Hula Hoop Sauce (A.K.A. Huli Huli, with a Twist)

This easy pineapple-soy sauce is a smoky, saucy twist on teriyaki—simple enough for a weeknight, special enough to shake up your usual chicken routine.

It didn’t start with this name. When I told The Supreme Commander I was testing a new chicken recipe with huli huli sauce, he misheard and dubbed it Hula Hoop Chicken—and it stuck. Honestly? It fits. This dish is playful, a little unexpected, and it’s been spinning through our dinner rotation ever since.

If you’ve never heard of huli huli, you’re not alone. I didn’t know what it was or meant until I read that huli means “to turn” in Hawaiian, referencing the traditional method of turning the chicken as it grills. While I don’t always grill mine, the sauce is the star—and that’s what matters.

Huli huli sauce is a cousin to teriyaki, but don’t confuse the two.

Where teriyaki tends to lean heavily into soy sauce and brown sugar, huli huli is all about the pineapple. It’s a bit brighter, fruitier, and when you add a splash of liquid smoke, it takes on this gorgeous, deeper flavor. I also toss in some cubes of frozen minced ginger from Trader Joe’s—those little cubes are lifesavers, and I use them in lots of things (Korean Beef, coconut rice, salad dressings).

Like many of my favorite meals, this one follows my basic formula:
a protein + a sauce + some veg + rice = winner winner, chicken dinner.

You can make it in the Instant Pot, crockpot, or on a sheet pan. However you cook it, serve it with:

• fresh or cooked pineapple (yes, double down on that pineapple),
• sliced or diced bell peppers, and
• rice (cooked in coconut milk if you’re feeling fancy)
• salad for something fresh and green

There is a little more depth compared to your average teriyaki sauce but I promise you will not hear anything but “more, please” at your table. It hits that sweet-salty-smoky note just right and sometimes dinner just needs a fresh spin—Hula Hoop Chicken style. Real food. Real kitchens. Real love. (And a little pineapple never hurts.)–The Food Civilian

Smoky Hula Hoop Sauce

smoky and sweet pineapple-based sauce for smoked meats–based on Huli huli sauce

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course bbq, Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 1 cup

Ingredients

  

• ½ cup pineapple juice
• ¼ cup soy sauce can sub in Tamari or Bragg’s liquid aminos
• ¼ cup ketchup
• ½ c brown sugar, scant remove 1-2 TBS
• 3 cubes minced ginger, frozen frozen from Trader Joe’s
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• 2 cloves garlic minced

Instructions

 

• Whisk all ingredients together in a saucepan over medium heat.
• Sauce will thicken as it cools. If it doesn’t thicken as much as you’d like, you can add some Ultra Gel or a cornstarch slurry.

Notes

Serve with chicken or pork. Drizzle over tacos. 

Named by Supreme Commander when I told him it was “Huli huli” sauce. 

Based on this recipe The View From Great Island.

Modifications include the addition of liquid smoke and minced garlic and using less brown sugar and using frozen ginger cubes in lieu of grating fresh ginger.