All Fired UpBBQ & Grill

Jerk Marinade

Name: Jerk Marinade
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: For the Jerk Marinade:; 1 onion; 5 scallions; 6 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped; Thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped; 3 tbsp dark brown sugar (you can also use molasses/ cane sugar/ palm sugar); 100ml dark soy sauce; 3 tsp ground allspice; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; Small handful of fresh thyme leaves; 1 scotch bonnet chilli, deseeded for less heat (Or use Habanero/ Red Chillis if you can’t find scotch bonnets); For the Thyme Vinegar:; 250ml Distilled white vinegar; A few sprigs of fresh thyme, chopped

Nico ReynoldsFrom the series · All Fired Up

40 min totalServes 4Medium

Jerk Marinade

Time40 min

Serves4

SkillMedium

ShowAll Fired Up

Method

For the Thyme Vinegar: Gently heat the vinegar in a small pan on a hob with fresh thyme, bring to boil and then remove from the heat.

Allow to cool

For the Jerk Marinade: Add all the ingredients to a blender (except the vinegar) and blitz until fine.

Add 50ml thyme vinegar and blend again.

This will keep for up to 3 weeks if kept in the fridge in a sealed container

Cook's notes

The seeds are where the heat lives. Leave them in the scotch bonnet if you like it hot, scrape them out for a milder marinade — and don't forget to wash your hands after handling them.
I don't usually add salt to this marinade — the dark soy sauce carries plenty of sodium already, so taste before you even think about seasoning.
Rules are made to be broken: play around with different sugars — molasses, cane sugar, palm sugar — and different aromatic vinegars for that first tang. You have my blessing.
Make the thyme vinegar first and let it cool fully before it goes anywhere near the blender.
Mix a big batch ahead and marinate everything in advance — that's what makes jerk so good for a barbecue. The food just goes on the grill when people arrive.

Serve with Rub it into bone-in chicken thighs, pork shoulder or whole fish before they hit the grill — and it's just as happy on cauliflower, mushrooms, courgettes or aubergine. Rice and peas or grilled plantain alongside.

Make ahead & storage Keep it in a sealed jar or container in the fridge and it'll hold for up to 3 weeks; give it a stir before each use as it can separate slightly.

BBQ & Grill40 Minutes

Recipe by Nico Reynolds · From the series All Fired Up · Photography © Appetite Media
Published 13 July 2026 · Updated 15 July 2026

Nutrition

Per serving · estimated

106kcal

4gprotein

25gcarbs

1gfat

Approximate — calculated from the ingredient list using USDA food data. A guide, not a medical figure.

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