Jerk Chicken Salad
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Apr 3, 2025 
Our spicy-sweet Jamaican Jerk Chicken Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing is a summer dinner salad that will make you feel like you’re on vacation, no matter where you enjoy it!
Why We Love This Spicy Jerk Chicken Salad
Cooking meals that remind the whole family of vacations we’ve taken together always creates smiles around the dinner table. I often make dishes that remind us of our trip to Italy last summer or our trip to Mexico last fall.
Yet, best of all, I like to make summer dishes that remind us of island life. Fresh, healthy dishes loaded with tropical ingredients and spice…. like this easy Jamaican Jerk Chicken Salad with spicy jerk marinade, fresh crunchy produce, and creamy honey mustard dressing!
Ingredients You Need
- Chicken Thighs – or chicken breast
- Jamaican Jerk Marinade – habanero peppers, fresh thyme, red onion, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, ground allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper
- Romaine Lettuce – or your favorite crisp green
- Red Bell Peppers – cut into rings
- Avocados – adds creaminess and a bit of fat
- Cucumber – I prefer English cucumber
- Pineapple – goes great with the jerk chicken!
- Dressing – I used a honey mustard!
This easy Jerk Chicken Salad is piled high with fresh greens, grilled red bell peppers, tangy sweet pineapple, cucumbers, and avocado. Then it’s topped with grilled jerk chicken marinated in a blend of island spices and smoky habanero peppers. Finally, the salad is drizzled with a zippy honey mustard dressing – use homemade or store-bought salad dressing!
Tips & Variations
- If you prefer no spice in this chicken salad, omit the habanero peppers completely! They are quite spicy, so keep that in mind when adjusting the recipe if you want just a little spice.
- I love honey mustard with this salad, but you can also use any dressing you prefer! Try your favorite ranch or balsamic dressing instead.
- When grilling chicken, make sure that you don’t overcook it! Check the internal temperature using a meat thermometer!
Frequently Asked Questions
Jerk chicken is a Jamaican-style of seasoning and cooking chicken. While there are many different varieties of jerk chicken, it is generally coated in a seasoning mixture packed with bold spices and chiles, and grilled to charred perfection!
Definitely! Feel free to mix up the vegetables in your salad to your own liking. Onions, tomatoes and carrots would also be great additions to your jerk chicken salad!
If you want to make your jerk chicken salad recipe ahead of time, I recommend simply preparing each of the different components and storing them separately until you are ready to serve! This will keep the veggies crisp. Plus, you can use some of that Jamaican-style chicken in other recipes, too!
Looking for More Salad Recipes? Be Sure to Try:
- Crunchy Apple Slaw
- Big Mac Salad
- Dorito Taco Salad
- Guatemalan Fiambre Salad
- Mexican Chicken Salad
- Crispy Ramen Noodle Salad
- Artichoke White Bean Salad
- Thai Quinoa Salad
- Chinese Chicken Salad
- Chicken Fajita Salad
Jerk Chicken Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Jamaican Jerk Chicken:
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 2-4 habanero peppers seeded
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 small red onion
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- 4 cloves garlic
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
For the Salad:
- 2 heads romaine lettuce chopped
- 2 large red bell peppers seeded and cut into rings
- 2 ripe avocados peeled and sliced
- 1 English cucumber sliced
- 1/2 ripe pineapple cut into chunks
- 1 cup homemade honey mustard dressing (or store-bought dressing)
Instructions
- For the Jamaican Jerk Chicken: Place all the ingredients, except the chicken, in the food processor and puree until smooth. (If you are sensitive to spicy heat, use only 1-2 habanero peppers.) Pour the marinade into a large zip bag and add the chicken. Allow the chicken to marinate for at least one hour, but up to 16 hours.
- When the chicken is ready to grill, preheat the grill to medium heat. Once hot, remove the chicken from the marinade and place on the grill. Grill for 5 minutes per side. Then allow the chicken to rest 5 minutes before cutting.
- Meanwhile, grill the red pepper rings for 1-2 minutes per side to soften.
- Once the chicken has rested, cut into strips. Arrange the romaine lettuce on a large platter, topped with grilled peppers, cucumbers, pineapple and avocado slices. Fan the chicken pieces over the top and drizzle with Newman’s Own Honey Mustard Lite Dressing. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Newman’s Own All opinions are my own.
This salad is pure perfection!! Those spices and that marinade – woo hoaahh!!
Love the colors in this salad, Sommer! I love spicy food and jerk chicken makes me very happy!
Beautiful, vibrant, healthy and the perfect way to transport you to the beach!
Love those bright colors, makes me feel like I am on summer vacation too!!
This salad is absolutely gorgeous, Sommer! My husband has been craving Jerk chicken and it looks perfect with all those bright beautiful veggies! Can’t wait to make this! Pinned!
Love all the veggies and fruit in this salad!
Beautiful summer salad. Bookmarked!
What a gorgeous summer salad! I definitely try to make vacation food ate and any day in a swimsuit is a good day in my book!
Yes, yes, yes! This looks so delish!
Looks simple, fresh and wonderfully tasty!
What a tasty summer salad!
Rich loves jerk anything!! I need to make this for him – perfect for grilling season!