Kabob? Ka-bob? Kebab? Idk, and I'm tired of googling that spelling. All I know is that our Hawaiian Grilled Pork Kabobs are ahhhh-mazing. (Grilled pork, that's all you need to know.) Not sure if they are authentic Hawaiian. I'm like everyone else in the mainland, if I include pineapple in anything, I get that island feeling. If you are reading this and you are actually from Hawaii, email me at [email protected] or comment and let us know how we did.
When I think of Hawaiian food I think of fresh flavors, simple preparation, and colorful ingredients. We nailed it with this recipe.
Hawaiian Grilled Pork Kabobs
You can use pretty much any type of pork to make this recipe. We found a good deal on a pork loin at our local grocery store. (Half was used for this recipe.)
The food of Hawaii has a strong Asian influence, so we used soy sauce and ginger.
The star of the marinade that really comes through in the cooking is pineapple. The acid in pineapple tenderizes the pork and makes it extra juicy. Just imagine that sweet and tangy pineapple on grilled pork. If your mouth isn't watering yet....
NOTE: Due to the enzymes in fresh pineapple, it is recommended to use CANNED PINEAPPLE for this recipe.
We used similar sweet and tart ingredients like honey and cider vinegar to boost that flavor.
Be sure to use chili sauce. (It is in the ketchup section at the grocery store, and looks a lot like cocktail sauce. It is like a really tangy, thick ketchup.)
Whisk together all of your marinade ingredients and pour it over the pork loin cubes. Toss the meat well to make sure all pieces are well covered in the Hawaiian marinade. Seal tightly, refrigerate, and marinate at least an hour, but up to overnight.
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Carefully skewer
the marinated pork, alternating with onion and brightly colored bell peppers. Feel free to use your favorite veggies. (Zucchini, mushrooms, fresh pineapple, tomatoes...all are excellent for this recipe.)
NOTE: If you use fresh pineapple, only use it on the skewers AFTER marinating the meat. The meat marinade should only use canned pineapple.
More of our Flavor-Packed Recipes:
Sweet + Smoky Oven Baked Baby Back Ribs
Grilled Marinated Flank Steaks
BBQ Catfish
Grilled Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches
Our grill smoking like a volcano. HA!
Heat grill to high, then reduce heat to around 400 degrees. Place the kabobs on the grill. Cook for 3-4 minutes, rotate, and repeat until all sides are nicely browned and pork is cooked through. Do not over cook them. You don't want your Hawaiian grilled pork kabobs to be dry.
We used metal skewers because they are easier to work with.
. If you are using wooden bamboo skewers, I recommend you soak them in water for 15 minutes before you use them. This helps prevent burning.
Hawaiian Grilled Pork Kabobs are great with a salad or our Pineapple Pepper Rice.
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📖 Recipe
Hawaiian Grilled Pork Kabobs
Ingredients
- 2 pounds pork loin
- 1 cup crushed pineapple with juice Do not use fresh pineapple.
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup chili sauce
- 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 large white onion
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
Instructions
- Cut pork loin into even sized cubes, about 1 - ½ inch sized.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together pineapple with juice, soy sauce, honey, oil, chili sauce, vinegar, garlic and seasonings. Stir until well blended.
- Pour over the pork chunks, seal, and refrigerate for 1 hour - overnight.
- Peel and chop the onion into 1 inch sized pieces. Seed and trim the bell peppers, and cut into similar sized pieces.
- Carefully skewer the marinated pork with the vegetables onto metal or bamboo skewers. Alternate pepper, pork, onion and repeat until you have used all.
- On a grill heated to about 400 degrees, grill the skewers on 3-4 minutes on each side. Rotate until all sides are cooked evenly and the pork is done and no longer pink. Do not overcook.
Jennifer Fulk
I have my pork marinating for tomorrow. I was wondering how to make a basting sauce to brush on the kabobs as they are grilling. I am afraid just marinating without some extra sauce won't be tasty enough. The marinade as is wouldn't be thick enough for basting. Thanks for any suggestions.
Teri
If you use this marinade, you could actually cook it down on the stove top to make it thicker. I've also had a lot of success making fast marinades and basting sauces using this basic combination: 1 part oil, 1 part sour, 1 part savory, then add some sweetness. So for example, 1/4 cup oil, 1/4 cup pineapple juice, 1/4 cup soy sauce. Stir in some honey or brown sugar, simmer on the stove until thick. (Also, a nice thick bbq sauce would be nice, too.)
Jennifer Fulk
Thanks! These were so delicious! I ended up marinating the pork in about 1-3/4 cups of the marinade, reserving the rest. I stirred in a couple tablespoons of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce into the reserved marinade and let it simmer on the stove for a few minutes and then basted the kabobs. Thank you again for a fabulous pork marinade. The meat was so tender and a perfect combo of flavors. This is a keeper!
Teri
Oh, thanks for sharing that tip on stirring in the Sweet Baby Rays...nice touch. Glad you like this recipe. One of my favorites. I love pineapple and pork together.
Oanh
Recipe looks great! When you say “chili sauce” what are you referring to? Hot sauce?
Teri
I used a sweet Thai chili sauce with a little kick to it. I've also made it with a hotter garlic style, and with a tomato "ketchup" style chili sauce. I prefer the sweeter types.
Jen
I love the combination of pork and pineapple, but this recipe didn't work for me.
I used fresh pineapple and believe that was the reason the meat was over-tenderized on the outside, leaving a chalky film that coated the meat causing it to be too strange to enjoy.
The flavors just disappeared from the marinade. There was no hint of ginger, no hint of garlic, I couldn't even detect a touch of spice from the crushed red pepper flakes.
I would try something like this again, leaving the pineapple out of the marinade, (fresh or canned) and just using bits of fresh pineapple on the skewers themselves, because grilled fresh pineapple is delicious. I would also try marinading the vegetables. I used bell peppers, onions, pineapple, mushrooms and zucchini.
Thanks.
Teri
Sorry it didn't work out for you. I've had some issues before with fresh pineapple juice over tenderizing. And definitely next time I'll be adding some fresh pineapple to the skewer. Sometimes on the spices, if I use too much, people complain that I've used too much...so I've got a tendency to scale it back on a public recipe and figure people will adjust to their own taste. Thanks for the feedback, I always appreciate it. I'll make some recipe notes and tweak that marinade (I'm a ginger and garlic lover, and have no problem cranking that up at all.) 🙂
Chris frericks
This literally happened to me as well. A note to explicitly NOT use real pineapple might be useful. It's almost inedible.
Teri
Note added! I'll change in the ingredient list as well to use canned pineapple.
Jo Ann
How many inches long are your skewers for 8 kabobs?
Teri
I believe they are about 10 inches long.
Mairead
It clearly states DO NOT USE FRESH PINEAPPLE..
Denise Irvine
OMG absolutely delicious.
I’m printing the recipe for all my friends
Will be making this all summer
Thank you
Denise
Teri
Awesome, so glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Karen Elaine
Looking forward to trying this.
Sounds great!
1/2 cup honey is quite a bit, price wise.
Do you think brown sugar could be substituted?
Thank you
Teri
Yes, but brown sugar doesn't seem to be as naturally "sticky" as honey...and seems to burn more quickly on the grill. I bet they would taste just as great, just some things to be aware of. You can reduce the amount of honey as well, if you'd prefer.