Colorful pantry staples come together to make this aromatic and flavorful pineapple chicken that has the perfect balance of sweet and sour to brighten your day! {Gluten-Free Adaptable}
Are you struggling to come up with new meal ideas based on what you have in your pantry? So many people are, and I thought I’d share one of my favorite Chinese dishes to cheer you up. My pineapple chicken recipe is something you can make with things you probably have in your kitchen right now. You just might not realize those things go together.
If you like sweet and sour chicken from your local Chinese takeout, this will completely satisfy that craving. My version of pineapple chicken makes it healthier with less sugar thanks to the abundant aromatics. The recipe will teach you how to create crispy chicken with less oil and no deep-frying. So you can indulge in these sweet and savory flavors without guilt!
Pineapple chicken ingredients
My pineapple chicken recipe calls for chicken thighs, though chicken breast can work in a pinch for this. Make sure you thaw it out first! Frozen peppers can be used as-is without thawing, and that can of pineapple you have in the back of the pantry has just been waiting for a moment like this to truly shine.
When you’re ready to cook, your table should have these ingredients:
- Chopped pepper and pineapple
- Marinated chicken
- Mixed sauce
- Minced ginger
NOTE:
What adds that extra zing to the sauce is the addition of grated fresh ginger. I know it is a bit extra work compared to using ginger powder. But when you have time, you can grate it and freeze it for later use so it makes prepping faster. You can find all my tips for freezing ginger right here!
How to cook pineapple chicken
Cooking pineapple chicken is so easy.
- Coat the marinated chicken with cornstarch
- Pan fry the chicken with a thin layer of oil
- Briefly cook the veggies
- Thicken the sauce and add back the cooked chicken
TIPS
- Coat the chicken with cornstarch only when you’re ready to cook, to create the extra crispy effect.
- This recipe uses the minimum amount of oil to create extra crispy chicken. It’s important to remove the chicken to let it cool off a bit before adding it back, which will crisp up the coating a bit more.
- When you cook the veggies, it’s important to keep the cooking time short so the veggies are not completely cooked through. Because the veggies will continue cooking once you add the sauce.
Afterthought
So, you have chicken, veggies, and fruit together in one dish. It’s bright and cheerful in appearance and tastes absolutely amazing with steamed white rice.
This pineapple chicken dish is so simple and flavorful, and with such easy ingredients, you’ll want to make it again and again!
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More easy Chinese takeout recipes
- Chicken Fried Rice
- Chinese Chili Garlic Shrimp
- Ginger Chicken Stir Fry
- Tofu and Broccoli Stir Fry
- Moo Shu Chicken
- Salt and Pepper Shrimp
Pineapple Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 1 lb (450 g) chicken thighs (or breast) , cut into 1” (2.5 cm) pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 4 tablespoons peanut oil
Sauce:
- 3/4 cup pineapple juice (*Footnote 1)
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce (or soy sauce)
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Stir Fry:
- 1 cup (about half a 20 oz/565 g can) pineapple slices , cut into 1” (2.5 cm) chunks
- 1 bell pepper , cut into 1” (2.5 cm) pieces
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
Instructions
- Add the chicken, salt, and Shaoxing cooking wine in a medium-size bowl, mix well. Let marinate while preparing other ingredients.
- Combine all the sauce ingredients in a medium-size bowl. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and set aside.
- When you’re ready to cook, add the cornstarch to the marinated chicken and toss it to coat it completely.
- Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick (or carbon steel) skillet until hot. Shake the excess cornstarch off the chicken and spread the pieces into the pan without overlapping. Cook without touching until the bottom is browned, 2 minutes or so. Flip to cook the other side until browned, another 2 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a big plate to let it cool.
- Use a few layers of paper towel held in a pair of tongs to wipe the extra oil from the pan and leave only 1 tablespoon in it. If your pan doesn’t have enough oil, add 1 tablespoon of oil. Heat the skillet over high heat and add the pineapples and peppers. Add the ginger on top of the veggies. Allow them to cook undisturbed for 1 to 2 minutes, until the pineapples caramelize and the peppers begin to blister. Stir a few times.
- Stir the sauce again to dissolve the cornstarch completely, and pour it into the pan. Cook until the sauce is fully thickened.
- Take the pan off the heat and add the chicken. Toss to coat the chicken with sauce.
- Serve hot as a main with steamed rice.
Notes
- This is how much juice you get from 1 (20 oz/565 g) can of sliced pineapple.
Video
Nutrition
Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.
This was nice. Simple and good Everyone enjoyed it.
We loved this recipe — Pineapple Chicken; however, there was nothing in the instructions where to add in the garlic that I so meticulously cut up!! It was wonderful without it, but I think the garlic would have added something that would have made it even better. Please modify instructions! Take care!
Roxane
there is not garlic in this recipe. It says ginger 🙂
Outstanding!
Made the Pineapple Chicken tonight and loved it. One problem with the recipe however. The ginger is left out of the cooking directions. Since it’s included in the “Stir Fry” section, I assumed that it was added to the pan along with the pineapple and pepper. Is that correct?
Hi Jerry, I’m glad to hear you like the recipe!
And sorry about the lack of ginger instruction but you did right! I’ve edited the recipe and now it’s correct.
Great recipe. Fresh flavors and lightness of recipe make a restaurant quality dish. This one is a keeper for me.
Hello again Maggie!
Loved when this recipe came in my email. I was thinking I needed another chicken recipe and couldn’t wait to try it.
When I had the sauce made, I took a sample taste and told my husband that it was going to be spectacular! He being the picky one said he would reserve his review until he teasted it.
Well, once he tasted the end result he said its a keeper and could not stop raving about it. Told him that every receipe of yours has been a winner!
I did double the sauce since we like extra and used chunk pineapple since its already cubed and eliminated a step of cutting it up.
You are amazing! Cannot thank you enough for being such a great teacher.
Hi Maggie,
I just made your Pineapple Chicken with fresh pineapple instead of canned. I made a runny purée in my blender and used that instead of the canned juice., adding a little chicken broth to thin it.
Great lunch!
I Love You!!!
Made this tonight for dinner. Delicious! I bought some ginger today and when I got home I did not have it. I think it fell out of my cart. Oh well, still turned out great 🙂
Loved this one! I didn’t have pineapple juice but I did have a fresh pineapple. We puréed the fresh in place of the juice. I really liked the outcome. It was sweet and gingery. Another successful dinner.
Hi Maggie
This Christmas, with family staying home, I decided to cook up some of your dishes. So I made Lumpia spring rolls, pineapple chicken,
Braised Pork trotters, honey garlic pork chops, vegetable stir fry and rice.
Everything was delicious and all the food was eaten. Thank you for your easy to cook recipes.💃😘
Wow that sounds like a super delicious spread! So happy to hear you enjoyed the dishes 🙂
Happy holidays to you too!
I love this recipe! Recently made it for 8 people and Maggie was very helpful with suggestions as to how to manage that. I now replace a couple of tablespoons of pineapple juice with orange juice and add some snow peas just because I like them!
In my last comment I forgot to mention that everyone loved it at our get-together of 8 people. Also I do add some garlic with the ginger. Mmm. Getting hungry thinking about it!
I tried this recipe tonight for dinner . Super Fantastic! This recipe is so simple and I added extra veggies. The sauce AMAZING for homemade.
Recipe was a bit sweet for my taste but it was fun trying something new!
Sensational
Yet another winner! Not a big fan of fruit in my meat dishes yet I decided to give it a try. And it’s a keeper. Absolutely love this dish and will be making it again. Served it with your chicken fried rice recipe in which I added some of the homemade chili garlic sauce for a kick of spice. Everybody loved it 😍 Thanks for posting.
This is a true winner of a recipe. I doubled the chicken and the sauce. I used the recommended amount of pineapple and blended the rest of the can with its juices into the sauce, which was superb.
Another stellar recipe! The prep was easy enough for a weeknight dinner, and it tastes absolutely delicious 😍 I added extra bell pepper, and I’ll definitely try it with snow peas next time, as another commenter suggested.
I really liked this recipe and so did my 3 year old son!
So happy to hear it! Thanks for leaving a positive review 🙂