Grilled teriyaki chicken and pineapple (Hawaiian teriyaki chicken skewers) have become a new summer favorite. Grilled pineapple is phenomenal. It’s warm, sweet, and is even better with a nice grilled sear. It also nicely complements grilled peppers and onions.

This recipe consists of simple marinated chicken skewered with grilled pineapple, green peppers, and red onions. It’s a really fresh tasting recipe offering the perfect blend of sweet and savory. Can be made as an appetizer or as a meal served over jasmine or brown rice.

Teriyaki Chicken

For the chicken, I marinate with store-bought marinade for simplicity. I really like using Sweet Baby Ray’s Sweet Teriyaki marinade. You can use your favorite marinade OR create your own at home too. See this post for my homemade beer marinade.

For best results marinate for 8 hours in the fridge, however, an hour will also work if you’re crunched for time. Always cut the chicken into their skewered size before marinating. This increases the contact area with the marinade and makes for less of a mess.

Cutting The Chicken, Pineapple, and Veggies

My biggest tip is to try to cut all skewered items in as uniform sizes as possible. Have your onions, peppers, chicken, and pineapple all be roughly cut into 1-inch chunks. This ensures the skewers cook evenly and lie flat on the grilling surface. For example, if the chicken is cut smaller than the veggies, they will hang above the grates and may take longer to cook and risk burning the veggies, etc.

If you’ve never cut a fresh pineapple, it’s really easy. This video helps if you need some guidance.

Always Oil Grill Grates

This is a big one to prevent sticking and tearing. I like to oil the hot grill grate with a basting brush or rolled up paper towel dipped in oil just before adding skewers to the grill. This will allow you to easily rotate the skewers while cooking without pulling the chicken off the skewers (always a facepalm moment for me). Olive oil is my favorite oil, but vegetable or canola oil work just fine.

Also cooking spray works if you like to live your life dangerously.

Soak Wooden Skewers

If you’re using wooden skewers, always soak in water for at least 30 minutes before grilling to prevent from burning too much. Serve skewers drizzled with plenty of chimichurri sauce and extra on the side. I guarantee you’ll be scraping the bottom of the chimichurri bowl by the end of the meal.

More Grilled Skewers