Grilled Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs with Pineapple 🌸🍍😋 include chicken that’s been marinated in a sweet-and-savory sauce, juicy pineapple chunks, and grilled for AMAZING tasting kabobs! Half the marinade is reserved to use as a sticky-sweet sauce to serve with the chicken kabobs or over rice. Perfect for summer holidays, casual entertaining, or easy weeknight dinners!
Easy Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs Recipe
- Between the lightly caramelized exterior of the chicken, the tender and moist interior, and juicy chunks of sweet pineapple, these kabobs are loaded with FLAVOR!
- Half of the sweet-and-sour marinade is reserved and cooked down for a sticky, sweet sauce to serve with the chicken skewers. We also love the extra sauce over rice.
- This is such an easy-breezy chicken recipe that’s a crowd pleaser and picky-eater approved. Memorial Day, Father’s Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, or anytime you want to fire up the grill, these are a cinch and they cook quickly!
- If you don’t have an outdoor (gas) grill you can use an indoor grill pan or bake it in the oven. Although this is one of those recipes that is at its peak if you grill it but alternate cooking instructions are provided in the recipe card.
- If this recipe sounds familiar to you, it is! It’s very similar to my Grilled Huli Huli Chicken recipe which went viral on Google Discover immediately after posting it! 80,000 of you went nuts for the recipe in the first week!
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Ingredients in Hawaiian Chicken Pineapple Kabobs
For the Marinade: Pineapple juice, reduced sodium soy sauce, ketchup, honey, brown sugar, minced garlic, olive oil or sesame oil, rice vinegar, sriracha, garlic cloves, ginger, paprika, salt, black pepper.
Chicken: Boneless skinless chicken thighs are the cut of chicken I use for maximum flavor and juiciness because dark meat delivers on this front! You can use boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins (white meat). If you’re looking for a twist, you can use shrimp like I do in my Grilled Jerk Shrimp Skewers. Only marinade for about 30 minutes or you’ll start cooking the shrimp.
Pineapple: I use a 20-ounce can of pineapple chunks in juice which works perfectly because the pineapple juice is used in the marinade and the fruit on the skewers. You can use fresh pineapple and/or fresh pineapple juice but I find it’s simpler easier, faster, and more cost effective to use a can of pineapple chunks in juice. Make sure not to select pineapple tidbits because they’re too small and will fall off more easily or just burn.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Make Grilled Hawaiian Chicken Kebabs
- To a large bowl or large resealable plastic bag, combine pineapple juice and all the marinade ingredients, stir to combine, and remove and reserve about half the marinade and set the remaining marinade aside in a small saucepan.
- Add the chicken to the marinade, seal bag or cover the bowl, and marinate it for at least 30-60 minutes, but not more than 3-4 hours. Tip – The acid in the pineapple juice will cause the proteins in the chicken to break down and the chicken will become mushy if you over-marinate it. While the chicken marinates, soak wooden skewers in water if using wood.
- Preheat your gas grill (or charcoal grill, or grill pan on the stove or your oven) and oil the grill grates. While grill is heating, thread the skewers by making a pattern of 1-2 chicken pieces to every 1 pineapple chunk (or whatever pattern you desire). Keep the marinade from the bowl/bag and use it to baste the chicken.
- Grill the chicken for about 3-4 minutes on the first side to sear it, flip, baste with the leftover marinade from the bowl or bag, and cook for another 3 minutes. Continue basting, and flipping, until the chicken is done which is 165 degrees F internal temperature on an instant read thermometer. Tip – Chicken on skewers cooks very quickly so about 7-8 minutes total is all I need but grills vary.
- In the final 5 minutes of grilling, cook the reserved sauce (reserved marinade from step 1) in the saucepan over medium-high heat for about 3-5 minutes, or until it’s bubbly and thickened and serve with the chicken.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for step-by-step photos and process shots of the cooking process.
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Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs
Ingredients
Marinade
- ¾ cup pineapple juice, reserved from the canned pineapple below
- ⅓ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, (or use 2 tbsp olive oil + 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil)
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sriracha, or to taste (reduce to 1-2 teaspoons, or omit, if sensitive to spicy food)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- ¾ teaspoon ground ginger, or to taste (or about 1 heaping teaspoon fresh ginger)
- ¾ teaspoon paprika, or smoked paprika if preferred
Chicken + Pineapple
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces (boneless skinless chicken breasts may be substituted)
- 20 ounce can pineapple chunks, packed in juice (do not use tidbits and I find canned pineapple a better option the fresh)
- Green onions, optional for garnishing (or other fresh herbs if desired such as cilantro, basil, parsley)
Instructions
- Marinade + Sauce – To a large bowl, add all the ingredients from pineapple juice through garlic, whisk to combine, and remove about HALF of the mixture and place it in a small saucepan. This is going to become the serving sauce for later. Set this aside and don't let it come into contact with the raw chicken.To the mixture that remains in the bowl, add the chicken, toss and flip to coat evenly and submerge, cover, and place the bowl in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 1 hour, but not more than 3-4 hours. About 1-2 hours is ideal. Tip – The acid from the pineapple juice will degrade the protein structure and the chicken will be mushy if you allow it to go longer than 3-4 hours.If you plan to use wooden skewers, soak them while the chicken marinates.
- Preheating + Skewering – Preheat your grill to medium-high and while it's preheating, assemble the kabobs by making a pattern of 1-2 chicken pieces to every 1 pineapple chunk (or whatever pattern you desire). Reserve the marinade to baste the skewers while they cook. Repeat the skewering process until all ingredients have been used. I make about 8 skewers but all skewers vary in length a bit.
- Grilling – When ready to grill, place the chicken on the grill and sear it on the first side for about 3-4 minutes, flip, baste with the marinade in the bowl/bag, and sear the second side. Continue basting and flipping until chicken is done and cooked through until it’s done, which means 160-162F; and then rest it for 5-10 minutes off the heat so the internal temp rises to 165F,Grilling Tip – Chicken on skewers tends to cook very quickly and I don't cook these skewers longer than about 7-8 minutes total, but all grills vary as do the size of the pieces of chicken.
- Serving Sauce – Heat the sauce that's in the saucepan over medium-high heat until lightly bubbling, then reduce the heat to a simmer, and allow it to simmer for about 4-5 minutes and thickened and reduced to your liking.
- Garnishing + Serving – Optionally, garnish with sliced green onions or your favorite herbs, serve with the reduced serving sauce, and enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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LOVE this recipe. My entire family enjoyed it, the chicken was full of favor and moist. It will be a regular
Thanks for the 5 star review, Olivia, and I am so pleased that your whole family enjoyed these kabobs and they’ll become a regular!