Grilled Tropical Chicken

There is no need to go out to a restaurant when you have the most fantastic chicken as this Grilled Tropical Chicken! Seriously, my husband and I have this often, and with each bite, we exclaim that we are outstanding human beings for cooking such a juicy and flavorful delicacy.  Of course, it is super simple and doesn’t require anything fancy to make, just a little love on the grill.

This Grilled Tropical Chicken is marinated in Italian dressing, grilled to perfection, topped with grilled peppers and pineapple, and finished off with melty pepper jack cheese. All of these flavors in one bite create something magical. Truly magical. I already know you’ll make this, and I don’t have to convince you further, but come along while I ramble on about making Grilled Tropical Chicken! Or skip to the recipe and ignore all that I say between here and the end like I usually do on food blogs 🙂

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Story Time: Grilled Tropical Chicken

I always love to tell stories about my food, don’t I? I’m happy that I don’t sit down for each meal and spin a tale before I eat. I’m not crazy, I just like how food connects us to happy memories.

Or bad memories, I guess…

Like malt vinegar reminds me of when I was a toddler and my mom made me smell malt vinegar in a Long John Silver’s. I remember trying over and over to refuse to smell it, I just wanted to enjoy my food, but Mom was persistent to watch me cutely wrinkle my nose at the stench. Instead, I threw up.

But this Grilled Tropical Chicken recipe is a happy memory and I’m sure if any vomiting happens with this recipe then it is not related to the chicken at all unless you don’t know what you’re doing and undercook it.

Anyways, this recipe here comes from an old friend years back who grilled out this chicken and I was instantly hooked. I was a teenager then but knew that this chicken would be with me forever. I now prepare the ingredients for my grill master of a husband and let him do his magic on our charcoal grill.

How to Make Grilled Tropical Chicken

Marinating

This is where you first fall in love with this recipe before you taste it! I have found that better quality Italian dressing really does make a difference. I have bought the cheapest $1 bottle before, but now I go for a good one. Find a “Robust” or “Zesty” Italian dressing. Most brands offer this beefed-up Italian dressing that has more than their average spices, herbs, and garlic in it and it marinates wonderfully. Put your chicken in a large ziploc bag with the dressing and seal it up. I always place the marinating chicken into a bowl also in case of a leak in the bag. Place the chicken in the fridge and the longer it marinates, the better. I like to do it overnight or early in the morning when I’ll make it for dinner.

Grilling

Fast forward to grilling time! We use charcoal because it is far superior in flavor. Just use charcoal and grill correctly. Austin, my husband, is great at grilling and smoking food. He says he has a relationship with our grill and knows exactly what it needs and when during grilling to produce the right flame, or no flame, or smoke. As he grills this, he also throws in some wood chips to produce a little smoked flavor, but this is optional if you are unable to.

While the charcoal is heating up, go ahead and set the chicken out of the fridge to come up in temperature. Prepare your peppers by taking out the seeds and cutting them into quarters. By cutting them into quarters, they can go right on the grill without falling through. You may have to press them down to flatten where they curve at each end. They will soften slightly on the grill and be delicious!

Also, open a can of pineapple rings in pineapple juice. You won’t need the juice from the can so you can save it for another recipe or drink it. Sure you use fresh pineapple! Go for it!

When the grill is ready, set your chicken on there and let it mostly cook through. Absolutely use a meat thermometer so you have perfectly tender chicken. It is pointless to try this without a meat thermometer haha you will dry that bird out. When the chicken is nearing done, place your fruit and veg on the grill. After a few minutes (when the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165) when the pineapple has started to carmelize and the peppers have softened slightly, go ahead and layer the foods. We like pineapple, then pepper, then cheese.

Let the cheese melt a little over the heat before you pull the chicken off the grill so it holds all the peppers and pineapple on the chicken. The cheese will continue to melt once you pull it off too.

Devour and Impress

Try to let it cool some before you indulge so you don’t burn your mouth with its delicious grilled chicken lava-hot juices. This task will be harder after you have had this recipe once.

I admit that sometimes I don’t make a side for this meal. It is so good that we kind of just turn into wolves and fill up on the chicken. I tell myself it is ok since there are peppers and pineapple on top of the chicken, right? But, this Grilled Tropical Chicken goes great with a salad or on a bed of rice. Maybe coconut-pineapple rice. Oh…fancy now, aren’t we? Or even my Smoked Mac n, Cheese!

It is definitely a meal to make on a beautiful summer day when you can entertain outside. Not only is it easy to throw together, but it tastes amazing and looks impressive too. You can double or triple this recipe if you have a ton of people to feed, or just make it for your family.