Pineapple Chicken

Tender pineapple chicken brings some tropical flavor to your weeknight dinner routine. Sweet, savory, and a little bit spicy!

Prep Time10

Marinating Time2

Total Time2 10

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: pineapple chicken

Servings: servings

Calories: 401kcal

Author: Alyssa

Add fresh pineapple juice, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, Sriracha, and olive oil to a large bowl. Whisk until combined. Reserve half the marinade and set it aside.
Place the chicken between two pieces of plastic foil and pound it until evenly thin, a little less than ½-inch thick (between ¼-inch to ½-inch thick).
Add the chicken to the prepared marinade. You can also slice the chicken in half by length, so you get two pieces out of each chicken breast.
Cover the bowl with the plastic foil and refrigerate the chicken for 2 hours.

Heat oven to 400F. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the chicken from the marinade and shake off the excess. Discard the marinade in which your chicken was marinated. Add the chicken pieces to the baking tray. Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper, just a pinch.
Bake the chicken for 20-25 minutes, or until cooked through and the internal temperature reaches 165F.

Add the reserved marinade and red pepper flakes to the saucepot. Set the saucepot over the stove. Bring the marinade to a simmer. Simmer it for 2-3 minutes, then add pineapple slices. Cook the pineapple slices and cook until tender, for 6-8 minutes, and the cooking liquid is reduced and slightly thickened.
Remove the chicken from the oven and serve on a plate. Add the pineapple slices and pour over the cooking pineapple liquid.
Garnish the chicken and pineapples with chopped parsley or sliced green onions.

You can make this recipe in a skillet if you want. Cook the marinated chicken in a skillet for 4-5 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the skillet, add reserved marinade, simmer it, then add the pineapple slices and cook until tender.
Serve the pineapple chicken with some rice or cooked quinoa.
If you do not like spicy food, you can omit the Sriracha and red pepper flakes.
Instead of pounding the chicken with a meat mallet, you can cut the chicken breasts in half by length. Also, if you end up with thin chicken, adjust the baking temperature.