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Last Updated on April 15, 2026 by Tiffany
Here are some recent favourites that I have been making as a 6 year vegan Jamaican! These recipes are purely authentic and made with much love, from my kitchen to yours <3
Ackee and Chickpeas (no saltfish)
Delicious Vegan Ackee
This authentic yet fully plant based vegan ackee recipe is traditional and uses chickpeas as a protein source as opposed to saltfish!
Ingredients
- 1 Can Ackee
- 1 Can Chickpeas aprx 1.5 Cups
- 1 Roma Tomato
- 5 cloves Garlic
- 3 Thyme Stem
- 3 Scallion
- 1/2 Onion
- 1/2 Bell Pepper
- 2 Tablespoons Water
Dry Seasonings
- 1.5 Teaspoon Jamaican All Purpose Seasoning
- 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon No Salt Seasoning
- 1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- Black Pepper to taste
- ~1 Tablespoon Oil for sautéing
Instructions
- Chop all your fresh herb (minus the scotch bonnet and thyme, into small pieces). The smaller they are chopped, the better it makes the ackee taste- trust me on this.De-stem the thyme so you're left with only the leaves and leave the scotch bonnet whole. Make sure to NEVER allow there scotch bonnet to burst as it is extremely spicy!!
- Start to sauté your herbs in a bit of oil for 2-3 minutes or until fragrant. While your herbs are sautéing, Using a from or potato masher, mash your chickpeas into little crumbles. This will allow the flavor to be absorbed easily and slightly give the appearance of salt fish. Go ahead and add in the chickpeas as well as the water and let that steam for a few minutes.
- Now, add your dry seasoning into the pan, you always want to season the dish before adding in the ackee because the ackee is extremely soft and will crumble quickly. Allow this to slightly cook down for about another 2-3 minutes.
- Once the herbs and chickpeas are seasoned to your likeness, add in the chickpeas and gently stir, covering the pot and allowing to steam again for up to 5 minutes.Serve warmed alongside boiled food and enjoy!
Jamaican Jerk Mushrooms
Jamaican Jerk Mushrooms
These Jamaican jerk mushrooms are bursting with flavor and the absolute perfect "meaty" alternative to jerk chicken with authentic flavor, ready in under 20 minutes!
Equipment
- Vegetable Peeler
- Kebab Sticks
Ingredients
- 7 Baby Bella Mushrooms
- 3 King Trumpet Mushrooms
- 2 Tablespoons Ketchup
- 1 Tablespoon BBQ Sauce
- 2.5-3 Teaspoons Jerk Marinade
- 1 Teaspoon Olive Oil
- 1 Teaspoon Oil
Instructions
- Slice the baby Bella mushrooms very thin. Cut off the tops of the king trumpet mushroom. Now, using a vegetable peeler, peel small strips of the king trumpet mushroom. This allows the mushroom to cook quickly and have a very "meaty" texture. (If you don't have access to king trumpet mushroom or oyster, although they are preferred, you cn just double the amount of baby Bella mushrooms).
- Stack the mushrooms onto each kebab stick, alternating between each variety. When stacking the oyster mushrooms, make sure to fold them before placing on the stick.Heat a large pan with oil (medium heat) and place the mushroom sticks into the pan. Place a smaller pot cover DIRECTLY onto the mushrooms (not covering the pot, only covering the mushrooms!) This will allow water to be drawn out of the mushrooms and for a beautiful char to form. You may have to reapply oil if they're not cooking quickly or the pan is blackening. Spray oil works best for this.
- While the mushrooms are searing, grab a small bowl and combine the jerk marinade, ketchup, and bbq sauce and mix. Once the mushrooms have browned (in about 3-5 minutes, flip to the other side and brush the sauce onto the mushrooms.
- The mushrooms are ready once you can see a nice char and the sauce has almost caramelised on the shrooms. Serve alongside rice and peas, or enjoy by itself!
Spelt Flour Fry Dumling
Spelt Jamaican Fried Dumpling
These almost alkakine spelt flour Jamaican Fried Dumpling are an authentic recipe with a healthier flour, nutrient dense, and a traditional staple to a classic Jamaican breakfast.
Ingredients
- 1.5 Cups Spelt Flour check article to see where to buy
- Sprinkle Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Cane sugar to balance out salt, can sub coconut or date sugar
- 1.5 Teaspoon Baking powder necessary ingredient to help the dumplings rise
- 1/2-3/4 Cup Water
- 1 Tablespoon Avocado Oil to pour into the dough
- 1/2 -1 Cup High Heat Oil for shallow fry
Instructions
- Combine the flour, cane sugar, salt, and baking powder into a large bowl and mix with a spoon. You want to make sure that baking powder is evenly spread amongst the mixture.
- Pour the oil into the mixture and mix in, it should look slightly sandy. Now, slowly pour in the water until a semi sticky texture has formed, and start to knead.Knead the dough and form a large ball, it should come together and not be incredibly sticky, it if is, add a bit more water. Don't knead for too long, we don't want the dough to become tough. Cover with a damp paper towel and allow this to sit for about 15 minutes.
- After its resting time, form the large ball into 6 smaller balls, and gently use the heel of your hand to press down in the middle.This will help the fry dumpling form their iconic shape but you can skip this step.
- Grab a dutch pot, (or a heavy bottom pot), and with the flame on low, prepare to shallow fry your dumpling. Use around 1/2 – 1 cup of avocado oil (or of choice) and let one side fry for about 5-7 minutes.Cover the pot while it is frying.
- Once the one side is golden brown and hardened, flip to the other side and allow to cook for ~3 minutes on this side in the covered pot.Sit the cooked dumpling on a paper towel lined plate and enjoy warm with callaloo and ackee!
Brown Stew Lentils
Jamaican Brown Stew Lentils
This easy to make, extremely flavourful Jamaican brown stew lentils recipe is fully ital vegan, delicious, and has authentic Jamaican flavors!
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Dry Green Lentils measured dry
- 5 Tablespoons Coconut Aminos can sub 4-5 tbs soy sauce
- 1 Roma Tomato
- 1 Onion
- 2 Scallion
- 3 Thyme Stem
- 1 Bell Pepper small
- 1 Scotch Bonnet Pepper or habanero
- 1 Potato large
- 1.5 Tablespoon Ketchup
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 2.5 Water
- 1.5 Water added in after 10 minutes
Dry Seasoning
- 1.5 Teaspoons Onion Powder
- 1.5 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Paprika
- 2-2.5 Teaspoons Jamaican All Purpose
- 2-2.5 Teaspoons No Salt Seasoning
- 1.5 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Chop the tomato, onion, scallion, and potato into bite sized pieces as shown in the photo. Leave the thyme stems and scotch bonnet whole and do NOT cut or burst as the seeds are very spicy!Be sure to properly wash and dry your lentils!
- Sautee the fresh veg in oil until fragrant or for about 3-4 minutes. Add in the lentils and chopped potato as well as the water, dry seasonings, coconut aminos, and ketchup. Stir to combine everything and cover. Allow to simmer on medium heat for the next 15-20 minutes.
- Once the lentils are cooked, now is the time to possible add in the second round of water if needed (I needed to put it when I made my batch).Salt to taste, serve with your choice of grain and enjoy!
Green Banana “Potato” Salad
Green Fig Green Banana Potato Salad
This green fig green banana potato salad is easy to make and the perfect Caribbean side dish to pair well with your favorite stews!
Ingredients
- 4 Green Bananas
- 3 Scallion
- 1/2 Cup Corn
- 1/4 Onion
- 3 Fresh Thyme
- 3 Cloves Garlic
- 1/2 Red Pepper
- 1/2 Scotch bonnet pepper de-seeded!
- 1/2 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
Cashew Mayo
- 1 cup Cashews measured dry
- 1 Lemon
- 7 Tablespoons water
- 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Agave
- 1 Tablespoon Oil slowly poured in
- 1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 Teaspoon No salt seasoning
- 1 Teaspoon Jamaican All Purpose Seasoning
- to taste Black Pepper
- to taste Salt
Instructions
- Cut off the tops to your green bananas and carefully slice 1 centimetre deep down the banana from top to bottom. Fill your pot with water and 1/2 tablespoon of oil (this will prevent a black sticky line from forming) and allow to boil on medium heat for the next 20 or so minutes.
- While your green bananas are boiling, chop up your scallion, onion, red bell pepper, and mince your garlic. De-stem your thyme so you're only left with the leaves and de-seed the scotch bonnet then proceed to mince.
- Now its time to make the cashew mayonnaise! If you prefer to use a pre-ready mayo to reduce ingredients and time, feel free to. Making your own cashew mayo simply offers an ital, healthy swap to the usual.You can choose to either soak your cashews overnight or cover in hot water for about 15 minutes. Grab your soaked & rinsed cashews and place them in the blender along with the other cashew mayo ingredients . Slowly pour in the oil while the mayo is blending. The ending product should resemble the consistency of mayonnaise.
- Once your green bananas are cooked and cooled, carefully peel off the skins and chop into small pieces. Combine all of the chopped herbs, mayo, and the green bananas into a bowl.Serve chilled alongside your entree of choice and enjoy!
Homemade Green Seasoning
Caribbean Green Seasoning
This incredibly delicious green seasoning recipe is very simple but will add a huge burst of flavor to all Caribbean inspired recipes!
Ingredients
- 1/2 Bunch Parsley
- 1 Bunch Cilantro
- 1 Yellow Onion small
- 1/2 Thumb Ginger
- 2 Celery Sticks
- 1.5 Scotch Bonnet Pepper take out the seeds, they're spicy!
- 12 Cloves Fresh Garlic
- 8 Jamaican Pimento Seeds
- 10 Fresh Thyme stem removed
- 1 Lime squeezed
- 5 Scallion
- 1/4 Cup Water or olive oil
Instructions
- Pull the thyme leaves off the stem and leave your scotch Bonnet while if you want it spicy or remove the seeds for a milder sauce. Chop your fresh herbs to fit into your food processor and blender.
- Feel free to add salt to your mixture or leave out if you want a salt free seasoning. Place all your ingredients into your machine and pulse while slowly pouring water in until the desired consistency has been reached. Tip** I prefer to use a food processor because I like my green seasoning slightly chunky with some texture as opposed to a smooth paste.
