Tropical Jerk Chicken Fried Rice

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This tropical coconut fried rice tastes like vacation on a plate! With coconut-flavored Jasmine rice, fresh pineapple chunks, and spicy Jamaican Jerk marinated chicken, this delicious Caribbean jerk chicken fried rice has all the flavors of the tropics!

Caribbean-Inspired Tropical Jerk Chicken Fried Rice

This recipe is inspired by one of our long-time favorite lunches, the Jamaican Jerk chicken wrap. This wrap consists of tender chicken breast strips, spicy Jamaican Jerk sauce, and a veggie rice blend, all wrapped up in a flour tortilla.

So when we were trying to develop some new fried rice recipes, we immediately thought back to our favorite Caribbean-style lunch with jerk chicken and tropical rice.

We’ve cooked all types of fried rice dishes on the griddle, from classic chicken fried rice to Mexican fried rice to Cajun shrimp fried rice. But we had never ventured into the tropical Caribbean-inspired fried rice dishes that are so often served in a hollowed out pineapple.

Our recipe omits the pineapple boat presentation, but it delivers big time on flavor! From the homemade spicy Jamaican jerk chicken marinade to the coconut-infused rice, make this recipe and you’ve basically taken a delicious vacation without ever leaving your backyard.

Tropical Jerk Chicken Fried Rice Video

Ingredients

This recipe is basically two different dishes combined into one epic tropical fried rice – first you have the coconut fried rice and then you add in the spicy Jamaican Jerk chicken.

Here’s a look at the ingredients and some substitution options for both. Detailed instructions and recipe measurements are provided at the end of this post.

For the Coconut Fried Rice:

• Jasmine rice – You can substitute Basmati, but we prefer the slightly sweet taste of Jasmine rice, and it pairs perfectly with the coconut milk.
• coconut milk – You’ll need the canned variety, not the type that you buy in a half gallon as milk replacement for your coffee. We used a 14 ounce can of the Thai Kitchen brand unsweetened coconut milk.
• sugar and butter – These get added to the rice and coconut milk as it cooks, adding a subtle sweetness.
• peas, mini sweet peppers, onions, and green onions – The veggie mix that we added into our fried rice. This is completely customizable based on your tastes. You could also add yellow corn kernels or black beans.
• fresh pineapple – Cut into chunks, the pineapple adds a beautiful sweetness to the dish, especially after getting caramelized on the griddle.
• garlic – Fresh minced garlic cloves are best. When making fried rice on the griddle, we always add butter and fresh garlic to a “well” in the rice as it’s cooking.
• soy sauce and Thai sweet chili sauce – These two sauces add richness and flavor to the tropical jerk chicken fried rice.
• unsweetened coconut shreds – We toasted some shredded coconut to use as garnish and to add a bit of sweetness and texture to the finished dish. If you don’t already have this in your pantry, feel free to omit it.

For the Jerk Chicken:

The second part of this dish is the marinated jerk chicken. And our recipe delivers with authentic, straight-from-the-islands flavor! Here’s what we used to make our spicy jerk chicken marinade.

*NOTE – This recipe makes enough marinade for two whole chickens, so we like to freeze half of it in a zip top freezer bag to use for other meals.

• chicken thighs – I used bone-in, skin-on thighs and deboned them myself for extra flavor and savings. Store-bought boneless, skinless chicken thighs are great too, or substitute chicken breasts if you wish.
• green onions and sweet yellow onions – These will get blended up, so no need to perfectly chop them.
• habanero peppers – Use one to three peppers, depending on your heat tolerance. For a less spicy marinade, you could also substitute one or two jalapeno peppers.
• garlic cloves
• lime juice
• olive oil, soy sauce, and apple cider vinegar – Classic wet ingredients for a Caribbean marinade. These help the other ingredients blend together.
• fresh ginger
• brown sugar – Provides a nice sweetness to balance the heat.
• spices – The combination of all spice, thyme, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper and salt provides the perfect Jamaican flavor.

A Note about the Jerk Chicken

We originally made this homemade Jamaican Jerk chicken marinade on our pellet grilling YouTube channel, Pellets and Pits. After a few recipe tests, we really feel like we nailed the authentic jerk flavors. You can watch that grilled jerk chicken video here.

The whole habanero peppers get blended with quartered onion and lots of spices for that true Jamaican flavor. But be warned – this sauce is SPICY! We like to use only one pepper in our marinade, but if you like the heat, you can add up to three habaneros.

Making the Coconut Rice

As with any good fried rice recipe, it’s important to start with cooked white rice that has been completely cooled. You can either prepare the rice 2-3 hours in advance and then let it cool on the counter, or make it a day ahead and cool it on a sheet tray in the refrigerator overnight.

We have done both methods, and we don’t find that there’s a noticeable difference in preparing the rice a few hours in advance versus a day ahead. But making it the day before does save time, especially since this tropical fried rice recipe is more involved.

We always recommend making your rice in a rice cooker, because it is incredibly easy and foolproof. For this coconut fried rice, simply add these ingredients to a rice cooker and turn it on:

• 2 cups Jasmine rice
• 14 ounce can coconut milk
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon sugar

When the rice is done cooking, allow it to cool slightly then spread it out in an even layer on a large sheet tray. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, or leave on the counter to cool for a minimum of 2 hours.

Making the Jamaican Jerk Chicken Marinade

For the jerk marinade, throw all the marinade ingredients into a blender – don’t forget to remove the habanero stems. Pour that over your cut chicken thighs in a big bowl, give it a toss, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate. Overnight is best, but if you’re in a rush, a few hours does the trick.

How to Make Jerk Chicken Fried Rice

First, heat your griddle on medium until it reaches about 425°F. You want a nice high temperature for the perfect sear on the jerk chicken pieces, and remember, once you add the large amount of rice, your griddle surface will drop in temperature.

Then follow these steps for this delicious Caribbean fried rice:

Step 1: Fry the rice on the griddle. Add about 1-2 tablespoons of high heat cooking oil to the griddle and spread it around with your spatula. Then add the cooked and cooled Jasmine rice to the oiled surface, spreading it out into a thin even layer to begin to warm and toast.

Step 2: Add the vegetables and pineapple to the griddle. In a separate area on the griddle, add the chopped onion, sweet peppers, pineapple, and whites of the green onion. Allow the veggies to start cooking and developing a slight char, then sauté together.

Step 3: Add the butter and garlic to the rice. After about 2-3 minutes when the rice has developed a slight toast on the underside, toss it together to fry. Then, spread the rice back out and make a “well” in the center. Add the butter and garlic to the rice well. As the butter melts and the garlic warms, it creates a beautifully fragrant garlic butter that adds a rich flavor to your rice. Right before the garlic starts to burn, after about 1 minute, stir fry the rice, butter, and garlic together.

*NOTE – We use this garlic and butter “well” method for ALL of our griddle fried rice recipes. It adds incredible flavor to your dish, with very little effort.

Step 3: Add the vegetables to the fried rice with the sauces. Add the vegetables, pineapple, and fried rice together. Pour on the soy sauce and Thai sweet chili sauce. Add the green peas, and toss to combine all ingredients. Then move the tropical fried rice to the cooler side of the griddle while the chicken cooks.

Step 4: Cook the jerk chicken. Add a bit more oil to the griddle, and place your marinated jerk chicken on the hot surface to cook. Allow the chicken to cook untouched on the first side to develop a flavorful char, and then flip the pieces to the second side. When the chicken is almost cooked through, you can sauté it together and continue cooking until done.

Step 5: Add the jerk chicken to the tropical fried rice. Add your cooked chicken to the fried rice, toss everything together, and turn off the heat. Sprinkle in the green onion tops and toss the jerk chicken fried rice briefly to combine all ingredients.

Step 6: Garnish and serve. Transfer the fried rice to a plate, and sprinkle with the toasted coconut and green onion tops just before serving for a little extra Caribbean flair. Serve it up with extra pineapple, and maybe some fried plantains if you’re feeling extra.

Can I make this tropical jerk chicken fried rice in a stovetop skillet?

We love making this jerk chicken fried rice recipe on a griddle, because you can cook all of the components at the same time on the large flat surface, and there’s minimal clean up.

If you don’t have a griddle, you can definitely make this recipe in a large skillet on the stovetop. However, you would need to use multiple skillets, or cook the vegetables first, transfer to a bowl, then fry the rice and add the veggies back in. The chicken would need to be cooked in a separate skillet, as there isn’t enough room in a single pan for this recipe.

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