Y’all I love me some Jamaican curry chicken. It’s like the most hearty and spicy stew you didn’t know you needed. This recipe has all that juicy chicken, spices, veggies and comfort that it’s known for. You might just close your eyes and feel like you on the islands again boos.
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How To Make Curry Chicken
Step 1: In a large ziplock bag, add in chicken and sprinkle in curry powder, cumin, salt, and allspice. Shake bag to evenly coat chicken pieces. Transfer to the refrigerator to allow seasonings to marinate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
Step 2: In a large dutch oven/stockpot, heat up oil over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, add in chicken pieces and cook until chicken is lightly browned, about 5-6 minutes. Be sure to continuously stir chicken.
Step 3: Add in scallions, onions, carrots, garlic, fresh thyme, and scotch bonnet. Stir mixture together and continue cooking together for another 4-5 minutes.
Step 4: Pour in water and add potatoes. Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are soft and cooked through completely. Then discard pepper and stir curry chicken together. Gravy should be thicker and coat the back of a spoon. Enjoy warm with steamed white rice or Jamaican rice and peas.
Curry Chicken Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breasts cut in chucks / up to 1 1/2 lbs
- 2 tbsp Jamaican curry powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp kosher salt up to 2 tsp/ to taste
- 1/2 tsp ground Jamaican allspice
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 4 scallions chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion roughly chopped
- 2 medium sized carrots sliced into coins
- 3 garlic cloves finely minced
- 4 fresh thyme sprigs de-stemmed
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper left whole
- 2 cups water
- 2 medium sized russet potatoes peeled and cut in quarters
Instructions
- In a large ziplock bag, add in chicken and sprinkle in curry powder, cumin, salt, and allspice. Shake bag to evenly coat chicken pieces. Transfer to the refrigerator to allow seasonings to marinate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
- In a large dutch oven/stockpot, heat up oil over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, add in chicken pieces and cook until chicken is lightly browned, about 5-6 minutes. Be sure to continuously stir chicken.
- Add in scallions, onions, carrots, garlic, fresh thyme, and scotch bonnet. Stir mixture together and continue cooking together for another 4-5 minutes.
- Pour in water and add potatoes. Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are soft and cooked through completely. Then discard pepper and stir curry chicken together. Gravy should be thicker and coat the back of a spoon.
- Enjoy warm with steamed white rice or Jamaican rice and peas.
Notes
- Cool to room temperature then add to an air-tight container and pop in the fridge. It will last for 3-4 days.
- In the airtight containers, this dish can chill for about 2 months. Pro tip: label your containers with the date so you can keep track.
- If it’s coming from the fridge, reheat your curry on the stove, on low heat simmering, stirring occasionally.
Nutrition
Recipe Help
Is Scotch Bonnet Pepper Hot?
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Since we aren’t slicing it open, the heat is going to be more chill. It won’t be overwhelming. If you cannot find scotch bonnet or don’t want it, you can skip this pepper altogether and replace with freshly ground black pepper.
Can I Use Other Chicken Parts?
I prefer using boneless/skinless chicken since it cooks faster and more evenly. But you can of-course use bone-in, skin-on chicken parts such as thighs and legs.
Best Jamaican Inspired Recipes
If you love this, you will also love this Curry Goat, Brown Stew Chicken, Oxtails, Jamaican Beef Patties, Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Rice and Peas, and of course Rum Cake.
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Haven’t made this yet, but will soon – it looks delicious! I especially appreciate the link for the Jamaican curry recipe.
Two small comments: 1) canola oil is a GMO in the USA, but not in Europe. It is very high in linoleic acid, which is bad for us, causes inflammation and deposition of dense white plaque, so I use coconut oil instead, a very healthy fat. 2) small comment but I discovered recently that almost all russet potatoes in the US are also GMO, enough to stop my use of them. I use Yukon Gold instead which are not modified. I prefer the texture of russets, but none of the bags I have seen in the store say anything about modification. The list I use is from the US government. When will evil companies stop trying to improve on things created by the Lord God Almighty?
I used avocado oil myself. I do add coconut oil to my rice. Probably could use any oil and less of it if that’s your preference. I’m wondering if the anti-inflammatory properties of the curry spices would actually counteract any inflammatory properties of the canola oil.
I am a Jamaican and I must say, this recipe was spot on. Good Job!!!
I used very hot chili powder that I had bought somewhere and I will bet it was comparable. Delicious and easy. It did take forever for my potatoes to soften so I kept cutting them smaller and smaller. I’ll bet actual Jamaican curry powder is better with more complex flavor, so I will make it next time. Thanks to Nick S. for the site. I can’t make a lot of your beautiful baked goods because I have to be gluten free. So thank you for this!
This was super easy to make thanks to the easy to follow directions. Extremely simple and delicious recipe! My family was scraping the pot. Since it was a huge hit in my home, next time I will double the recipe. Thanks so much!
A bit of research was needed for this recipe. I’m in Bismarck, ND and even though we have an amazing ethnic store, I have never seen Jamaican curry powder (I will look harder and ask). I have been making by own curry spice blends for years, so I looked for and found a Jamaican blend online (https://www.africanbites.com/jamaican-curry-powder/) . I can’t wait to try this 🙂
I made this this weekend and it was fantastic!!! I went with the homemade curry spice recipe in my original posting.
I like the suggestions for using other types of chicken other than the breast. Will try with chicken thighs. Yum, the depth of flavour sounds amazing!!
Oh yum! I love how you combined Jamaican flavors into the simple curry. Sounds delicious. Now I have to make this. Thanks for the recipe!
I love how flavourful and delicious this sounds! A dish I will certainly be making for myself and my partner!
Chicken curry is favourite in our house and this is one tasty recipe! The family have requested it again soon.
We love a chicken curry. So many different ways to adapt it too.