This pineapple chicken is a stir fry of chicken, pineapple and vegetables all tossed in a sweet and savory sauce. Serve this Chinese style pineapple chicken over rice for an easy dinner that everyone will love!
In the mood for something tropical for dinner? Try some pineapple chicken with sauteed chicken thighs, chunks of fresh pineapple and crisp red bell peppers. You can have this easy meal on the table in less than 30 minutes.
I’m constantly searching for easy chicken dinners that my whole family will love, and I’m happy to say that this quick and easy pineapple chicken is always a huge hit! It’s essentially a chicken stir fry with the addition of juicy pineapple, and the sauce is also infused with pineapple flavor. You’ll feel like you’re on a tropical vacation when you serve this dish for dinner.
How to make pineapple chicken
The basis of this dish is chicken thighs, pineapple and red bell peppers. These ingredients are sauteed to golden brown, then flavored with garlic and ginger and tossed in a sweet and savory sauce. Add some rice on the side, and you’ve got a complete meal. If you’re feeling really fancy, you can even serve this dinner in a hollowed out pineapple for a fun presentation.
You can use either fresh or canned pineapple here, but I wouldn’t recommend frozen pineapple. If you use a can of pineapple, be sure to reserve the juice to use in the sauce. I use a red bell pepper here because it adds flavor and crunch, but you could use a different colored pepper if you prefer. A yellow or orange pepper tastes the same as a red pepper if you’ve got one of those on hand. Sometimes I also add a little chopped onion for extra flavor.
I like to make this dish with chicken thighs because it’s more traditional, and the dark meat chicken adds a little bit of richness to the recipe. If you’re a white meat fan, you can absolutely use cut up chicken breasts in lieu of the thighs.
I finish this dish with sesame seeds and green onions, but if you don’t have those garnishes on hand, don’t even worry about it. You can omit those finishing touches and still end up with a fabulous meal.
I typically put a pot of rice on the stove at the same time as I start cooking my pineapple chicken, that way everything is done at the same time. Pineapple chicken with rice is really a complete meal as is, because you’ve got fruit, vegetables, protein and your starch. That being said, sometimes I add a side of steamed broccoli, because I don’t think it’s possible to eat too many green veggies!
While serving this meal inside a pineapple is clearly optional, it’s also super impressive and not a lot of work to pull off. It’s a great one to serve to company, or just to make a weeknight dinner feel a little more special.
More easy chicken recipes
Pineapple Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 red bell pepper seeded. cored and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup pineapple chunks fresh or canned
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 3/4 cup pineapple juice
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 1/3 cup hoisin sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon sliced green onions
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper to taste and add to the pan.
- Cook the chicken for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through.
- Add the red bell pepper and pineapple to the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes or until tender. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 30 seconds more.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the pineapple juice, soy sauce, chicken broth, hoisin sauce and brown sugar.
- Add the sauce mixture to the pan and bring to a simmer.
- Mix the corn starch with 1 tablespoon of cold water; stir until smooth.
- Add the cornstarch mixture to the pan and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute or until sauce has just thickened.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onions, then serve.
Jen says
I had a pineapple that needed to be cut so I tried this recipe tonight and it was a big hit with the family. I followed the recipe, adding half a chopped onion and thinly sliced carrots. This makes a lot of sauce so I’ll freeze half and make it again another time.
Sara says
So happy to hear you enjoyed it, thank you for reporting back!
catbail says
Prepared this without my glasses on, and added Worcester sauce instead of soy! Still tasted lovely though. It is sweet, but i like that. We all really enjoyed it – definitely one to make again (I guess I’ll use soy next time, but it would be hard to beat as it was).
Sara says
So happy to hear you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
Alyssa says
YUM!
I had a can of pineapple opened because I needed some pieces of pineapple for my pizza. LOL
I quickly googled pineapple chicken recipes and yours was the first up.
I had all of the ingredients except hoisin sauce. I left it out and it still came out YUMMY!
I made this today and ate it just now lol
Husband said he’d remarry me in a second. lol
Thanks for the recipe!
Alyssa
Sara says
So happy to hear you enjoyed it, thank you for reporting back!
Kristen says
Delicious and not too sweet! Even my picky 5 year old ate it. Thanks for posting!
Sara says
So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
Tramalian says
Thanks for the recipe! It was very tasty, will definitely do it again.
Sara says
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
Nnika Johnson says
I’m tempted to add shrimp as well. What do you think?
Sara says
I think that would be an excellent addition!
Charo Holloway says
Can i make this recipe without the hoisin sauce?
Sara says
Yes that should work fine!
Will Stevens says
It worked pretty well, and certainly looked pretty. I’m likely to try it again. I did, however, omit the sugar completely, and, even then, the resulting dish was really quite sweet — by British standards. In the absence of advice, i served it with plain boiled rice, and that seemed right. By the way, shouldn’t the sesame seeds be toasted?
Sara says
Glad you enjoyed it! You can absolutely toast the sesame seeds if you prefer, it will work either way.
Margie says
I made this adding a little broccoli and carrot. The recipe is easy and delicious!
Sara says
So glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Rachel says
So happy I chanced upon this recipe. This is fantastic!
melony walker says
Made this for dinner tonight and it was wonderful. I served it over white rice with a side of broccoli.
DR. Mantis toboggan says
Pineapple and chicken!?!? I hope Satan isn’t watching .
Jack Smith | BBQRecipez.com says
Very tasty and a quick meal during the week!
Debbie says
I just love stir fry recipes and the pineapple adds a new twist!
Annu says
Sounds real easy and flavourful. Such a genius recipe!
Chichi says
Omg. This looks sooo good. I love easy recipes like this and I know it will be delicious
Veena Azmanov says
Yum Yum Yum! I can’t WAIT to try this. Is good food and this looks like one of the BEST. Sounds totally delicious. Beautiful presentation. Thank you for this great recipe!
Jacque Hastert says
I am in LOVE with all these flavors! I can’t wait to make this dish.
Adriana Lopez Martin says
Stir fries are so easy to make and so flavorful, yours looks scrumptious I am sure it is so tasty! Glad you used chicken thighs as those have so much flavor too.
Britt | Sweet Tea and Thyme says
This is so pretty and colorful! And I love the pineapple presentation, I might give this a go and see how my family likes it. Thanks for the recipe!