Take your taste buds on a tropical adventure with this pineapple chicken recipe. As the name suggests, it’s a combination of stir-fried chicken and pineapple, with the colorful addition of bell peppers—all served over a steaming bed of white rice.
Don’t let the simplicity fool you into thinking this is a boring dish. It’s filled with the pineapple’s bright and vivid sweetness that instantly lifts the chicken’s delicate taste. These ingredients are drenched in a sweet-savory sauce that seamlessly ties everything together, creating a homemade dish full of comfort and warmth.
Is Pineapple Chicken Healthy?
With a balanced mixture of meat, vegetables, and fruit, the answer is definitely yes.
Most prominently, this dish provides an impressive amount of vitamin C thanks to the pineapple and red bell peppers. These colorful ingredients are also excellent sources of fiber, vitamins A, B6, and B3, and minerals like potassium, magnesium, and calcium.
Furthermore, with chicken as one of the main ingredients, this dish is loaded with complete protein. We also made sure to adjust the amounts of the remaining ingredients so that everything is moderate and adheres to the standards set by our nutrition guidelines. As such, each serving contains approximately:
- 506 calories
- 2.2 g saturated fat
- 589 mg sodium
Ingredients for This Recipe
This recipe contains the usual essentials you might find in a typical stir-fried dish. Here is everything you’ll need to make it:
- Chicken: Our recipe calls for skinless boneless chicken thighs since the meat requires chopping and stir-frying. While breasts are also acceptable, they do dry out more easily when stir-fried whereas the thighs remain succulent and tender, accompanied by a rich flavor that stands out amongst the myriad of ingredients.
- Pineapple: With its vibrant sweet-tart taste, pineapple brings a distinct brightness to this dish. We recommend using fresh pineapple since its taste will be more fragrant and vivid. Canned pineapples will deliver a similar sweetness, although it might taste more sugary than fruity.
- Vegetables: We kept it simple and only stir-fried the chicken and pineapple with some red bell peppers. This vegetable has a sweetness that perfectly complements the pineapple while still keeping the focus on the main ingredients.
- Aromatics: When it comes to stir-frying, aromatics are an absolute must because they give the ingredients a subtle flavor kick that makes all the difference. With this dish, we used garlic and ginger to infuse the food with a peppery and piquant undertone.
- Condiments: Lending some flavors from Asian cuisine, we made the sauce with soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, Sriracha, black pepper, and white sesame. This mixture gives the sauce a deeply sweet and savory taste that wonderfully enriches the main ingredients.
- Pineapple Juice: To keep the dish’s flavor profile consistent and connected, the sauce also has a pineapple juice base. It brightens the sauce with its signature sweet-tart scent while leaving a distinct sour aftertaste.
- Cornstarch: We also added some cornstarch to the mix to give the sauce a thick and syrupy consistency.
- Rice: Serve the gorgeous, stir-fried mixture over a bed of white rice for a casual and filling dinner that carries the comforting warmth of a classic Asian meal.
Variations and Add-ins for Pineapple Chicken
The great thing about stir-fried dishes is how adaptable they are. This one in particular, can be transformed in several ways to create various other dishes. Here are some changes you can make:
- Meat
This recipe works well not just with chicken’s delicate taste, but also with beef’s savoriness. If you want to test it out, we recommend using flank steak—a lean cut that’s frequently used in stir-fried dishes.
- Vegetables
There are no rules or limits to what vegetables you can add to stir-fried dishes. Make use of any veggies that you have readily available. We recommend crunchy ones like broccoli, carrots, or green beans.
- Side Serves
This pineapple chicken dish is most commonly eaten with white rice, but you can swap it out for egg noodles, fried rice, and other grains or wrap it in lettuce. If you’re serving this dish at a dinner party, hollow out the pineapple and use it as a bowl to create an eye-catching centerpiece.
How to Store and Reheat
This pineapple chicken should last for up to 3 days when kept in airtight containers in the fridge. To reheat, microwave it until thoroughly heated or give the stir-fried mixture a quick stir on the stovetop.
What to Serve With Pineapple Chicken
This delectable pineapple chicken is packed with flavors, so you’ll only need a light side dish to accompany it. We suggest a soup or salad, such as the following dishes:
- Tofu Salad Recipe
- Stracciatella Soup Recipe
- Sauteed Cauliflower Recipe
- Chicken Tinola Recipe
- Cabbage Potato Soup Recipe
Other Skillet Chicken Recipes:
- Mediterranean Chicken Recipe
- Hawaiian Chicken Recipe
- Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta Recipe
- Chicken Tagine Recipe
- Ginger Chicken Recipe
- Chicken Zucchini Recipe
How to Make Pineapple Chicken
Take your taste buds on a tropical adventure with this bright and vivid pineapple chicken recipe. It's a simple combination of chicken, pineapple, and bell peppers, all stir-fried in a savory-sweet sauce to make heart-warming comfort food for casual dinner nights.
- cook TIME 12 mins
- prep TIME 15 mins
- total TIME 27 mins
- COURSE Main Course
- CUISINE Asian
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 506 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 20 ozskinless boneless chicken thigh (cut into medium pieces.)
- 10 ozpineapple (sliced into triangles)
- 4 ozred bell pepper (coarsely chopped)
- 1 tspginger (minced)
- 1 tbspgarlic (minced)
- 0.3 cupgreen onions (chopped)
- 3.5 cupscooked medium-grain rice (from 1 3/4 cups uncooked)
- 2 fl ozpineapple juice
- 2 tspcornstarch
- 3 tbspreduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tspsriracha
- 0.5 tbspunsalted roasted sesame seeds
- 2 tspbrown sugar
- 0.5 tspground black pepper
- 1 tspsesame oil
- 1 tbspcanola oil
INSTRUCTIONS
Prep:
Cook the Rice: Rinse the rice then follow the package instructions to cook using a preferred appliance. Typically, it should take around 15-20 minutes to cook and follow the 1 cup rice to 2 cups water ratio.
Prepare the Pineapple: Cut off the crown and the bottom then slice the skin off lengthwise. Continue slicing the pineapple in half downward and use a paring knife to remove the eyes. Lengthwise slice the half then cut it crosswise into medium triangles.
Slice the Chicken: Slice the thighs in half lengthwise then turn the halves horizontally and slice crosswise into medium pieces.
Chop the Bell Peppers: Slice lengthwise around the core then discard it. Chop each slice into bite-sized pieces.
Mince the Garlic: Remove the peel then thinly slice the cloves. In a rocking motion, chop the sliced pile a few times until the pieces are finely minced.
Mince the Ginger: Thinly slice lengthwise, then stack the sliced pieces and continue slicing lengthwise into thin strips. Stack the strips and make downward slices to mince.
Cook:
Make the Sauce: In a small bowl, mix 2 fl oz pineapple juice, 2 tsp cornstarch, 3 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce, 1 tsp sriracha, 2 tsp brown sugar, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, and 1 tsp sesame oil until well-combined.
Stir-fry the Aromatics: In a pan over medium heat, stir-fry 1 tsp ginger and 1 tbsp garlic with 1 tbsp canola oil for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Add the Chicken: Add 20 oz skinless boneless chicken thigh and evenly stir-fry for 7 minutes until the meat turns white.
Add the Pineapple and Bell Pepper: Add 10 oz pineapple and 4 oz red bell pepper and continue stir-frying for another 2 minutes.
Add the Sauce: Add the mixed sauce to the pan and stir around for 2 minutes to evenly coat the ingredients.
Sprinkle the Onions: Sprinkle 1/4 cup green onions over the stir-fried mixture.
Serve the Dish: Transfer the stir-fried food onto serving plates, lay over 3 1/2 cups cooked medium-grain rice, garnish with 1/2 tbsp unsalted roasted sesame seeds, and serve hot.
NUTRITION
Luna Regina
Founder
Natalie Butler, RD, LD
Nutrition Reviewer