Ingredients
Equipment
Method
For the Chicken Skewers
- If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 20 minutes before grilling.
- Toss the cubed chicken with olive oil, jerk seasoning, and salt. Coat every piece evenly.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or up to 24 hours. The seasoning needs time to set into the meat — go straight to the grill and the jerk reads sharp on the surface and bland inside.
- Thread chicken onto the skewers, alternating with pineapple chunks.
Soak the Skewers: Dry wood ignites on a hot grill before your chicken is anywhere close to done.
Even Coating Matters: The olive oil carries the seasoning into the surface, without it, the jerk spice falls off on the grill.
For the Pineapple Glaze
- Combine pineapple juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, lime juice, and chili flakes in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes until slightly thickened and glossy. It should coat the back of a spoon.
Reduce It Fully: If the glaze is still watery when it hits the chicken, it runs straight off, give it the full 4 to 5 minutes before you brush.
For Grilling
- Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high. Cook the skewers for 8 to 10 minutes, turning every 2 to 3 minutes, until charred on the outside and cooked through to 165°F (74°C).
- In the last 2 minutes of grilling, brush the glaze generously over the skewers. Let it sit on the heat without moving the skewers so the glaze caramelizes and tightens.
Glaze Late: Brushing too early burns the sugar before the chicken cooks through, two minutes on the heat is all it needs.
For Finishing
- Pull the skewers off the grill and hit them with one more pass of glaze. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with lime wedges on the side.
Notes
Plating: Round dark plate or platter, warm. Skewers arranged radially around the rim, bone handles pointing out. Spoon fresh pineapple salsa across the chicken, enough to catch on the meat without sliding off. Lime wedges piled in the center, cut-side up, so guests grab without hunting. Alternative plating (pick one, not all): for cocktail-hour pass-around, pull the chicken off the skewers and serve in 2-ounce cups with a toothpick and a small ramekin of warm glaze on the side.
Wine: A cold, off-dry Riesling handles the jerk heat and plays against the pineapple. If wine isn't the direction, a light lager or a ginger beer does the same job. I've served these with dark rum cocktails at events and that works too.
Prep ahead: Marinate the chicken up to 24 hours in advance. Make the glaze the morning of the event and store it covered in the fridge. Reheat on low before grilling. It tightens back up in about two minutes.
Scaling for service: To 8: double the chicken, marinate the same 1 hour minimum (longer does not help, the lime juice tenderizes too far past that). Grill in two batches and hold finished skewers in a 200°F oven uncovered. To 12: triple the marinade and the glaze, three batches over the grill, plate immediately or the char goes soft. Glaze gets applied to the last 60 seconds only, never early, or the sugar burns before the chicken hits 165°F.
Dietary swaps: GF and DF as written (confirm your soy sauce is tamari or GF-certified, most jerk seasoning blends are already GF). Nut-free as written. Not vegetarian. For a vegetarian version: swap the chicken for firm tofu pressed dry 30 minutes before marinating, or king oyster mushrooms cut into 1-inch chunks. Reduce grill time to 2 to 3 minutes per side. The glaze is the same. The pineapple juice in the glaze is structural, mango juice gets you close if needed but avoid apple juice, it reads flat against the jerk.