Grilled Huli Huli Chicken Skewers Recipe

Try these delicious grilled Huli Huli chicken skewers at your next BBQ for an easy, flavorful, and filling meal!

Delicious and Easy Hawaiian Huli Huli Chicken Recipe

I love grilled kebabs. Easy to make and lots of flavor in each bite. These grilled Huli Huli chicken skewers are no exception – lots of delicious flavors and an easy homemade Hawaiian BBQ sauce (aka Huli Huli sauce)!

Sounds yummy, right? Well, it is! If you’ve been in search of a delicious and easy grilled Huli Huli chicken recipe, read on!

How this recipe came to be…

I wanted a new, delicious grilled chicken recipe and Huli Huli chicken caught my eye. Huli Huli is a type of Hawaiian BBQ, simply put.

I looked around at several recipes and selected a popular one to try. It was good and easy, but lacked flavor, in my opinion. Then I found a Huli Huli recipe including a Hawaiian spice rub, which would certainly add more flavor, but the rest of the recipe seemed a little complicated (and possibly spicy).

For me, it’s gotta be flavorful and delicious, but still easy! So I tweaked things a bit and morphed it into what is basically a Hawaiian BBQ version of these famous BBQ chicken kebabs!

Tips for Making Homemade Huli Huli Sauce

The Hawaiian BBQ sauce is from scratch, but still easy to throw in a saucepan and simmer. Most of the ingredients are pretty common and easy to find too.

If you don’t have Sriracha, you can try adding a small amount of crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper. A very small amount won’t make the sauce spicy but adds depth of flavor.

This Huli Huli sauce recipe is similar to a sweet traditional BBQ sauce, but it has a tropical twist and some slight teriyaki notes, thanks to the pineapple juice, ginger, and soy sauce.

Tips for Grilling the Kebabs

Here’s a fun fact: The word “huli” means to turn, reverse, or curl over (source) which makes sense for this grilled chicken because during the cooking process you have to turn the chicken several times to get an even cook.

You’ll also want to brush huli huli sauce onto the kebabs as you cook them to really get that flavor in there. Just make sure to keep some set aside for serving as well.

Final Thoughts + Serving Tips

This amazing Huli Huli chicken pairs wonderfully with sliced green onions, rice, and pineapple. You could also serve them alongside some of these homemade King’s Hawaiian Rolls!

Of course, it also works well with just about any other BBQ side dish or whatever else you would serve with chicken too. 😉 This is an all-around tasty recipe and I hope you try it soon!

By the way, these are my favorite skewers! Enjoy!

You might also like these recipes:

• Grilled Pineapple
• Best BBQ Chicken Kebabs
• Honey Lime Fruit Salad
• Cauliflower Rice
• Lemon Herb Potato Salad
• Honey Balsamic Chicken Kebabs
• Broccoli Salad
• Chinese Chicken Salad
• Cookie and Fruit Salad
• Spicy Mango Blueberry Salad
• Chipotle Sweet Lime Rice
• Pineapple Whip

Check out our other Hawaiian Cuisine recipes too!

Grilled Huli Huli Chicken Skewers Recipe

My favorite recipe for grilled Huli Huli chicken! Easy to make and full of delicious Hawaiian BBQ flavor in every bite!

4.34 / 5 ( 3 Reviews )

Print Rate

Prep Time: 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Serves: 8

Adjust Servings: 8

US CustomaryMetric

Equipment

• Small bowl
• Medium saucepan
• Grill
• Skewers

Ingredients

• 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast cut into about 1-inch cubes
• 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

Huli Huli Sauce

• 1 cup canned 100% pineapple juice
• ⅓ cup ketchup
• ½ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger or ginger paste
• 1 ½ teaspoons minced fresh garlic
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

• In a small bowl, mix together the spice rub ingredients: smoked paprika, ground ginger, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Pat chicken dry with paper towels, then season the chicken pieces evenly with the spice rub mixture. Cover or place in resealable bag and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.
• Meanwhile, add the sauce ingredients to a medium saucepan. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened slightly, about 10-15 minutes. Remove and reserve 1/2 cup of sauce for serving. Use remaining sauce to baste chicken while grilling.
• Turn all gas grill burners to high, close lid, and heat for about 15 minutes. Scrape the grill grates clean. Leave primary burner(s) on, turn off other burners. Oil the grill grates. (I use tongs, a paper towel, and cooking oil.)
• Thread the chicken pieces onto skewers. Grill over the primary burner(s) with lid closed, turning one-quarter of a turn every 2 minutes or so, until browned and slightly charred (about 8 minutes total for chicken breast and 10 minutes for thighs). Brush the top of kebabs with Huli Huli sauce during cooking.
• At the end of cooking time, brush top of kebabs with more of the sauce, flip and cook about 1 minute. Brush second side with sauce; flip and cook for another minute or so.
• Remove kebabs from grill, tent with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve with reserved Huli Huli sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 292kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 5g | Sodium: 1105mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 19g

Recipe Adapted From: Carlsbad Cravings