My Baked Jerk Chicken and Halloumi Meal Prep Bowls are packed full of flavors from the Caribbean! This light salad bowl is perfect for your lunch time meals.
This recipe is one of my favorite salad meal prep bowls! The succulent baked Jerk chicken combined with green salad leaves, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, sweetcorn, couscous and grilled halloumi cheese are just an amazing combination that will have you digging back in for more!
What is in Jerk Chicken Sauce?
Jerk is a classic Caribbean method of marinating, most commonly with chicken. I’ve made this recipe supper quick by using a premade jerk chicken paste which you can get from most supermarkets or online, to save you time in the kitchen! I used the Dunns River Jamaican Jerk Seasoning for this recipe, however you can make your own marinade. Jerk marinades vary with so may varieties and family recipes. The Jerk marinade can either be made as a dry rub with dried spices or as a wet marinade with fresh ingredients which are blended in a food processor. I’ve listed some of the staple ingredients in a wet jerk marinade below;
- Spring onions/ Scallion onions
- Garlic cloves
- Scotch bonnet chilli
- Fresh root ginger
- Fresh thyme
- Cinnamon
- Pimento seeds/Ground Allspice
- Black pepper
- Nutmeg
- Dark brown sugar
- Honey
- Soy Sauce
…Ideally marinade the chicken thighs overnight in the Jerk marinade to ensure maximum flavor…
Can you bake Jerk chicken?
The answer is yes! In this recipe I baked the boneless chicken thighs in the oven within a Pyrex dish. This method creates succulent chicken pieces which you can pull part with a fork. The traditional method of cooking jerk chicken would be to BBQ to chicken on a coal grill lined with pimento wood. This adds a smokey flavor to authentic jerk chicken.
How to make my Baked Jerk Chicken & Halloumi Meal Prep Bowls?
- Preheat your oven to 220°c, place your griddle pan to the stove and set to a medium heat. Fill and boil a kettle with water.
- Add the Jerk paste, salt, BBQ sauce, chopped garlic, dried thyme, allspice, chopped spring onions and 100ml of cold water to a large bowl then mix. Place the boneless chicken thighs into a deep oven dish, pour over the marinade, mix well, cover with tin foil and then bake for 25 minutes. Once cooked remove from the oven, drain off the excess cooking sauce* into a bowl then pull the chicken thighs apart with two forks in an outward motion. Ideally marinade the chicken thighs overnight in the Jerk marinade to ensure maximum flavor, if you have time.
- Add the couscous into a heatproof bowl and pour over the hot vegetable stock. Cover with cling film or a lid and leave for 5-10 mins until the couscous is soft. Fluff the couscous up with a fork, season with salt & pepper to taste.
- Grill the sliced halloumi cheese on each side for 2-3 minutes
- Once the chicken and halloumi cheese have cooled assemble your salad ingredients & into 4 meal prep bowls. I like to serve my jerk chicken bowls with hummus, salad dressing, fresh coriander/cilantro and a lime wedge for extra flavor and garnish.
Enjoy 🙂
Catherine x
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Baked Jerk Chicken and Halloumi Meal Prep Bowls
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My Baked Jerk Chicken and Halloumi Meal Prep Bowls are packed full of flavors from the Caribbean! This light salad bowl is perfect for your lunch time meals.
Ingredients
Jerk Chicken Marinade
- Boneless chicken thighs – x 5
- Jerk paste*** – 2 tablespoons
- Dried thyme – 1 teaspoon
- Garlic – 2 cloves finely chopped
- Ground all spice – ½ teaspoon
- BBQ sauce – 5 tablespoons
- Spring onions – x 2 stalks chopped
- 100ml cold water
Salad
- Green salad leaf of your choice – rocket/arugula, baby leaf, mixed leaf salad, watercress etc. (1x salad bag 100-160 grams)
- Cucumber – ½ a small cucumber chopped
- Plum cherry tomatoes – 125 grams sliced in half
- Tinned or fresh sweetcorn – 285 grams
- Lime – 1 x cut into quarters
- Couscous – 100 grams (raw weight)
- Halloumi cheese – 8 slices
- Vegetable stock – 100ml (1 x veg stock cube dissolved in boiling water)
- Hummus – 200g
- Fresh chopped coriander/cilantro – 1 x Small handful(optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 220°c, place your griddle pan to the stove and set to a medium heat. Fill and boil a kettle with water.
- Add the Jerk chicken paste, salt, BBQ sauce, chopped garlic, dried thyme, allspice, chopped spring onions and 100ml of cold water to a large bowl then mix. Place the boneless chicken thighs into a deep oven dish, pour over the marinade****, mix well, cover with tin foil and then bake for 25 minutes. Once cooked remove from the oven, drain off the excess cooking sauce* into a bowl then pull the chicken thighs apart with two forks in an outward motion.
- Add the couscous into a heatproof bowl and pour over the hot vegetable stock. Cover with cling film or a lid and leave for 5-10 mins until the couscous is soft. Fluff the couscous up with a fork, season with salt & pepper to taste.
- Grill the sliced halloumi cheese on each side for 2-3 minutes
- Once the chicken and halloumi cheese have cooled assemble your salad ingredients & into 4 meal prep bowls. I like to serve my jerk chicken bowls with hummus, salad dressing, fresh coriander/cilantro and a lime wedge for extra flavor and garnish.
Notes
Recipe Tips
*You can keep the leftover BBQ cooking sauce refrigerated or freeze for another dish, its great on top rice or additional sauce on a chicken, fish, pork etc.
** When I’m ready to eat my meal prep bowl I sometimes heat up the chicken and halloumi cheese in a separate plate for 2-3 minutes in the microwave and then add back to my salad bowl.
*** Jerk chicken paste – Store bough jerk chicken paste can differ in spice and salt levels, I recommend tasting the paste before use, then adjust my recipe if you want the baked jerk chicken to be less spicy/salty.
**** Ideally marinade the chicken thighs overnight in the Jerk marinade to ensure maximum flavor, if you have time.
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