Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken Skewers are the appetizer your guests will rave about. Make in the oven or grill outside!
I’m excited to share these pineapple chicken teriyaki skewers with you today! Imagine having a recipe for homemade teriyaki sauce that is similar to restaurant style teriyaki, at least similar to the teriyaki I’ve had.
You’ll be able to make this sauce any time you want.
Chicken and pineapple together are such a good pair, especially when covered in teriyaki sauce. You’re going to have some leftover sauce and it’s going to be so perfect over vegetables, beef or chicken and rice.
There is a difference in flavor if you use regular soy sauce versus low sodium soy sauce to make these skewers. This low sodium soy sauce version has been the closest to restaurant style sauce so I do suggest you use it if you can find it.
Tasting the sauce is important to be sure you enjoy the flavors before you sit down to eat, but keep in mind the ginger could possibly be more noticeable when you taste the sauce alone. It’s not as prominent when brushed over the chicken, but there is a big difference if it’s not there.
My other half and I hadn’t had much luck trying store-bought sauces. The brands we tried were just a little bit different than what we were hoping for.
One would be a little too sweet, another wouldn’t be sweet enough and so on.
Before today, I’ve been writing the recipe for these chicken teriyaki skewers on post-it notes, typing it out in text messages, and even once on an actual recipe card because friends ask for the recipe when we take this appetizer to potlucks.
I’m happy you’ll be able to try this recipe too!
If the weather is warm and it’s not raining or snowing, it would be delicious of you to fire up the outdoor grill to get these skewers going. Don’t forget to bake them for a few minutes until the chicken is cooked all the way through before you dig in.
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Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken Skewers Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
- 1/8 cup White Vinegar
- 1 cup Brown Sugar Packed
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 3-4 teaspoons Cornstarch
- 2 pounds Chicken Breast
- 1 pound Pineapple Cut into pieces
- Green Onion Or sesame seeds, for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium sized pot measure soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, ground ginger, onion powder and 3 teaspoons cornstarch. Using a whisk, mix ingredients together and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
- Whisk occasionally.
- After it starts to boil, cook the sauce until it looks like it’s just beginning to thicken, this will take around 5-7 minutes.
- Then turn the heat down to low and let it continue to cook and all the while, keep whisking occasionally.
- Let it simmer for about 10 more minutes.
- Before leaving it to simmer on low, make sure the sauce is nice and thick – enough to coat the chicken.
- If the sauce needs to be thicker, mix 1 teaspoon cornstarch in 1 tablespoon. cold water, or just enough to dissolve the cornstarch, then pour into the sauce. Stir and bring back to a boil again.
- This is a good time to add spices, vinegar or sugar if you want to adjust the flavor so carefully taste the sauce.
- After simmering on low for 10 minutes after the last addition, remove from heat and let the sauce cool.
- Set it aside until the chicken and pineapple skewers are cooked.
- Cut the chicken and pineapple into cubes approximately the same size.
- Begin to load the chicken and pineapple onto the skewers
- Sprinkle lightly with salt.
- Preheat a stovetop pan (I like to use my cast iron grill pan) on medium high heat and preheat your oven to 400°F.
- Prepare a baking sheet by lining with foil or a silicone baking liner. This makes cleanup easier.
- Drizzle a little oil on the bottom of the stovetop pan.
- Lay the skewers down and cook to brown all sides of the chicken. The center will likely still be raw.
- Lay browned skewers on the baking sheet in a single layer.
- Bake until chicken is cooked through, usually takes about 10-15 minutes.
- Brush with prepared sauce.
- Garnish with chopped green onions or sesame seeds.
Notes
- It takes about 20-25 minutes to cook the sauce, but allow an extra 10 minutes or more the first time just in case you need to add cornstarch or spices.
- This sauce is remarkable with beef too!