Jerk Seasoning Calculator, Scaled to Your Batch

By , Ready Utilities

This jerk seasoning calculator scales The Seasoned Skillet's Homemade Jamaican Jerk Seasoning, which combines garlic powder, onion powder, brown sugar, thyme, paprika, cayenne, chili flakes, salt, black pepper, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.

Common batch sizes

Tap a batch size to load it into the calculator, and the exact amounts appear below.

Jerk seasoning calculator

Scale by

Weight mode needs a USDA gram weight for every ingredient; dark brown sugar (optional) doesn't have one.

From 0.25 to 20. Use 0.5 for half a batch.

Salt

Grind changes how much salt fits in a spoon. Amounts match by weight.

Heat

Heat changes only the cayenne pepper and red chili (pepper) flakes. It's a taste preference, not part of the recipe.

Your batch

Garlic powder, onion powder, and brown sugar are tied for the biggest share here, each about a sixth of the blend by volume, with warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves rounding it out in small amounts. The Seasoned Skillet suggests about 1 tablespoon of this blend per pound of meat as a starting point, or about 1 teaspoon per pound for seafood, and both dark brown sugar and the dried parsley flakes are marked optional in the source recipe.

Heat and salt settings are preferences. Taste as you go.

The base recipe

Homemade Jamaican Jerk Seasoning Recipe

Adapted from Homemade Jamaican Jerk Seasoning Recipe, The Seasoned Skillet

Yield: 1/2 cup, enough to season 2 to 3 lbs of meat (as published; the listed ingredients add up to about 6 tablespoons)

  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp onion powder
  • 1 tbsp dark brown sugar (optional)
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp dried parsley flakes (optional)
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp red chili (pepper) flakes
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp ground allspice
  • 1/8 tsp ground cloves
  1. Stir all the spices together in a bowl until evenly combined, then store airtight.

Scale this recipe

On this page

Batch size chart

IngredientHalf batchBase batchDoubleTriple
garlic powder1 1/2 tsp (4.7 g)1 tbsp (9.3 g)2 tbsp (19 g)3 tbsp (28 g)
onion powder1 1/2 tsp (3.6 g)1 tbsp (7.2 g)2 tbsp (14 g)3 tbsp (22 g)
dark brown sugar (optional)1 1/2 tsp1 tbsp2 tbsp3 tbsp
dried thyme1/2 tsp1 tsp2 tsp1 tbsp
dried parsley flakes (optional)1/2 tsp (0.3 g)1 tsp (0.5 g)2 tsp (1.0 g)1 tbsp (1.5 g)
smoked paprika1/2 tsp1 tsp2 tsp1 tbsp
paprika1/2 tsp (1.2 g)1 tsp (2.3 g)2 tsp (4.6 g)1 tbsp (6.9 g)
cayenne pepper1/2 tsp (0.9 g)1 tsp (1.8 g)2 tsp (3.6 g)1 tbsp (5.4 g)
red chili (pepper) flakes1/2 tsp1 tsp2 tsp1 tbsp
salt1/2 tsp (3.0 g)1 tsp (6.0 g)2 tsp (12 g)1 tbsp (18 g)
black pepper1/2 tsp (1.2 g)1 tsp (2.3 g)2 tsp (4.6 g)1 tbsp (6.9 g)
ground ginger1/4 tsp (0.5 g)1/2 tsp (0.9 g)1 tsp (1.8 g)1 1/2 tsp (2.7 g)
ground cinnamon1/8 tsp (0.3 g)1/4 tsp (0.7 g)1/2 tsp (1.3 g)3/4 tsp (2.0 g)
ground nutmeg1/8 tsp (0.3 g)1/4 tsp (0.6 g)1/2 tsp (1.1 g)3/4 tsp (1.7 g)
ground allspiceless than 1/8 tsp (0.1 g)1/8 tsp (0.2 g)1/4 tsp (0.5 g)3/8 tsp (0.7 g)
ground clovesless than 1/8 tsp (0.1 g)1/8 tsp (0.3 g)1/4 tsp (0.5 g)3/8 tsp (0.8 g)
Total volume3 tbsp + 1/4 tsp1/4 cup + 2 tbsp3/4 cup1 cup + 2 1/2 tbsp

Homemade Jamaican Jerk Seasoning Recipe from The Seasoned Skillet, scaled with the site's kitchen rounding. Weights from USDA FoodData Central where USDA lists the exact form. Salt is shown as the recipe lists it.

How the scaling works

Homemade Jamaican Jerk Seasoning Recipe totals 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp as published, across 16 ingredients. Every one is multiplied by the same number, so garlic powder stays 16% of the blend whatever size you make. Pick a multiplier directly, or enter the amount you want and the calculator works back to it from that 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp total.

The salt and heat controls change only those lines. Turning the cayenne pepper down does not make the paprika go up. Amounts under 3 teaspoons round to the nearest 1/8 teaspoon, and larger amounts round to the nearest 1/4 teaspoon in tablespoons.

Worked example: doubling the base recipe

IngredientBasex 2
garlic powder1 tbsp2 tbsp
onion powder1 tbsp2 tbsp
dark brown sugar (optional)1 tbsp2 tbsp
dried thyme1 tsp2 tsp
dried parsley flakes (optional)1 tsp2 tsp
smoked paprika1 tsp2 tsp
paprika1 tsp2 tsp
cayenne pepper1 tsp2 tsp
red chili (pepper) flakes1 tsp2 tsp
salt1 tsp2 tsp
black pepper1 tsp2 tsp
ground ginger1/2 tsp1 tsp
ground cinnamon1/4 tsp1/2 tsp
ground nutmeg1/4 tsp1/2 tsp
ground allspice1/8 tsp1/4 tsp
ground cloves1/8 tsp1/4 tsp

How this was checked

This recipe is The Seasoned Skillet's Homemade Jamaican Jerk Seasoning Recipe by Taneisha Morris. Cedrick Reese checked the amounts against The Seasoned Skillet's own recipe page for Ready Utilities. The published yield of 1/2 cup is larger than what the fifteen listed ingredients actually add up to, so the calculator scales from the ingredient amounts rather than the stated yield. Gram weights come from USDA FoodData Central where the exact form is listed; a few ingredients, including dried thyme and smoked paprika, show no weight because USDA doesn't carry that form. The recipe doesn't name its salt, so it's treated as table salt.

Frequently asked questions

What is in jerk seasoning?

This recipe uses garlic powder, onion powder, dark brown sugar, dried thyme, dried parsley flakes, smoked paprika, paprika, cayenne pepper, red chili flakes, salt, black pepper, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.

How much jerk seasoning should I use per pound of meat?

The Seasoned Skillet suggests about 1 tablespoon per pound of meat as a starting point, or about 1 teaspoon per pound for seafood, then adjusting to taste.

Is jerk seasoning very spicy?

This recipe's heat comes from cayenne pepper and red chili flakes rather than fresh Scotch bonnet peppers, so it's milder than a wet jerk marinade. Use the heat control to dial it up or down.

Can I leave out the brown sugar?

Dark brown sugar is marked optional in the source recipe, along with the dried parsley flakes. You can mix a batch without them and the remaining spices still make a balanced blend.