By: Lori Yates from Foxes Love Lemons in partnership with Coke
With summer wrapping up, I’m busier than ever with lots of trips to the beach and other outdoor activities. But, I’m still using every meal at home as an opportunity to celebrate summer’s best ingredients and flavors. I like to incorporate lots of fresh produce like local sweet corn and green beans, and anything that can be grilled will be grilled.
To save time (who wants to waste a beautiful weekend morning grocery shopping?), I’ve been using Shipt a ton this summer to get all of my groceries delivered at whatever time is most convenient for me.
My local Meijer store had all of the ingredients necessary to create this Pineapple Chipotle Barbecue Chicken (plus all the side dishes I needed to round out the meal), and a Shipt shopper brought them right to my front door. This recipe takes a little bit longer than simply using a store-bought barbecue sauce, but the extra effort is so worth it. Plus, the sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance and kept in the refrigerator, or frozen indefinitely. If you prep your sauce in advance, you can get this meal on the table even quicker!
The Pineapple Chipotle Barbecue Sauce starts with a base of garlic and onion for flavor. Then, chipotles in adobo and fresh pineapple are stirred in, to add a great balance of spicy and sweet to the sauce. Diced tomatoes, ketchup, vinegar and mustard are the finishing ingredients to this easy, delicious homemade barbecue sauce.
I kept this meal healthful by brushing the sauce on grilled boneless, skinless chicken breasts and serving it alongside Gold Peak unsweetened tea. Bone-in chicken or even pork chops would also be great with this sauce!
PINEAPPLE CHIPOTLE BARBECUE CHICKEN
Serves 6
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 small white onion, chopped
2 chipotles in adobo, chopped, plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
1/2 cup chopped fresh pineapple, plus additional sliced pineapple for garnish (optional)
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes and their juices
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus additional for seasoning chicken
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Ground black pepper
Instructions
1. In medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion; cook 3 to 5 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Add chipotles and adobo sauce and pineapple; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
2. Stir in tomatoes and their juices, ketchup, vinegar, mustard and ½ teaspoon salt; heat to boiling over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 to 15 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Transfer sauce to blender and blend until smooth.
3. Meanwhile, preheat the grill for direct grilling over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Transfer to grill and cook 18 to 20 minutes or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 165 degrees F, turning occasionally.
4. During last 2 minutes of chicken cooking time, brush chicken with some barbecue sauce. Transfer chicken to serving platter and garnish with sliced pineapple, if desired. Serve with remaining barbecue sauce.
Lori Yates is a Detroit-area recipe developer and food photographer. She is the author of Foxes Love Lemons, where she posts simple, yet special, original recipes for the “home chef” in all of us. After starting her career in advertising, she decided to change paths and go to culinary school. Now, she uses what she learned from some of the best chefs in the country to help her readers become faster, better, and more confident cooks. Her recipes and photographs have been featured on BuzzFeed, Food52, ABC News and Parade Magazine.
