Tender grilled chicken seared in a savory, subtly sweet Hawaiian inspired sauce. This Hawaiian Skillet Huli Huli Chicken will send you straight to the beach! It’s made with simple ingredients, delicious, and easily prepared in the cast iron skillet in under 30 minutes!
What is Huli Huli Chicken?
Huli Huli chicken is a traditional hawaiian cuisine that is loaded with sweet flavors of the island! It’s name literally means “to turn” which is a reference to the way the chicken is historically prepared over fire to evenly cook it. The flavor is a combination of savory and sweet. Similar to teriyaki chicken but with subtle transformative hints of the island from fruit and spices.
The sweet and savory “Huli Huli” sauce I created for this recipe tastes similar to a bbq sauce but with a tropical spin! It is a combination of soy sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, wine, lime, and ginger. The dish is further infused with tropical flavors by simmering with fresh pineapple in the skillet!
What’s in the Hawaiian Skillet Huli Huli Chicken?
These simple ingredients are ones that you likely already have on hand! Here is what you need to prepare the hawaiian skillet – Huli Huli Chicken:
- Chicken Thighs (boneless and skinless) – can sub chicken breasts cut into halves or thirds
- ketchup
- soy sauce
- brown sugar
- red wine
- lime
- ginger (fresh or ground)
- garlic
- pineapple
The chicken is easily and quickly prepared in the skillet and best served over a bed of rice! I prefer to serve my huli huli chicken over fluffy white jasmine rice and with green onions to top it off!
How to prepare the Huli Huli Chicken
The best part about this recipe – it’s ease! This delicious dish will be ready to serve in under 30 minutes making it the perfect contender for a busy weeknight! Here’s how to prepare the chicken:
- Prepare the Huli Huli sauce – in a bowl, whisk together ketchup, soy sauce, wine, brown sugar, lime juice, ginger, and garlic and set aside. Slice pineapple into 1/2 inch thick bite-sized wedges.
- Sear Chicken Thighs – pat chicken thighs dry and season salt and pepper. Bring a few tablespoons of olive oil to a simmer on the skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and sear to lightly brown the skin on one side – 5-7 minutes.
- Toss in the Sauce – Once one side of the chicken is nice and browned, pour the sauce into the pan covering all the thighs and flip. This way, both sides have been coated with the sauce and the sauce can reduce and marinate the chicken as it finishes cooking! Add the pineapple in too and toss with the sauce to coat. The juice from the pineapple with mix with the sauce and further sweeten the chicken!
- Simmer, flipping occasionally – In order to successfully cook the chicken evenly and thoroughly marinate it into the reduction sauce, you should flip the chicken a couple of times as it simmers! The reducing sauce will thicken to a glaze and will begin to create a nice coat for the skin of the chicken.
- When sauce has reduced to a glaze, the chicken is ready! Now you can remove it from heat and serve it, along with the juicy marinated tender pineapple slices.
- Serve the chicken and pineapple over a bed of cooked jasmine rice, with any side you fancy, or just on it’s own! There are so many ways to serve this delicious chicken!
How to Store the Leftovers
Assuming you’ll have some… which you won’t… they do make for great leftovers! You can store the leftover huli huli chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for several days. You can also store your leftover rice in there with the chicken or simply prepare a new batch when you’re ready to eat it!
Is this a Kid-Friendly Meal?
Two answers: First and in short, YES! My picky toddlers gobble it up – I think it’s the sweetness to the sauce. I make this dish so often because of how well they eat it!
Second, my definition of “kid friendly” has become very loose. If I only fed my kids the traditional “kid friendly” meals (mac and cheese, hot dogs, nuggests…) they would never expand their palate. No matter what I’m cooking for dinner, my kids get it on their plate and are encouraged to eat it! Sometimes that encouraging takes a bit more effort than others, but they are never given a “kid friendly” alternative to a meal I cook!
Looking for more simple weeknight Dinner Recipes?
Look no further! This is my specialty! I pride myself on creating simple, convenient, family friendly dishes that everyone will love! I share a new weeknight recipe each week and hope you’ll follow along as I continue to grow my virtual cookbook! Here are a few of my recent favorite’s:
- Green Chile Pork Carnitas Tacos
- Slow Cooker Italian Meatballs
- Italian Sausage Zucchini Boats
- Spicy Korean Pork Bowls
- Garlic Parmesan Baked Eggplant
- Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps
- Skillet Chicken in a Red Wine Sauce
…Just to name a few! There’s a lot more where that came from under the “recipes” tab on my blog menu. For more dinner recipes, hit the dinner button!
Huli Huli Chicken Recipe:
Hawaiian Skillet Huli Huli Chicken
Equipment
- Skillet (cast iron recommended)
Ingredients
- 6-8 chicken thighs boneless skinless
- 1/4 C ketchup
- 1/4 C soy sauce
- 1/4 C brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp red wine
- 2 Tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp garlic
- 2 C pineapple chopped – about 1/2 pineapple
- 2 C jasmine rice (optional)
- garnish green onion (optional)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, prepare the "huli huli" sauce by whisking together ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar, red wine, lime juice, mustard, garlic, and ginger. Chop pineapple into ~2" pieces (about 1/4" – 1/2" thick).
- Pat chicken dry and season lightly with salt. Heat a few tbsp olive oil on a skillet (preferred cast iron) over medium heat and add chicken thighs. Sear until lightly browned – about 5-7 minutes. Add more oil as needed.
- Pour huli huli sauce over the chicken thighs and flip to sear the other side (making sure to fully coat chicken in the sauce). Toss in pineapple with the chicken and sauce, also submerging into the sauce as it simmers (allowing the pineapple to infuse into the sauce and flavor the chicken).
- Simmer, flipping chicken and pineapple occasionally, until sauce has reduced to a glaze consistency – about 8-12 minutes.
- Remove skillet from heat and serve chicken and pineapple over a bed of rice. Spoon excess sauce from the pan over the chicken and top with chopped green onion. Enjoy!
Nutrition
I hope you’ll give this one a try! If you do, I’d love to see your creation! Tag me on instagram (@kelsiebrownblog) so I can see your masterpiece. Also, I would so appreciate a recipe rating or comment (do so with the above prompt)! Thank you so much for letting me into your kitchen!
With love,
Kelsie
