We’re eating kinda-Hawaiian chicken sandwiches made with grilled soy-pepper jelly marinated chicken tenderloins, bacon, asiago cheese, juicy grilled fresh pineapple slices, red onions, spring mix and mayonnaise.

There is a bar and grill a few blocks from where we live that serves a delicious Hawaiian hamburger. The cheese, burger, pineapple, teriyaki sauce and mayo combine to form heaven in a bite. I was craving said burger the day I made this little number. Instead of making it a hamburger I when for a slightly healthier option and made it with grilled chicken tenderloin. If you really want to keep it healthy, substitute the bacon with ham or Canadian bacon and instead of mayo brush the buns with more of the soy-pepper jelly sauce. Also, if you are feeling REEEEAAAALLY lazy you can just use a bottle of teriyaki sauce to marinate the chicken rather than making the soy-pepper jelly sauce. In my opinion, chicken is never as good as a burger but this hit the spot and staved off my craving for the day!

A Chicken Sandwich Recipe, by Amanda

Kinda-Hawaiian Chicken Sandwich

For the marinade:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

*1/4 cup spicy pepper jelly, as hot as you can find (we used ghost chili jelly)

*If you cannot find spicy pepper jelly add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes and 1/4 cup of any pepper jelly.

1 1/2 lbs chicken breast tenderloins, (about 8 tenderloins)

4 fresh pineapple slices

1 red onion, peeled and sliced in 1/2" rings

1 tsp canola oil, or other flavorless oil

8 slices of thick-cut bacon, cooked

4 oz asiago cheese

mayonnaise

spring mix

4 hamburger buns of choice

kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Place all ingredients for the marinade into a small sauce pan over medium heat. Heat until the jelly has dissolved into the soy sauce, stirring occasionally, about five minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Add chicken to a resealable plastic bag. Pour marinade over chicken tenderloins and toss to coat completely. Seal the bag, removing as much air as possible to emulate a vacuum seal. Refrigerate. Marinate the chicken, chilled, for 4 to 24 hours.

Prepare grill for medium-high heat. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss pineapple and red onion slices with canola oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Remove chicken from marinade and place on preheated grill over direct heat. Place pineapple and red onions on grill as well. Grill chicken, pineapple and red onions for 3-4 minutes. Flip and grill for another 3 to 4 minutes until chicken is cooked through and pineapple and red onions are nicely charred and softened.

Prepare the sandwiches: place the bottom half of the hamburger buns onto a sheet pan. Place 2 slices of bacon and 2 tenderloins onto each bottom bun. Add 1 oz asiago cheese on top of each set of tenderloins. Place pan in preheated oven for 3 to 4 minutes until cheese has melted.

While the cheese is melting spread mayo evenly over the inside of the top buns. To finish the sandwiches, layer 1 slice of grilled pineapple, several slices of grilled onion rings and a handful of spring mix onto each of the bottom buns. Replace the top buns to form 4 completed sandwiches. Serve immediately and enjoy!