Hawaiian Chicken Sandwich

This post is featured over at Carrie's Sweet Life. Check out her blog for more delicious recipe ideas.

In my neverending quest to find new ways to cook with pineapple, I came across this recipe for Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches. I'd never heard of Heinz 57 Sauce, but I love chicken and I love pineapple so I put it on the menu.


This was actually the second time in a week that I made this recipe. The first time I followed the directions to grill and then shred the chicken. Unfortunately the texture was so off-putting I ate a few bites and threw it away (saving the pineapple for Round 2). I've seen plenty of other bloggers make this recipe without any issues, so I don't know what happened. I will say that I don't usually think of shredding chicken after grilling it, only after poaching or slow cooking.

For Round 2 I grilled the chicken and left it whole while using the leftover sauce to dress the sandwich, along with some mayo. It was utterly delicious. The spice from the Tabasco and Heinz 57 Sauce was perfect and the smokiness from the charcoal grill added a nice complexity to the other flavors.

Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches
Adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride

1/2 cup Heinz 57 Sauce
Fresh pineapple, cored and sliced into 1/2″ inch rings*
2 tablespoons honey, plus more (if desired)
Tabasco sauce
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
4 buns or sandwich rolls

Heat grill to medium heat.

Place one 1/2″ ring of pineapple into a food processor or blender and process until pureed. Pour the processed pineapple into a medium bowl and stir in the steak sauce, honey, and a couple of dashes of Tabasco. Taste and add honey if additional sweetness is desired. Remove 1/4 cup of sauce to use for basting and reserve the rest for serving.

Brush pineapple rings with olive oil and place on the grill. Cook for 5-7 minutes on each side, until the sugars start to caramelize and nice grill marks have developed.

Pound chicken breasts to an even thickness. Brush the Hawaiian sauce on one side of the chicken breast and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place on the grill and cook about 6-8 minutes, turning once halfway through. Before turning the chicken, baste with the remaining Hawaiian sauce.

Remove chicken and pineapple rings from the grill when done. Let chicken stand for 5 minutes, then assemble your sandwiches. Divide the pineapple rings and chicken between the 4 buns, top with some of the extra Hawaiian sauce and some mayo, if desired, and serve warm.

*Note: You will have extra pineapple to save for another use.