Spicy Caribbean Jerk Chicken is paired with cilantro lime quinoa, peppers & pineapple to create a flavorful, healthy & tropical bowl recipe! Lean chicken breasts are tossed in an authentic jerk marinade, grilled and added to the bowl as the star of the show!
Combine the jerk seasoning, lime juice, olive oil and soy sauce in a large bowl.
Add the cubed chicken and toss until the chicken is coated well in the marinade.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator, for at least 30 minutes, up to 24 hours.
After the chicken has marinated, heat a grill to high heat.
Either place the chicken pieces on skewers or place a piece of grill-safe foil on the grill, so that the chicken pieces don't fall through the grill grates.
Grill the jerk chicken pieces for 3-4 minutes, flip and grill for an additional 3-4 minutes.
Remove from the grill and set aside.
Bowls
Divide the prepared cilantro lime quinoa between four bowls.
Add the chicken to the bowls with the pineapple, mandarin oranges, bell pepper and avocado.
Top with fresh chopped cilantro and a drizzle of honey lime dressing.
Notes
I do not recommend using an indoor grill panto grill the chicken, unless you're using it outside on a grill or portable stove. The jerk chicken is spicy and you'll be cooking the chicken over high heat, so it will get smoky. This can cause coughing and eye irritation if cooking it inside.
Alternatively, to cook the chicken inside, you can use an indoor electric grill, as they close and will contain the smoke coming from the chicken as it cooks. You can also roast the chicken in the oven at 425°F for 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F.
The jerk chicken is spicy, to reduce the spice level you have two options.
Reduce the amount of jerk seasoning in the marinade. This recipe calls for ¼ cup jerk seasoning, reduce this down to 2 tablespoons to lighten up the heat in the marinade.
You can also reduce the amount of ground scotch bonnet peppers in the jerk seasoning. This is my preferred way to lighten the spice, because it still allows you to maximize the flavor from the rest of the seasoning in the marinade.
To make these bowls vegan, replace the chicken with firm tofu. You'll want to marinate the tofu in the same jerk marinade as you would the chicken. The tofu can marinate for just 15 minutes, or up to 8 hours. Then follow this post for how to grill tofu. You'll also need to replace the honey in the honey lime dressing with agave nectar.
To make these bowls low-carb, replace the quinoa with greens. Omitting the quinoa and replacing it with one cup of mixed baby greens will reduce the carbs from 61 grams per bowl, down to 23 grams per bowl. It will also reduce the net carbs down to 15 grams per bowl.