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.
SwimmerTai says
Excellent would make again. Notes that I would add:
If using canned pineapple make sure you get the ones packed in 00% juice. A can of pineapple has about a cup of juice. So instead of having do deal with two things just buy the one, drain the juice into a measuring cup and you are good for the recipe.
A can of pineapple has about a 1.25 of a cup of pineapple in it. I just threw in the entire can. Still tasted wonderful!
Annmarie Campbell says
This has fantastic flavor. Followed it exactly except: I had 3 roma tomatoes I didn’t want to spoil so i threw those in and because we like saucy rice I increased the the sauce measurements to “heaping” on each. I used a whole can of pineapple chunks and all the juice in the can which gave me a cup of juice instead of 3/4 cup. That is what inspired the bump up in the sauce ingredients. Couldn’t waste that juice. It was perfect. No changes needed in the recipe.
Cynthia Garland says
Excellent receipe easily prepared , served on a bed of rice. Thanks
Lynn says
Just made this dinner and added some cashews since I didn’t have sesame seeds and my family loved it! My father in law actually said, “this was really good, you should make it again.” He is just as picky as my kids. Lol
Sara says
First time making this and my husband and 4 year old are in love! I’ll definitely put this into our dinner rotation with so many of your recipes. Thank you!
Brenda says
This one is on my short weeknight dinner rotation. We love it. It’s great as it is, but the addition of a little thai chili paste to the sauce is *chef’s kiss* We usually add snow peas to up the veggie total. Steamed jasmine rice unless it’s already been a carby kind of day in which case a bed of zoodles does the trick nicely. But if I’m planning to make this, I skip the bread at lunch to make room for the rice at dinner. 😛
Donna says
Came out lovely. Quick, easy and very tasty. Thanks for sharing
Jackie Ogren says
amazing, but too sweet and salty. I will cut back those in the future. Love your site
Monica says
Came out great! So delicious! This dish is now a regular at my house.
Aliozka says
Excellent my family loved it.
Renee says
This was delish. I wanted an asian dish with pineapple and this didn’t disappoint. I canned zucchini chunks in pineapple juice and wanted to see if it could be a good substitute for the pineapple. It was amazing so I’m off to can more for gifts and will be attaching this recipe to the jar. thanks so much for a truly wonderful recipe.
Jodi says
I made this with a green pepper because that’s what I had in the house and without the hoison sauce because I didn’t have any. It turned out great and my husband loved it. We love pineapple so it’s always nice to get a new recipe with pineapple in it.
Hilde says
Had high expectations when I started making this dish , halfway through the sauce was way to watery But te taste was okay, Added some extra cornstarch to thicken the sauce and let it simmer for some extra minutes. Sauce thickened and it turned out super delicious!!!
Beverly Bianco says
Made this last night. It does not get any better than this! Added sweet onions along with the pepper and served over white rice and an egg roll.. It’s a keeper
katie says
One of my favorite recipes I have ever made. I love it on white rice and I love the pineapple so I had extra chunks. 10/10
Dee says
Just tried this recipe. Super good!
Jacqueline R says
This recipe is amazing! My husband has traveled a lot and is such a picky eater and he loves this! I just added snow peas, water chestnuts, extra carrots and macadamia nuts. I marinated the chicken for 20-25 minutes in low sodium soy sauce, brown sugar, lemon, garlic and a bit oil before adding it to everything. It’s now a staple…will make it again! Thanks!!!
Karen says
Delicious, I added a bag of fresh stir fry veggies and it was so good.
Tamara says
So good. This is going in favorites.
Kathy says
I had a recipe very much like this when I was in High School
About 35+ years ago. I have lost the recipe due to several moves. I am sure this will be very much like that previous recipe I had. Cannot wait to try this!!
Rachel Rogers says
Can you use something else instead of hoisin sauce?
Sara says
You could omit it if you can’t find it.
rachel says
Thank you 🙂
Susan R. says
Very good! I made a half recipe and an 8 oz can of pineapple chunks in juice worked perfectly! I added about 1/4 cup of onion. I had no hoisin, but I read that barbecue sauce was an acceptable substitute and it worked well. I’m caring for my dad and he doesn’t like rice, so he got egg noodles with his and really enjoyed it.
Liz says
Always wanted to try this, it came out amazing
Maree says
Can u use any thing instead of hosin sauce
Sean says
wow this is amazing. big hit at the picky eaters house here lol.
Cynthia Morgan says
I tried this and loved it. The hosin sauce makes it. I added more vegetables, snap peas, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms. It’s so good.