Jerk Seasoning Substitutes: Rebuilding Allspice, Thyme and Heat

Jerk is a Jamaican way of seasoning, smoking and grilling meat, and Smithsonian Magazine, quoting scholar Carolyn Cooper, names pimento (allspice) berries and Scotch bonnet pepper as the essential ingredients of its seasoning.¹ Thyme is the third constant: the USDA’s purchasing specification, McCormick’s dry rub and Walkerswood’s wet seasoning all include allspice, thyme and a hot pepper.²³⁴ Those three do most of the work, so the best substitute is a blend you build around them rather than a different ready-made mix.

Quick answer

How the ratios on this page are labeled

Every ratio carries one of four labels.

• Computed: based on a measurable physical relationship, with the source named.
• Attributed: a named source publishes this ratio. We quote it as theirs.
• Disputed: named sources give different answers to the same swap. We show each one and do not average them.
• Method: we found no published ratio. We give a direction and a cautious starting point, and say so.

None of the sources we checked publishes quantities for jerk seasoning itself: the USDA specification is a minimum ingredient list, and the brands list ingredients without amounts.²³⁴ So every jerk-blend amount below is a starting point, not a published formula.

What has to be there

Allspice carries the warm, clove-like note. PROSEA puts eugenol at 50 to 80 percent of allspice berry oil.⁵ Thyme brings a herbal edge; PROSEA names thymol and carvacrol as the characteristic constituents of its oil.⁶ Scotch bonnet brings heat. Gernot Katzer notes that the extreme heat of Capsicum chinense chiles matters in Caribbean cooking and that jerk paste makes use of them.⁷

One part of jerk no seasoning can supply: Smithsonian reports that for jerk to count as authentic, the meat has to be smoked over pimento wood.¹

If jerk seasoning is a wet marinade or paste

Walkerswood builds its seasoning on fresh Jamaican Scotch bonnets, escallion, pimento and thyme.⁴ A paste like this clings to chicken or pork and seasons it before grilling.

1. Make a fresh paste

Amounts (Method): We found no published quantities from a source we could verify. Blend fresh Scotch bonnet or habanero, scallions, fresh thyme, garlic and ground allspice with a little oil, salt and sugar. As a cautious start for about 2 pounds of chicken, try 1 to 2 chiles, 4 scallions, 1 tablespoon thyme leaves and 1 tablespoon ground allspice, then taste and adjust. Smithsonian lists ginger and cinnamon among the ingredients modern recipes may add.¹

Whole to ground allspice (Computed): McCormick’s conversion is 5 whole berries to 1 teaspoon ground allspice.⁸ This is a volume figure, not a measure of strength.

Fresh to dried thyme (Computed): LSU AgCenter gives the general rule that 1 tablespoon of finely cut fresh herbs equals 1 teaspoon of crumbled dried herbs.⁹ It is a general herb rule, not a thyme measurement.

2. Bajan seasoning plus allspice

Bajan seasoning, from Barbados, is the nearest ready-made relative: a wet paste of hot pepper, thyme, marjoram, garlic and green onion. Ann Marie Whittaker’s recipe, published by Dave DeWitt, seasons it with ground cloves,¹⁰ while Ainsley Harriott’s uses ground allspice berries and Scotch bonnet.¹¹ DeWitt’s version is used under the skin of chicken pieces.¹⁰

Ratio (Method): No published ratio. Use it as a marinade in place of jerk paste, and add ground allspice if your jar does not list it. Bajan seasoning can be salty (DeWitt’s recipe uses 3 tablespoons of salt),¹⁰ so taste before adding more.

If jerk seasoning is a dry rub

McCormick suggests its dry jerk blend for chicken, ribs or seafood.³ The USDA describes a proper jerk seasoning as a brown powder with red and white specks and pieces of green leaf,² which is a fair description of what you can mix from a spice rack.

1. Mix your own dry blend

PepperScale also puts a homemade blend first, and failing that suggests pulling together what you have and coming as close as you can.¹²

Amounts (Method): No published swap formula. Start with equal parts ground allspice and dried thyme, then add cayenne or another hot chile powder to taste, plus onion powder, salt and a little sugar, the other items on the USDA list.² Garlic powder is in McCormick’s version.³

2. Baharat, plus thyme

Gernot Katzer describes a simpler eastern Mediterranean baharat made mainly of black pepper and allspice.¹³ Ottolenghi’s baharat label includes allspice along with pepper, cumin, coriander, clove, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, paprika, chilli and cayenne.¹⁴ Not every baharat has allspice, so check the label. None of these has thyme.

Ratio (Method): No published ratio. Start with about half the jerk amount, add dried thyme and cayenne, and taste.

3. Ras el hanout, if it lists allspice

Ras el hanout is found in varying forms in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco,¹⁵ and the name means something like “top of the shop.”¹⁵ Versions differ widely. Saveur’s 2012 recipe is built on allspice, black peppercorns, coriander, cloves, cumin, cinnamon, ginger and cayenne,¹⁶ which is close to jerk’s warm-and-hot profile. The Oxford Companion’s standard list of cumin, coriander, turmeric, ginger, cardamom and nutmeg has no allspice at all.¹⁵

Ratio (Method): No published ratio. Only use a blend that lists allspice. Start with about half the jerk amount, add thyme, and taste for heat.

Not recommended: rogan josh seasoning

Rogan josh is a red lamb stew; Penzeys says its blend’s version comes from Rajasthan,¹⁷ and the Kashmiri versions Tara Deshpande gives both use dried Kashmiri chilies.¹⁸ Penzeys lists paprika, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, pepper, cayenne, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and saffron.¹⁷ The cloves carry some of allspice’s eugenol note, but there is no allspice or thyme, and cumin and coriander pull it toward curry. We would use it only if nothing above is available.

Not recommended: Creole or Cajun seasoning

PepperScale lists Creole and Cajun seasonings as a last resort, while warning that they will not fully replicate jerk’s taste.¹² If you use one, check the label for allspice and thyme, the core of jerk above, and add ground allspice and dried thyme to taste (Method; no published ratio). For what goes into those blends, see Cajun vs. Creole seasoning.

If only one ingredient is missing

No allspice: cloves

Cloves share allspice’s main aroma compound. Eugenol is 85 to 92 percent of clove oil,¹⁹ and 50 to 80 percent of allspice berry oil.⁵ Cloves are much stronger, though: Britannica says clove buds hold 14 to 20 percent essential oil, against about 4.5 percent for Jamaican allspice.²⁰²¹

Ratio (Method): No published ratio. Start with about a quarter as much ground clove as the allspice called for and taste. The oil figures suggest cloves are several times stronger; that is our reading of the numbers, not a tested ratio.

Formula (Attributed): For a rounder match, The Spice House mixes 2 parts cinnamon, 1 part nutmeg and 1 part ground cloves and uses it 1:1 for ground allspice.²² Britannica says allspice is named for tasting like a combination of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.²¹

No Scotch bonnet: habanero

Ratio (Method): We found no published ratio for habanero in place of Scotch bonnet. The closest is a related swap: in Whittaker’s Bajan seasoning recipe, DeWitt gives habaneros as the substitute for the local bonney peppers, pepper for pepper.¹⁰ Start 1:1 and taste, since heat varies from pod to pod.

What isn’t known

• No source we could verify publishes amounts for jerk seasoning, wet or dry. Every jerk-blend amount here is a Method starting point.
• No published ratio was found for replacing jerk seasoning with baharat, ras el hanout, Bajan seasoning or rogan josh seasoning.
• The clove-for-allspice starting point is inferred from essential-oil content, which is not the same thing as flavor strength.
• Pimento-wood smoke is part of traditional jerk.¹ No seasoning replaces it.

Related

• Jerk seasoning and Jamaican spices
• Allspice, allspice substitutes, allspice vs. cloves and cloves
• Thyme, thyme substitutes and fresh vs. dried thyme
• Bajan seasoning, habanero powder, baharat, ras el hanout and rogan josh seasoning
• Jamaican curry powder