Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Curry Goat
Bone-in goat marinated in Jamaican curry and green seasoning, then braised slow with allspice, thyme, and Scotch bonnet until it falls from the bone.
Jamaican · medium · serves 6
prep 30 min · cook 150 min
~460 cal · 63g protein · 17g carbs · 14g fat · 3g fiber · 3g sugars · 3g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Curry goat is Jamaican celebration food, the pot carried to weddings, funerals, cricket matches, and any Saturday worth marking. Indian indentured labourers brought curry to the island in the nineteenth century, and Jamaican cooks made it their own with a local yellow curry powder that leans heavy on allspice, the pimento berry that grows across the island.
The goat is washed with lime, then rubbed with curry powder and green seasoning, the fresh blend of scallion, thyme, garlic, and that sets a real Jamaican curry apart. Cooks bloom more curry powder in hot oil, a step called burning the curry, before the meat goes in to brown and then low for hours.
Diced potato and carrot go in near the end to thicken the gravy, and a whole is dropped in to perfume the pot without shredding it into pure heat. Served over rice and peas, curry goat is deep, warming, and unmistakably Jamaican.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
3 lbs bone-in goat meat, cut in chunks
1 lime, for washing the meat
4 tbsp Jamaican curry powder
4 , chopped
1 tbsp leaves fresh thyme
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp whole allspice berries (pimento)
1 pepper, left whole
1 yellow onion, sliced
2 waxy potatoes, cubed
1 carrot, cubed
3 tbsp
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Wash the goat with the juice of the lime and a little water, then drain and pat dry.
2
Rub the goat with half the curry powder, the scallions, thyme, garlic, ginger, and a good pinch of salt. Marinate at least 1 hour, ideally overnight.
✎ Chef’s note
The overnight rest is where curry goat gets its depth. The green seasoning works into the meat and tenderises it as it sits.
3
Heat the oil in a heavy pot and burn the rest of the curry powder in it for about 30 seconds, until fragrant and darkened but not scorched.
4
Add the goat in batches and brown well on all sides, then add the onion and allspice and stir for a minute.
5
Pour in enough hot water to almost cover, drop in the whole Scotch bonnet, cover, and simmer very gently for about 2 hours, until the meat is tender.
6
Add the potato and carrot and cook 20 minutes more, until they soften and thicken the gravy. Fish out the Scotch bonnet before it bursts.
7
Taste for salt and serve hot over rice and peas.
Kingston Saturday pot, Indo-Jamaican curry tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Kingston (Surrey). Kingston is Jamaica's pulsing capital, where jerk smoke fills the air and ackee and saltfish starts the day. Scotch bonnet heat, allspice, and street-corner cooking define its bold, rhythmic food.
🗺️
Jamaica. Jamaican food burns with its own fire, from jerk-spiced meats smoked over pimento wood to the national dish of ackee and saltfish. Scotch bonnet heat, allspice, thyme, and one-pot rice and peas define an island cuisine with African, Indian, and British roots.
🌍
North America. Almost every regional cooking here records who arrived and on what terms. Enslaved West Africans brought rice, okra, black-eyed peas and the techniques behind Lowcountry and Creole food; Chinese railway labour and later Italian, Jewish, Mexican and Vietnamese arrivals built the way the cities eat; and Indigenous foodways sit underneath all of it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Jamaica
Jerk ChickenChicken marinated in scallion, thyme, allspice, and Scotch bonnet, grilled low and smoky.
Escovitch FishWhole snapper fried crisp, then drenched in a hot vinegar pickle of onion, carrot, Scotch bonnet, and pimento.
Ackee and SaltfishJamaica's national dish for breakfast: silky ackee sautéed with flaked salt cod, peppers, onion, and Scotch bonnet, eaten with fried dumplings.
Browse all Jamaica recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Jamaica meal
Sorrel DrinkDrink
Sweet Potato PuddingDessert
Jamaican Beef PattyLunch
Similar dishes from around the world
Stobá di KabrituCuraçao
Goat WaterSaint Kitts and Nevis
Trinidadian Curry GoatTrinidad & Tobago
CunilloAndorra
TukirTimor-Leste
Stuffat tal-Fenek (Rabbit Stew)Malta
Cuisine
Diet
Gluten-Free Recipes from Around the World
Dairy-Free Recipes from Around the World
Nut-Free Recipes from Around the World
Egg-Free Recipes from Around the World
Pork-Free Recipes from Around the World
Gluten-Free Dinners from Around the World
Dairy-Free Dinners from Around the World
Nut-Free Dinners from Around the World
Egg-Free Dinners from Around the World
Frequently asked questions
What is Curry Goat?
Bone-in goat marinated in Jamaican curry and green seasoning, then braised slow with allspice, thyme, and Scotch bonnet until it falls from the bone.
Where does Curry Goat come from?
Curry Goat is a Jamaican dish from Kingston (Surrey), Jamaica.
Can Curry Goat be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Curry Goat recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Curry Goat safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Curry Goat take to make?
About 180 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 150 minutes cooking), serving 6.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.