This Jamaican Curry Goat recipe is a flavorful, succulent dish made with Jamaican curry, goat pieces, and other spices. It’s a traditional Jamaican dish that you and your family will love.
You’ll find the full recipe with ingredient amounts and instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Be sure to check out the blog post itself for extra tips and tricks!
I’ve shared many Jamaican recipes here on the site, and it’s about time I shared how I make one of my favorite Jamaican dishes, curry goat. Curry goat was one of the must-have items on my wedding menu (that and mannish wata a.k.a goat head soup).
When made right, curry goat should be flavorful, the goat should be fork-tender, and it should make you feel warm all over. I use the electric pressure cooker to make my curry goat, but the stovetop works fine too.
Although goat meat isn't too popular where I live, it should be, as it's a great alternative to beef, chicken, and pork. I’m thrilled to share my method of making this Caribbean staple.
Love, Tanya
Jamaican Curry Goat at a Glance
- Best For: Sunday dinners, holidays, and special occasions
- Prep Time: 15 minutes (plus 4 hours marinating)
- Cook Time: 1 hour in the pressure cooker
- Total Time: 5 hours 15 minutes
- Serves: 6 people
Ingredients Needed for this Recipe
Ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions are on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Use vinegar to rinse goat meat before cooking, even though it's not an ingredient in the recipe.
- Goat meat - I usually find it in my International markets. It'll come fresh or frozen. If your goat meat is frozen, thaw it before using it in the recipe.
- Spices & Seasoning - Jamaican curry powder, Ginger powder, all-purpose seasoning, allspice, and fresh thyme.
- Vegetables - onion, garlic cloves, scotch bonnet pepper, and russet potato.
- Other ingredients - oil and water.
Tools Needed:
- knife
- cutting board
- Pressure Cooker for quicker cooking, or a large pot.
How to make curry goat
Gather all your ingredients.
Rinse your goat pieces in water and vinegar, then pat them dry.
Season goat meat with 1 ½ tablespoon curry powder, all-purpose seasoning, ground ginger, allspice, onion, garlic cloves, and thyme. Marinate for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
Remove the onion and garlic from the goat and set aside.
Set an electric pressure cooker, like an Instant Pot, on high sauté. Add oil. Add the goat meat and brown for about 2-3 minutes per side. I usually only brown ½ of the goat meat. This allows me to build flavor without spending too much time browning the meat.
Remove the goat from the insert and add 1 tablespoon oil and the remaining curry powder, and sauté for about 10 seconds. Then add onions and garlic and sauté until softened, about 4 minutes. If the onions look dry, add a little water and continue to sauté.
Add the goat and water to the pressure cooker, then cover it. Cook for 40 minutes on high pressure. Please note that the water will not cover the goat before you pressure cook it.
Allow the pressure cooker to naturally release for 10 minutes, then release the remaining pressure.
Once all the pressure has been released, open the pressure cooker. Place in a sauté pan and cook for 10-15 minutes. Add the potatoes and a whole Scotch bonnet pepper. Cook until potatoes have softened. Remove scotch bonnet pepper.
Serve and enjoy.
How to make Curry Goat on the Stove Top
Making curry goat on the stovetop is similar to making it in the pressure cooker. Follow the above directions, but cook the goat in a large covered pot over low heat for 1.5-2 hours, until tender. Add the chopped potatoes and pepper during the last 20 minutes of cooking.
How to Make Curry Goat in the Slow Cooker
Season the goat as directed, then brown it in a skillet. Add the onion, garlic, and remaining curry powder to the same pan and sauté briefly. Transfer everything to the slow cooker with the thyme and water, then cook on Low for 6–8 hours, until the goat is tender. Add the potatoes and a whole Scotch bonnet pepper for the last 40 minutes of cooking, until the potatoes are soft. Remove the pepper before serving.
Tanya's Top Tips
- The longer you cook curry goat, the more tender it will become. Either cook low and slow on the stove or in a slow cooker on low, or speed things up by using a pressure cooker.
- Use Jamaican curry powder for an authentic Jamaican curry goat.
- Wait to add salt and pepper to taste until the goat has finished cooking. Some brands of curry powder contain salt. Adding salt too soon may make the goat salty.
Frequently Asked Questions about Jamaican Curry Goat
You can typically find goat in your local International market or Caribbean market. It's usually already chopped into pieces for you.
For Jamaican curry goat, you need to use Jamaican curry. For store-bought options, I like to use a combination of Blue Mountain Curry and Betapac. You can also use homemade curry powder. Your goat will taste like whatever brand of curry you use.
Once you add the chopped potatoes and allow the goat to simmer on the stovetop for 10-15 minutes, your curry will thicken a little.
Many people like to serve this dish with rice and peas, but I prefer the goat and the gravy over a nice heap of white rice. Sauteéd Jamaican cabbage and fried dumplings also go along well with this dish.
I sure hope you love this recipe as much as we do.
Other Jamaican recipes
Jamaican Curry Goat Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 lbs goat meat chopped into 2 inch chunks, rinsed and dried
- 2.5 Tablespoon Jamaican curry powder separated
- ½ teaspoon ginger powder
- ½ teaspoon all-purpose seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 6 garlic cloves chopped
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
- 2 Tablespoon oil
- 1 ¼ cup water
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper
- 1 large russet potato chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Rinse goat meat with vinegar and water.
- Season goat meat with 1 ½ tablespoon curry powder, all-purpose seasoning, ground ginger, allspice, onion, garlic cloves, and thyme. Marinate for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
- Remove onion and garlic from goat and set aside.
- Set an electric pressure cooker, like an Instant Pot, on high sauté and add oil. Add goat meat and brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove goat from insert and add 1 tablespoon oil and remaining curry powder and sauté for about 10 seconds. Then add onions and garlic and sauté until softened. About 4 minutes. If the onions look dry, add a little water and continue to sauté.
- Add goat and water to the pressure cooker and cover the pressure cooker. Cook for 40 minutes on high pressure. Allow to naturally release for 10 minutes, then release the remaining pressure.
- Once all the pressure has been released, open the pressure cooker. Place on sauté for 10-15 minutes, add potatoes and a whole scotch bonnet pepper. Cook until potatoes have softened. Remove scotch bonnet pepper.
Stovetop
- Making curry goat on the stovetop is similar to making it in the pressure cooker. Follow the above directions except cook the goat in a large covered pot over low heat for 1.5-2 hours, until the goat is tender. Add the chopped potatoes during the last 20 minutes of cooking.
Slow Cooker
- Season and brown the goat as directed. Add browned goat, sautéed onion/garlic, thyme, curry, and water to the slow cooker. Cook on Low for 6–8 hours, until tender. Add potatoes and a whole Scotch bonnet pepper during the last 40 minutes of cooking, then remove the pepper before serving.
Video
Notes
- The kind of curry you use is important to this dish. I used 2 tablespoon Blue Mountain Country Curry and ½ tablespoon Betapac. Your goat will taste like whichever curry you choose to use.
- Scotch bonnet pepper is optional in this recipe and added whole to infuse flavor during the code. Do not add it before pressure cooking and make sure the pepper is whole with no bruises or rips. Scotch bonnet peppers are spicy. Placing it in whole allows us to get some flavor without the spice.
- If you can’t find scotch bonnet pepper, a habanero pepper is a great substitute.
Nutrition
This post was originally published on July 21, 2021. It has been updated with additional helpful information and tips.
