Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Huli Huli Chicken (Hawaiian Tropical Chicken) Recipe
Huli Huli Chicken – you possibly can’t miss the tropical flavours on this Hawaiian chicken dish! A pineapple marinade with loads of contemporary ginger and garlic injects sweet-savoury flavour and makes for a wonderful glaze. Good BBQ grilled or pan seared.
Serve it up with a facet of pineapple rice or macaroni salad as you hula dance your solution to the desk (you gained’t have the ability to assist it! 🤷🏻♀️)
Huli Huli Chicken – tropical meals!
There’s simply no likelihood that you just prepare dinner this with out doing slightly hula dance.
It’s the vibe. It’s the scent. It’s the satisfying dripping, shiny glaze, the caramelised edges, the anticipation of the grins and sheer happiness on the faces of these lucky sufficient to eat this.
That is simply the type of meals that simply makes everybody blissful! Tropical meals has that method about it, don’t you suppose??
So simply give in to the temptation – and swish these hips!!
“Huli” means “flip” in Hawaiian, and refers back to the conventional methodology of cooking this with a grilling basket, turning it over sizzling coals.
Hawaiian Huli Huli chicken marinade
This tropical recipe is all concerning the marinade – and there’s two key secret elements right here:
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pineapple juice – for tropical flavour and candy. Tip: use the juice from canned pineapple slices, and use the pineapple for garnish, as pictured! Should use lengthy shelf life pineapple juice, not contemporary – see observe under; and
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sherry – or Chinese language cooking wine or Mirin. I’ve made it with and with out – with knocks it out of the park. Don’t skip it! (Non alcoholic sub – chicken inventory. Yup, actually.)
IMPORTANT NOTE about pineapple juice: don’t use contemporary pineapple juice bought within the fridge, or puree your individual utilizing contemporary pineapple. Contemporary pineapple comprises a robust pure tenderiser that can make your chicken method too tender. That pure chemical (referred to as bromelain) is killed within the strategy of getting ready pineapple juice for lengthy shelf life, so use any type of pineapple juice bought in aisles (ie not in fridge) – juice of canned, vac packed juice (poppers or comparable) or bottles.
How lengthy to marinade chicken
3 hours is the naked minimal, however you’ll be most rewarded with 24 hours – even as much as 48 hours – so the marinade actually will get into the chicken flesh.
Nevertheless, should you don’t have the time, 3 hours is sufficient to get the flavour infusion began, then simply do further beneficiant basting.
How one can make Huli Huli Chicken
Nothing groundbreaking right here – marinade the chicken, reserve some for basting, prepare dinner the chicken on the BBQ or range, basting steadily so that you get a stunning glaze.
Why reserve for basting? For hygiene causes – as a result of the marinade will get tainted with uncooked chicken. You’ll be able to baste utilizing the used marinade, however it’s a must to prepare dinner the basted facet for 1 1/2 – 2 minutes after every baste. Which, for this specific recipe, doesn’t work as a result of we need to baste-flip-baste-flip steadily. (Similar for some other chicken marinade you need to baste steadily, just like the Honey Soy Chicken I shared final week).
Tropical sides for Huli Huli Chicken!
Right here’s a couple of options for on-theme dishes to serve on the facet. Assume – contemporary, juicy, lime, coconut, mango, vibrant! (Tip: Thai and Vietnamese flavours are very suited to Tropical theme menus)
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Pineapple fried rice from final week – which I truly shared in anticipation of this recipe. Not solely is it tropical, you should utilize the juice from a can of pineapple items to make this recipe, and the pineapple to make the rice. Although on this case, I exploit a can of pineapple slices – juice for the marinade, grilled the slices for garnish, as pictured.
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Extra starchy sides – Coconut lime rice, Prawn mango summer time salad (skip the prawns if you’d like),
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Corn avocado salad, grilled corn, Cowboy bean salad, vermicelli noodle salad, cucumber salad
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Heat climate favourites – potato salad, coleslaw, macaroni
And lastly, simply in case you’re eyeing off this Huli Huli chicken in anticipation of an enormous tropical feast, listed below are a couple of desserts and drink options!
Dessert concepts
Cocktails for Tropical Events!
Get pleasure from! – Johnsat x
Watch the best way to make it
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg / 3 lb chicken thighs (or breast, Note 1)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup pineapple juice, canned or bottled (NOT FRESH!) , unsweetened (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 tbsp ginger , freshly grated (Note 3)
- 1 1/2 tbsp garlic , freshly grated (Note 3)
- 1/2 cup tomato ketchup (or Aussie tomato sauce)
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup sherry or Chinese cooking wine (Note 4)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp Sriracha
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar (or cider vinegar)
- 1 tbsp sesame oil , toasted
- Sliced green onion
- Pineapple slices , grilled for 3 minutes on each side for lines
Instructions
- Mix marinade, set aside 3/4 cup (185 ml) for basting.
- Pour the rest over the chicken in a glass or ceramic container (not metal or plastic), coat chicken then marinade 24 – 48 hours.
- Brush BBQ grills with oil then preheat to medium high, or heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
- Drain excess marinade from chicken, place on BBQ/skillet.
- Cook the first side for 2 – 3 minutes until golden (adjust heat if browning too fast), then flip and cook for 2 minutes.
- Baste (dab) generously with reserved marinade, then flip and cook for 1 minute.
- Repeat this every minute or so for a total cook time of 10 minutes, or until internal temp in the thickest part registers 75°C/167°F (for thigh) or 65°C / 150°F (for breast).
- Transfer chicken to a plate, loosely cover with foil and rest for 3 minutes before serving, garnished with green onion if desired.
Notes
1. Chicken – boneless thigh is best for lovely caramelisation when cooked, but breast is very good too.
2. Pineapple juice – must use canned or bottled/vac packed from aisle, not the fridge. DO NOT use real, fresh pineapple juice (ie fridge bottle, unsweetened) or puree fresh pineapple – pineapple contains a very strong tenderiser which will over tenderise the chicken (the tenderising agent gets killed when canned or bottled with long shelf life).
PRO TIP: Use a can of sliced pineapple in natural juice (unsweetened). 1 430g/14oz can has almost exactly 3/4 cup of juice, then I use the slices for garnish. (Golden Circle pineapple slices in natural juice – Australia).
If your can is slightly short on juice, that’s ok – use whatever you can extract (as long as you have 1/2 cup or so, that’s enough).
If you can only get sweetened juice, reduce sugar by half. If you can only get canned pineapple slices in syrup, skip the sugar completely.
Alternative: Use a can of pineapple PIECES and use the pieces to make pineapple fried rice, excellent side dish for this. Double duty!
3. Ginger/garlic grating tip – if you have a microplane, use that with unpeeled ginger and garlic. As you grate, the skin just kind of naturally peels to the side, leaving you with just the flesh grated.
Jar paste will work fine too but for this recipe, the fresh ginger flavour really does make it special.
4. Sherry or Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing wine) – the secret ingredient that makes this extra good. I’ve tried it with and without – and the difference is noticeable.
SUBSTITUTES: Mirin (reduce sugar by 1 tbsp), low sodium chicken stock (increase to 1/2 cup).
5. Nutrition per serving, assuming 6 servings. Assumed half the marinade ended up on or in the chicken – in reality it’s probably less. Reduce sodium by using low salt soy and ketchup.
Did You Make This Recipe?
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