Baked Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken Kebabs [Recipe]
Pineapple teriyaki chicken kebabs are an excellent way to spend a summer afternoon in your backyard with your friends. You will probably enjoy them incredibly tasty, versatile, and delicious beyond summertime. Pineapple teriyaki chicken kebabs are suitable for all palates containing many flavors and are easy to pair with various sides.
What Can You Substitute for Teriyaki Sauce?
Teriyaki sauce is made with soy sauce, sake, sugar, and mirin and is a Japanese-style sauce known for its zesty flavor. Variants contain garlic and honey as the flavor intensifies and is loved and popular worldwide. Sometimes, teriyaki sauce also contains cornstarch as a thickener.
You can substitute teriyaki sauce for honey and mustard sauce. You can also add some balsamic cream to the honey and mustard mixture, and you’ll have something pretty close to teriyaki.
Also, you can substitute teriyaki for soy sauce and honey. Add some powdered garlic and salt to the mixture and enjoy.
Another great teriyaki substitute is Oyster sauce, which is obviously made of oysters but doesn’t taste fishy.
Sweet mango sauce is a great substitute for teriyaki, as it doubles for the consistency and tanginess of the teriyaki.
Barbeque sauce is the western world teriyaki in some sense. Teriyaki and barbeque sauce has the same application- making meat juicy and mouthwatering. So, if you don’t have teriyaki handy, feel free to use barbeque sauce instead.
Worcestershire sauce will excellently double for teriyaki sauce. Worcestershire is a renowned sauce that is often used as a gravy base and is, therefore, very common as a marinade ingredient.
Are Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken Kebabs Supposed to Be Sweet or Savory?
The pineapple teriyaki chicken kebab is a multiple ingredient dish meaning that its taste is a combination of over five ingredients. On top of that, the teriyaki sauce in itself is so versatile that it alone brings an abundance of flavors and aromas.
To describe the pineapple teriyaki chicken kebab as a single flavor dish and characterize it as savory or sweet would be a big mistake, as it is an entire symphony of flavors combining much more than just sweet and savory tastes.
The pineapple teriyaki chicken kebab combines sweet, savory, bitter, and sour. All these flavors bond together and mash up by the teriyaki sauce, which contains all of these flavors.
What Can You Use Instead of Chicken Breast?
Instead of chicken breast, you can use other alternatives in your pineapple chicken kebab. The most obvious alternative for a chicken breast would, of course, be the chicken drum meat. You can use a boneless chicken drum and chop it into pieces the size of the chicken breast chunks.
Another alternative would be pork muscle meat; in that case, you will not have pineapple chicken kebab but pineapple pork kebab. The pork alternative isn’t as good as the chicken because the pineapple and the pork don’t go as well, but they will still be tasty.
If you are in the mood for a more fiery alternative, you can also use sausage circles. Depending on how spicy the sausages are, combining them with the teriyaki can be either the best or the worst idea. Therefore, I’d recommend using a milder teriyaki substitute if you decide on the sausages.
Mushrooms are an excellent meatless option, so if you are a vegetarian, they will tickle your palate in a fun way.
What Goes With Pineapple Chicken Kebabs?
Pineapple chicken kebabs go with many sides. You can’t go wrong with a fresh green salad or cucumber stripes. If you have kimchi handy, you won’t regret popping it out. Another great side would be mixed vegetable salad, such as steamed broccoli, carrots, and cooked corn.
Fries are a simple yet very compatible side for pineapple chicken kebabs and creamy dips.
I served fried rice with vegetables next to the kebabs and it was the perfect side dish!
Baked Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken Kebabs Recipe
Ingredients
Kebabs
- 3 pieces chicken breasts
- ⅓ pineapple
- ½ green pepper
Marinade
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- pinch of black pepper
- ⅓ tsp ground dry ginger
- ⅓ tsp powdered garlic
- 1 tbsp honey
For Baking
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Make the marinade using soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, black pepper, ginger, and garlic.
- Cut the chicken breast into pieces and marinate them in the marinade. Leave them like that for at least 4 hours in the fridge.
- Cut the pineapple and green pepper into squares carefully, not too big, not too small. Everything should be pretty much the same size so it can bake evenly.
- Put everything on skewers.
- Bake the kebabs in the vegetable oil for a few minutes on each side over medium heat.
- Serve the kebabs with your favorite side dish. I recommend white rice and baby spinach. Enjoy your meal!
