Huli Huli Chicken

Huli huli chicken is a guaranteed success. It's easy to make, healthy, and bursting with sweet and tangy tropical flavor. Like teriyaki sauce on a tropical vacation.

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Prep Time 3

Cook Time 15

Course Main Course

Cuisine Hawaiian

Servings 2

Calories 508 kcal

Ingredients

600 grams chicken thighs around 5 chicken thighs
½ cup pineapple juice
1 tbsp minced ginger about 8 grams, roughly 2 inches of fresh ginger
1.5 tbsp minced garlic around 6 cloves
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
¼ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

Make Huli Huli Marinade

Mix everything – pineapple juice, ginger, garlic, ketchup, soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, vinegar, sugar, paprika, and black pepper – together in a bowl OR if you're using whole garlic cloves or nubs of ginger, blend it all together in a food processor or blender.

Marinate the Chicken

Combine the chicken with 80% of the huli huli marinade in a large bowl or a Ziploc bag. Make sure all of the chicken is covered. Poke some holes in the chicken with a fork to help the marinade seep in.
Keep the rest of the sauce to baste the chicken with later.

Cook and Baste

Heat the BBQ grill, a grill pan or skillet to medium-high and coat with a neutral oil.
Cook the chicken for 4-5 minutes on one side and then flip and cook the other side for another 4 – 5 minutes.
Baste with the fresh, reserved huli huli marinade. I like to drizzle it onto the chicken fillets and then use a basting brush to glaze the chicken instead of double-dipping into the fresh marinade.
Flip and do the same to the other side, letting each side cook for just a minute or two between turns.
The total cooking time is about 15 minutes – about 10 minutes to mostly cook the chicken through and then about 5 minutes to baste-flip-baste-flip.
Top the huli huli chicken with green onions, if you want, and serve.

Notes

The most important thing. Never use fresh pineapple juice for huli huli marinade - in fact, for many chicken marinade. Fresh pineapple contains bromelain, an enzyme that will break down the chicken and reduce it to a mushy, chalky mess.

Substitutions. You can substitute soy sauce for tamari sauce or coconut aminos - both are gluten-free. Shaoxing rice wine can be substituted with a dry sherry or even a chicken or veggie stock. Or you can use Worcestershire sauce – although it’s not gluten-free.

Vinegar is flexible - use apple cider, rice or even red wine vinegar. Ditto for sugar - light or dark brown sugar is best. But regular old white sugar is fine. So is honey.

Why does it take so long? It's a couple hours but that's pretty much all marinade time where it sits in the fridge soaking in the sauce. To speed it up, use a fork to poke holes in the chicken. Also, butterfly chicken breast or slash chicken thigh to increase the surface area so the marinade gets in everywhere faster.

Prep it ahead. The easiest way to always have some huli huli chicken ready to go is to triple or quadruple the recipe and make it in advance. You can do this by:

Make a big batch of marinade to go. This marinade is good stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. You can make it in advance and then toss some chicken and marinade sauce together in the morning. Boom - dinner is sorted.
Freeze several bags of huli huli chicken. Combine marinade and huli huli chicken in Ziploc bags and then stick it in the freezer. It'll be good for up to 3 months. When you're fridge is low on supplies, defrost a bag of huli huli chicken in the fridge overnight. It'll marinate as it defrosts. And bam - lunch and/or dinner is sorted.

Don't double dip. We're reserving around 20% of the marinade to use as basting sauce. It's fresh, it's safe. Don't contaminate it by brushing half-cooked chicken with a basting brush and then sticking it back in the reserve marinade!

Instead, drizzle the marinade on chicken pieces and then use the basting brush to spread the sauce around. Don't stick it back in the marinade sauce.

Want to re-use the leftover marinade? You totally can. Just toss it in a sauce pan and bring it to boil on the stove top. It needs to be maintained at a full, rolling boil for about 5 minutes or until it reaches a temperature of 165°F (75°C). That’s the temp that kills foodborne bacteria so you want to get it there to be safe.

Use the sauce for extra basting OR just throw in the grilled chicken and let it simmer for a couple more minutes.

Can I bake it instead? For a hands-off, no baste-and-flip muss and fuss, you can do this:

Chicken breast: Preheat oven to 450°F (232°C). Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet or foil sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. The thicker the breasts, the closer you’ll get to 20 minutes. Brush with the reserved marinade and serve.
Skin-off, boneless chicken thighs: Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Place chicken thighs on a baking sheet or foil sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Broil on high for an extra 2 to 3 minutes for a little charring. Brush with the reserved marinade and serve.
Skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs: Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C). Place chicken thighs, skin down on a baking sheet or foil sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Baste and turn the chicken over and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. For crispier skin, turn the broiler to high and broil for an additional 2 to 5 minutes. Brush with the reserved marinade and serve.