You can never go wrong with chicken and pineapple. It’s a sweet and savory combination that’s always a winner. When I’m craving an island style dinner, I make pineapple chicken, coconut shrimp or this easy huli huli chicken.
Huli Huli Chicken Ingredients
To make huli huli chicken you will need canned sliced pineapple, soy sauce, brown sugar, ketchup, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, boneless skinless chicken thighs and green onions. Enjoy with this chicken with grilled side dishes like grilled mushrooms, grilled sweet potatoes and grilled corn on the cob!
How do you make huli huli chicken?
This huli huli chicken recipe starts with creating a marinade by whisking together pineapple juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, ketchup and sesame oil. Next, you will add garlic and ginger to the marinade. Reserve some huli huli marinade to baste the chicken. Place the chicken thighs into the marinade and refrigerate them for at least one hour. Remove the chicken from the marinade, then grill it for 6-8 minutes per side or until cooked through. Baste the chicken with reserved marinade while it’s on the grill. After the chicken finishes cooking, add the sliced pineapple to the grill. Finally, plate the chicken and pineapple and garnish with green onions before serving.
Tips For The Perfect Huli huli chicken
You can use a gas grill or charcoal grill. Don’t have an outdoor grill? You can cook this chicken on a stove top grill pan or in the broiler in the oven. Make sure to purchase sliced pineapple that’s packed in juice, not the type that’s packed in heavy syrup. I typically use boneless skinless chicken thighs for this recipe, but chicken breasts will also work just fine. Place your chicken directly on the grill grate. You want to sear lines into the chicken as the meat cooks through. You can freeze your uncooked chicken in a bag of marinade for up to 2 months. Thaw the bag overnight in the refrigerator, then grill as directed.
Flavor Variations
While this chicken recipe makes tender and delicious chicken, you can change it to suit your own taste.
Sides: Enjoy this chicken dish with salads like macaroni salad, coleslaw or dill potato salad. You can also serve this with white rice, coconut rice (from my Hawaiian chicken recipe) or sushi rice. Citrus: If you like a tangy flavor add a little lime juice to the huli huli chicken marinade. Spicy: Bring the heat by adding sriracha or red pepper flakes to your marinade. Sweet: For a sweeter chicken, add some honey to your marinade.
I love to serve this chicken for parties. My friends love it and I get tons of requests for the recipe!
