Grilled Huli Huli Chicken Recipe

Name: Grilled Huli Huli Chicken Recipe
Prep time: 250 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 265 min
Ingredients: ½ cup pineapple juice; ½ cup brown sugar; ⅓ cup ketchup; ⅓ cup low sodium soy sauce; ¼ teaspoon ground ginger; 2 teaspoons minced garlic; 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Grilled Huli Huli Chicken is a great take on teriyaki sauce with a combination of sweet, tangy, and savory flavors all in one great recipe!

Grilled Huli Huli Chicken is a great take on teriyaki sauce with a combination of sweet, tangy, and savory flavors all in one great recipe to create perfectly bold flavor.

Huli Huli sauce recipes can be used with this grilled chicken recipe for marinade, or use the reserved marinade and turn it into sauce for stir fry and serve with rice.

Enjoy this easy grilled recipe during the summer for a refreshing yet savory chicken dinner.

Ingredients needed to make Grilled Huli Huli Chicken.

Recipe Ingredients:

Juice: for this recipe, you will need to use pineapple juice from the bottle or fresh pineapple juice
Sugar: using brown sugar or coconut sugar that you have on hand
Sauce: a combination of ketchup and soy sauce for the huli huli marinade
Seasoning: use ground ginger and minced garlic pantry ingredients to add the perfect flavor
Protein: use this marinade recipe with boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs

Pouring marinade ingredients into a white mixing bowl.

A wooden spoon mixing Huli Huli marinade together in a white bowl.

How To Make Huli Huli Chicken:

Make marinade:

In a mixing bowl, whisk together pineapple juice, brown sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic.
Pour the soy sauce mixture into a large resealable plastic bag and add the chicken.

Marinade chicken:

Seal the bag and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours (or overnight).
Remove bag from the fridge, drain and discard the used marinade from the chicken.

Cook chicken:

Grill chicken over medium-high heat on your gas grill (or charcoal grill) for 6-8 minutes on each side or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165℉.

A ziploc bag full of chicken breasts with Huli Huli marinade.

Top view of a plate of Grilled Huli Huli Chicken Breasts surrounded by slices of fresh pineapple.

Expert Tips:

If you aren’t up for grilling but don’t want to miss out on this awesome recipe, you can use other cooking methods. Try baking this in the preheated oven at 400℉ until fully cooked through and the juices run clear. It will be around 25-30 minutes.
Double the recipe for the sauce if you want to reserve the remaining marinade and turn it into a sauce, simmering it in a large saucepan with a cornstarch slurry.
A simple trick to getting the sauce mixed well (especially if you are using fresh pineapple slices) is to throw everything into the food processor and blend until smooth.
Crushed pineapple could be used in a pinch with the original recipe

Frequently Asked Questions for Making Huli Huli Chicken:

Can I Make A Sauce Out Of The Marinade?

This particular recipe would be great as a dipping sauce or stir fry sauce. Just leave out the chicken and combine the rest of the ingredients into a small saucepan with a cornstarch slurry (1 tbsp cornstarch with 2 tbsp of cold water) and stir over low heat until it thickens to your personal preference.

Can I Use Fresh Juice In This Recipe?

Yes! Fresh juice will give this pineapple juice base marinade the best results. You can do this by blending up slices of pineapple until smooth.

Cut of chicken to use:

When making this recipe, you could also use boneless chicken thighs if you like dark meat or chicken drumsticks. Either way, this huli-huli chicken will turn out great with this delicious marinade.
This would also be perfect to slather on chicken halves, marinate in the sweet and savory sauce, and bake in the oven or air fryer at 375℉ until the chicken reaches 165℉.

What if I Don’t Have Ground Ginger?

If you don’t have ground ginger, the other great option for this huli huli chicken marinade would be to use fresh ginger to get that same delicious flavor

Storage Instructions:

Fridge: Place any leftover chicken into an airtight container for up to 5 days.

What to serve with this recipe:

Grilled Huli Huli Chicken Recipe

4.89 from 9 votes

Grilled Huli Huli Chicken is a great take on teriyaki sauce with a combination of sweet, tangy, and savory flavors all in one great recipe!

6 Servings

Prep Time 4 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 4 25

Save Print Pin

Ingredients

Equipment

Instructions

In a mixing bowl, whisk together pineapple juice, brown sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, ginger and garlic.
Pour marinade into a large resealable plastic bag and add chicken.
Seal bag and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours (or overnight).
Remove bag from fridge, drain and discard marinade from chicken.
Grill chicken over medium-high heat for 6-8 minutes on each side or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 165℉.

Notes

If you aren’t up for grilling but don’t want to miss out on this awesome recipe, you can also bake this in the oven at 400℉ until fully cooked through, and the juices run clear. It will be around 25-30 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 233 kcal · Carbohydrates: 26 g · Protein: 25 g · Fat: 3 g · Saturated Fat: 1 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 72 mg · Sodium: 730 mg · Potassium: 541 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 23 g · Vitamin A: 103 IU · Vitamin C: 4 mg · Calcium: 30 mg · Iron: 1 mg

Cuisine: American

Cost: $10

Author: Steph Loaiza

Course: Main Course

Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.

Questions & Reviews

alice says:

This was phenomenal! Followed the directions exactly and served it with grilled pineapple on the side. Everyone in the family loved it!

Ulei presat la rece says:

It looks so tasty!

Heidi says:

My family loved this! I made a second batch of marinade, added some corn starch and cooked it on the stove top to make a sauce to add to the chicken after it was grilled. Delicious!

Aileen says:

This looks so good! I love anything that reminds me of my honeymoon in Hawaii!

daryl says:

wow.....

Jen says:

This is by far one of the best chicken recipes I've made in a long time. Overnight marinade makes it very juicy. Even my picky two-year-old will try it! Thank you for the post!

Donna says:

I do almost exactly the same thing, minus the brown sugar, to marinate flank steak.

Sabrina B says:

Nice memory, and great looking recipe, thank you for this!

happy wheels says:

My family loved this! I made a second batch of marinade, added some corn starch and cooked it on the stove top to make a sauce to add to the chicken after it was grilled. Delicious!

Katie says:

Can I bake this chicken since I cannot grill it?

Dawn Everson says:

Can this be baked? If so temp and how long.

Cyd says:

You can bake this in the oven. Bake at 400 until cooked through. Until no longer pink and juices run clear. About 25-30 minutes.

Cyd says:

You could also bake this chicken.

Traci Kenworth says:

These look yummy!

Cristina says:

Has anyone ever not been able to marinate it at least 4 hrs? If so, did it turn out ok?

Teri Rempel says:

We tried it and loved it! Every year we spend 2 weeks in Maui and for the first time in 17 years , we couldn’t go because of the pandemic. So we bought a commercial shave ice machine and made Hulu Hulu chicken and fried rice for July 4th! It’s not Maui but it sure tastes good! Thank you!!!

Cyd says:

Hi Teri! I think you just earned "Mom of the Year" with that cute July 4th celebration. Shave ice at home would be so fun. Hoping you make it to Maui soon! Go away Corona!!!

Rebekah Carney says:

Hi. Could I marinate this chicken as written in the recipe and cook it in the Insta pot using pineapple juice as the liquid? Or Chicken broth?

Momma Cyd says:

You should be able to cook the chicken in the Instant Pot. It just needs to have the liquid for the instant pot.

Tracy Perry says:

If you do this in the oven do you cover it with foil?

Momma Cyd says:

We like to cover it with foil to keep it from drying out.

Amy says:

Can I make ahead and freeze ?

Steven Sekol says:

I saw someone else asked about instant pot, could we use the marinade for the liquid to cook the chicken in? How long?

Momma Cyd says:

Sure, just place in an airtight freezer container.

Momma Cyd says:

You can cook this in the instant pot too. Cook for 12 minutes if fresh and 15 minutes if frozen. You can reduce sauce down at the end to thicken and pour over the chicken, or can make additional sauce to serve with the chicken. Whatever you prefer.

teresa says:

can i use drumsticks instead of breast?

Momma Cyd says:

You could, but you will need to adjust the cooking time for drumsticks. We have only made this recipe using chicken breasts.

Natalie says:

I made this recipe using chicken thighs and cooked in the oven. It was soo tender and delicious. I will definitely keep this recipe.

Deb Ducker says:

Could this be made in the air fryer?

Momma Cyd says:

This can be cooked in the air fryer. Use the air fry setting and at 360°(F) for 16-20 minutes, depending on size. Flip the chicken after 10 minutes. You want the internal temperature of the chicken to be 165°(F) when measured with an instant-read thermometer.

Ron Hurst says:

Can this be grilled on a black stone grill

Momma Cyd says:

Sure, just cook it as you would other chicken breasts on the Blackstone.

Joy Hansen says:

My family is picky but this recipe had all of them saying it should be in our regular rotation. Used a grill pan and finished off in oven. Also made a batch of sauce on the side to dip and that was a hit.

Donna T says:

The reviews said someone substituted mirin for sherry. I see no sherry in the recipe. Is that why mine is so bland? It's very cold here and I didn't want to get the George Foreman out to grill so I airfried it.

Bobbi @ Six Sisters says:

We don't use sherry in this recipe, but you are free to experiment if you want to add Mirin or Sherry

NG says:

I can't wait to try this recipe! PS.. you might want to spell check the answer to "Can I make sauce out of the recipe?" 🫣🫣

Join The Discussion

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

alice says:

This was phenomenal! Followed the directions exactly and served it with grilled pineapple on the side. Everyone in the family loved it!
Ulei presat la rece says:

It looks so tasty!
Heidi says:

My family loved this! I made a second batch of marinade, added some corn starch and cooked it on the stove top to make a sauce to add to the chicken after it was grilled. Delicious!
Aileen says:

This looks so good! I love anything that reminds me of my honeymoon in Hawaii!
daryl says:

wow.....
Jen says:

This is by far one of the best chicken recipes I've made in a long time. Overnight marinade makes it very juicy. Even my picky two-year-old will try it! Thank you for the post!
Donna says:

I do almost exactly the same thing, minus the brown sugar, to marinate flank steak.
Sabrina B says:

Nice memory, and great looking recipe, thank you for this!
happy wheels says:

My family loved this! I made a second batch of marinade, added some corn starch and cooked it on the stove top to make a sauce to add to the chicken after it was grilled. Delicious!
Katie says:

Can I bake this chicken since I cannot grill it?
Dawn Everson says:

Can this be baked? If so temp and how long.
Cyd says:

You can bake this in the oven. Bake at 400 until cooked through. Until no longer pink and juices run clear. About 25-30 minutes.
Cyd says:

You could also bake this chicken.
Traci Kenworth says:

These look yummy!
Cristina says:

Has anyone ever not been able to marinate it at least 4 hrs? If so, did it turn out ok?
Teri Rempel says:

We tried it and loved it! Every year we spend 2 weeks in Maui and for the first time in 17 years , we couldn’t go because of the pandemic. So we bought a commercial shave ice machine and made Hulu Hulu chicken and fried rice for July 4th! It’s not Maui but it sure tastes good! Thank you!!!
Cyd says:

Hi Teri! I think you just earned "Mom of the Year" with that cute July 4th celebration. Shave ice at home would be so fun. Hoping you make it to Maui soon! Go away Corona!!!
Rebekah Carney says:

Hi. Could I marinate this chicken as written in the recipe and cook it in the Insta pot using pineapple juice as the liquid? Or Chicken broth?
Momma Cyd says:

You should be able to cook the chicken in the Instant Pot. It just needs to have the liquid for the instant pot.
Tracy Perry says:

If you do this in the oven do you cover it with foil?
Momma Cyd says:

We like to cover it with foil to keep it from drying out.
Amy says:

Can I make ahead and freeze ?
Steven Sekol says:

I saw someone else asked about instant pot, could we use the marinade for the liquid to cook the chicken in? How long?
Momma Cyd says:

Sure, just place in an airtight freezer container.
Momma Cyd says:

You can cook this in the instant pot too. Cook for 12 minutes if fresh and 15 minutes if frozen. You can reduce sauce down at the end to thicken and pour over the chicken, or can make additional sauce to serve with the chicken. Whatever you prefer.
teresa says:

can i use drumsticks instead of breast?
Momma Cyd says:

You could, but you will need to adjust the cooking time for drumsticks. We have only made this recipe using chicken breasts.
Natalie says:

I made this recipe using chicken thighs and cooked in the oven. It was soo tender and delicious. I will definitely keep this recipe.
Deb Ducker says:

Could this be made in the air fryer?
Momma Cyd says:

This can be cooked in the air fryer. Use the air fry setting and at 360°(F) for 16-20 minutes, depending on size. Flip the chicken after 10 minutes. You want the internal temperature of the chicken to be 165°(F) when measured with an instant-read thermometer.
Ron Hurst says:

Can this be grilled on a black stone grill
Momma Cyd says:

Sure, just cook it as you would other chicken breasts on the Blackstone.
Joy Hansen says:

My family is picky but this recipe had all of them saying it should be in our regular rotation. Used a grill pan and finished off in oven. Also made a batch of sauce on the side to dip and that was a hit.
Donna T says:

The reviews said someone substituted mirin for sherry. I see no sherry in the recipe. Is that why mine is so bland? It's very cold here and I didn't want to get the George Foreman out to grill so I airfried it.
Bobbi @ Six Sisters says:

We don't use sherry in this recipe, but you are free to experiment if you want to add Mirin or Sherry
NG says:

I can't wait to try this recipe! PS.. you might want to spell check the answer to "Can I make sauce out of the recipe?" 🫣🫣