and many more. Kristen is also a syndicated writer for The Associated Press.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




 

15 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Love making a large batch of this and slathering it on all things! Makes for super easy meal prep for the week, and was so flavorful and balanced too! Thanks so much for a great recipe.

    Reply

  2. 5 stars
    SO FLAVORFUL! I only used 2 peppers because I have a sensitivity to spice. We used this for smoked chicken legs and it turned out so good. Will make again. I feel like this would be a good food gift too.

    Reply

  5. 5 stars
    Holy smokes! This jerk sauce was great. Super spicy and flavorful. I used some for an easy jerk chicken and saved the rest for another meal next week.

    Reply

  6. 5 stars
    I’ve been looking for a gluten free jerk sauce for a while and this one hit ALL the marks. It was so delicious and simple to make.

    Reply

  7. 5 stars
    This has become our new favorite sauce for grilled chicken. So flavorful and love the spice!

    Reply

  8. 5 stars
    Love the peppery flavors in this jerk sauce. I made it using soy sauce and used it to marinate veggies. So delicious.

    Reply

  9. 5 stars
    This jerk sauce instantly makes meat taste better! We loved it for grilling too – yum!

    Reply

  10. 5 stars
    It was my first time making this Jamaican jerk sauce and I love the outcome! It is packed with amazing flavors that I really love. Used this last night for tofu and it was a hit, my fam loves it!

    Reply

  11. 5 stars
    So much flavour! I can see I will have to make a double batch next time, went down a treat!

    Reply

  13. 5 stars
    I love jerk seasoning but never thought about making it myself. Well, this proved me wrong! It was a great and easy recipe to follow, and it added so much flavor to everything!

    Reply

  14. 5 stars
    Wow! This is such a great punch of flavor and spice and the perfect way to mix up the flavor on our normal chicken legs. My husband loves the spice. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  15. 5 stars
    This jerk sauce was so good! I used habanero peppers to make them and turned out perfect.

    Reply