Hawaiian Chicken with Coconut Rice
This Hawaiian Chicken recipe is a tropical-inspired meal that is simple, delicious, and makes me feel like I’m on a tropical vacation! The chicken is marinated in a flavorful soy and pineapple juice sauce, and can be grilled or pan-fried.
Served with sweet grilled pineapples and coconut rice, this Hawaiian Chicken dish is loaded with flavors of sweet, tangy and savory…a real treat especially for those who complex flavors.
This lovely flavor combination is that truly spectacular and will make your tastebuds dance the happy dance.
Easy Hawaiian Chicken Recipe
One of my favorite things about Hawaiian chicken is that one bite into it, especially with that grilled pineapple and coconut rice, I truly feel like I am whisked away to some tropical island and living that carefree island life.
Island life. That sipping-fruity-alcoholic-drink, live-in-your-bathing-suit, sand-between-your-toes, go-to-sleep-listening-to-the-ocean-breeze, eating-fresh-seafood-and-tropical-fruits-all-the-time kinda life. A girl can dream!
The key to this Hawaiian chicken recipe is that lovely Hawaiian chicken soy marinade that is sweet, savory, tangy, inspired by Polynesian flavors.
Hawaiian chicken is truly not complete without grilled pineapples. Sweet grilled pineapples pairs perfectly with the chicken, giving a nice sweet and savory flavor balance.
Just like any marinade, the longer you can marinade Hawaiian chicken the better, as you want to let the flavors sip into the chicken bringing flavor to the insides and not just the surface.
One of the many reasons I love this Hawaiian chicken recipe is because it always, always reminds me of the flavors and smells of the food we enjoyed in French Polynesia, where we honeymooned.
TOO DREAMY FOR WORDS.
And since island life isn’t happening anytime soon, I’m BRINGING IT TO ME. In the form of this glorious Hawaiian chicken dish.
A girl’s gotta go what a girl’s gotta do. 🙂
Ingredients Notes
This Hawaiian chicken recipe calls for a simple marinade that consist of the following ingredients. My goal is to keep the ingredient list short and simple, yet producing maximum flavors.
- chicken tenderloins – you can use chicken breast or chicken thighs as well
- pineapple juice – for ease I get canned pineapple juice.
- soy sauce – if you prefer you can use low sodium soy sauce
- ketchup – this brings the tangy flavors to the Hawaiian chicken.
- brown sugar – this brings sweetness to the Hawaiian chicken, and also the reason for the slight charring if you make this on the grill.
- fresh garlic – avoid substituting with garlic powder – it’s just not the same!
- canola oil – other types of neutral oil works too, e.g. vegetable oil, olive oil, avocado oil etc.
- honey – this is technically not part of the marinade but it is brushed onto the chicken at the end to give it that glossy look, while bringing lots of amazing sweet and tangy flavors. I prefer to brush this one at the end to avoid burning the chicken.
How to make Hawaiian Chicken
This Hawaiian Chicken is a marinate-and-grill (on a grill pan or outside grill) kind of recipe. EASY PEASY.
If you do not have a grill or do not want to mess with it, it will work pan fried as well. The only thing missing will be grill marks. I do love me some grill marks, because they sure are pretty, but not necessary.
If you use an outdoor grill, you do get a bit of a smoky flavor which is always a plus. But honestly, the marinade is so good it will work just fine indoor (not to mention easier clean up) on a grill pan or a regular pan.
The marinade for the Hawaiian Chicken has a variety of flavors – sweet, salty, tangy, tropical, and citrusy consisting of pineapple juice, soy sauce, garlic, ketchup, vegetable oil, and brown sugar.
It is a gorgeous, gorgeous marinade. This Hawaiian Chicken recipe calls for marinating it for an hour, but if you are planning ahead you can let it sit for up to 24 hours.
In fact, the longer the chicken sits in the marinade, the more flavorful the chicken is.
When the chicken is fully cooked, brush honey generously on both sides of the chicken.
Honey, combined with all the flavors in the marinade, create this sticky, complex concoction of flavors that is just out-of-this-world delicious. YUM.
What to serve with Hawaiian Chicken
The best way to serve Hawaiian Chicken is with grilled pineapples and coconut rice.
Grilled Pineapples
There’s something magical about putting fresh ripe pineapple on grill (or pan). It caramelizes the pineapple and brings out so much sweetness
Coconut Rice
In my humble opinion, there’s only one way to make this Hawaiian Chicken dish complete. And that is to serve it with coconut rice.
The idea of serving this with coconut rice was inspired by one of my favorite Malaysian dishes, Nasi Lemak, which is a rice dish cooked with coconut milk.
Fragrant coconut rice, combined with the salty, sweet, tangy, citrusy chicken, and the sweet and warm pineapple, will tantalize your tastebuds, and take you on a a fun culinary adventure.
Here are the ingredients you will need for the coconut rice:
- basmati or jasmine rice – I like these better than long-grain rice, they are more fragrant and pairs better with the Hawaiian Chicken and grilled pineapples
- coconut milk – unsweetened coconut milk that typically comes in a can.
You will be basically cooking rice per usual, but adding coconut milk to it as well instead of just water to give it that fragrant coconut flavors. YUM!
Appliances Used
Here are a few appliances that will make making Hawaiian chicken much easier!
- Outdoor grill – gas or charcoal
- Cast Iron Grill Pan (This is the one I have for many years and love!) – if you want to grill Hawaiian chicken indoors, this is a good option
- Food Processor – used to blend all the marinade ingredients together. Blender works as well, or you can also whisk everything together (make sure to mince garlic if doing it this way).
- Meat Thermometer – use to make sure chicken is fully cooked. Once the thickest part of chicken reaches 165℉ it is fully cooked.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you don’t have or want to grill, I recommend pan frying but not baking. When chicken is baked, we are not able to seal as much flavor to the surface of the chicken and thus making it less flavorful.
Marinade chicken for longer. The longer you marinade the chicken the tastier it will be. I suggested a minimum time of 1 hour but I like to marinate for longer if I can to make it more flavorful.
Yes! You can use any type of chicken as long as you marinade it well and cook it until it reaches 165℉
Veggie sides go really well with this dish. Check out some of my favorites such as Asian Style Green Beans, Roasted Lemon Garlic Broccoli, and Easy Garlic Parmesan Asparagus.
DID YOU ENJOY THIS RECIPE? Please comment below and give us a 5-star rating! This will help others find this recipe on Google and Pinterest. We very much appreciate your help! 🤍
Other Chicken recipes!
- Spicy Baked Chicken Tenders (with instructions to make it non spicy!)
- Lemon Balsamic Grilled (or Pan-Fried) Chicken
- Cajun Chicken
- Slow Cooker Chicken in Tomato and Herb Sauce
- Asian Peanut Chicken Salad
- Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Jamaican Jerk Chicken (by Chili Pepper Madness!)
Hawaiian Chicken with Coconut Rice
Ingredients
Hawaiian Chicken
- ~1 1/2 lbs chicken tenderloins 7-8 pieces
- 1/2 fresh ripe pineapple
- 1/4 cup pineapple juice
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 3 tbsp ketchup
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 5-6 cloves fresh garlic
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 2 tbsp honey
Coconut Rice
- 1 cup basmati or jasmine rice
- 3/4 cup coconut milk
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp Fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
Hawaiian Chicken
- In a food processor or blender, blend pineapple juice, soy sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, fresh garlic and canola oil to create the marinade for the chicken.
- Add chicken and marinade into a zip lock bag, mix well to ensure all chicken tenderloins are covered with marinate. Marinate for 1 hour, or up to 24 hours (the longer the better!).
- Grease a grill pan, cast iron grill, charcoal grill, electric grill or non-stick skillet.
- Cook chicken until it reaches 165℉. Flip halfway through. Once chicken is done, brush honey on both sides of the tenderloins and remove.
- Slice pineapple into 1/2-1 inch thick slices and grill on both sides.
Coconut Rice
- On the stovetop, in a pot, bring to boil rice, water and coconut milk. Once boiled, bring to medium low heat and cook covered (cover with a tight lid and do not open) for ~17-20 minutes (See Note 1). Remove from heat.
- If using a rice cooker, follow rice cooker instruction. Use 1:1 ratio of coconut milk to water to substitute for the amount of water needed to cook the rice.
Combine
- Serve chicken and pineapple on a bed of coconut rice, and sprinkle with fresh parsley. Enjoy!
MinShien, this Hawaiian chicken looks fabulous! I love the pineapple and the sweet, sticky glaze! We went to St. John in the Caribbean years ago and it was wonderful. Always day dreaming about it!
Thank you so much, Kelly!! Those beach vacations are the best!! I still look back fondly at our time in French Polynesia and I cannot wait to go back some day! Until then, I indulge in foods that remind me of it! HA! 😉
Made this tonight with chicken thighs. So yummy!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for leaving a review!! 🙂
Will it still taste fine if I bake this on a sheet pan? Any recommendations for time & temp! Trying this tonight!
I would do 350 degrees for ~25-30 minutes if the chicken is completely defrosted. Check at the 25 min mark to see if it is done, and then bake longer if needed. You will lose the charred/slightly crispy texture on the outside of the chicken if you bake it instead of grilling or panfrying. Good luck! Let me know how it goes!
Unfortunately, it did not turn out well. The marinade separated in the oven so the chicken wasnt very flavorful. I definitely think the chicken is meant to be grilled to retain the marinade/flavor. Will have to try again and do it properly!
Aww sorry about that! Yeah, it definitely works a lot better grilling or pan frying. When you try it again I would love to hear what you think! Thank you!
I made this tonight for my fussy family of 6. Other than one of them not liking the rice and then another not liking the pineapple, this went down a treat! Lovely recipe and all demolished the chicken!
Yay! I’m glad you and your family enjoyed it! Thanks for the review, Alison!!
Loved this recipe!!! The marinate smell great and makes the chicken taste delish. I only marinated for an hour and it still gave it great flavor. I’m sure if I would have done 24 hours it would have been to die for. So the biggest hit for my picky family was the rice. I made 2 cups and ALL of it is gone. I used a George Forman to cook and it turned out very tasty. Obviously not as good as the grill, but it did the job. Thanks so much for sharing. I will be making this rice again soon for sure 😀
YAY! I am so happy to hear that you love it! Coconut rice is incredible, isn’t it!! LOVE its gorgeous flavor and fragrance. Thank you for leaving this kind review!!
Do you use unsweetened or sweetened coconut milk for the rice?
I typically use unsweetened coconut milk!
I am looking forward to making this.
For the coconut milk, I assume you use the coconut milk in carton that you drink; not canned coconut milk. Correct?
I meant canned coconut milk!
Thank you. I bought both unsure which to use. Glad I did some thorough investigating first. LOL!
I made this tonight and it was wonderful. I’ll be making it again soon. Thanks for the great recipe!
Yay! I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed it! 🙂
That was delicious! My hubby loved it so much so we will definitely be making this again! I will probably cook the rice in a rice cooker next time though bc it got a little burnt on the stovetop. User error there though. Thanks for sharing this yumminess!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Cooking rice on stove top can be tricky! It’s important to cook it on medium low heat and some pot/appliances heat up quicker and need less cook time. I’ll add that to the instructions – thanks for letting me know!
Family loved it!
So glad to hear that!
Absolutely delicious! This will be my new go to chicken marinade! I really enjoyed the rice too and actually substituted the water for leftover pineapple juice I had from the marinade. SO good!!
That’s awesome! Love the substitution you made – thanks for sharing! 🙂
A massive hit at our place! My disabled daughter had made coconut rice at school, so I just needed something a bit special to put with it. This Hawaiian Chicken was perfect. Definitely saving this one!
I love hearing that you all loved it! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Do you use canned coconut milk or dairy substitute coconut milk (the kind intended for drinking)?
Canned coconut milk!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was a hit! My husband kept walking into the kitchen because it smelled so good while it was cooking! I only let the chicken marinate for about 30 minutes I can’t wait to try it when I can let it soak over night! Thanks!!
That’s wonderful! Yes the longer it marinades the better it tastes! I’m so glad you all enjoyed it! 🙂
This was excellent. Made it tonight and I felt like I was on vacation, except for the messy kitchen. Wish my kids liked it as much as me and my husband, but they Are notorious frumps when it comes to dinner. 😉
Haha, so happy you enjoyed it! Thanks for letting me know how it went! 🙂
Excellent dish, family and friends really enjoyed!
That’s wonderful! 🙂
I am not a professional cook by any means but this was super easy and my family loved it! Uncle said it was the best chicken and he is very picky! Thanks for the recipe!
Aw yay! So happy to hear that! 🙂
Can I somehow use leftover cooked jasmine rice?
You will need to use uncooked rice to make the coconut rice if you follow the instructions, but you can definitely just sub the coconut rice with your leftover jasmine rice and don’t have to make the rice! It will not have the coconut flavor but still yummy!
Are the calories per serving or the whole meal?
Btw I absolutely love your recipe. We’ve made it several times now. 💜
It would be per serving. I’m so glad you are enjoying it! 🙂
I am making this for dinner tonight, but the hubby will grill it. We don’t have any sort of grill pan, but I think he will use a grill mat. What temperature should he use on a gas grill?
Try it for 400-450℉!
I made this for my dad’s birthday dinner and it was a big hit! It was only with the family in our household since we’re still self isolating as much as possible, but i’m glad we didn’t have to share too much haha. This was my first time using the grill (i usually prefer baking to cooking) but i followed the recipe and got some help figuring out how to use the grill and it turned out great! I only marinated for an hour and brushed on the extra sauce while cooking it and it had the perfect amount of flavour. Hawaii is very special to our family and this little taste of the islands was perfect! Thank you for posting this!
That’s wonderful to hear! Thanks so much for sharing and glad you all enjoyed it!