A roasted jerk chicken topped with spinach and mozzarella for a hot, hot, hot main dish. Spicy hot, fresh spinach, and gooey ooey cheese yumminess.
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HOT – HOT – HOT! That’s what this roasted jerk chicken with spinach mozzarella melt is. Hot and spicy dry rub, but cool and refreshing spinach, and melted gooey ooey cheesy mozzarella yum. Craig and I loved it. Although our mouths were tingling we couldn’t stop eating. We did choose to enjoy it with some blue cheese or ranch dip for even better flavor.
I usually marinate with a sauce but for today’s roasted jerk chicken with spinach mozzarella melt I made my own jerk dry rub. It was pretty simple, first I gathered all my spices and set them out on the counter just to make sure I had everything, Next, I measured out each spice with the correct teaspoon measuring utensil and dumped into a small bowl. A little whisking together with a fork and my dry rub was ready to rub into the chicken. Since I wasn’t going to save any of the rub, I choose to sprinkle a pinch or two on each chicken tenderloin and rub, rub right in. Then I turned the chicken over and repeated. Covered the chicken tenderloins and set in the fridge to marinate the rest of the afternoon. Dry rubs are pretty flavor enhancing right away so you could add only about 20 minutes before cooking if you want. This jerk rub recipe made enough for 8 to 10 chicken tenderloins.
My jerk chicken was ready to roast right when I got home from work and dinner was ready to eat within 30 minutes of getting home. That is one of the great things about marinating and rubbing ahead of time. I roasted the chicken 10 minutes on each side, set my oven to broil and roasted another couple of minutes to reach that internal 165 degrees for chicken doneness. Lastly I topped each piece with 2 to 3 spinach leaves, a slice of mozzarella, and broiled the roasted jerk chicken with spinach mozzarella melt for another 3 to 5 minutes until the cheese was all melty and gooey and perfect to eat. I did watch my cheese making sure it didn’t melt right off or burn.
If you are in the mood for a tingling mouth experience and lots of flavor, this is the recipe for you. I am ready to go for it again.
Roasted Jerk Chicken with Spinach Mozzarella Melt
Ingredients
- 8 chicken tenderloins
- 16 to 30 spinach leaves (depending on their size)
- 8 slices of mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup jerk dry rub
Jerk Dry Rub
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
Equipment
Instructions
- Sprinkle 1 to 2 pinches of jerk dry rub over each chicken tenderloin, rub or massage right in
- Turn chicken over and repeat
- Cover and set in fridge for 20 minutes to 8 hours
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Spray with oil or line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set a cooling rack on the cookie sheet
- Lay each chicken tenderloin on the cooling rack
- Roast for 10 minutes, turn the chicken tenderloin over and roast for another 10 minutes or until internal temperature is 165 degrees
- Turn oven broiler on and broil for 2 to 3 minutes just to add a bit of color to the chicken
- Top each chicken tenderloin with 2 to 3 spinach leaves (enough to cover)
- Top with a mozzarella cheese slice
- Broil for 2 to 5 minutes, just to start the cheese melting and browning
- Remove from oven and serve warm
Jerk Dry Rub
- Place all ingredients into a bowl, whisk together
- Store in a airtight container up to 3 months.
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice says
Now this is my kind of chicken! I love all of that gooey mozzarella and zesty flavors! What a perfect dinner!
Ellen Garrett says
It is so good but so hot. Enjoy!