Easy pulled jerk chicken sandwiches topped with citrus slaw and a fun cocktail to show off your team spirit!
I’ve had a lot of fun cooking with rum and incorporating it into our celebration over the past few months, from rum glazed carrots and spiced cranberry sangria for Thanksgiving to rum buns and spiked gingerbread hot chocolate for Christmas to these pulled jerk chicken sandwiches and amazing color changing drinks to celebrate “the Big Game.”
This set of recipes is definitely my favorite. First of all, it’s “football food” which I’m always a huge fan of. The jerk chicken sandwiches are ridiculously easy to make (make the chicken in the crockpot!) and are seriously good. Spiced rum and jerk seasoning are a match made in heaven!
(Try not to spill the blue curaçao like I did. It stains!)
That was the easy part. When it came to creating a drink, I have to admit that I was pretty stumped. Rum definitely isn’t the first thing I think of when I think of football, and I was having a hard time getting inspired. I reached out to one of my friends to help brainstorm and it just so happened that he was sitting at a table full of bartenders at that very moment. It didn’t take long to come up with these, which are by far the most fun drinks I’ve ever made: you can change the color depending on which team you’re rooting for.
The “Mile High Crush” is orange for Denver fans. If you’re cheering for Seattle, add a splash of blue curaçao to turn the whole thing into an electric green “Emerald City Crush.” Me? I’ll base my choice on whichever team is ahead. Um, what?!
As if that wasn’t awesome enough, they taste like orange creamsicles.
I never could have come up with that on my own (even if I knew the appropriate team colors, which I didn’t), so a huge shout and and thank you to “the Virginia crew” for all of your help. You guys are the best!
Mile High Crush/ Emerald City Crush Crockpot Pulled Jerk Chicken with Rum + Citrus Slaw
Ingredients
- crushed ice
- 1.5 ounces Captain Morgan® original spiced rum
- 1/2 ounce triple sec
- 1 orange, juiced
Sprite
- 1/2 ounce blue curaçao (optional)
For the pulled chicken:
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup Captain Morgan® original spiced rum
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 small onion, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 10 small dinner rolls (1 ounce each)
For the citrus slaw:
- 6 cups cole slaw mix
- 1 orange, juiced
- 1 lime, juiced
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- To make the "Mile High Crush" fill an 8 ounces glass with crushed ice. Pour the rum over the ice, then pour in the triple sec and orange juice. Top with sprite.
- For an "Emerald City Crush" stir in blue curaçao.
- Stir together the water, rum, molasses, orange juice, soy sauce, vinegar, and lime juice. Pour into a crock pot. Stir in the onion and garlic. Add the chicken; turn to coat. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Shred the chicken (it should shred easily when you press on it with a wooden spoon). Stir. Cover and cook 1 hour. Keep warm until ready to serve.
- While the chicken cooks, make the slaw by combining the cole slaw mix, juices, vinegar, and oil. Mix well; season to taste with salt.
- Serve the chicken and slaw on a split dinner roll.
Nutrition Information
Amount Per Serving Calories 343Total Fat 10gFiber 1.8gProtein 30.6g
(This post is sponsored by Captain Morgan. I received product and ingredient reimbursement. All opinions are my own. Please drink responsibly.)
Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
Oh my gosh, that drink! So fun!!
Toni | Boulder Locavore says
The jerk chicken enticed me here Lauren but being in Boulder CO, ‘big points’ for the Mile High Crush!
Susan says
I love the GIF! That drink is a fun party trick.
Julie Grice says
Um….I’d like one of those cocktails now, please. And another tonight. And maybe one tomorrow?
I’m not rooting for either team in particular (both have former UW-Madison Badger stars !), so I’ll just have one of each color 🙂
Sherrie | With Food + Love says
I’ll take a Mile High Crush please, go BRONCOS!
Anita at Hungry Couple says
Now that is a fun drink idea! 🙂
Chrissy says
Yum!! This looks amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Christie says
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR actually making Jerk sauce and not listed a bottle of sauce. They look #droolwrothy and I #pinned them!!
Lauren Keating says
hahaha that’s one of my pet peeves, too. I try to keep things as much from-scratch as I can (within reason)
SpillOverCoffee.com says
Hi Lauren! I love those adorable jerk chicken sandwiches and colorful cocktails! I would definitely try this one. Thanks for the recipe!