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This Hawaiian Grilled Teriyaki Chicken recipe is the real deal. The teriyaki sauce is the perfect combination of sweet and tangy and is and SO easy to make.
This Hawaiian Grilled Teriyaki Chicken reminds me of the authentic teriyaki chicken that I ate all the time when I lived on Oahu. It is tender, flavorful, and goes great with any Hawaiian dish. Much like fresh pineapple, you almost can’t have a luau or Hawaiian party without having teriyaki chicken (and maybe even a little cooked spam). This delicious Hawaiian chicken is tender, juicy, and pairs perfectly with grilled pineapple spears or an authentic Hawaiian plate lunch.
Ingredients in Hawaiian Grilled Teriyaki Chicken
You’ll love this simple, yet succulent chicken dish and how easy it is to prepare! Here’s what you need:
- Chicken thighs – boneless, skinless thighs, NOT chicken breast. The dark thigh meat stays juicy, even through the grilling process.
- Soy sauce – one cup, dark soy sauce. You can use low-sodium or your favorite brand, whatever you have on hand.
- Brown sugar – balance the soy sauce with sweet dark brown sugar. It gives the perfect blend of sweet and tangy.
- Pineapple juice – one cup of canned juice.
- Garlic – start with four cloves, chopped
- Fresh Ginger – find fresh ginger root in the produce section of the grocery store. It’ll stay fresh in the freezer for months!
The Secret to Perfect Teriyaki Chicken
Some people can’t quite seem to get grilled Hawaiian Teriyaki Chicken right, and that’s because they aren’t using the right cut of chicken. For perfect teriyaki chicken, chicken thighs are the only choice. I promise, if you want AUTHENTIC teriyaki chicken, chicken breasts just won’t cut it. No matter how you cook the chicken breasts, it will not be the same.
Homemade Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce
It is SUPER EASY to make your own teriyaki sauce at home. This sauce recipe is so simple and it can be used as both the marinade AND to drizzle over the chicken as a sauce. You can actually use the same batch for BOTH. I learned this method while living in Hawaii and thought it was genius. Don’t discard your marinade! So many people discard the marinade and it is totally unnecessary and wasting a perfectly good sauce! Instead, put the marinade in a sauce pan and bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until it thickens slightly. This will make it safe to use as a glaze or sauce after the chicken is fully cooked.
Make it a Plate Lunch
You can easily make this teriyaki chicken into a complete plate lunch by adding a scoop or two of cooked calrose rice and some authentic Hawaiian Mac Salad. If you are really hungry, you can even make it a 2 or 3 combination plate by adding any of these recipes:
- Hawaiian Beef Teriyaki: Hawaiian Beef Teriyaki is a favorite of mine from when I lived in Hawaii. The teriyaki sauce is out of this world good. It’s the perfect plate lunch addition.
- Kalua Pork with Cabbage: Kalua Pork with Cabbage is a Hawaiian dish often served at Luaus. This version is made in the slow cooker and tastes just like authentic shredded Kalua Pig.
- Spam Musubi: This is more of a side than a part of a combination plate but it is one of my VERY favorite additions!
READ NEXT: The BEST Hawaiian Dessert Recipes
Tips and Suggestions
Cook evenly – Place some plastic wrap over the chicken and pound it flat with a meat mallet or rolling pin before marinating or grilling. This will help achieve even cooking and give you more surface space for the delicious sauce.
Slather on the teriyaki sauce – Brush on more teriyaki sauce after the chicken has cooked enough that it isn’t raw on the outside anymore, really slather it on! Then add even more once the chicken is fully cooked through and also right before serving.
Let it rest – For perfectly tender chicken, wrap the chicken in foil after grilling and allow it to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.
More Authentic Hawaiian Recipes:
Loco Moco
Chicken Long Rice
Kalua Pork
Hawaiian Beef Teriyaki
Authentic Hawaiian Mac Salad
Haupia
Malasadas
Chocolate Haupia Pie
How to Make Hawaiian Grilled Teriyaki Chicken
Hawaiian Grilled Teriyaki Chicken
Video
Equipment
- Outdoor Barbecue Grill
- Meat Thermometer
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
Instructions
- Place chicken thighs in a bowl or large resealable plastic bag. Set aside.
- Combine the remaining ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl and mix until sugar dissolves. Pour marinade over the chicken and seal tightly. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Remove the chicken from the bag and set aside. Do not discard marinade. Pour the marinade into a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Cook for 5-10 minutes.
- Pour some of the hot marinade into a separate bowl. Place chicken on a grill and brush some of the hot marinade from the separate bowl over the top. Do not place the brush back in the main bowl of marinade after brushing the chicken. Grill chicken until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Wrap the chicken in foil and allow it to rest for 5-10 minutes. Place chicken in a baking dish and pour the remaining hot teriyaki marinade over the top. Serve as whole chicken thighs or slice before serving.
It was F’ing amazing! Not hard at all and taste great!
Too bland for me. It’s not awful but just not enough flavor.
Thank you for posting what appeared to be a well thought out recipe. I have come across too many recipes on Pinterest whereas they are either thrown together without ever actually preparing them or simply copied from someone else’s page. Your recipe above was neither!
Some of us can follow a recipe to the letter and achieve great results while the rest of us (aka me) like to court disaster! I (almost) followed your instructions to the letter with the exception of adding a diced white onion while doubling up on all measurements. I wasn’t able to actually grill the chicken until it had been marinading for 36 hours and found the flavor had penetrated thruout the meat, basting before flipping gave a great chare on the edges and straining the heated up portion of the marinade before serving worked out very well. I can absolutely say your recipe is fail safe, your pictures are very accurate and this is something that can be adapted to any number of other meats. THANK YOU again for creating such a great recipe. Bobby
Thank you for offering what appears to be (based upon the comments) a great keeper recipe. With one of your comments being you actually lived in Hawaii for a period of time, can you tell me whats the difference between your recipe and something called “Huli Huli Chicken”? Thank you in advance and I am looking forward to making this recipe. Bobby
They are extremely similar! I would say that Huli Huli Chicken usually has a thicker sauce, since the recipe typically calls for ketchup. However, they are overall very similar recipes!
I’ve made this several times, it’s always a spot on plate lunch with some rice and Mac salad. I also use a bit of thinly sliced red cabbage underneath the hot chicken to add some crunch.
Since I do not like chicken thighs, I used 2 Cornish hens that I had split down the back bone. I also thickened the boiled sauce with some cornstarch, which made for a great baste. It was delicious! Will make this again. Thanks.
Hi Pam- Thank you for sharing how you prepared this with cornish hens. I also love your idea of adding some thickening to the sauce. YUM! Thanks for the nice comment and the 5-stars!
I had a cookout for my birthday on June 25th and made this marinade I used chicken legs and thighs my guest loved it. Everyone was asking me for the recipe.
So glad it was a hit!!
Five of us had dinner together. We all gave it 5 stars. Used the same marinade for the chicken thighs and sirloin steak. Yum!
That is amazing, thanks for the great review!
Can this be baked instead of grilled?
We have never baked this before so I can’t tell you for sure. You probably can but it won’t have exactly the same taste. Hope this helps!
Any reason why you can’t use thighs with bones? I happen to have those on hand.
You definitely can if you wanted to. Typically in Hawaii they use boneless just because it’s easier to cut and serve but you can use bone-in if you prefer.
Is it safe to use the marinade after the raw chicken has sat in the bag with it?
It is if you heat it up completely over the stove. Bring it to a nice rolling boil. This is how they do it in Hawaii 🙂 Hope this helps!
Thanks for sharing this recipe! Tried it today for a birthday bbq and was really super well received! As a suggestion… I added 1 cup of rice wine to get it a bit closer to the original Japanese version. Works super well 🙂
Great tip! I am sure the rice wine gave it a nice little tangy kick. Thanks for sharing!
This is now a family favorite with brown rice and garlic edamame. So easy and never enough chicken for seconds!!
So glad you like this Hawaiian chicken! I bet it is so good with edamame (yum!) Thanks for sharing!
But do not use regular soy sauce, only low sodium. I made that mistake and it was TOOO salty. I WILL make it again.
This recipe was easy to make and had amazing flavors. Served with the macaroni salad. Thank you for posting this!
Can this be done on the stove or oven?
Have you seen those cast iron grill tops that go on your stove? That would work great! However, in my experience, they can make your house a little smoky.. but it tastes great!
My family and I are obsessed with teriyaki chicken. Growing up in the islands I’ve had my fair share of teriyaki and I have to say this recipe is perfection ! Easy to make, simple ingredients and tastes amazing ! We’re making this a weekly meal . Thank you for a great recipe : )
You are very welcome! So glad you liked this recipe!
Made this last night. It’s so tasty!!! Everyone loved it!!! Looking for a grilled teriyaki recipe made with OJ. Please let me know if you have a
recipe like that☺️👍
Hi Deb- I don’t know if we have one with OJ but I will look around. So glad you liked this recipe! Thanks for the 5-stars!
Is there a particular brand of soy you use……the ones we can get (I.e. Kikkoman) seem too salty…..not like the “shoyu” we used when living in Hawaii.
Thank you
The two I like to use the most are Aloha brand (Hawaiian brand) and Kikkoman. If Kikkoman seems too salty they have a reduced-sodium version.
Yumm!!! Thank you I can’t wait to try this recipe, thank you for sharing!💓
Can you use the foreman grill that’s all I have except bbq and it’s to cold for that. Can I cook in the oven
I haven’t used a foreman grill to make these, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work!
I don’t have a grill so could i bake in the oven and if so what temperature and for how long. I love teriyaki chicken. Thanks for sharing. Pleade get back with as soon as possible, because I’m wanting to try it in a couple of days. Thank you.
We haven’t tried baking it in the oven! I would start with 20 minutes and then check it every few minutes until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
Can it be done in a OTG .If so plz tell me the temperature and timing
We haven’t tried it that way, so I’m not sure what the temp and timing would be. Let us know how it goes if you do try it!
This was very good! I didn’t have time to marinate it but for a couple of hours and it was still tasty. Thanks for a delicious easy recipe 😊
So glad you liked it! Thanks for the 5-stars and the smiley face 😀
Going to try the recipe on sat for 50 people want to keep it warm any suggestions
You will probably want to use chafing dishes or some other kind of warming dish. You can also keep it covered in foil and on low heat in the oven. Hope this helps!
Thank you so much for sharing this incredible recipe !! I have a whole house full of guys who are anything but easy to cook for and they all went crazy for this amazing chicken!!! It was so nice to try something besides the same old plain Jane meat and potatoes !!!
Yay! That is so awesome to hear! I am so glad they liked it. You seriously can’t go wrong with teriyaki chicken 😉 Thanks for taking the time to come back and comment!
There are six men in my family and this was a keeper for us too. We ran out of meat! 🤦🏻♀️
THER’S NO TERIYAKI IN RECIPE…ONLY SOY!!
That’s probably because soy sauce is the base for teriyaki sauce.
This chicken tastes so incredible
you smart, other person dumb