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
Can this be made in a crockpot? How long would you cook it for?
Sara says
You could try it in the crockpot, I’d guess maybe 2-4 hours on low, although I’ve never made it this way so I can’t say for sure!
Marianne says
very good and easy. I’m a fresh pineapple fan as when the snow flies the choices of inexpensive fresh fruits are limited. Bananas and citrus are boring and so over done. The pineapple needs recognition and uses in both baking and especially the savory side of cooking. Vegetarian recipes could be conducive as well. Any ideas out there?
Christina says
Yum!
Went with others suggestions to omit brown sugar and it was still sweet and flavorful. I think any sugar would be too much since pineapple and juice and hoisin are all sweet. Added jalapeno and served over rice. Great combination of flavors. Plenty of sauce with recipe as written and we love stuff saucy. Will definitely make again!
Teresa says
Thanks for a greatrecipe. It as quick, easy, very tasty, filling and satisfied all the taste buds. The smell was very good also as everone kept drifting into the kitchen to see what was up. No left overs either. Good job!
Joe says
What is a good side dish?
Sara says
I like to serve this with steamed rice and a vegetable such as broccoli!
Linda 8115 says
Amazing flavor! I made extra sauce (we like our rice loaded with sauce) and doubled the rest of the recipe with green pepper and onion & chicken & pineapple so we’d have leftovers. First time using hoisin sauce and it adds a lot of flavor. This recipe is a “keeper”
Michele says
This was easy and delicious! But it does not need the added brown sugar, it’s sweet enough without it.
Christopher Casano says
Made this for my wife last night. She is gluten free and cannot really do spicy/acidic. I substitute olive oil for vegetable oil, an orange pepper for a red pepper, onion powder for green onion and a light teriyaki sauce for the hoisin sauce. Came out fantastic! Served it over a bed of rice. I will definitely check out your other recipes. I’m sharing this one on FB!
Larry says
I bookmarked this recipe weeks ago and just got around to making this for dinner tonight. It was delicious! As good as the pictures above only better. I followed the recipe exactly except used 2 red peppers instead of one. Great recipe. Thanks!
Heather Marie says
Delicious and looked gorgeous served in a pineapple! I cut the sugar slightly and next time will try only putting in half the amount and possibly even omitting it altogether. But the recipe turned out great and the flavor and presentation was beautiful. I also sautéed onion with the red pepper. Can’t wait to make this again!
Joan Lamb says
I LOVED this recipe! I followed the directions plus added mushrooms and green pepper. Absolutely YUM!!!
For those wondering how hard it is to find…I found the Hoisin sauce at the regular grocery store and it isn’t expensive.
Thank you!!
John V says
Made this once and now I find myself craving it! Delicious recipe and thank you for sharing it! I admit to not being a complete purist, in that I have stopped adding the brown sugar (Diabetic, Type 2), but that doesnt stop this from being an incredible meal! Even my finicky “I HATE ONIONS!” teens loved it. Thank you again! 8)
Michelle says
Made with coconut rice, was very good. Next time I might add cashews for a nice crunch.
Margaret Dignard says
I am not familiar with hoisin sauce.
Sara says
It’s an Asian condiment found in the ethnic foods aisle of most grocery stores!
Shirley says
Will it be OK to leave out the Hosin sauce ?
Sara says
Yes that’s fine!
Beatrice says
This recipe is great! My family really enjoyed it! I also served it for a dinner party and added roasted cashews!
Lyn Strathdee says
This was a hit with my entire family; children are 12, and 10 they loved it. I omitted the sesame seeds (not my favourite) otherwise followed recipe exactly. Next time I’ll use two red peppers for extra veggies. Delicious can’t wait to make it again!
Russell says
Really good recipe, was a hit with the family and is now my go-to Chinese-type dish… I only made a couple slight changes; I only used half a red bell pepper, and added in ~1/2 cup of edamame. Omitted the green onion garnish. Canned pineapple worked fine, but if you buy it as “chunks” I suggest cutting them up smaller.
I think next time I can probably omit the sugar from the sauce, the pineapple contributes enough sweetness, and will reduce the calories a little.
Thanks for posting this!
Danielle says
So delicious!! I used chicken breast tenderloins that I cut into 1 inch cubes and omitted the sesame seeds, otherwise stuck with the recipe exactly. The chicken was tender, juicy and full of flavor! Thank you for sharing this! It’s going to be added to my go-to recipes. Terrific over brown rice, but might try it with riced cauliflower or zoodles next time.
Ali says
Amazing!!!
Sara says
So glad to hear you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
Melissa says
This was SO good. I added and onion just because I like onions with peppers! But otherwise used the recipe! Does the nutritional content include the rice? The carbs seem so high for the chicken and veggies!!!
Sara says
So glad you liked it! The carbs come from the pineapple, pineapple juice and brown sugar.
Evelyne says
What are the carb and sugar values for a serving?
Sara says
The nutrition information is listed on the recipe card!