Jamaican Jerk Pork Recipe
Sweet and spicy Jamaican Jerk Pork is incredibly easy to make thanks to the trusty slow cooker or crockpot! This tender, juicy pork is bursting with piquant Caribbean flavor and finished with a simple tropical pineapple salsa! Extremely flavorful and mostly hands off to prepare, this recipe will become a highly requested family favorite!
Equipment
- 2 Large Bowls (for marinating the pork and for making the salsa)
- 1 Slow Cooker or Crockpot (for cooking the jerk pork)
- 1 Large Rimmed Sheet Pan (optional) (optional, to crisp pork)
Ingredients
- 3 Pound Boneless Pork Butt – trimmed of fat & cut into 2-inch chunks (SEE NOTES)
- 2 TBS Neutral High Heat Oil – canola oil or vegetable oil
- 4 TBS Jerk Seasoning – homemade or store-bought (SEE NOTES)
- To Taste Kosher Salt
- 1 Bunch Green Onion – cut into 3-inch pieces
- 3 Cloves Garlic – smashed & peeled
- 1-2 whole Jalapeno Peppers – stemmed & roughly chopped (sub: Habanero Peppers) (SEE NOTES)
- ½-inch Piece Fresh Ginger – peeled and sliced
- ¾ Cup Fresh Orange Juice - (from about 4 oranges)
- ¼ Cup Fresh Lime Juice – (from about 2 limes)
- 1 TBS EACH: Dark Brown Sugar and Low Sodium-Soy Sauce
Pineapple Salsa (yield about 2 cups)
- 1 ½ Cups Fresh Diced Pineapple
- 1 whole Jalapeno – stemmed, seeded & finely diced
- ¼ whole Red Onion – finely diced
- 2-3 TBS Cilantro Leaves – chopped
- 2-3 TBS Fresh Lime Juice
- 1 tsp Honey
- Optional Garnishes: Sliced Scallions, Microgreens, Fresh Thyme
- Serving Suggestions: Lime Wedges, Sliced Avocado, Rice, or Slaw
Instructions
- Season pork: Place the cubes of pork onto a clean work surface and use paper towels to pat the pork completely dry.Once dry, transfer the pork to a large bowl and then drizzle the oil all over the pork. Next, use your hands or a pair of tongs and toss the pork to coat all the pieces in the oil. Then, sprinkle the jerk seasoning all over the oiled pork and season generously with salt to taste. Use your hands or tongs to mix and toss the pork until thoroughly coated in the jerk spices. (NOTE: You may want to wear gloves as the mixture will be spicy. Don’t touch your face or eyes until after you wash your hands!)
- Let Pork Marinate in Jerk Spices: Cover the bowl of jerk rubbed pork with plastic wrap or transfer it to a large zip-closure bag and seal. Place the pork into the refrigerator and let the pork marinate for at least 3 hours, or preferably overnight.
- Remove the pork from the refrigerator and allow the meat to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes while you prep the other ingredients. Add All Jerk Pork Ingredients to Slow Cooker: Transfer the rubbed pork to the bowl of a 5 to 6 quart slow cooker. Then, add the onions, garlic, peppers, ginger, orange juice, lime juice, sugar, and soy sauce to the crockpot.
- Slow Cook: Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours, or until the pork is fork tender and falls apart easily.
- While the Pork is Cooking, Make the Salsa: Add all the ingredients for the salsa (pineapple, jalapeno, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, and honey) to a medium bowl and season to taste with salt. Use a spoon to toss and stir the ingredients until fully combined. Then taste the salsa and adjust for seasoning to suit your personal taste. Cover the salsa and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Skim Fat and Strain Cooking Liquid (au jus): Uncover the slow cooker and use a large spoon or fat skimmer to skim and discard the fat from the top of the au jus (cooking liquid) in the slow cooker. Then, pour the cooking liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a measuring cup or bowl. Set the au jus aside.
- OPTIONAL for Crispy Pork: Arrange oven rack to the upper-middle third position in the oven and then preheat the oven to BROIL.Line a large rimmed sheet pan with aluminum foil. Then, use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked caribbean pork to the pan. Add ¼ to ½ cup of the strained cooking liquid (au jus) to the pork and gently toss to coat the pieces with the liquid. Transfer the sheet pan of pork to the oven and Broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the pork partially crisp. Remove the pan the oven and use tongs to flip the pork pieces over. Pour another ¼ to ½ cup cooking liquid on the pork pieces and return to the oven. Broil for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until the pork is beautifully crisp all over. (NOTE: Watch the oven carefully as pork can go from golden brown and crispy to burned very quickly!)
- Serve: Transfer the Jamaican Jerk Pork to a serving bowl and drizzle a bit of cooking liquid over the top of the pork. Serve hot with pineapple salsa over rice or slaw or use it to stuff into your favorite taco shells. Enjoy!
Notes
- Jerk Seasonings: While I prefer to make my own seasoning, you can use prepackaged. If using store-bought recommend either the brands Walkerswood or Grace wet Jerk Seasoning which has a paste-like consistency. If using a paste or marinade jerk seasoning, omit using the neutral oil. For recipe to homemade jerk seasoning click HERE.
- Spicy Heat Level: If you don’t like a lot of heat, use 1 jalapeno pepper. Make sure you remove the seeds and ribs from the pepper before proceeding with the recipe instructions. If you like mild heat, use 2 jalapenos and leave the seeds in the pepper. If you like medium heat, try using a habanero pepper, you can either discard the seeds for a mild to medium heat or leave the seeds for a spicier medium heat. If you like things spicy, use 2 habanero peppers.
-
You've got questions? I've got answers! If you have a question you don't see listed below, please drop them in the comments section. I'm happy to help when I can!
-
Need to Scale the Recipe? Hover your mouse over the number of servings in the recipe card. You'll see a sliding scale pop up, you can use that to scale the recipe up or down as needed.
-
Got questions? I've got answers! If you ever run into an issue, have a question, or need any clarification - please feel free to drop them in the comments section. I'm happy to help when I can!
-
Trimming and Cutting Pork: Need a visual guide? See below!
-
Nutrition
Calories: 384kcal Carbohydrates: 10g Protein: 44g Fat: 18g Saturated Fat: 5g Cholesterol: 136mg Sodium: 237mg Potassium: 964mg Fiber: 2g Sugar: 5g Vitamin A: 1708IU Vitamin C: 23mg Calcium: 58mg Iron: 4mg