Ultimate Hui Hui Chicken Recipe

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Hui Hui Chicken Recipe

Hui hui chicken recipe is a Hawaiian chicken recipe that tastes amazing. This barbecue chicken will give you a delightful tropical-tasting chicken that is great for any occasion. Check out the recipe with step-by-step instructions below, and taste the delicious chicken for yourself! 

Grilled Chicken with BBQ sauce

The Best Huli Huli Chicken

Are you looking for a delicious dinner, or grilling recipe? This chicken recipe is amazing and will allow you to enjoy the best Huli Huli chicken! Not only is this chicken the best in its taste, but it is also very easy to prepare. This recipe is a fantastic recipe to grill, bake, air fry, or cook in your instant pot. 

Hawaiian Huli Huli Chicken

Hui Hui chicken is a delicious Hawaiian chicken recipe. Traditionally, Huli Huli chicken is roasted while it is turned, hence why it is named Huli, which means turn. We are excited to show you how you can easily make this chicken recipe on your grill to enjoy any time you wish. 

Hui Hui Chicken Recipe – Delicious Hawaiian Food for a Family Dinner

Hui hui chicken recipe is easy to make and can be enjoyed whenever you wish. For a taste of Hawaiian for your next family dinner, all you need to do is marinate your chicken, and then grill it basting it in a delightful barbecue-like sauce. This chicken is easy, amazingly delicious, and will be enjoyed by everyone. 

Ingredients Needed To Prepare The Dish

To make this dish, there are a few basic ingredients that you will need in order to achieve a delicious taste. Below is the list of ingredients you will need on hand to make this chicken recipe. 

Chicken Thighs. Chicken thighs with bone in and skin on work well for grilling. The skin helps to protect your chicken and the chicken thighs naturally do not dry out as fast when cooking. However, chicken thighs that are boneless and skinless will also work well for this recipe. You can use other cuts of chicken if needed, although chicken thighs work the best. 

Ketchup. Any brand of ketchup will work great for this recipe. As long as you have ketchup, which helps to form your barbecue sauce, any type will work.

Brown Sugar. Light or dark brown sugar will work to help make your barbecue sauce for your chicken. 

Soy Sauce. Soy sauce is needed to go into your barbecue sauce mixture. Your soy sauce helps to give it a unique flavor that hui hui chicken is known for. 

Garlic. Garlic helps to add a unique flavor enhancer overall taste of your chicken. You can use garlic cloves and mince it yourself, or you can use pre-minced garlic to marinate your chicken. 

Lime Juice. We recommend using lime juice in your marinade to help bring out the flavors. Lime juice serves as a great flavor enhancer and adds a bit of tropical taste to it as well. If you do not have lime juice, you can substitute lemon juice, or even pineapple juice if desired. 

Ginger root. Adding ginger root to your barbecue sauce gives an added kick of flavor. 

Garlic Salt. Adding garlic salt to your marinade is entirely optional. We recommend doing this to help enhance your overall flavor, however, it is not required. 

Now that you have all of your ingredients gathered let’s jump to making the chicken. Below you will find a detailed recipe with step-by-step instructions. 

Please note that at the bottom of the post you can find a printable version of this recipe card. Please feel free to print it out or save it to Pinterest or Facebook to access later. 

Grilled Chicken leg quarters

Grilled Hui Hui Chicken Recipe

Ingredients

8 chicken thighs 

For the Sauce

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup ketchup

½ cup soy sauce

¼ cup lime juice 

1 Tbsp garlic, minced 

1 tsp garlic salt

2 tsp ginger root (optional) 

How To make Huli Huli Chicken

Step 1: Marinading The Chicken

Begin by marinating your chicken. To do this, add your chicken to a mixing bowl. In a separate mixing bowl, combine all of your sauce ingredients, including, brown sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, lime juice, minced garlic, garlic salt, and optional ginger root. Stir your sauce until combined. 

Remove one cup of your sauce, cover, and refrigerate. Then, take your remaining sauce and add it to your bowl with the chicken. Mix until your chicken is coated in the sauce. Refrigerate for one to two hours. At a minimum, your chicken should marinate for 30 minutes. Because this marinade contains lime juice, we do not recommend allowing your chicken to marinate overnight. 

Step 2: Grilling The Chicken

When your chicken is close to done marinating, it’s time to preheat your grill. Warm your grill to approximately 350°F, then remove the chicken from your marinade and place it onto your grill racks. 

Cook the chicken skin side down over indirect heat. Allow your chicken to cook for 30 to 45 minutes over indirect heat, or until the internal temperature of your chicken reaches 165 to 170°F. 

Flip the chicken over and allow your chicken to cook skin side up for another 10 minutes. Brush the top of your chicken with your remaining cup of barbecue sauce and cook for another five minutes. Remove the chicken from your grill and allow it to sit for a minute or two, then serve and enjoy your hui hui chicken. 

Notes

Please note that if you are cooking this chicken over direct heat, it may take less time and you will want to keep a very close eye on it. If possible, we do recommend cooking over indirect heat rather than direct.

This means that you turn off one of your burners on a gas grill and place it over the burner that’s off. Or if cooking and another type of grill, you’ll want your heat to not be directly under your cooking chicken. 

Nutrition Information

We have estimated the nutritional facts for the above recipe, however, please note that it includes all of the marinade, which is not likely to happen as we will discard what remains from marinating. 

We have estimated one serving contains approximately 491 calories. We have also estimated that one serving contains approximately 34.1 g total fat, 110 mg cholesterol, 1588 mg sodium, 28.6 g total carbohydrates, and 18.7 g protein. 

Please note these nutritional facts will change depending upon how much of the barbecue sauce your chicken absorbs. 

Grilled chicken W BBQ

Tips & Tricks

Not only can you make chicken using your grill, but you can also prepare it by baking it in the oven, using your instant pot, or cooking it in your air fryer.

Below we are going to dive into a few tips and tricks for how you can prepare your chicken using these various methods. 

Baking The Chicken

Marinate and prepare your chicken as instructed above. Then, preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, or use a baking dish. Lightly grease the bottom of your dish, then remove your chicken from the marinade and place it into your baking dish. 

Bake for approximately 15 minutes, then remove your chicken and turn it over and continue baking for another 15 minutes. Repeat this process until the internal temperature of your chicken reaches 165°F. 

Remove from the oven, brush with remaining sauce, and allow it to rest for a few minutes before placing your chicken onto a serving platter. Serve and enjoy. 

Instant Pot Hui Hui Chicken

Prepare your chicken as instructed above, and then placing to your instant pot. Secure the lid to cover your instant pot, double-checking that it is adjusted to seal. 

Set your pressure cooker to 18 minutes for thawed chicken. Let it sit for 10 minutes, and then carefully adjust the valve to release your pressure.

Remove the lid and double-check that the internal temperature of your chicken has reached 165°F. Brush with remaining sauce. Place your chicken onto a serving plate, serve and enjoy! 

Hui Hui Chicken In Air Fryer

To cook yourHui Hui chicken in an air fryer, you’ll want to prepare your chicken as instructed above, then place the chicken into your air fryer basket.

Air fry at 375°F for approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Check to make sure your internal temperature has reached 165°F. Brush with remaining barbecue sauce and air fry for another five minutes. Remove the chicken from your air fryer, serve, and enjoy.  

What To Pair With Huli Huli Chicken

There are all kinds of food you can serve alongside hui hui chicken. The top recommended dishes to serve with Huli Huli Chicken are macaroni salad, rice, potato salad, broccoli salad, watermelon pizza, bacon-wrapped green beans, and much more. For additional ideas, check out some of our popular side dish recipes

Grilled chicken

How To Store Huli Huli Chicken 

Room Temp. Chicken should not be kept at room temperature for any longer than two hours. The chicken that is at room temperature any longer runs the risk of growing too much bacteria and being a health risk. Instead, this chicken should be served, and then refrigerated so that it avoids staying at room temperature for an excessive amount of time. 

Fridge. Storing any hui hui chicken leftovers in the refrigerator is the best option. To refrigerate, simply transfer your chicken to an airtight container, or sealable plastic bag then refrigerate for up to three days. 

Freezer. Although chicken in general can easily be frozen, but because of the barbecue sauce in this recipe, we do not recommend freezing this chicken. Barbecue sauce does not always freeze the best, therefore this chicken recipe is best to be refrigerated, and then any leftovers should be thrown out. 

Most Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Huli Huli Chicken?

Huli huli chicken is chicken that has been grilled or roasted and marinated then brushed with a barbecue sauce. 

What does “huli-huli” actually mean?

Huli huli actually means to turn around. This is why historically this chicken is cooked on a rotisserie, or being turned often. 

From where is Huli Huli Chicken?

Huli huli chicken originated from Hawaii. It is a delightful dish made from Island flavored chicken. 

Why is it called Huli Huli chicken?

Huli huli chicken received name because of the traditional method of cooking it by turning it often, or cooking it over a rotisserie. 

What exactly is Hui Hui Chicken, and what is its origin?

Hui hui chicken is essentially Hawaiian barbecue chicken. They are many different ways you can cook it including grilling it which is the most recommended, but you can also bake the chicken, air fry, and cook it in your instant pot. 

What is the best way to serve Hui Hui Chicken?

The best way to serve hui hui chicken is to grill your chicken and cook it until its internal temperature reaches 165°F. Brush it with the remaining barbecue sauce, then serve and enjoy. It’s hard to go wrong with this delicious chicken recipe. 

Wrapping It All Up

Hui Hui chicken is a Hawaiian chicken recipe that can be cooked in a variety of ways, but grilling it can achieve the best results. It’s a chicken recipe that is essentially a barbecued chicken with a tropical flair, that is perfect for any occasion. 

Huli Huli Chicken

Hui Hui chicken is a delicious Hawaiian barbecued chicken recipe. This chicken recipe is easy to make, tastes amazing and it’s perfect for any gathering. Give the delicious recipe a try today with our step-by-step instructions and taste the goodness for yourself!

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We here at CookThink have been cooking and baking for many years! We love to share our recipes, and hope you will enjoy them too!

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