List of Jamaican dishes and foods facts for kids

A plate of jerk chicken, with rice, plantains, carrots and green beans

Jamaica is a beautiful island known for its amazing food! Jamaican cuisine is a super cool mix of cooking styles, flavors, and spices. It's influenced by the island's first people, the Arawaks, and the Africans who came to live there. You'll also find tastes from West Africa and Southeast Asia because of the crops brought over long ago.

Jamaican food uses lots of fresh seafood, yummy tropical fruits, and different meats. Some dishes have been around for ages, while others are new and exciting mixes of different traditions. Get ready to explore some of the delicious foods you can find in Jamaica!

Popular Jamaican Dishes

Ackee and saltfish, Jamaica's national dish

Bammies are tasty cassava cakes

Coco bread often holds a Jamaican patty

Run down is a yummy stew

• Ackee and saltfish: This is Jamaica's national dish! It's made with a local fruit called ackee and dried and salted cod fish. People often eat it with bread, fried dumplings, or roasted breadfruit.
• Bammy: A type of savory bread made from cassava root.
• Breadfruit: You can enjoy this fruit roasted, fried, or boiled.
• Callaloo: A green leafy vegetable, similar to spinach.
• Coco bread: A slightly sweet bread, often used to make a sandwich with a Jamaican patty.
• Curry goat and Curry Chicken: Meats cooked in a rich, flavorful curry sauce.
• Dumplings: These can be boiled, fried, or baked and are a common side dish.
• Escoveitch fish: Fish that's fried and then soaked in a tangy vinegar sauce with vegetables.
• Jamaican festival: A sweet, fried dough that's a bit like a Hushpuppy.
• Jamaican patty: A super popular savory pastry! It's filled with different things like beef, curried chicken, or even vegetables and cheese.
• Jerk meats: This is a famous Jamaican cooking style where meat (often chicken or pork) is seasoned with special spices and slow-cooked.
• Oxtail: A rich stew made with oxtail, often with broad beans.
• Plantain: This fruit is like a banana but cooked. It can be boiled or fried and is usually served as a side dish.
• Porridge: A warm breakfast dish. Popular kinds include oatmeal, cornmeal, and peanut porridge.
• Rice and peas: A very popular rice dish, especially on Sundays. It's made with rice, kidney beans (or other peas), and coconut milk.
• Run down: A stew made with pickled mackerel, coconut milk, herbs, and spices.
• Stamp and Go: Delicious fritters (small fried cakes) made from dried and salted cod fish.
• Stew peas: A hearty stew made with red peas (kidney beans), which can be vegetarian or include meat like pig's tail.
• Sugarcane: You can chew on the peeled stalk to get the sweet juice, or buy it bottled.
• Sweet bread: A soft bread with a hint of sweetness.

Delicious Fruits of Jamaica

Guinep fruit

A fresh Guava

The unique Otaheite apple

Jamaica has so many amazing fruits! Many are eaten fresh, while others are used in juices, desserts, or main dishes.

• Ackee: A unique fruit that's part of Jamaica's national dish.
• Breadfruit: A starchy fruit that can be cooked in many ways.
• Coconut: Young green coconuts give refreshing coconut water and jelly. Older coconuts are used for milk and desserts.
• Guava: A sweet and fragrant fruit, great for juices and jams.
• Guinep: Small, sweet, and tangy fruits with a thin skin.
• Jackfruit: A very large fruit with a sweet, unique flavor when ripe.
• June plum: Also known as Tahitian apple, it's a juicy and slightly tart fruit.
• Mango: Jamaica has many different kinds of mangoes, each with its own special taste!
• Naseberry: A sweet, brown fruit with a slightly grainy texture.
• Otaheite apple: A beautiful red fruit with a crisp, juicy flesh.
• Paw-paw: This is another name for papaya, a sweet tropical fruit.
• Pineapple: A juicy and sweet tropical fruit.
• Soursop: A large, green fruit with a creamy, tangy white flesh.
• Starapple: A round fruit with a star pattern inside when cut.
• Tamarind: A pod-like fruit with a sweet and sour pulp.

Sweet Treats and Desserts

A tasty Bulla cake

A sweet Gizzada

Jamaican desserts are often made with local fruits and spices, creating unique and delicious flavors.

• Blue Draws: A sweet treat cooked in tied banana leaves, also called "tie-a-leaf."
• Bulla cake: A small, round, slightly sweet cake.
• Busta coconut sweets: Chewy coconut candies.
• Coconut drop: Pieces of coconut cooked with sugar until firm.
• Cornmeal Pudding: A sweet, baked pudding made from cornmeal.
• Devon House Ice Cream: Famous for its many delicious flavors of ice cream.
• Gizzada: A tart with a sweet, spiced coconut filling.
• Grater cake: A colorful, sweet cake made from grated coconut.
• Peanut Drops: Peanuts cooked in a hard sugar candy.
• Plantain Tart: A sweet pastry filled with ripe plantain.
• Rock cake: A small, hard, and sweet cake.
• Spice Bun / Easter Bun: A popular sweet loaf, often eaten with cheese. Easter Bun is especially popular around Easter.
• Sweet Potato Pudding: A rich and sweet pudding made from sweet potatoes.
• Tamarind Balls: The tangy tamarind fruit rolled into balls and coated with sugar.
• Toto: A simple coconut cake.

Flavorful Herbs and Spices

Curry powder is used in many dishes

Pimento berries are key in Jamaican cooking

Scotch bonnet peppers add a kick!

Jamaican food gets its amazing taste from a special blend of herbs and spices.

• Allspice: Known locally as pimento, this spice tastes like a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. It's super important in jerk seasoning!
• Cinnamon: A warm, sweet spice used in both savory and sweet dishes.
• Cloves: Strong, fragrant spices used in many recipes.
• Curry powder: A blend of spices like turmeric, coriander, and cumin, giving dishes a yellow color and rich flavor.
• Garlic: A common ingredient that adds a strong, savory taste.
• Ginger: Used fresh or powdered, it adds a spicy, warm flavor.
• Jamaican jerk spice: The famous spice blend for jerk chicken and pork, with allspice as a main ingredient.
• Nutmeg: A warm, sweet spice often used in desserts and drinks.
• Scotch bonnet pepper: A very hot chili pepper that gives Jamaican food its fiery kick!
• Thyme leaves: A fragrant herb used in many stews and savory dishes.
• Turmeric: A spice that gives curry powder its bright yellow color and earthy flavor.

Hearty Jamaican Soups

Soups are a big deal in Jamaica! They're not just appetizers; they can be a whole meal because they're so filling. They often have root vegetables like yam, sweet potato, and breadfruit, plus lots of other veggies and meat. Many Jamaican families love soup for lunch or dinner, often served hot with hard dough bread or crackers.

• Chicken Foot Soup: A popular soup made with chicken feet and vegetables.
• Conch or Janga (crayfish) Soup: Soups made with seafood.
• Gungo Peas Soup: Made with pigeon peas (called gungo peas locally), vegetables, and meat.
• Mannish Water: A traditional goat soup.
• Pepperpot Soup: A rich and flavorful soup.
• Red Peas Soup: A hearty soup made with kidney beans, often with pigstail or chicken, and various root vegetables.
• Pumpkin Soup: A creamy soup made with pumpkin or butternut squash, chicken, and other vegetables.

Refreshing Jamaican Beverages

A warm mug of Horlicks

Milo is a popular chocolate malt drink

Ting (soft drink) is a refreshing grapefruit soda

Hot Drinks

Many Jamaicans start their day with a warm drink, sometimes with bread or crackers.

• Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee: One of the most famous and delicious coffees in the world!
• Chocolate tea: A traditional Hot chocolate made from chocolate balls.
• Herbal Teas: Often brewed from fresh local herbs like ginger and mint.
• Horlicks: A malted milk drink.
• Milo: A popular chocolate malt powder that you mix with hot or cold water.

Juices and Cold Drinks

Jamaica has many refreshing juices made from its amazing local fruits.

• Ginger beer: A spicy and refreshing non-alcoholic drink.
• Jamaican rum: A popular alcoholic drink made from sugarcane.
• Red Stripe beer: A well-known Jamaican beer.
• Sorrel (drink): A bright red drink made from the roselle plant. It's enjoyed all year, but especially around Christmas!