This teriyaki chicken sandwich recipe is the best thing to make when grilling out with friends. This version has a Hawaiin twist to it with sliced ham, grilled pineapple, and Pepper Jack cheese.
Teriyaki Chicken
Teriyaki chicken has always been a favorite recipe of mind. I love the sweet and salty combination, and the depth of flavor in teriyaki sauce. Typically, we enjoy it with fried rice and veggies, but we recently made it into a sandwich and it was out of this world!
My husband wanted the privilege of naming these sandwiches after he made them. He kept calling them “Big Kahuna Sandwiches” while he was grilling them and insisted that be the official name. So that is what we are calling them – Big Kahuna Teriyaki Chicken Sandwiches.
My favorite part of this sandwich is how we spiced up the teriyaki chicken by adding some deli ham, grilled pineapple, and pepper jack cheese. I don’t think we will ever go back to making them the old way again. These were a huge hit!
Make Them Into Burgers
You can easily make these into “Big Kahuna” burgers by marinating beef patties in the teriyaki sauce rather than chicken. We have made them as burgers before and woah, mama they are GOOD.
If you really want to give the burgers a Hawaiian spin, add a fried egg to the top. Holy calories, but seriously so good. Save up your “calorie points” or whatever you do and give it a try.
Tips for Grilling the Teriyaki Chicken
- Meat thickness: The key to getting perfect grilled teriyaki chicken is making sure the thickness of the meat is as even as possible. You don’t want one end of the chicken to be thick and the other end to be thin (how it comes naturally). Use a meat pounder and flatten out that thick part to match the thinner part (or close to it).
- Grill Temperature: You want to make sure you have the right grill temperature. You want to aim for around 375-degrees and 450-degrees. This makes it so you don’t have a charred outside and raw inside, which happens when you cook at too high of a temperature.
- Digital Read Meat Thermometer: Using a digital-read meat thermometer is also very helpful. When the internal temperature reaches 150-155 degrees (should only take a few minutes on each side) take it off the grill and allow to rest for a few minutes. Wrap the chicken in foil and the chicken will continue cooking to reach 165-degrees. You will have perfectly juicy chicken.
Side Dish Ideas
Here are some great side dish ideas that will go PERFECTLY with these teriyaki chicken sandwiches:
- Hawaiian Macaroni Salad: Hawaiian Mac Salad is a staple side dish for any Hawaiian meal. This is an AUTHENTIC Hawaiian recipe, straight from the islands!
- Fresh Mango Avocado Cole Slaw: You have got to try this coleslaw with a fun island twist! Goes GREAT alongside these grilled chicken teriyaki sandwiches!
- Sweet Potato Fries: Chicken sandwiches and sweet potato fries are a winning combination. Every. Time. You can’t go wrong!
How to make Teriyaki Chicken Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 bottle Teriyaki sauce we used Lawry's brand
- 3/4 c. brown sugar
- 4 slices deli ham
- 1 can sliced pineapple or you can use fresh which would be even better
- 4 slices Pepper Jack cheese
- 4 hamburger buns large
Instructions
- Pound chicken breasts until they are about 1/4" thick all around. Place in a large Ziploc bag. Combine Teriyaki sauce and brown sugar until sugar dissolves. Add 1/2 of the mixture to the bag with the chicken and seal tightly. Place bag in refrigerator for at least 4-5 hours. Separate remaining Teriyaki mixture into 2 separate bowls (to prevent cross contamination use 2 separate brushes too)-- one for the pineapple, one for the chicken. Open pineapple can and save a little of the juice in a bowl. Place chicken and pineapple on the grill (medium heat).
- Brush with Teriyaki sauce every few minutes until chicken and pineapple are done-- try to only flip the chicken and pineapple once. Either on the grill or in a frying pan, cook ham with a little of the pineapple juice until it becomes nice and hot. Slice open hamburger buns and place a piece of cooked chicken on each bottom bun. Top with cheese, ham, grilled pineapple, and bun top. Serve immediately with remaining grilled pineapple.
Equipment
- Outdoor Barbecue Grill
Recipe Video
Nutrition
Kerilee Law says
I'm so excited to try this, I think I just peed a little. 😉
Julie says
These look just amazing! I didn't quite pee, but I love it just the same!
Brooke Trogdon says
Thank you for sharing all of these recipes! I am going to make this Saturday for company! Keep up the good work you are inspiring a not so good cook. You make me look good!
Chandani says
Mouthwatering and yummy.
The Christensen's says
I just made these for dinner tonight and my husband and I agreed they were fabulous! Thanks for the recipe. I've tried a couple of times to copy and paste your recipes in to a word document so I can have the recipe in the kitchen when I cook and it always gives me an error. Do you know why this would be? It hasn't happened on any other food blogs that I have tried. Thanks again for the great recipe!
Erica says
@ Christensens:
I haven't had any other complaints about the words not being able to copy over. I know my family copies and pastes into Word and they haven't had issues. I will look into it more and let you know if I find anything out
The Christensen's says
It's probably just my stupid computer – don't worry about it. Thanks!
Ryan & Sydne says
Any suggestions for sides to serve these with?
Ryan & Sydne says
Any suggestions for sides to serve these with?
Erica says
I would say sweet potato fries or if you want to make it truly Hawaiian, serve with plain rice!
Cathy says
Like it
Stephanie says
Made this tonight for supper but with bacon instead of ham and no bread. It was delicious!! Thanks for the recipe.
Lindsey Bryant says
Made this a few nights ago and it was amazing! But I used Hawaiian sweet hamburger buns and added added little Dijon mustard. It really was incredible.
Linda Hansen says
OMG these were wonderful!!
bonnie says
Can’t wait to try this !!!
lori says
Trying these tonight. Sounds so yummy. Can’t wait. 🙂
Dani says
We just made these for dinner. Oh my goodness! So delicious. I’m so happy to have found this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing. I followed the directions exactly, the only thing I did differently was to throw these puppies onto King’s Sweet Hawaiin buns. Can’t wait to make them over and over and over again, and knock the socks off any person who happens to be lucky enough to come over when we make them.
Erica says
So glad that you liked them! Thank you for taking the time to comment 😀
lori says
Have made these several times already. Making again tonight. These sandwiches are roll around in on the floor yummy! I make my own teriyaki sauce and don’t even use ham. Sooo good. Thanks for sharing. <3
Eloina says
These sandwiches made me and my man a hit at our bbq! So delicious! We used Kikoman garlic and green onion teriyaki sauce…delicious!
Hailey says
Looks so yummy! I want this for dinner tonight. Thank you for sharing.
McKelle says
This was delish!
Monica Browne says
Excellent taste! The whole family loved this and said several times throughout dinner how good it was. I served mine with jalapeno coleslaw.