Huli Huli Chicken Jerky in the Air Fryer

An in incredible chicken jerky made with chicken breast marinated in a rich, Huli Huli marinade. The chicken breast slices are dried at 170°F for two hours in the air fryer. Treat yourself and make a couple pounds for yourself.

Huli Huli Chicken Jerky Marinade

A strong and flavorful marinade is the secret to mind blowing jerky or dried meats. Since we are using chicken breast for this recipe, we will not have to marinate very long.

Garlic and Ginger

You can experiment with different amounts of garlic and ginger. I love cooking with both ingredients. They are very potent and enhance the other ingredients you are cooking with.

Four to Five diced large garlic cloves is enough to make a presence but more can be added if you’d like a more garlicy Huli Huli. I would not go less than four large cloves.

Like garlic, it is hard to hide ginger in any dish. I love that gingery POW! Using about a thumb’s worth of it in this recipe takes the Huli Huli flavor to a whole new level. Using a sharp knife, slice the skin off the outside, slice very thin, and then dice the ginger into small pieces. I recommend a nice end grain wood cutting board when using a sharp knife.

Huli Huli Chicken Marinade Liquids

Huli Huli originated in Hawaii and it shouldn’t be a big surprise when pineapple juice finds it’s way into this recipe. 1 can or 3/4 cup of pineapple juice starts out our liquids.

To make the Huli Huli Chicken Jerky savory, we add 1/2 cup of soy sauce. I love cooking with soy sauce. It adds a unique salty flavor that plain old salt just cannot match. A Tablespoon of sesame oil helps to round out some of the sharp edges in our Huli Huli chicken jerky flavor town.

Because we are going to be making jerky with out chicken breast, we need to amplify our Huli Huli. Bland jerky is boring so lets make sure to stay away from that mistake. We will accomplish this by adding 2 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. BOOM!!!

Huli Huli Chicken Jerky Dry Ingredients

To soften some of those intense flavors we add to our Huli Huli marinade, we will add 1/2 cup sugar. I have used plain white sugar and brown sugar on different occasions and love them both.

We can spike our garlic flavor by adding 1 teaspoon of granulated garlic and 1 teaspoon of granulated onion. You are welcome to use garlic powder and onion powder if you prefer them to granulated. I usually add a little granulated garlic when ever I cook with garlic to so the garlic does not go unnoticed.

One Gallon Ziploc Bag

I find using a one gallon Ziploc bag makes mixing and marinating easier for me. Add all of the marinade ingredients to a one gallon Ziploc bag, zip it closed, and shake the bag to mix those beautiful Huli Huli ingredients well.

Do the Chicken Breast Slice

I am crazy about chicken jerky that is tender to go along with delicious. To do this, use a nice sharp knife and slice the chicken breasts across the muscle fibers (grain) instead of slicing along or with the muscle fibers (grain). I also slice the chicken breast about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick rather than 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. This also leans away from a tough jerky.

If you do want a traditional tough Huli Huli chicken jerky from your air fryer, thin slice the chicken breast along the muscle fibers.

Air Fryer Huli Huli Chicken Jerky Marination

Add the sliced chicken breast to the Ziploc bag with the marinade. Zip the bag closed and shake/massage the marinade evenly around each slice. Push all of the air of the bag, zip it closed and marinate in the fridge for 1-4 hours. The longer you wait, the stronger the Huli Huli jerky! Because of the apple cider vinegar, we do not need to marinate any longer than 4 hours. I normally marinate 4 hours.

Drip Dry Huli Huli Marinated Chicken

Fold 4 or 5 paper towels to cover a plate. Use tongs to pull each chicken slice out of the bag. Let as much of the marinade drip back into the bag and lay each slice on the paper towel to dry for a few minutes.

Trim Paddle Skewers and Skewer the Huli Huli Chicken

Wash a pair of pruning shears and trim 3 or 4 twelve inch paddle skewers about 1/8 inch longer than your air fryer basket. You can now place one end of the skewer at the top of an air vent in your air fryer basket and slide the other end up the opposite air vent starting at the bottom sliding up to the top for a tight fit. This is how we will fit all of the chicken into the air fryer at one time without the chicken touching.

Skewer the Huli Huli Chicken Slices

Slide as many marinated chicken pieces onto the skewer leaving about 1/2 inch between each piece to let hot air to move around them. I put 4 or 5 on each skewer with each slice of chicken around 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.

Slide each skewer full of marinated Huli Huli chicken into the air fryer basket air vents until the skewer feels solid. The chicken slices can lay on the basket bottom as long as they aren’t crowded.

Air Fry Huli Huli Chicken Jerky

Air Fry the Huli Huli Chicken at 170°F (the lowest temperature my air fryer can go) for 2 hours. My air fryer timer only goes to 60 minutes so I run it twice, 2 hours total.

The rule of thumb is you want the jerky to bend in half without breaking. This will be true if you cut your chicken breast along the muscle fibers. If you cut your chicken breast against the muscle fibers, the chicken will break between each fiber when that piece is bent in half.

Enjoy Your Huli Huli Chicken Jerky in the Air Fryer

*The temperature of the chicken will not be 165°F when finished. Mine is usually about 150°F when I pull them from the skewer. You are welcome to air fry yours for another 8 minutes at 370°F to bring the chicken’s internal temperature to 165°F. This will make the outside of the chicken much more tough and dry.

Slide the Air Fryer Huli Huli Chicken Jerky off the skewer and onto a plate. They are warm but ready to be eaten. I pull them off and eat them immediately.

Huli Huli Chicken Jerky in the Air Fryer