Grilled Hawaiian Chicken
The flavor of this tender, juicy grilled Hawaiian chicken is insanely delicious! I can’t stop making it (especially for company!)…and serving it with grilled pineapple and cilantro lime rice. YUM!
Ok, guys. Meet my new favorite summer meal.
Seriously…SO RIDICULOUSLY DELICIOUS. I can’t get over it.
My sweet empty-nester friend Dee and her husband Wilson, who knew Brian when he was a wee lad himself and they all lived in the Dallas, Texas area, were {very} brave and invited our whole family over for dinner a while ago.
The kids spilled gallons of bubbles in their immaculately curated back yard while Wilson grilled up this Hawaiian chicken. One bite and honestly, I wanted to die – it was the tastiest chicken I’d ever had.
After the kids and I cleaned up the bubbles (ahem, and the other back yard mayhem), I dared ask Dee for the recipe…and I’ve been making this grilled Hawaiian chicken right and left ever since, including for the last three out of four people who’ve joined us for dinner.
Usually after making a recipe that often, I’m kind of done. I need a break. A little time to myself.
But not with this grilled Hawaiian chicken. I could eat it every night for the rest of forever.
Friends, MAKE IT! It’s lifechanging good.
Now here’s the thing. I know you…and you know me. And over the years, I’ve only posted a handful of recipes calling for chicken thighs because quite honestly, they kind of gross me out a little when I prepare them.
So I usually opt for boneless, skinless chicken breasts. And I love ’em! And definitely prefer them for *most* chicken dishes.
But for this exceptional Hawaiian chicken (although by this point we know that it’s prolly not authentic Hawaiian food, so don’t call me out on that, ok?), I’m using my best bossy voice to strongly encourage you to go for the chicken thighs.
I grab boneless, skinless chicken thighs at Costco, put my big girl apron on, power through it, and trim the heck out of those thighs. It’s worth it.
It didn’t take us long to realize that while we love this grilled Hawaiian chicken (we loooove it – is this the most redundant post ever or what?), it becomes a meal worthy of epic, widespread attention when served with grilled pineapple and cilantro lime rice (or coconut rice!)
I don’t do anything fancy for the grilled pineapple – just cut it in strips and toss it on the grill with the chicken. You can brush some of the reserved, non-icky-chicken marinade over the pineapple if you so desire. Divine.
The strong, teriyaki-vibe of the marinade is perfect with the tangy-sweet, fresh pineapple and cilantro lime rice.
Anyway, now that I’ve totally fangirled out over this amazing grilled chicken (and tasty little side dishes), I’m really hoping you love it as much as I do.
I probably should have dialed back the excitement a bit – you know, keep the expectations low and all that.
But it’s pretty impossible with something this yummy. ENJOY!
P.S. I haven’t tried this yet (because I’m a grilling fool in the summer), but I’m just waiting for someone to dump this in the Instant Pot and give it a whirl!
What to Serve With This
- Cilantro Lime Rice or Coconut Rice
- Grilled pineapple (I just slice it in 1-inch strips and toss it on the grill with the chicken – SO yummy!)
- Green salad or roasted veggie
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Grilled Hawaiian Chicken
Ingredients
- 2-3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (see note)
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- 1 cup low-sodium soy sauce (see note)
- ⅔ cup brown sugar, light or dark
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated or finely minced ginger, or use ginger paste
- 6 cloves garlic, finely minced (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
Instructions
- Place the chicken thighs in a shallow dish or in a gallon-size ziploc bag.
- Whisk together the pineapple juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and garlic until the brown sugar is dissolved (or mostly dissolved). Pour half of the marinade over the chicken in the bag so the chicken is evenly coated. Seal the bag and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
- Refrigerate the remaining marinade until the chicken is ready to be grilled.
- Preheat grill to medium- or medium-high (I use 400 degrees on my pellet grill).
- Bring the refrigerated reserved marinade to a simmer in a small saucepan on the stove. Simmer for 5-10 minutes (the longer it simmers the more reduced and slightly thickened it will be).
- Place the chicken on the preheated grill (discard the marinade in the bag/dish) and cook until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees F at the thickest part, about 7-8 minutes per side. During the last 3-4 minutes of cooking, baste the chicken liberally with the simmered sauce/marinade.
- Serve the cooked chicken with the warm marinade (to be drizzled over – it’s especially yummy if serving this chicken with cilantro lime rice or coconut rice).
Notes
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Recipe Source: introduced to me by my friend Dee N. (she got it from FavFamilyRecipes and I adapted it from there!)
Thanks for another family friendly recipe. I made 3lbs of chicken, left it on the counter and came back to 2 measley thighs for my husband and I to eat. So I guess it was a hit with the kids! I made it with the cilantro lime rice and pineapple. This reminds me of something you’d pay $30 a plate for a Disney’s Polynesian resort. Super sweet and sticky and perfect for kids. Also thanks for the note about using thighs — I almost grabbed breasts instead but you inspired me to branch out.
Glad you loved it, Molly!
Perfect! Pouring rain so we cooked this on our indoor grill. It made a mess, but was worth every minute of clean-up! Thanks Mel for a quick delightful meal!
Absolutely delicious!!! And so easy!! I can see myself making this again and again.
I’m in a freezer co-op and plan on making this for our next round. Do you think this is a good candidate for freezing? I’m going to do ground ginger not fresh, but thoughts on the pineapple juice? So excited to try this! I love Hawaiian chicken…just moved from Cali to Minnesota so a taste of the islands will be awesome!
Will you freeze it uncooked in the marinade? Or already cooked?
Uncooked – I ended up using both garlic powder and ground ginger. Hopefully it works! I’ll report back!
A super simple weeknight meal, with a little pre-planning. I used chicken breasts, because its what I had on hand, let them soak overnight. They were moist, full of sweet and tangy flavor!
Friday nights have become new dinner night at our house. We all vote if it gets a sleeve in the golden cookbook or is voted off, this was a unanimous YES!!!
I made this recipe a couple days ago with no changes. It was delicious and the thighs stayed moist and tender. I think this marinade would also work well with pork chops.
I bet you are right about using the marinade on pork chops!
This was delicious and easy!! And I do think its pretty authentic… I have a Hawaiian friend and also Tongan neighbors who make a very similar recipe with thighs all the time. They use 1 cup soy and 1 cup brown sugar (no pineapple juice) plus the garlic and ginger… so you can practically consider yourself an islander! 🙂 Happy summer grilling!
Haha, thanks Tanya!
Super delicious and easy chicken! And I would say it is pretty authentic… I have a Hawaiian friend and also Tongan neighbors who make very similar chicken.. their recipe is 1 cup soy and 1 cup brown sugar (no pineapple juice) plus the ginger and garlic— so you are right there with them! Happy summer grilling to you!!
We loved it! I threw everything in the Instant Pot (including non- marinated frozen boneless skinless chicken thighs) because that was the kind of day we had. Did high pressure for 12 minutes and everyone asked for the recipe… Yay!
Amazing! Love that this converted to the IP so well!
Love this recipe! I made the whole marinade but only used half for about 1kg (I’m in the UK) of chicken. I then froze the rest of the marinade. It defrosted really well and tasted just has great cooked on the BBQ. Thanks youMel 🙂
Thanks, Sophie!
Mel–I need to introduce you to what our family calls Luau Rice. It would be wonderful as a side to this chicken!!
Yum, tell me more!
This is delicious! We love chicken thighs and it’s nice having another good way to cook them.
Just made this for my hubby’s bday and we loved it, even while making it whole30 compliant! I used date paste (bad name i know) instead of the brown sugar and coconut aminos instead of soy sauce. It was delicious! Thanks Mel:)
That’s awesome!
I forgot to mention I also used coconut sugar in place of brown sugar – no one was the wiser. Plus I really appreciate you adding instructions for the pellet grill! I never know how to adapt gas or charcoal grill instructions for my pellet grill. That was so nice to have that in your recipe! :o)
Thanks, Holly! Glad you loved this one!
We had this for dinner last night and it was a hit with everyone. I allowed the marinade to simmer too long though and the result was a very salty marinade even though I used low-sodium soy sauce. Next time I might just thicken it with corn starch and cold water rather than letting it simmer overlong (because I forgot about it, not the fault of the recipe) on the back of my stove. The chicken though, was juicy and tender and so flavorful! Great recipe!
Thanks Holly (and for including your extra notes!)
I forgot to mention I also used coconut sugar in place of brown sugar – no one was the wiser! :o)
Oh my gracious, this was DELICIOUS!!!! I made the entire meal as you posted and it’s for sure one of our favorite meals of the summer!! Our other favorite is the grilled chicken (can’t remember the name of it) with molasses and chopped chili’s in adobo sauce mixed into the marinade. On a completely different note, I have tried several times to email you different recipes but for some reason my messages won’t send. Do you have another email address I could try? Thanks so much for everything!!
I’m so happy you loved this, Hilary! And sorry for the issues on email. I’d be sad if I missed out on some new recipes! Try contact @ melskitchencafe dot com
Delicious and so easy! Everyone enjoyed dinner tonight even my picky toddler (who ate an entire chicken breast). I paired it with your instant pot brown rice pilaf and broccoli. So good! Thank you for another keeper!
That’s awesome when everyone at the table is happy!
Oh my goodness, this was unbelievable. All of my kids declared it the best meal they’ve eaten (and I make a lot of good food-most of it from your site). We had it with the grilled pineapple and cilantro lime rice and it was amazing! And you’re right about the thighs-not super fun to prepare, but totally worth it for that tender, juicy meat. I’m not a big fan of teriyaki, and this was just different enough and I loved it!
So happy to hear this, Madison – thank you!
I broiled this because we don’t have a grill. I marinated it overnight, cut each piece in half hamburger bun style so I had 1/2 inch thick pieces. Place on a foil lined baking sheet and broil on high for 3-4 minutes, watching closely because the juices in the pan may start to burn. Flip and broil the other side for 2-3 minutes, allow to rest for 5-10 minutes to seal in juices.
Thanks for adding your notes about broiling the chicken. So glad it worked!
Great flavor, easy recipe!
Made this tonight with grilled pineapple and your coconut rice on the side. It was absolute perfection, it’s definitely going in our summer rotation! I’ve never been to Hawaii, but my husband was saying all we needed was some macaroni salad on the side, and he would have been transported back. I almost never use chicken thighs, but my local Winco had boneless, skinless ones, so I gave them a shot and I don’t think breasts would have been as good! Thank you for another delicious one!
Also, for some odd reason my phone wouldn’t let me load all five stars, I’m sorry! Definitely five stars, not 4.5!
So happy this was a hit, Adriana!
This was great! Thanks for another winner!
Thanks, Lindsey!
I made this last night for dinner and my husband declared it to be the best teriyaki chicken (he refuses to dub it Hawaiin) EVER! I, too, have a sheer dislike and disgust (may I say ‘hatred’?) for chicken thighs. I did it…I used thighs…it was amazing! This, with grilled pineapple and jasmine rice, was the best dinner we’ve had in a long time. Thanks for another winner (chicken thighs and all!), Mel!
So proud of you for powering through the chicken thighs! (I hear ya, sister) Glad it was a hit!
Wow! Another one for my “make this again” list. It’s tender, moist, full of flavor and all three kids decided that this was yummy! I did serve it with cilantro lime rice…and the sauce drizzled on the rice was maybe a tie for my favorite part of the meal. Thank you so much for another easy, delicious meal that pleased everyone.
I’m so happy you loved it, Amanda!
Have you tried the boneless, skinless thighs from Trader Joe’s? I find that they are pretty well trimmed. Also, with those I’ll throw them straight into a marinade; after cooking, it’s so much easier to remove any fatty bits (usually a quick pinch is sufficient). Can’t wait to try this marinade!
Thanks for the tip, Anne!
We made this tonight with the cilantro lime rice and grilled pineapple and it was fabulous! I will definitely be making it again!
Yay! Thanks, Cara!
Every summer, I try a teriyaki recipe and they are never good – until now! This is so good. Our household is split down the middle regarding white and dark meat so I did both chicken breast and thighs. Excellent. Thank you for the great recipe!
So happy to hear this, Kelly!
Made this exact meal last night with the cilantro lime rice and it was AMAZING!!
Yay!
I cannot do any type of added sugar 🙁 What are your thoughts on making this without the brown sugar??
The flavor will change completely…let me know if you experiment, though!
Had all the ingredients, tried it in an instant pot (threw everything in after marinating the chicken half the day) set to manual for 12 minutes. It was great, whole family loved it! My husband is picky with chicken (it can’t even be slightly dry or he complains!) and he said it was his favorite meal this week!
Well that is awesome! Thanks for reporting back!
Could this recipe be made in the oven?
I think the high sugar content of the marinade might make it burn easily in the oven (less likely to happen on the grill), but having said that, it’s probably worth a try!
Lori-
If you try this in the oven, will you report back? I need to cook in the oven too because I can’t grill. Thanks!
I have a very similar recipe (pretty much the exact same, minus the pineapple juice) and before we brought out our grill, I would bake it for 45-50 minutes at 350, or until fully cooked. Very delicious!
Awesome!
Always looking for new chicken recipes – my family would love this!
This looks amazing! I’m right with you on the chicken thighs, rarely use them unless they are part of a whole chicken. But my hatred of them comes from way back when I was expecting my son, and “morning” sickness kicked in during a meal of chicken thighs :(. So we will happily try this recipe, but we will use the boneless skinless chicken breasts instead. And we will definitely add the grilled pineapple!
I’m trying this this weekend for a little bbq…thank you for admitting to gagging…it will make me smile from now on…as I try to be a grown up about touching any meat!
I never used chicken thighs until I tried Zaycon. There isn’t a whole lot of trimming and they are nice size. You just have to know people who want to split a 30 lb. box with you because that’s a lot of thighs.
Good to know!
This recipe looks good, love chicken thighs on the grill! I have also marinated chicken breasts in pineapple juice and 7 up before grilling, the acidity breaks down the tendons in the meat and make the meat very tender with a slightly sweet taste.
Sounds unique and yummy, Lori!
Hey Mel! Super excited to try this recipe! Nothing screams summer more than pineapple!! I’m a little new/uncomfortable cooking meat, so I appreciate all your details! I assume I could cook the chicken on a skillet rather than a grill?
Yes, I think you probably could – I’m a little worried the marinade might burn more in a skillet or in the oven, but it’s worth a try!
If you have an Aldi around you, their chicken thighs are great and don’t need trimming!
I miss Aldis!
Oh this is very good! I’m going to add that this marinade also works so so good with salmon too!!
Do you buy the frozen or fresh chicken thighs at Costco?
I buy the fresh, unfrozen ones (by the sausages and pork at our Costco)
Thanks for the direction on your pellet grill. I recently got a camp chef pellet grill and I am loving it! I am definitely going to try this and I love chicken thighs!
Thanks, Wendy!
If I only have powdered ginger how much would you recommend using?
I’m not sure, I haven’t tried that, Lindsey – but I’d probably start with 1/4 teaspoon.
Yum! We make something very similar to this regularly. I like to use turkey tenders just for a little different somethin’ somethin’. And because my life is sad and I am allergic to rice, we usually do grilled foil packets of golden potatoes and carrots on the side (sprinkled with cheese, of course!) I will have to give this version a try…can’t wait! (P.S. totally random, but we just moved to Gilbert AZ and have some Gunnells
in our ward…any relation?) 🙂
Turkey tenders are a great idea! And the potato packets sound delish! I’m guessing we are related to those hopefully awesome Gunnells but it’s probably pretty distant because I don’t recall any of my husband’s close-ish relatives living there (I’ll be embarrassed if it’s one of his siblings or something – haha)
I also use SB chicken breast as I can’t bring myself to tackle the trimming. I’m a bit of a meat snob but the thighs are budget friendly. How much trimming and gross factor is involved?
Well, the gross factor is high for me, but not high enough to avoid trimming and using chicken thighs completely. I think my main gripe is that though they ARE more budget-friendly, by the time I trim off what I deem “inappropriate pieces,” there’s significantly less meat. I’m sure I tend toward OVERtrimming, but I guess we are meat snobs too, because none of us like biting into a pocket of fat or gristle once the meat is cooked. I kind of gagged just typing that out, but there it is. Different brands of chicken thighs are more or less trimmed. The packets at Costco are pretty average. Usually there’s a strip of fat I trim off one of the sides and then maybe another pocket or two. I use my kitchen shears.
Lol, anyone who invites my family over for dinner is similarly brave! This looks amazing — gotta love those hidden gem recipes that people have been making for years that you just can’t find anywhere else!
This looks amazing! I’m having company tonight and look forward to giving this a try. Just wondering… If I use regular soy sauce, will it get too salty? Should I maybe reduce the amount. I rarely use soy sauce, so that’s all I have on hand.
Hey Kam, I’m pretty sure Dee, who introduced this recipe to me, used regular soy sauce. The flavor/saltiness was definitely more potent, but obviously, we loved it enough to make it a regular meal for us. Maybe to be safe, decrease to 3/4 cup and add 1/4 cup water.
Awesome, thanks for the quick response! I’ll let you know how turns out. I’m really excited to try this one. 🙂
I can imagine this sauce/baste recipe would work beautifully with grilled ham steak as well. Adjusting the time for grilling and perhaps some marinading of course.
Great idea!
Is there a way to bake these in an oven? If so, what temp and how long do you suggest? We don’t have a grill. Thank you!
I’m sure you could definitely try! The sugar content is high so it may have a tendency to burn in the oven (less likely on the grill). Maybe try lining a pan with foil and grease the foil…and then 375 degrees for 20-ish minutes? Just a guess!
Such funny timing…I have just discovered in the last week how amazing boneless skinless chicken thighs are! This looks delicious!!!
Thank you for a chicken thigh recipe! I am so excited to try this!
We recently switched from using mainly chicken breasts to using mainly chicken thighs in my home, because I have a child with oral motor issues who finds the texture of thighs much easier to eat.
I tried your classic sweet and sour chicken recipe using chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts recently and the results were out of this world delicious!
I think I’m going to start using chicken thighs more, too! They are unbelievably tender.