This Huli-huli chicken recipe is a grilled chicken dish that's marinated in a delicious sweet pineapple teriyaki style sauce. It's an iconic hawaiian recipe and extremely popular dish on the island that's best served with macaroni salad and sticky white rice.

a white plate full of pieces of huli huli chicken on a green table.

Why You'll Love it!

If you've never had huli huli chicken, you can think of it as Hawaiian grilled chicken that's bathed in a tropical pineapple flavored teriyaki sauce.

Personally, I've never been to Hawaii but I've been to tons of Hawaiian BBQ restaurants. This particular recipe is not authentic by any means but it's still delicious. And tastes just like the ones I've had here!

Through my research, I've found that the original recipe from Ernest Morgado of pacific poultry uses chicken halves in a flippable fish grilling basket. You're also supposed to brine chicken overnight. But I skipped this part but trust me, it's still a great recipe. This huli huli chicken recipe was a HUGE hit with my husband who surfed in Hawaii every 3 months of the year growing up.

When it comes to cooking methods, you can use a gas grill or a charcoal grill. You could even use an air fryer to make this hawaiian huli huli chicken recipe. If you had to cook it over the stovetop, I recommend using a large saucepan while doing it in batches.

Just make sure you use a ton of the basting sauce to really infuse that extra marinade into the tropical tasting barbecue chicken.

I recommend letting this tropical version of teriyaki chicken sit in the delicious marinade over night. Then grill it the next day if possible.

I also recommend saving a 1.5 cup of the marinade before its used, and simmer it over medium heat to create a delicious sauce The final product is a sweet, sticky glaze that's great for dipping or pouring on top.

an up close look at three pieces of huli huli chicken with grill marks.

Ingredients & Substitutions

Raw Chicken: I recommend using skinless boneless chicken thighs but you could use thinly sliced chicken breasts, too. If you wanted to do a whole chicken, I recommend cutting it down into chicken halves or quarters. Just make sure to adjust cooking times if you're not using thighs.
Canned Pineapple Juice: Do not use fresh pineapple juice as it alters the cooking process. The protein from the meat can get really weird and mushy! I recommend using the canned variety. Each can comes in at ¾ cup pineapple juice. So 2 of them make just enough for this delicious marinade recipe.
Brown Sugar: You could use light or brown sugar - it doesn't really matter in this recipe.
Soy Sauce: If you can't have soy sauce, you can use tamari or coconut aminos. Just note that these are a little sweeter than the original soy sauce recipe.
Ketchup: You could swap the ketchup for a little bit of tomato paste and vinegar. Or you could try a little bit of barbecue sauce.
Fresh Ginger: If you don't want to use fresh ginger, you could use the squeeze bottle kind that they sell at the grocery store.
Garlic: Fresh garlic is best but you could use garlic powder if you had to.
Sesame Oil: If you don't have sesame oil, use another neutral oil like avocado oil.
Sherry: I've heard sherry is the trade secret to making the pineapple juice base even more delicious. But if you didn't have any, you can try adding some rice vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or even lime juice.
Kosher salt: If you're not using kosher salt, use a little less otherwise it will be too salty.
Optional Add-ins: There are so many different versions of huli huli sauce recipes. Feel free to get creative and adapt to your liking. Some people add red pepper flakes and/or sriracha for a little heat. But I've also seen people add mustard powder, black pepper, white wine, and lime juice, too.

the top half of a white plate filled with grilled tropical chicken teriyaki.

How to make it

Making huli-huli chicken is very straightforward and easy. You just need to make sure to marinate the chicken for a good amount of time.

Make Huil Huli Chicken Marinade: Begin by mixing the huli huli chicken marinade ingredients together in a large bowl. Combine pineapple juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, ginger, garlic, sriracha, sesame oil, sherry, and kosher salt in a large bowl. Mix it together and scoop out 1.5 cups of the marinade and set it aside.

a bowl of huli huli sauce with a whisk in it.

chicken thighs marinating in a glass bowl.

Add The Raw Chicken: Add the chicken pieces to the large bowl with the soy sauce mixture. You can either place some plastic wrap over the top or pour it into a large resealable plastic bag. Place the reserved sauce in a small airtight container. Then place in the fridge until you're ready to make the huli-huli chicken.
Let it Marinate: For the best results, let the hawaiian chicken marinate for at least 4-6 hours or overnight.
Grill it: Let your grill preheat for about 15 minutes. Then place the raw chicken (chicken skin-side down if you're using a cut of chicken with skin) on the hot grill grates over medium-high heat. This high heat will help caramelize the sugars from sweet and savory sauce. If the outside of the chicken looks caramelized, but the meat inside isn't cooked through, no worries. Just move them to the grill grates that have indirect heat and let them finish cooking.

huli huli chicken cooking on a hot grill.

Baste the Chicken: Let the chicken cook while basting it with the remaining marinade. Once the internal temperature of the dark meat registers at 175-190 degrees. Of if you're using white meat, 165 degrees F . Since huli is the Hawaiian word for turn turn, or flip, don't be afraid to move the chicken around. Just make sure to baste it often with the reserved marinade. Once the chicken is done, remove it from the heat.
Let it rest & Reduce Sauce: Whie the chicken rests, add the reserved sauce to a small sauce pan. Simmer the sauce over medium low heat until the sauce is reduced and thickened; about 15-20 minutes. Pour the sauce over the top of the huli-huli chicken and gently toss until coated.
Serve or Save: Serve immediately or place the leftover chicken in an airtight container. It's best served 3-4 days after cooking.

chopped up huli huli chicken on a blue cutting board.

What goes with it?

I love serving this Huli-huli chicken recipe with a variety of tropical dishes. Here are a few of my favorite recipes.

My Rice Cook Coconut Rice or Sticky White Rice
Macaroni Salad
Teriyaki Salmon Sushi Bake for Two
Rum Punch Recipe (Caribbean Inspired Cocktail)
Garlic Cilantro Sauce
No Bake Mango Sticky Pie
Grilled Pineapple Rings

Recipe