These Pineapple Chicken Kebobs are made with a pineapple marinade, and the kabobs are brushed with a spicy pineapple glaze during grilling!
Chicken Hawaiian kabobs are the perfect summer dinner choice. You can assemble them earlier in the day and then cook them when dinner time rolls around!
What You’ll Find In This Post
Why We Love This Recipe
Summer and grilling go hand in hand. I love it when I’m driving in the car with the windows down or taking a walk, and I can smell someone cooking dinner on the grill. We aren’t one of those families that use our grill all year long. It is too cold here in Minnesota in the winter here to stand outside grilling! So when summer arrives, we pull out the grill and use it as much as we can.
These Hawaiian chicken kebobs were filled with tender pieces of chicken between juicy pineapple chunks, sweet bell peppers, and flavorful onions. The chicken is marinated before grilling, and the kabobs are brushed with a pineapple chicken glaze while they are cooking on the grill. It’s such a great combination of flavors!
Ingredients Needed For Pineapple Chicken Kebobs
The ingredients needed for this chicken & pineapple kabobs recipe are broken into three parts: kabobs, marinade, and glaze. Each of the steps includes pineapple in some way for the best flavor!
Pineapple Chicken Kabobs Ingredients
- Chicken: Two boneless, skinless chicken breasts are enough to make six pineapple chicken skewers.
- Peppers: Tri-colored mini sweet peppers add color to the kebobs! You can also use full-sized bell peppers.
- Onion: We used a red onion for the added color, but white onions would work too.
- Pineapple: We use canned, diced pineapple for this recipe since it also includes pineapple juice, which is part of the marinade and the glaze. You can use fresh pineapple but remember to buy pineapple juice too.
Pineapple Chicken Marinade Ingredients
- Pineapple Juice: We used pineapple juice as an acid in the marinade, and it also adds flavor.
- Honey: For a sweetener, we used honey, but you could also use brown sugar.
- Soy Sauce: The soy sauce adds flavor and helps tenderize the chicken.
- Olive Oil: This marinade recipe calls for olive oil as the fat, but you could also use canola or vegetable oil.
- Vinegar: We added distilled white vinegar as an additional acid and for flavor.
- Sesame Oil: You only need a little sesame oil to add a lot of flavor!
- Garlic: We used two cloves of minced garlic. You can use 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder if you prefer.
- Ginger: This marinade uses two teaspoons of fresh, minced ginger. You can substitute fresh ginger with 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger.
Pineapple Chicken Glaze Ingredients
The pineapple chicken glaze is a combination of more pineapple juice for flavor and tartness, honey for sweetness, olive oil to help spread the glaze, sriracha sauce for the heat, and soy sauce for flavor.
How To Make Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs
Start by making the pineapple chicken marinade. Whisk together the pineapple juice, honey, soy sauce, olive oil, vinegar, sesame oil, minced garlic, and minced ginger. Then, set the marinade aside.
Cut the boneless, skinless chicken breasts into cubes and place them in a gallon-sized ziptop bag. Pour the marinade over the cubed chicken, seal the bag, and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
While the chicken is marinating, make the Hawaiian chicken glaze. Whisk together the pineapple juice, honey, sriracha sauce, olive oil, and soy sauce. Set the mixture aside for later.
Once the chicken has finished marinating, transfer the chicken to a bowl and discard the marinade. Thread the chicken cubes, pineapple chunks, sweet pepper pieces, and onion slices onto six kabobs, alternating ingredients.
Tip: If you plan to use bamboo skewers, you need to soak them for 30 minutes before using them.
Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Lightly oil the grill grates and then place the kabobs on the grill. Brush them with the pineapple glaze.
Cook the pineapple chicken kebobs over medium-high heat, turning and brushing them with the pineapple glaze often until the last five minutes of cooking time. Discard any remaining glaze. Grill the kabobs for 12-15 minutes or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165˚F.
Remove the chicken pineapple kabobs from the grill and serve immediately. The combination of the sweet pineapple and honey with the spicy sriracha sauce is fantastic!
Other Ways To Make Chicken Pineapple Kabobs
Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Kabobs
You can add barbecue sauce to this recipe to make Hawaiian BBQ chicken kabobs!
- Marinate the chicken and assemble the kabobs as directed in the recipe.
- Add 1/2 cup of sweet barbecue sauce to the other ingredients when you make the pineapple chicken glaze.
- Baste the kabobs with the BBQ glaze while cooking them on the grill.
Chicken Kabobs In The Oven
Another option is to make these chicken kabobs in the oven. This is perfect for the winter months or for when a grill isn’t available.
- Marinate the chicken and make the pineapple glaze.
- Preheat the oven to 400˚F, assemble the kabobs, and place them on a rimmed baking sheet lined with heavy-duty foil.
- Bake the pineapple chicken kabobs for 20-25 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked and the veggies are tender. Turn kabobs occasionally and baste them with the pineapple glaze until the final five minutes of cooking time.
- You can put them under the broiler for a couple of minutes to get a more charred finish.
Make Ahead and Leftovers
- Make Ahead Of Time: You can assemble the kabobs up to three hours ahead of time and store them in the fridge until you are ready to grill them!
- Leftovers: If you have any leftover pineapple chicken kabobs, slide the chicken and veggies off the skewers into a container. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to three months.
- Reheating: You can reheat leftovers in the oven on a rimmed baking sheet for 15-20 minutes at 350˚F, in a skillet over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes, or in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. If your leftovers are frozen, thaw them in the fridge overnight or add additional time while reheating them.
What Others Want To Know
All of them are correct! Different countries use different spellings. They all refer to broiled or grilled meat and vegetables on skewers.
We prefer boneless skinless chicken breasts. You can also use chicken thighs if you want more fat in your meat.
You should marinate it for a minimum of 15 minutes, and 30 minutes is preferable. But you can marinate it for up to two hours.
What To Serve With Pineapple Chicken Kebobs
Once the Hawaiian chicken kabobs have finished cooking, they are ready to eat, but what should you enjoy them with? You can serve them over coconut rice, fried rice, cauliflower rice, or couscous. They are also delicious in pitas and naan flatbread.
Similar Recipes
Although we love grilled chicken kabobs with pineapple, we also make them with zucchini, asparagus, and mangos! Here are some of our other kabob recipes to try:
- Hawaiian Steak Kabobs are made with an island teriyaki sauce!
- Garlic and Herb Chicken Kabobs include peppers, onions, zucchini, and a garlic and herb chicken marinade.
- Mango Chicken Kabobs have a tropical flavor with a coconut milk marinade.
- Lemon Pepper Chicken Kabobs feature asparagus and new potatoes!
Pineapple Chicken Kabobs
Ingredients
Pineapple Chicken Kabobs
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 lb mini orange, red, and yellow peppers
- 1 onion
- 20 oz can pineapple chunks pineapple juice reserved
Pineapple Chicken Marinade
- ¼ cup pineapple juice
- 3 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
Pineapple Glaze
- ½ cup pineapple juice
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon sriracha sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
Instructions
Pineapple Chicken Marinade
- Start by draining the juice from a 20-ounce can of pineapple chunks into a container with a spout. Put the pineapple chunks into a bowl and set them aside. Pour 1/4 cup of the pineapple juice into a bowl for the marinade and 1/2 cup into a separate bowl for the glaze.
- Mix together 1/4 cup of the pineapple juice, honey, soy sauce, olive oil, vinegar, sesame oil, minced garlic, and minced ginger.
- Cut each chicken breast into cubes and place them in a gallon-sized ziptop bag. Pour the marinade over the chicken, seal the bag, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Pineapple Glaze
- Whisk together 1/2 cup of pineapple juice, honey, sriracha sauce, olive oil, and soy sauce. Set aside for later.
Pineapple Chicken Kabobs
- Cut red, orange, and yellow peppers into chunks and place them in a bowl. Slice the red onion into chunks and place them in a second bowl. Transfer the chicken from the marinade to a bowl and discard the marinade.
- Thread the chicken, peppers, onions, and pineapple chunks onto six kabobs, alternating ingredients. Don't overcrowd the kebobs, and remember that bamboo skewers need to be soaked for 30 minutes before using them.
- Heat the grill to medium-high heat, lightly oil the grill grates, place the kabobs on the grill and brush them with the glaze. Baste the kabobs with the pineapple glaze often while cooking them until five minutes of cook time remains. Grill the kebobs for 12-15 minutes, turning them often, until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165˚F and the veggies are tender.
Jennifer says
Where are the measurements?
Tonia Larson says
Hi Jennifer,
I am so sorry about that! Somehow they disappeared from the recipe card. I’ve updated it and they should be showing again.
Best,
Tonia
Rebecca Owczarzak says
For whatever reason I did not marinade the chicken the first time I made this and it was great. Made it a second time and the consistency of the chicken was disgusting. Third time I marinated it less than the directions said. Consistency was still disgusting. Will no longer marinade the chicken and will just baste.
Tonia says
I’m happy that you found a way to make the recipe fit your family’s needs. Happy Grilling! ~Tonia