This easy pineapple chicken recipe is a great family weeknight meal that is ready to serve in 30 minutes. The pineapple sauce is sweet and flavorful and it’s a great alternative to a takeaway.
The sauce for this recipe is sweet and full of pineapple flavor. There’s pineapple mixed with the chicken as well as pineapple juice in the sauce. It’s a wonderfully vibrant dish!
Table of Contents
How To Make Pineapple Chicken
Be sure to scroll down to get the full recipe!
Prep – Gather your ingredients and chop the chicken and veggies.
Cook – Brown the chicken in a skillet and stir in the bell pepper.
Combine – Mix the sauce ingredients together and bring to a simmer in a small pan. Pour in the cornstarch slurry and simmer until thickened.
Make – Pour the sauce over the chicken and add the pineapple and cashews.
Serve – Serve over white rice and garnish with green onions and lime wedges.
What’s the best chicken to use?
I used boneless chicken thighs for this recipe. They are fuller on flavor and work really well with the sauce. You can of course use chicken breast if that’s what you have or prefer. If you can, use free run / organic chicken.
What do you serve it with?
I like to serve pineapple chicken with white rice. I just cook it while I’m making the chicken so that it’s all ready at the same time. You can also serve it with noodles, brown rice, cauliflower rice or a side of veggies.
If you are serving this for guests, it’s fun to serve it in a hollowed out pineapple!
Sweet and sticky pineapple sauce
The sauce on this pineapple chicken is to die for! It is wonderfully sweet and caramelized with hints of tang and salt. It takes no time at all to make it and it feels like such a treat! It’s so wonderfully thick and flavorful.
Recipe Notes and Tips
- When cooking your sauce, after you add your cornstarch let it simmer until it reaches your desired thickness. Letting the sauce simmer for longer will let it get thicker.
- Use fresh or canned pineapple. It’s best to stay away from frozen as it contains too much water.
Switch things up
Prefer chicken breasts? You can also use chicken breast instead of chicken thighs. The internal temperature would be the same (165F is when they’re done).
More Asian Inspired Chicken Recipes
Easy Pineapple Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs cubed
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 c. pineapple chunks
- 1/4 c. cashews
For the sauce:
- ½ cup pineapple juice
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 cup low sodium chicken stock
- ⅓ cup hoisin sauce
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ jalapeno minced
For serving (optional):
- Sliced green onions for garnish
- Lime wedges
- Cooked white rice
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium high heat, add the oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add it to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes, until browned on all sides. Stir in the bell pepper and cook for 3 minutes more, until tender.
- In a small saucepan, combine the pineapple juice, soy sauce, chicken broth, brown sugar, hoisin sauce, garlic and jalapeno. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer over medium high heat.
- In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch and 2 tsp water. Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the sauce and continue to simmer until the sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken, stir and simmer for 3 minutes.
- Add the pineapple chunks and cashews to the pot and stir to combine.
- Optionally, serve over white rice and garnish with chopped green onions and fresh lime wedges.
Notes
- When cooking your sauce, after you add your cornstarch let it simmer until it reaches your desired thickness. Letting the sauce simmer for longer will let it get thicker.
- You can also use chicken breast instead of chicken thighs.
- Use fresh or canned pineapple. It’s best to stay away from frozen as it contains too much water.
Deborah Nicol says
Turned out good. Took a lot longer than 15 minutes to prepare though. PLEASE NOTE: Instructions DID NOT make any mention of the chicken stock ?!? Will try again but maybe add mushrooms, onions and green pepper.
Becky Hardin says
That sounds yummy!! I’ll look into the chicken stock!
Rhonda Akers says
Delicious. That’s my entire review!!
Becky Hardin says
Thanks, Rhonda!
Amy says
This turned out really well! But as Deborah mentioned, there was no mention of the chicken stock in the instruction? I just assumed it had to be added to the sauce at the same time as the rest of the liquid ingredients.
Also I did notice this recipe required quite a large amount of Hoisin sauce? I wasn’t sure if I was making a mistake; I followed the recipe for 2x people and ended up using an entire brand new jar of Hoisin sauce. But overall it was fairly easy to make and tasted great!
Lexi says
This recipe is amazing!! I always change things up a bit so with this I added red pepper flakes and garlic Siracha seasoning because I love sweet and spicy! I also didn’t have chicken stock so I just left it out and I squeezed lime into the sauce. Overall it turned out amazing in the end so good I made it the next day!
Becky Hardin says
Yay! Your additions sound amazing!
Judi harr says
So easy to make and delicious… will definitely do this again and add more vegetables too
Becky Hardin says
Thank you for sharing, Judi!
pat dziubek says
very good thanks. the sauce came out great
Becky Hardin says
That’s great to hear!
TishK says
Doubled the recipe and still turned out amazing!
Becky Hardin says
That’s great, Tish!
Lisha says
Great recipe food was delicious! First time trying pineapple chicken. Will definitely cook again.
Becky Hardin says
Thanks for sharing, Lisha!
Antonia says
My husband even liked it and he does NOT do chicken. He’s asked me to make it a couple times now.
Becky Hardin says
What a win!