This huli huli chicken is chicken thighs marinated in a mixture of pineapple juice, soy sauce, brown sugar and spices, then grilled to tender perfection. A tropical meal that’s easy to make and is sure to please any crowd!
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.
When the weather is nice, I find myself spending a lot of time outdoors at the grill. This chicken is one of my all time favorite grilling recipes. The marinade takes just minutes to make, and the end result is the most tender and juicy chicken you’ll ever eat!
Enjoy with this chicken with grilled side dishes like grilled mushrooms, grilled sweet potatoes and grilled corn on the cob!
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.
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.
Quick Tip
Use a meat thermometer to make sure the thickest part of your chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
Recipe FAQs
Huli huli chicken is a Hawaiian dish that consists of marinated chicken that’s grilled and basted with sauce. In Hawaii, you can often find whole chickens cooking on spits over the grill, but in this case we’re using boneless chicken thighs to simplify things a bit.
Chicken needs to marinate for at least 1 hour, but I like to leave the chicken in this marinade for up to 24 hours if I have the time. You don’t want to go past 24 hours as the acid in the pineapple juice will eventually break down the chicken.
You should cook chicken thighs to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. The easiest way to gauge if your chicken is done is to insert a digital thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken. Once you’ve reached the correct temperature, remove the chicken from the heat and let it rest for 3 minutes before you slice it.
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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!
More Great Chicken Dinners
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Sweet Chili Chicken
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Huli Huli Chicken
Ingredients
- 20 ounce can sliced pineapple
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh garlic minced
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1/4 cup green onions sliced
Instructions
- Drain the pineapple, reserving 1 cup of the pineapple juice. Save the pineapple slices for later use.
- Place the pineapple juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, ketchup and sesame oil in a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Reserve 2 tablespoons of the marinade in the refrigerator in a small bowl. This will be used later on to baste the chicken.
- Stir the garlic and ginger into the large bowl of marinade. Add the chicken thighs and toss to coat.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to 24 hours.
- Preheat an outdoor grill or grill pan to medium heat.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade and place on the grill. Cook for 6-8 minutes per side or until chicken is done, basting occasionally with the reserved marinade.
- Place the pineapple slices on the grill. Cook for 2 minutes per side.
- Place the pineapple and chicken on a plate. Sprinkle with green onions, then serve.
Notes
- 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.
- Use a meat thermometer to make sure the thickest part of your chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Make sure to purchase sliced pineapple that’s packed in juice, not the type that’s packed in heavy syrup.
Yummy! Just made this for dinner and my family loved it! I will be putting this in our dinner rotation.
I ran out of fresh garlic and ginger. Can I use ground ginger and garlic powder? Also can I use crushed pineapple.
Yes use 1/3 of the amount of dried ginger and garlic!
when cooking it in the oven so i put the pineapple and chicken together and it cooks together?
Yes add it during the last 5-7 minutes of the cooking time.
Has anyone tried this in an airfryer? If so, time/temp?
Hi. I love this recipe and make it a lot. Can you tell me how many ounces of chicken is one serving?
It should be 4 ounces!
Perfect amount of savory and sweet! The marinade was very flavorful
This was absolutely delicious! I did add a 1 tbsp of rice wine vinegar to the marinade as I had seen it was part of the original recipe from the Hawaiian chef. Thank you so much for sharing! We ate it all up with Coconut Jasmine Rice and Grilled Asparagus.
So incredibly delicious and tender! The only thing I left out where the green onions. Total crowd pleaser!
We made this last night for dinner and it was delicious. My husband grilled it. So happy a friend shared this recipe with me. Will definitely be making it again and again.
We loved the grilled pineapple that went with the chicken! Really comes out nice and it was easy to make!
If cooking in an oven, what temp & for how long?
400 degrees F for 20-30 minutes!
Dumb question….. do you bake it on a cookie tray? Or in a pan? Do you spray the cookie tray or pan before baking in the oven?
Thank you
You can make it on a sheet pan coated with cooking spray.
This is such a great weeknight meal!
What a great mixture of sweet and smokey! My kids love pineapple; I am looking forward to making this for them! Sounds amazing!
I’m having a party for a crowd. Can I make this ahead and then just heat it up slightly ahead of time? What are your suggestions? Thank you 🙂
That should work just fine, I’d bake it covered at 325 until warmed through!
Love the perfect balance of sweet and savory with this meal! You have me dreaming of a tropical vacation, indeed! Delicious!
That sauce and that grilled pineapple…YUM! Well done!
This chicken is calling my name!! That marinade looks absolutely delicious!
I am drooling over this chicken dish! I love all these flavors! So delish!
There is a new Hawaiian restaurant here and I LOVE their Huli Huli chicken! I can’t wait to try this at home and see how it goes!
What do you serve with this? Need help!
Serve with rice and a green veggie such as asparagus or broccoli!