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Grilled Huli Huli chicken is a delicious Hawaiian BBQ recipe. The chicken is marinated in a huli huli sauce and then slowly roasted by turning it over on your grill.
What does Huli Huli mean?
It’s called “huli huli” because huli is the Hawaiian word for “turn” and huli huli chicken is turned constantly on the grill as it is cooked. It is often also called Hawaiian BBQ.
Ingredients Needed
- Chicken Thighs, boneless, skinless. You can also use chicken breasts although I recommend using thighs.
- Pineapple juice. I used canned juice.
- Soy Sauce. You can use regular soy sauce or low sodium soy sauce.
- Brown Sugar. Adds a nice sweetness and depth to the flavor.
- Rice Vinegar. Can substitute with white vinegar or apple cider vinegar if needed
- Ketchup
- Garlic, fresh minced
- Ginger, fresh minced. If you. need to use dry ginger, use half the amount.
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Cornstarch
- Green Onions, for garnish
How to Make Huli Huli Chicken
- Mix together all the marinade ingredients (everything but the chicken, cornstarch and green onion.
- Set aside 1 cup of marinade.
- Place chicken in a bowl and pour remaining marinade over You can also place the chicken and marinade in a zippered plastic bag.
- Refrigerate for 3 hours to overnight.
- In a sauce pan combine 1 cup of reserved marinade to make huli huli sauce,
How To Make Huli Huli Sauce
Hawaiian BBQ Sauce or Huli Huli Sauce is a wonderful combination of pineapple juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and a few other lovely flavors!
When you are ready to grill the chicken, add a tablespoon of cornstarch to the reserved 1 cup of marinade, heat it up on the stove top over medium heat, and stir until thickened.
This is your huli huli sauce that you will baste the chicken with while you are grilling.
Tips for cooking on the grill
- Prepare grill: I use a gas grill. Clean the grill grates before using. Preheat to a medium high heat.
- Place chicken on grill: Place chicken pieces on grill leaving space around each. Cover with lid and allow to cook for several minutes, then turn chicken and baste.
- Continue turning and basting until chicken reaches 165 degrees F. This should take about 15 minutes.
- Remove chicken from marinade and discard marinade.
- Place chicken on grill over medium heat. Grill chicken on each side, turning several times and brushing chicken with huli huli sauce after each turn.
- Place fresh or canned pineapple slices on the grill grates and cook until warmed through and there are grill marks on the pineapple
- Grill until cooked through and glaze has thickened on the chicken.
- Remove from grill when chicken reaches the correct temperature of 165 degrees F. I usually remove mine at 160 degrees and let it sit for a few minutes.
- Garnish with green onions.
Pair This With:
- White rice
- Brown Rice
- Quinoa
- Macaroni Salad
- Broccoli Salad
- Coleslaw
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I don’t have a grill?
Huli huli chicken can be made in the oven or on the stovetop. If doing in the oven, bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Baste and turn as you would on the grill.
Can I use chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs?
You can use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I recommend pounding the chicken breasts into an even layer for better and more even cooking. I prefer thighs but chicken breasts will work. Just watch the temperature as they have a tendency to dry out quicker than thighs.
What is the best way to store leftovers?
Keep any leftover chicken in an airtight container stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
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Huli Huli Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 lbs. chicken thighs boneless, skinless
- 12 oz. pineapple juice
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1 tsp minced fresh garlic
- 1 tsp minced fresh ginger
- 1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- green onion chopped for garnish
- Pineapple slices if desired
Instructions
- Mix together all ingredients but chicken, cornstarch and green onion.
- Set aside 1 cup of marinade.
- Pour remaining marinade over chicken in a bowl or zippered plastic bag and refrigerate for 3 hours to overnight.
- In a sauce pan combine 1 cup of reserved marinade and cornstarch, stir and heat until thickened.
- When ready to grill, remove chicken from marinade and throw away marinade
- Place chicken on grill over medium heat. Cook on each side, turning several times and brushing chicken with thickened marinade after each turn. Grill until cooked through and glaze has thickened.
- Garnish with green onions
- If doing in the oven bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Baste and turn as youl would on the grill.
Tips & Notes:
- Prepare grill: I use a gas grill. Clean the grill grates before using. Preheat to a medium high heat.
- Place chicken on grill: Place chicken pieces on grill leaving space around each. Cover with lid and allow to cook for several minutes, then turn chicken and baste.
- Continue turning and basting until chicken reaches 165 degrees F. This should take about 15 minutes.
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Allison says
We had a luau theme for my sister’s birthday dinner and made this as the main dish. Such a huge hit! To cut time the day of, I did this freezer meal style: trimmed the chicken (I used breasts), made the marinade/sauce and put in a freezer bag. For the reserve sauce, I froze that in a mason jar. Followed the recipe exactly. Such a delicious flavor!
Claudia says
I made this for dinner tonight. We had guests and everyone raved about it. It couldn’t be easier to make and is absolutely delicious. Thank you for another great recipe. I make quite a few of your recipes and they are all hits!
Jennifer says
How long can you store the marinade in the fridge?
Leigh Anne Wilkes says
3-4 days
Heidi says
This is one of our MOST favorite recipes! We love it best grilled. We buy a big bag of chicken thighs at Costco and grill it all. Anytime we’ve made and shared it, everyone asks for the recipe. We often make a big batch of your rice pilaf to serve with it. We’ve tried 1 other Huli Huli recipe and will only use this one now.
Leigh Anne Wilkes says
I love hearing this! We just made it again this weekend!
Jess says
This was so delicious! I’m so excited to have an easy and delicious homemade Huli Huli sauce now! Yum!
Leigh Anne says
It’s definitely a favorite at our house too – so glad you loved it.