An easy baked version of a tropical favorite.
Can you have enough chicken recipes? I say no. But I’m sure you’ll be glad to have this one for Baked Huli Huli Chicken. If you’re not familiar, “huli huli” is kind of like the Hawaiian answer to teriyaki and it’s just as tangy and sweet with a little bit of a tropical twist. But usually it’s grilled. Not here — here, you get an easy oven baked method for tender and moist chicken that’s as flavorful as you could want it to be.
Huli Huli Chicken is originally attributed to a businessman from Honolulu named Ernest Morgado. All the way back in 1955, he used a secret family recipe to marinate chicken and called it “huli huli” because “huli” is the Hawaiian word for “turn” and his recipe involved turning the chicken many times on the grill. With this baked recipe you do have to brush the chicken with the sauce a few times, but you don’t have to worry about any turning. So this baked version lives up to the name in flavor but not so much in method!
Our marinade here is a mixture of olive oil, garlic, paprika, ginger, cumin, salt, pepper, brown sugar, ketchup, pineapple juice, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, and Sriracha. It’s the perfect balance of tangy and sweet and savory with just a little bit of a kick. You’ll want to set aside about a half cup of the marinade for basting later and let the chicken rest in the remainder for at least two hours. It can sit overnight if you’re the type who plans ahead. (And it’ll be even more flavorful.)
This works best with the chicken placed on a wire rack so they have better air circulation. Just lay them out and get them in a 375 degree oven for about fifteen minutes. Brush them with marinade and let them continue to bake until they’re cooked through and then give them one more brush and broil them for a bit to caramelize the sauce even more.
If you’re feeling a little extra, you can brush the chicken a couple of extra times while they’re baking but it’s definitely not necessary.
Even if you’re not feeling extra, I’d still suggest going the extra step of topping these with some pineapple rings and broiling them for a few minutes. It isn’t quite the same as delicious grilled pineapple, but it does deepen that sweet pineapple flavor and it takes this chicken over the top.
. Baked Huli Huli Chicken
. Yield(s): Serves 8
. 5m prep time
. 30m cook time
Ingredients
4 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced or pasted
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1 cup canned pineapple juice
1/2 cup light soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoon Sriracha
1 can pineapple rings, drained
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