Our Huli Huli Chicken is the perfect Summer recipe bringing the flavors of Hawaii onto your home grill. Huli Huli chicken is a classic Hawaiian dish prepared on the grill using a tropical blend of sweet, spicy, finger licking flavors that cooks in no time. This is the perfect dish to ensure your cookout or July fourth celebration stands for its memorable grilled foods!
Adding Huli Huli Chicken to your BBQ menu will elevate your ordinary cookout into a Hawaiian luau! The sweet and spicy sauce combined with the slight char on the marinated chicken and pineapple creates a texture and complex flavor that will transport your guests to the islands. It’s up to you if you share how easily the dish was to prepare.
What is Huli Huli Chicken?
The dish which originates in Hawaii is one of the most famous Hawaiian recipes. Huli in Hawaiian means turn. The dish traditionally uses a whole chicken that is constantly turned and basted over an open fire. The recipe is variable but generally consists of a tomato based sauce, frequently ketchup, combined with Asian seasonings, spices and pineapple. The sugar content of the sauce makes it easy to burn, hence the need to Huli Huli.
Is Huli Huli Chicken healthy?
Chicken is a healthy, low fat source of protein. The marinade and sauce does add sugar to the dish, so if that is a personal health concern, this recipe may not work for you. However, Huli Huli chicken is featured on the National Institute of Health website, so the dish is viewed as healthy by this agency.
Is Huli Huli Chicken spicy?
The sauce is very sweet but also includes Sriracha that does add some spice. We do not consider the dish spicy, but if you are sensitive to heat you can reduce the amount of Sriracha to suit your taste. We think that you will find the tangy, sweet and spicy flavors combined with the aromatics from the garlic and ginger to be the perfect combination.
Is Huli Huli Chicken gluten free?
The answer depends on the ingredients used for the sauce and marinade. If you require gluten free, you must ensure the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup or bbq sauce is gluten free. Tomato sauce can be substituted for ketchup or barbeque sauce if you cannot find gluten free options.
Can I make Huli Huli chicken without ketchup?
Yes. Although the traditional recipe utilizes ketchup, our recipe substitutes Japanese barbecue sauce in place of ketchup. We feel this particular sauce enhances the flavor of the dish. If you desire to go traditional, feel free to use ketchup in place of the Japanese barbecue sauce in our recipe. Lastly, to reduce the sugar content you can also substitute plain tomato sauce for the ketchup or Japanese barbecue sauce in the marinade and sauce.
Can I make Huli Huli Chicken in the oven or air fryer?
The traditional manner of preparing this dish is over an open fire. Using a BBQ grill is a convenient and effective alternative to preparing this dish at home. That said, you can cook this dish in an oven or air fryer, though you will lose the smokey deliciousness added by this cooking method. For this reason, we do not recommend this method of preparation.
However, should you desire to prepare your chicken in the oven or air fryer, simply place the marinated chicken into the air fryer, cook at 395F for 7-9 minutes. Flip chicken and cook for an additional 6-9 minutes or until the chicken is done. Remove and coat with sauce. If using an oven, bake at 400F for 4 minutes, flip, baste and cook an addition 3-5 minutes until done.
Can I serve Huli Huli Chicken with rice or ribs?
These are terrific accompaniments to this dish. The sweet and tangy sauce can also be slathered on ribs. The meats can be served over rice, salad, or cauliflower rice for a healthier and low carb alternative. In fact, this dish works with most sides we associate with barbecues. Try corn on the cob, macaroni salad, baked beans, cole slaw, Thai or Asian salad or noodles. Cover the dish with extra Huli sauce.
What is the difference between Huli sauce and teriyaki?
Huli sauce is essentially Hawaiian teriyaki sauce. However, by simply looking at each sauce it is obvious they are different. Teriyaki sauce is a dark brown color whereby the Huli sauce is a reddish brown. Both are sweet and salty , but the main difference is due to the presence of tomato sauce or ketchup in the Huli sauce.
Is Huli Huli Chicken easy to make?
Yes! Follow our recipe below and turn your everday chicken on the grill into a Hawaiian luau! The Huli sauce is simply amazing and can be used on so many meats, vegetables and sides. We suggest you make extra sauce and throw it into the fridge to use throughout the week.
How do I make Huli Huli Chicken?
This recipe is quite simple yet deliciously different. The chicken will be sweet, tangy and finger licking good! Once you try it, this will become the best way to grill chicken this summer.
Chicken thighs or breasts can be used. Thighs are more forgiving on the grill as the breast will dry out quickly if slightly over cooked. To prepare, the first step is to make the marinade and sauce. We suggest you make extra for the table.
Once sauce is prepared, cut the chicken into approximately 2 inch cubes. Place chicken in a ziplock and cover with sauce. Be certain to make enough sauce to baste while cooking and have some available to add on the table. Also, separate the sauce that will touch the raw chicken while basting from the sauce you will use on the table. The chicken should be marinated a minimum of 2 hours, however, overnight will yield the best flavor and results. Cut pineapple (fresh or canned) into similar sized pieces as the chicken and set aside.
To prepare the skewers, if using wood soak in water to limit burning of the skewer. Fresh or canned pineapple can be used. Start by placing chicken then pineapple onto skewers. Fill each skewer with the combination of chicken and pineapple. Place completed skewer onto a plate and pour some of the marinade over the chicken.
Preheat grill to medium heat. Be careful as an overly hot grill will burn the marinated chicken. Place skewers on grill. Turn once they begin to brown. Baste with sauce. When chicken is done remove from grill. Serve along with your favorite sides and make sure to add some extra sauce to the table (do not use sauce used for basting the chicken) for dipping. Enjoy!
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Grilled Huli Huli Hawaiian Chicken
4
servings30
minutes15
minutesA simple recipe that will turn your ordinary BBQ or cookout into a Hawaiian luau!
Ingredients
3 large chicken breasts defrosted
1 20 oz can pineapple slices or fresh pineapple cut into chunks
4 12 inch skewers ( if using wooden skewers, soak in water for at least 30 minutes to reduce burning)
- HULI SAUCE:
1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tbs sesame oil
1/4 cup Sriracha
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup Bachan’s Japanese BBQ sauce
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup Mike’s Hot Honey
2 Tbs ginger minced
1 Tbs garlic
Directions
- Make the sauce by combining all the ingredients in a bowl. Whisk together. Remove 1/3 cup for marinade and another 1/3 cup for basting. Set both bowls aside. Any leftover sauce can be used for dipping at the table or refrigerated for a later date.
- Cut chicken into 2 inch pieces. Place cut chicken into a ziplock bag and cover with 1/3 cup of marinade. Marinade a minimum of an hour but preferably overnight in refrigerator.
- Soak wooden skewers to reduce burning. If using canned pineapple, cut each sliced pineapple into 4 pieces. Remove marinated chicken from refrigerator. Thread a piece of chicken followed by pineapple onto skewer. Continue until skewer is full. When all chicken is used, preheat grill to medium heat.
- Place skewers onto medium hot grill. Grill for 3-5 minutes on each side. Using the other 1/3 cup of sauce, brush chicken and pineapple every other minute. Be careful not to burn as the marinade has a tendency to burn if left unattended. As chicken begins to brown, continue to turn and baste. Continue for about 10 minutes or until chicken is done. Serve immediately.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Always make extra Huli sauce. It goes great with most proteins on the grill or even as a stir fry sauce.
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