I recently worked on a delicious jerk fish recipe for my friends at Remedy Kombucha. I trialled a number of various jerk seasoning mixes in order to establish a good baseline. My only issue was, of course, that none of the store bought mixes were low FODMAP. As such, I thought I would develop this recipe for low FODMAP jerk seasoning.

Low FODMAP Jerk seasoning

Name: Low FODMAP Jerk seasoning
Prep time: 10 min
Ingredients: 15g (1 tablespoon)* brown sugar, sieved or whisked to disperse clumps; 4g (2 teaspoons) allspice powder; 4g (2 teaspoons) smoked paprika; 10g (2 teaspoons) fine table salt; 2-4g (1-2 teaspoons) cayenne powder (see notes); 2g (1 teaspoon) freshly cracked black pepper; 1.5g (½ teaspoon) cinnamon powder; 1g (¼ teaspoon) ground nutmeg; 1g (¼ teaspoon) asafoetida powder (see notes); 0.7g (¼ teaspoon) cumin powder (optional); Pinch clove powder (to your tastes (optional))

Jerk seasoning is a Jamaican spice condiment which can be a marinade or a powder. The primary ingredients, from what I have read, are allspice (also called pimento) and Scotch Bonnet peppers. Google tells me that Scotch bonnet peppers have a sweet, fruity flavour and a high level of heat. Unfortunately Australia has an abysmal range of chilli varieties (both fresh and dried) so I haven’t tried Scotch Bonnet peppers myself.

The remaining ingredients in Jerk seasoning seem to vary a little from person to person. However, most recipes online use cinnamon, nutmeg, dried thyme, sugar and salt at a minimum. They also contain garlic powder and onion powder, which are off the menu on a low FODMAP diet.

For our low FODMAP jerk seasoning, we are replacing the garlic and onion powder with asafoetida powder.

This spice mix keeps really well and goes perfectly on a protein or low FODMAP vegetables or your choice. It is a great addition to a low FODMAP pantry.

A note on the recipe

As I mentioned, I tested a number of different Jerk seasoning brands in the process of developing this recipe. However, I would also like to acknowledge that I have been inspired by two recipes – this one from Chilli Pepper Madness and this one from Jo Cooks. I wanted to make sure that the low FODMAPpers are getting a good recipe and these two get rave reviews. Full credit where credit is due!

I also cross referenced my hybrid recipe with Walkerswood Jerk marinade which was the best reviewed store bought Jerk seasoning according to Reddit. I tried Gewurzhaus Jerk seasoning and a seasoning sachet from McCormick.

Both the Walkerswood and Gewurzhaus mixes were more allspice heavy and had a brown colour rather than a red tinge. The Walkerswood is a marinade paste and the primary ingredient is spring onions, which I intend to test myself with some dehydrated spring onion.

The McCormick sachet had a lighter flavour – I would describe it as akin to those delicious but inauthentic taco seasoning mixes. It was much sweeter and included dehydrated pineapple powder which I actually really liked.

An aerial image of low FODMAP jerk fish, pineapple salsa and rice on a pale pink ceramic plate atop a dark olive backdrop

FODMAP notes

There are a few ingredients we need to keep our eyes on in this low FODMAP seasoning. We have already discussed the fact that we are replacing the garlic and onion powder with asafoetida powder. Asafoetida powder is made from a variety of wild fennel and has a cooked onion and garlic-like flavour. It is extremely potent and often cut with flour, so make sure you choose one that is gluten free if needed. The gluten free variety is generally cut with rice flour as opposed to wheat flour. It is low FODMAP according to Monash and FODMAP free according to FODMAP Everyday.

The following FODMAP thresholds are current as of July 2025. They will be periodically reviewed and updated to ensure they remain current according to Monash.

Next, let’s chat chilli powder (cayenne, for my American readers). Cayenne is low FODMAP in serves of up to 10g (1 tablespoon) per person, according to Monash. In servings exceeding 10g per person, it contains moderate amounts of fructose. Interestingly, the FODMAP Everyday app lists chilli powder as a FODMAP free food. Either way, cayenne is quite a hot chilli powder, so I doubt you would exceed 10g per person for this mix.

Smoked paprika is low FODMAP in 2g (1 teaspoon) serves. In 5g (2 1/2 teaspoon) serves, it contains moderate amounts of fructose. Sweet paprika doesn’t have an upper threshold in the Monash FODMAP app, and FODMAP Everyday says it is FODMAP free. Although the smokiness of smoked paprika is welcome, you can substitute sweet paprika for the colour if you want to really limit the fructose in this mix.

Dried thyme is low FODMAP in 2g serves. In 72g serves, it contains moderate amounts of fructans. We are only using a small amount so this doesn’t really affect the composition of the spice mix (or what you serve it with).

A macro image of low FODMAP jerk seasoning on a spoon top a bright blue ceramic plate

Balancing the FODMAP content

This low FODMAP jerk seasoning recipe makes approximately 50g or 5 tablespoons. For a fillet of fish, I like to use around 1-2 Australian tablespoons (which are 4 teaspoons instead of 3).

Because of the small volume of cayenne pepper and smoked paprika in this recipe, you would need to eat nearly all of the spice mix to consume a moderate amount of fructose from these spices.

Although you are not getting a high fructose content per serve, I like to serve this recipe with lower fructose foods. This just makes it easier for me to ensure I am not overdoing anything. If you have no big issues with fructose, feel free to disregard!

Some examples of high fructose foods that you might consume with jerk seasoning include mangoes or a large volume of cucumber. Check the Monash app before deciding what to serve with your jerk seasoning if you have fructose concerns.

More low FODMAP seasoning and sauce recipes