Huli Huli Chicken is bursting with a tropical sweet and savory flavor. The marinade is quick and easy, this recipe will leave everyone satisfied. Bring a little bit of the islands home to the dinner table with this delicious chicken!
Okay this chicken has been on my to-do list for some time now. I’ve made it over and over because the kids love it and I just never transferred it to the blog, until today ????.
Summer meals are some of my absolute favorites, hello grilling season, and the best seasonal produce!
The marinade for Huli Huli chicken is easy to make and the result is tender and juicy chicken. The chicken thighs are marinated in a mixture of pineapple juice, soy sauce, ketchup, toasted sesame oil, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, and agave. I used agave to keep the recipe refined sugar-free however you could use coconut or brown sugar if you don’t have agave on hand.
What is Huli Huli Chicken
Huli Huli chicken is a Hawaiian chicken dish. The first time I tried it was in Hawaii many years ago! They use whole chickens cooking on spits over the grill and it is so dang delicious. For the sake of not having that setup, haha, we are using boneless and skinless chicken thighs.
How to make Huli Huli Chicken
I marinated this chicken overnight so it could soak up all the delicious flavor.
This recipe starts by whisking together your marinade. Reserve 4 tbsp of your marinade for basting. Place your chicken thighs into the marinade and refrigerate for 4 hours to overnight. The longer you marinate the more flavor your chicken will have. Remove chicken from the marinade and grill it 7-8 minutes per side. Baste each side of the chicken with your reserved marinade while grilling. Once the chicken is done remove and let rest covered with foil. Throw the pineapple on the grill. Plate the chicken and pineapple and sprinkle with green onion, serve immediately.
I serve mine with white rice and Healthier Hawaiian Macaroni Salad or Easy Macaroni Salad.
Recipe Tips
- If you’re not using an outdoor grill I highly recommend using a cast-iron skillet to give the chicken a nice char taste.
- I used fresh pineapple juice and rings, however, canned pineapple works great. Make sure you purchase unsweetened pineapple in juice NOT heavy syrup.
Huli Huli Chicken
Huli Huli Chicken is bursting with a tropical sweet and savory combination. The marinade is quick and easy, this recipe will leave everyone satisfied. Bring a little bit of the islands home to the dinner table with this delicious chicken!
Ingredients
- 3 pounds chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
- 1 cup pineapple juice, fresh or canned ( 20 ounce can unsweetened pineapple) reserve rings for grilling
- 1/3 cup soy sauce ( can sub coconut aminos)
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup agave ( can sub brown or coconut sugar)
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tsp crushed ginger
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 green onion sprigs, sliced, for serving
Instructions
- If you're using canned pineapple drain liquid reserving 1 cup. Save Pineapple rings for grilling later. With a fresh pineapple go ahead and juice 1 cup, and peel and slice remaining pineapple into rings for grilling later.
- In a medium bowl whisk together pineapple juice, soy sauce, ketchup, agave, toasted sesame oil, crushed ginger, and minced garlic. Reserve 4 tbsp of the marinade for basting.
- Place chicken thighs into the marinade and coat. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 4 + hours.
- Grill chicken 7-8 minutes per side, basting the chicken with remaining marinade for the last 4 mins. Cook until chicken is done and no longer pink. Remove chicken and let rest covered.
- Grill pineapple rings 2 minutes per side.
- Plate pineapple and chicken. Garnish with green onions. Serve immediately, enjoy!
