Growing up in Jamaica, Jamaican Jerk chicken was very popular. It was sold mostly as street food, enjoyed by the locals and tourists alike.
19 years ago, I stopped eating meat so I had to resort to making my own jerk sauce to add to tofu or vegetables.
This version of Jamaican Jerk recipe is my own, I tried to make it as natural as possible using fresh ingredients.
From memory, the sauce has several variations to it. The main base ingredients are allspice, thyme, green onions, and scotch bonnet peppers.
Interestingly, I asked my hubby about how they made Jamaican jerk sauce where he lived on the island and he said he rarely ate jerk chicken so he couldn’t tell.
For this Jamaican Jerk Cauliflower recipe, I’m going to use tomato sauce and orange juice, but I have used pineapple juice and ketchup before. If you don’t like a lot of heat, feel free to leave the scotch bonnet pepper out.
Substitute your favorite sweetener as well to taste, maple syrup would taste great. While I was making this batch, I whipped up extra and added it to baked tofu and it was delicious as well.
I love to serve it with Jamaican Rice and Peas and Oven Baked Plantains.
How To Make Jamaican Jerk Cauliflower?
I baked the cauliflower florets using a slight variation one of my popular Cauliflower Nuggets recipe, you are also free to saute your florets instead. While the florets were baking,
I made the sauce using a food processor. I then cooked the sauce for 5 minutes then smothered the baked nuggets in the sauce. At this point, I served mine but you can put it back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes.
Jamaican Jerk Cauliflower tasted so good! Jerk Cauliflower takes me back to Jamaica, where life is laid back and as we say, “Jamaica No Problem.”
Other Amazing Cauliflower Recipes To Try:
Categories
- Categories: Gluten-Free, Vegan
- Course: Main Course
- Cuisine: Jamaican
Nutrition
(Per 100g)- Energy: 95 kcal / 397 kJ
- Fat: 1 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Carbs: 21 g
Cook Time
- Preparation: 10 min
- Cooking: 30 min
- Ready in: 40 min
- For: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 medium head cauliflower, cut into small florets
Batter
- 1/2 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk, (I use almond milk) or vegan mayo
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour, or other gluten-free flour
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- Pinch of turmeric
- 1 teaspoon salt
Jerk Sauce
- 2 spring onions, roughly chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- 6 allspice berries
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, (optional)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 Scotch Bonnet, or habanero pepperseeds removed and discarded (optional)
- 1/4 cup Bragg's liquid aminos, Tamari soy sauce (gluten-free)
- 1/4 cup tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup raw cane sugar, or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 1 lime, juiced
- spring onions, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven 400 degrees. Lightly grease and line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside
- Combine batter ingredients in a bowl and whisk to form a loose batter, may need to add some water.
- Dip florets into batter one by one and place onto the baking sheet. Spray or brush with oil. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown and crispy, turning halfway.
- While cauliflower is baking, prepare the sauce.
- Place all the ingredients for the sauce in a high speed blender or food processor. Process until smooth.
- Pour sauce into a medium saucepan on medium heat. Cook stirring constantly until sauce thickens, about 3-5 minutes.
- Toss cauliflower florets with sauce.Delicious served with rice and peas!
looks absolutely good 100%
This is going in my recipe book: also want to try the vegan tamales as well.
It is amazing, I could eat this in my entire life!!
Hi,
I would love to try this.
Can the molasses be omitted or replaced with something else?
Thank you.
Hello Kay, yes you can leave it out. I hope you enjoy it.
Just wondering if you could use allspice powder instead of allspice berries if you can’t find them and if so what would be the amount. Thanks!!
Tracy, yes you can substitute with allspice powder. Since the powder is more concentrated, I always start with 1/4 teaspoon and work my way up after tasting.
I will definitely make this again. Shared recipe with my neighbor.
Karen, I’m so happy you enjoyed it, thank you for sharing!
Hi Michelle, I’m really excited to try this recipe which I’m planning to make tonight. The recipe calls for 6 allspice berries and I have ground allspice….do you know what measurement I should use?
Noella, you could use 1/8 teaspoon of ground allspice or even 1/4 teaspoon for more traditional flavor. I hope you enjoy.
Thank you for the recipe. I am trying to eat healthier and will try and surprise my wife with this one.
Greg that’s awesome, so nice of you. I hope that you and your wife enjoy it.
This is fantastic! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. My family loved it!
Karen, I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing your feedback with us.
This recipe is excellent. It’s become one of go to meals. I’ve made it with and without the batter. Obviously the cauliflower is better when batter, but I was trying to cut calories. I batch cook on the weekends and the unbattered cauliflower doesn’t get soggy. Love this!