Switch up your regular chicken dinner routine with this paleo Jamaican-inspired Jerk Roasted Chicken Thighs and Sweet Potato Dinner with Creamy Honey-Jalapeno Sauce.
The more I have the chance to spend time in different areas of the country, the more I realize that where you’re from is often depicted in the way you drive. In your car is where things get real.
When my sister lived in North Carolina, she told me about what she liked to call Southern charm. She said everyone is sweet as a Georgia peach pie (as in, ohhh, bless her heart) until they get into their car and then it’s no holds barred. It’s not that there was a lot of horn beeping like what we grew up with in New York, but a lot of bird-flipping and people hanging their heads out car windows to scream what they felt like was the other driver’s just desserts (read: a long string of profanities). It gets worse though; in Florida, I saw a guy get a gun pulled on him at an intersection after he flipped off the guy in the car ahead of him who cut him off.
Surprisingly enough, in DC there’s not a lot of beeping or profanities being slung; there is just so much traffic it’s expected that you’ll be cut off or nearly hit or have your car dinged almost every time you’re brave enough to venture out in your car.
During a very long drive last winter I realized, to my shock and dismay, that I’ve never made Jerk Chicken. I made it last winter, with a hearty sweet potato twist, and then winter slipped into spring and spring to summer and now we’re well into autumn and suddenly I feel the need to share this recipe I’ve been sitting on for the better part of a year.
Here I not only took inspiration from classic Jerk flavoring, but my cooking method was inspired by my recipe for Roast Chicken Ratatouille where I also cooked chicken thighs on a wire rack set over a pan of vegetables. The veggies end up cooking in the chicken drippings and they’re so much more intensely flavorful because of it.
The spice mix is my own version of a the classic components going on in Jerk spice mix; I’m not calling it authentic, but it hits the same flavor notes, and it’s easy to customize based on what herbs or spices you really like. And I whipped up a sweet and spicy creamy (with either coconut milk or cashew cream) sauce because why not? Serve this up with rice or Smoky Roasted Garlic Cauliflower “Rice” to keep the meal paleo.
So tell me, how are drivers in your area?
You can read more about flavors of the Caribbean on Cooking Light.
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar (or light brown sugar)
- 1½ teaspoons ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon granulated garlic (or garlic powder)
- ½ teaspoon granulated onion (or onion powder)
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ to 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Jerk Spice Mix for this recipe (minus 2 teaspoons for the sweet potato portion of this recipe)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos (or soy sauce or tamari sauce)
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil (I use Chosen Foods)
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar (or light brown sugar)
- About 4 lbs (1.8 kg) bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (this was 8 large-ish thighs)
- 1 large (about 1 lb/450 g; about 3½ cups cubed) sweet potato or yam, cubed into ½-inch pieces
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 teaspoons Jerk Spice Mix
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil (I use Chosen Foods)
- ½ cup full-fat canned coconut milk or ½ cup cashew “cream” (see Note)
- 1 tablespoon minced jalapeno (more or less to taste)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
- ½ tablespoon honey
- 1 pinch salt
- Combine all ingredients for the spice mix; measure out 2 teaspoons for the sweet potato.
- For the chicken, whisk together the jerk spice mix, vinegar, coconut aminos, oil, and sugar in a large bowl. Stir in the chicken, cover, and refrigerate 12 to 24 hours before cooking. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.
- To cook, preheat the oven to 350F. Put the sweet potato in a medium-sized saucepan and cover with water by 2 inches. Cover the saucepan, bring up to a boil, and then cock the lid, turn down the heat so it doesn’t boil over, and boil 4 minutes. Drain and stir together the par-cooked sweet potato with the onion and jerk spice mix.
- Brush the bottom of a large roasting pan with 1 tablespoon oil and spread the potato/onion mixture out in an even layer. Securely fit a wire rack over the top of the roasting pan and arrange the chicken on top, skin side up. Roast until the chicken is fully cooked (there should be no pink when you cut into it), about 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, stir together all ingredients for the sauce and keep refrigerated until serving.
- Serve the chicken and sweet potato hot along with the cool sauce to drizzle on top.
I’m Faith Gorsky, the writer, cook, and photographer behind An Edible Mosaic. My goal is to inspire you to get in the kitchen and try something new! Feel free to 
I love these flavors, what a fabulous dinner idea!
I would read this while sitting in the hospital waiting for my mom to finish IV fluids… no food in site…?. Sounds yummy! And we just finished talking about Southern CA drivers when it rains… but NorCal drivers are worse… ?
That dish looks very tasty! Perfect with those veggies.
Cheers,
Rosa
I love jerk and the idea to roast the chicken over the veggies is genius! The jalapeño coconut milk sauce is a great addition too. Great flavors going on here. Have a wonderful weekend.
This looks like my kind of dinner! I love jerk chicken and know it will be even better with that creamy sauce…