As promised, here is a great way to use all that pineapple you have been cutting!
Get ready to love me. This is THE BEST BARBECUE CHICKEN EVER! And don’t just take my word for it.
After everyone in my family finished hollering at me for delaying dinner by forty-five minutes, they were screaming my name in delight. This chicken is sssssoo good! One quick confession. I haven’t actually had that much barbecue chicken (like maybe three times total in my life). So when I say it is the best, it is not as if I have scoured the globe taste-testing chicken to arrive at this conclusion. I’ll just leave it with, this chicken was wicked good and you should try it.
I wish I could insert a scratch and sniff feature on this post. This is what my version of heaven would smell like… this AND homemade pie, and chocolate chip cookies, and cinnamon buns, and…
And why was dinner 45 minutes late? Well you see, I have no idea how to use my grill. Well, I HAD no idea how to use my grill. Necessity = ingenuity! That plus Google saves my life daily. I got a Weber grill for my birthday (yay!) and I have been having my own little backyard adventures. Coming soon: Kathryn Grills the feature length film (just kidding). Although there would be some great outtakes.
This chicken tested my non-existent grill skills. But, thankfully for you, this blog pushes me to become an expert at things I previously knew nothing about, so that I can help you all recreate what I have done.
It forces me to learn the RIGHT way to do things rather than constantly cooking by the seat of my pants, i.e. following a make-shift, crazy, last-minute, someone-please-help-me, program. Which probably does not technically qualify as a program. Because program implies some sort of order.
To be fair, my previous method did have its benefits, i.e. coming up with unexpected, delicious ideas and dishes. However, if I continued my ways, I would never be able to write it up in order for you all to follow the recipe successfully. And I very much want to share these delicious meals with you all.
This chicken is so worth making! And, if you don’t want to mess with your grill, or you don’t have a grill, you can roast it in the oven. It won’t have that swoon-worthy smoky flavor, but it will still be excellent.
- 3½lb Chicken, butterflied
- Olive oil
- 2 Cups fresh pineapple with juice
- 1 Tablespoon fresh ground ginger
- 1 Large handful fresh cilantro
- 2 Small shallots (either raw or sautéed briefly)*
- ½ Teaspoon sea salt
- Add all of the rub ingredients to a mini food processor and blend until combined. Taste test and adjust as necessary. The ginger will give it a powerful kick. Reduce or increase as per your preference. Reserve some sauce to serve alongside the chicken.
- Pass a long wooden or metal skewer through the thigh of your butterflied chicken, then into one breast, then the other, then the opposite side thigh. This will help the chicken lay flat on the grill.
- Rub about a tablespoon of olive oil over the whole chicken. Then massage your rub on both sides of your chicken. Place the chicken back in the fridge to let it marinate for several hours. Take it out of the fridge an hour before you are ready to start cooking (If your house is very warm reduce the amount of time you leave it out).
- Heat your coals or grill as per your normal technique. The temperature of your grill before adding your chicken should be around 400F.
- Cook the chicken over indirect heat. I created two areas of coals on the sides and left the center area coal free. I then cooked the chicken over this center area so that is was not directly over the coals.
- Slide your chicken onto the grill skin-side up. Cover and cook for about 30 minutes.
- Flip your chicken over, skin side down, and place it on the hotter side of the grill once it is within 20 - 30 degrees of your final serving temperature. This will help the skin get deliciously crispy.
- Serve with grilled pineapple wheels. And grill up any other vegetables you have on hand. We grilled some zucchini.
*Raw shallots don't agree with me, so I always sauté them briefly.
General recipe notes
Tell me how it turns out if you make it. Any of you carve a pineapple yet? Here’s your perfect opportunity. Enjoy!
P.S. I was excited to write this post and tell you all how disciplined I was to NOT eat all of my pineapple while I was carving it. My mouth was burn free…until dinner came around and I made up for it by polishing off all the extra pineapple wheels. Drat! Good luck protecting your mouths!
~Kathryn
This chicken is really juicy and so tasty, but all my pineapple fell off onto the grill! In the photos it looked like some of your marinade “stuck” on – but ours didn’t. The inside got nice and crispy, but the skin side, when I turned it over, didn’t. I think maybe the pineapple fell onto the grill, and then blocked the flame from making the skin side crispy. Do you have any suggestions for keeping the pineapple on? Also, I loved the presentation – much more enticing than grilling pieces separately. I will definitely be making this again – even if all the pineapple keeps falling off! Thanks 🙂
Oh no! Did you blend all of the ingredients for the rub into one consistent mix? You should not have any big chunks as those will fall off easily. Alternatively, you could cook your chicken on the grill skin-side up until it is about 5 – 10 minutes from being done. Then, transfer it, skin-side up into your oven that is preheated to 400F convection bake. Watch it closely until the skin gets nice and crispy and slightly blackened. Let me know how it goes. Thanks!
This barbecue chicken looks like the best chicken ever!!! I love ginger and pineapple so this is such a great flavor combo!
Hi Anne,
It really is! The ginger and pineapple work so well together. Let me know how it goes if you make it.
The barbeque chicken was delicious. I loved the pineapple and ginger combination. Do you have any hints for using a gas grill?
Hi Helen,
I am such a newbie to grilling. And I only have experience with my Weber charcoal grill. That being said, I don’t see any reason the cooking technique would be different from what I have written. It could affect the taste however, the charcoal gives a wonderful flavor.
Thanks so much for stopping by. If you make it on your gas grill let me know how it goes.
Hi Helen,
I cooked this chicken on our gas grill and it was delicious. The cooking time was about the same as in the recipe – and I always rely on my digital thermometer rather than a timer to determine when chicken is done. Make sure you cut up/blend the pineapple into small enough pieces; I think the taste infuses into the chicken best that way. Enjoy! Susan