Food of Jamaica
Jamaican food is bold and spicy, shaped by African, Indian, Chinese, Spanish and British traditions. Scotch bonnet pepper, allspice (pimento), thyme and ginger give dishes their kick, with jerk cooking, curries, rice and peas and fresh tropical fruit at the center. Meals are shared, with plenty of sauce and sides.
- Main dishes (9)
- Breakfast (4)
- Street food (4)
- Soups (3)
- Salads (2)
- Desserts and sweets (5)
- Drinks (5)
- Fruits and produce (7)
Staples
- rice
- coconut
- plantains
- yam
- chicken
- saltfish
- ackee
- breadfruit
Signature flavors
- scotch bonnet
- allspice
- thyme
- ginger
- curry
- scallion
- nutmeg
Main dishes
Chicken grilled in a fiery allspice and pepper marinade.
Key ingredients: chicken, scotch bonnet, allspice, thymeFull guide →
Goat simmered in aromatic curry sauce.
Key ingredients: goat, curry powder, potatoes, thymeCoconut rice cooked with kidney beans.
Key ingredients: rice, coconut milk, kidney beans, thyme
Chicken braised in a rich, dark sauce.
Key ingredients: chicken, browning, onion, tomatoFried fish topped with spicy pickled vegetables.
Key ingredients: snapper, vinegar, onion, carrots, pepper
Slow-braised oxtail with butter beans.
Key ingredients: oxtail, butter beans, allspice
Sweet fried cornmeal dumplings, a side for jerk.
Key ingredients: cornmeal, flour, sugar
Leafy greens sauteed with onion and tomato.
Key ingredients: callaloo, onion, tomato, garlic
Sweet ripe plantain slices fried golden.
Key ingredients: plantain, oilBreakfast
National dish of ackee and salted cod.
Key ingredients: ackee, saltfish, onion, tomatoFull guide →
Flat cassava bread, fried or steamed.
Key ingredients: cassava, coconut milk
Fried dumplings, served with breakfast.
Key ingredients: flour, baking powderCornmeal or plantain porridge with nutmeg.
Key ingredients: cornmeal, milk, nutmegStreet food
Flaky turmeric pastry filled with spiced beef.
Key ingredients: pastry, beef, scotch bonnetFull guide →Shrimp boiled in hot pepper broth.
Key ingredients: shrimp, scotch bonnet, vinegarFresh corn roasted over coals.
Key ingredients: corn
Soft folded bread served with patties.
Key ingredients: flour, coconut milkSoups
Hearty callaloo and coconut soup.
Key ingredients: callaloo, okra, coconut milkKidney bean soup with dumplings.
Key ingredients: kidney beans, spinners, pumpkin
A goat soup, traditional at gatherings.
Key ingredients: goat, green banana, scotch bonnetSalads
Green mango with lime and pepper.
Key ingredients: green mango, lime, pepperFresh salad with onions and vinegar.
Key ingredients: cucumber, tomato, onionDesserts and sweets
Tart shell filled with spiced coconut.
Key ingredients: coconut, nutmeg, pastryPink and white coconut sweets.
Key ingredients: coconut, sugar, ginger
Spiced molasses cake.
Key ingredients: molasses, flour, gingerBaked, spiced pudding.
Key ingredients: sweet potato, coconut milk, nutmeg
Moist loaf with ripe bananas.
Key ingredients: bananas, flour, sugarDrinks
Spiced hibiscus drink, with ginger.
Key ingredients: hibiscus, ginger, sugarFull guide →Fresh spicy ginger drink, non-alcoholic.
Key ingredients: ginger, sugar, limeMild coffee from the Blue Mountains.
Key ingredients: coffeeSweet juice with milk and nutmeg.
Key ingredients: carrot, milk, nutmeg
Seaweed milkshake.
Key ingredients: sea moss, milk, nutmegFruits and produce
National fruit, cooked as a savory vegetable.
Julie mangoes are especially prized.
Crisp red fruit.
Sweet brown fruit called sapodilla.
Roasted, fried or boiled.
Used in jelly and candy.
Full guide →
Eaten fresh with lime.
Full guide →Dish guides from Jamaica
More cuisines of Caribbean
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Aruba
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- British Virgin Islands
- Caribbean Netherlands
- Cayman Islands
- Cuba
- Curaçao
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Grenada
- Guadeloupe
- Haiti
- Martinique
- Montserrat
- Puerto Rico
- Saint Barthélemy
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Martin
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Sint Maarten
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- United States Virgin Islands
Descriptions written by Intercontinental Chef. Dishes are listed as commonly eaten today; many are shared across neighbouring countries.
- BBQJerk Chicken: OUTography.com from Gilbert, AZ, USA, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Curry Goat and Rice: Leon Brocard from London, UK, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Brown stew and jerk chicken: Carl, CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Oxtail soup with sliced bread-93321: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Jamaican seafood and festival: Xaymacan, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Callaloo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/67276179@N08/, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Vendeuses de bananes plantain: Romanceor, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Ackee and Saltfish: gailf548 from New York State, USA, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Bammies: Jongleur100, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
- Johnnycakes: Douglas Perkins, CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Jamaican patties and redstripe: ritcharnd moskow from Toshi Station, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Coco bread wrapped beef patty: Jason Lam, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Mannish Water: Foodista, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Jamaican Gizzada: Xaymacan, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Jamaican bulla: Xaymacan, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Banana bread slices: Shisma, CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Hibiscus tea: Emna Mizouni, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Jamaican Irish Moss drink - in can and over ice: Father.Jack from Coventry, UK, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Ackee 001: Jerome Walker, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Mangos - single and halved: Ivar Leidus, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Syzygium malaccense, Mangunharjo Orchard, Dlingo, Yogyakarta: Crisco 1492, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- സപ്പോട്ട: Sugeesh at Malayalam Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Artocarpus altilis (fruit): Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Guava pink fruit: Ivar Leidus, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
- Carica papaya - Köhler–s Medizinal-Pflanzen-029: Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
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