Honey Mustard Barbecue Chicken with Grilled Pineapple

Get to know your grill and earn the respect of all your barbecuing friends with this recipe for Honey Mustard Barbecue Chicken with Grilled Pineapple. It’s sweet, tangy, and full of smokey flavor!

ME BEFORE THE RECIPE…

Can I hear a “Glory, glory, hallelujah, and AMEN!!!”?! It’s FINALLY starting to cool down around here. Like, not just cool down but dare I say…chilly???

Okay, not chilly during the day. I mean, we’re still hitting the high 90’s around here. But at 5:30 in the morning when I’m going on my daily runs, it’s actually a bit frigid outside…if you consider temps in the 60’s frigid. And, well, I’m a Texas, Hawaii, Arizona girl so it doesn’t take much to get a “Brrrr!!!” out of me.

Side note: I HATE gnats. With a passion, I hate those buggers. There is nothing like ending a beautiful morning bike ride with a face full of gnats. I don’t know what it is, maybe the change in weather, but they were out in full force this morning. I felt like a needed a face mask just to breathe without choking on an entire swarm of these pesky pests.

Another side note: Biking is dang hard!!! Who does that?! I’m not kidding when I say that my legs were more beat after an hour of biking today than they were last weekend when I ran 26.2 miles. I’m telling you, kudos to those bikers out there.

But back to this gorgeous weather. I am in peak JOY mode right now because guys, FALL IS MY FAVORITE!!! It can’t come soon enough. Bring on all the weekend picnics, the falling leaves (or as many as we can get in AZ), the seasonal goodies, and the family friendly festivities!!!

HERE COMES THE FOOD…

One of the main reasons I want a grill so bad is so I can spend these lovely fall evenings preparing and eating food with my family out in my own backyard. Have I mentioned how amazing the Arizona skies are in the evening? Well they are! And I’m quite certain they are even more picturesque with a good plate of food on your lap.

Over the summer, while I spent time with my parents in Utah, I was able to experiment with the grill a little. Well, experiment as in prepare food for my dad to cook. He’s become quite the griller these past two decades. Trust me when I say he used to burn meat beyond recognition. It was more like eating charcoal than anything remotely resembling food.

But this summer, my dad helped me make the yummiest, tangiest, sweetest Honey Mustard Barbecue Chicken with Grilled Pineapple. He’s redeemed himself from my childhood grilling memories indeed.

I guess I must have been going through Hawaii withdrawals at the time because nothing sounded better than a little sweet and salty glazed pineapple. I had actually never had grilled pineapple before Hawaii. Some friends and I were on a gals’ trip and a group of guys grilling on the beach offered us some of their pineapple leftovers. I was in heaven! I never knew savory pineapple could be so good.

But, of course, the real star of this dish is the chicken. Oh, this chicken. It’s been marinated for hours in a sauce of mustard, honey, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, and an array of seasonings. Then after this fabulous marinade bath, the chicken is thrown on the grill, cooked to perfection, and then basted with additional honey mustard sauce.

Oh so delicious!

And then just for kicks, you gotta throw some tangy zucchini on the grill just so you can say you ate your veggies. Sound like a plan??? A great plan, eh? It’s a simple plan at least. All you do is toss those zucchini spears in a bit of olive oil and Italian dressing. The zippiness (is that a word???) and acidity pairs nicely with the sweetness of the pineapple and chicken. And boy, oh boy, do I LOVE those grill marks!!!

Alrighty then, now get to grillin’ and enjoyin’ those festive fall nights. They won’t last for long.

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Honey Mustard Barbecue Chicken with Grilled Pineapple

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

30 mins

Get to know your grill and earn the respect of all your barbecuing friends with this recipe for Honey Mustard Barbecue Chicken with Grilled Pineapple. It's sweet, tangy, and full of smokey flavor!

Author: Brielle

Recipe type: Main

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

4 medium sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 freshly cut pineapple rings, about ¼" thick
2 zucchini, halved and cut into strips
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons Italian dressing
salt and pepper for seasoning
For the sauce:
½ cup yellow mustard
½ cup honey
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
¾ teaspoon liquid smoke
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, finely minced (or ½ teaspoon garlic powder)
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon paprika
¼-1/2 teaspoon chili powder (depending on preferred spice level)
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon dried dill
¼ cup mayonnaise

Directions

Trim fat off of chicken and set into a large Ziploc bag. Set aside while you make marinade.
In a small mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for sauce except for mayonnaise. Mix until honey is dissolved. Pour ⅓ cup of the sauce over the chicken in the Ziploc bag. Close bag and massage the sauce over the chicken. Place bag of chicken on a plate or in a bowl and set in fridge.
Cut pineapple rings and place in a ziploc bag. Pour ¼ cup marinade over the pineapple. Close bag and move pineapple around so sauce covers all pieces. Set in fridge and marinate pineapple and chicken for 6-8 hours in the fridge.
Mix remaining sauce with mayonnaise. Whisk until smooth. Cover and set in fridge until ready to grill.
Right before grilling, prepare the zucchini by cutting ends off and then cutting in half lengthwise. Cut each half into three long strips and then cut those strips in half to make them shorter. Place in a plastic bag and add olive oil, Italian dressing, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Massage with fingers to coat zucchini evenly.
Heat grill to medium high. Remove chicken from bag and season generously with a few shakes of salt and pepper on each side. Grill chicken for about 5-7 minutes on each side until cooked through. Brush tops of chicken with extra sauce (with the mayo mixed in) when they are finished cooking. Allow sauce to warm on top of the chicken for 1 minute. Remove from grill and place on a serving platter.
About 6 minutes before chicken is done, place pineapple and zucchini on the grill. Lightly season the pineapple and zucchini with a pinch of salt. Grill pineapple and zucchini for about 3-4 minutes on each side until grill marks show and the zucchini are crisp tender and the pineapple is beginning to caramelize. Remove from grill and place on plate with chicken.
Serve meal warm with extra sauce for dipping. Store leftovers in an airtight container in fridge for up to 5 days.