This Chinese Chicken with Pineapple is lightly fried to make is crispy on the outside and juicy and tender on the inside. Coated in an easy sweet, savory and tangy sauce its perfect served over your favorite rice or noodles for the perfect make at home take out.
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Recipe Highlights
- Its on the table in under 30 minutes
- Add your favorite vegies like green beans, red bell pepper/capsicum, or zucchini
- Lower in calories as brown sugar is replaced with sweetener
- Is perfect for low calorie meal prepping and great for lunch or dinner, like these Asian Chicken Meatballs
- The chicken is crispy, sweet, sticky and perfectly holds the sauce
- Make it low carb and serve with cauliflower rice!
The bursts of juicy pineapple with the crispy chicken and tangy sauce are a perfect match and its one of my favorite flavor combinations that I use often like in this low sugar Sweet and Sour Chicken, and Sweet and Sour Fish recipe.
One of the secrets to getting the chicken perfectly crispy and able to hold the sauce without it sliding off is all in the preparation. I highly recommend taking a few minutes to coat the chicken with cornflour, soy sauce and sesame oil. This not only helps the sauce to thicken, it adds a rich savory and slightly smoky flavor to the chicken. You can also use this technique with my low calorie General Tso Chicken which has a delicious sugar free homemade sauce!
Making dinners under 500 calories is my specialty, with many of my most popular being low calorie chicken recipes, low calorie meal prepping recipes and low calorie slow cooker recipes.
This Chinese pineapple chicken dish is not deep fried. It only uses a little oil which I think is essential to create the delicious crispy exterior. When cooking the chicken, be sure not to overcrowd the pan with the chicken and avoid constantly turning it as this makes it harder to get it crispy.
I love making big flavorful saucy asian dishes at home because they're quick to make like this Thai Sweet Chili Chicken, are great for meal prepping ( hello healthy teriyaki chicken) and make for great leftovers like this lemon chicken stirfry and this super saucy healthy orange chicken.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken: I used 3 large chicken breasts but you could also use skinless chicken thighs. These may take a little longer to cook than chicken breast.
- Pineapple: as pineapple is one of the main ingredients in this recipe, its ideal to use a good quality canned pineapple in chunks, or you can buy the rounds and cut to your liking if the chunks are too big
- Peanut Oil: Used together with the cornflour and soy sauce to make a slurry to coat the chicken. It acts as a seasoning and adds flavor and richness to the dish
- Soy Sauce: regular or light soy can be used. Dark soy isn’t recommended as its too strong in flavor
- Cornstarch: this helps to thicken the sauce
- Sweetener: a granulated sweetener that measures like sugar is perfect. My favorite is Monkfruit golden or Monkfruit brown, but the white varieties also work just as well. Granulated stevia can also be used.
- Rice Vinegar: this helps to balance the tartness and sweetness. Alternatively apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar could be used.
- Garlic and Ginger: whilst you can’t beat fresh garlic and ginger, the ones that come in a jar or tube will work just as well. Don’t skip the garlic and ginger as they are essential to creating a savory base for the pineapple chicken
How To Make
- Prepare the Chicken: Combine the cornstarch, soy sauce and sesame oil together in a dish and stir until well combined. Place the chicken in a large bowl or a ziplock bag and pour the cornstarch slurry on the chicken and toss to combine.
- Cook Chicken pieces in batches until crispy: Heat a half inch of oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Add some of the chicken to the pan, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Cook each side for 4 minutes. Remove the chicken and keep it warm. Continue cooking the remaining chicken. Carefully pour any remaining oil into a heat safe jar or mug until cool enough to throw away.
- Make sauce and cook over low heat, adding chicken and pineapple: Combine the sauce ingredients and add to the pan. Simmer over medium low heat until the sauce begins to slightly thicken, then add the cooked chicken and toss to coat. Continue to simmer until the sauce is thick.
- Remove from the heat and serve with a side of rice and vegetables.
- Sprinkle the chicken with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.
- More tangy than spicy, though this dish is perfect for adding a little heat with diced red chili flakes, a dash of sriracha mixed into the sauce, or fresh chili serve don top as a garnish.
Recipe Tips:
- Don’t add the pineapple too early: the pineapple is delicate and should be added at the end with the cooked and crispy chicken. Adding it too early may cause it to break up with the heat.
- Add some spice and heat: adding a little white pepper either into the sauce or to serve will add additional heat. Adding a small amount of chili paste, or red chili flakes to the sauce will provide a mild spice hit, or if you prefer fresh, add diced red chili on top to serve.
- Storage: store any leftovers in an air tight container in the fridge without the rice for upto 3 days. If storing with the rice included the rice will soak up al the sauce for the chicken and pineapple, making the dish a little on the dry side. I recommend making fresh rice to serve, if eating leftovers.
Got fresh pineapple?
You can use fresh pineapple to make Chinese pineapple chicken. Make sure to cut all the rough parts off so that you’re left with smooth and juicy pineapple. Also make sure your pineapple is ripe and sweet. If using fresh pineapple, you will also need to purchase pineapple juice separately for the sauce as this is an essential ingredient to achieve the tart moreish sauce that you won’t be able to stop eating.
If you love pineapple, you might also like this Curried Chicken with Pineapple, or this Asian Glazed Salmon with Pineapple Salsa, or these Crispy Fish Tacos with Pineapple Salsa.
Serving Options:
- Regular: Steamed white rice, Cooked brown rice
- Regular: Rice noodles, hokkien noodles, udon noodles, egg noodles
- Low Carb: Cauliflower rice (you can’t beat frozen cauliflower rice zapped in the microwave for convenience), or homemade cauliflower fried rice
- Low Carb: cooked zucchini noodles
- Low Carb: lightly stirfried baby spinach leaves and chopped Asian greens
- Low Carb: steamed green veges. If you’re adding in veges, be sure not to overcook them.
You could also cook the chicken pieces in the air fryer using a little spray oil. Be sure to not overcrowd the basket and you may need to do multiple batches cooking the chicken to avoid overcrowding. The air fryer is great for getting the chicken extra crispy with barely any oil, and I love using mine to cook crispy chicken.
Chinese chicken with pineapple is a classic fave for many and its so easy to make at home with everyday ingredients and panty staples.
My favorite thing is that I can make a big batch of it so I don’t have to cook every night. It lasts in the fridge for 3 days and its one of my meal prepping regulars because I love big sweet and savory flavors with lots of sauce!
Chinese Chicken with Pineapple
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 3 large skinless chicken breasts - cut into 1 inch pieces
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons Peanut or Vegetable oil for light frying
For the sauce
- 440 gram /20 ounce can pineapple pieces with juice
- ½ cup chicken broth/stock
- ¼ cup granulated sweetener that measures like sugar - (I use monkfruit golden)
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
For serving
- 1 large sliced green onion
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 2 cups cooked white/brown rice, noodles or cauliflower rice
Instructions
- Combine the cornstarch, soy sauce and sesame oil together in a dish and stir until well combined.
- Place the chicken in a large bowl or a ziplock bag and pour the cornstarch slurry on the chicken and toss to combine.
- Heat a half inch of oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Add some of the chicken to the pan, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Cook each side for 4 minutes. Remove the chicken and keep it warm. Continue cooking the remaining chicken. Carefully pour any remaining oil into a heat safe jar or mug until cool enough to throw away.
- Combine the sauce ingredients and add to the pan. Simmer over medium low heat until the sauce begins to slightly thicken, then add the cooked chicken and toss to coat. Continue to simmer until the sauce is thick.
- Remove from the heat and serve with a side of rice and vegetables.
- Sprinkle the chicken with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.
Notes
- Pineapple: as pineapple is one of the main ingredients in this recipe, its ideal to use a good quality canned pineapple in chunks, or you can buy the rounds and cut to your liking if the chunks are too big
- Peanut Oil: Used together with the cornflour and soy sauce to make a slurry to coat the chicken. It acts as a seasoning and adds flavor and richness to the dish
- Soy Sauce: regular or light soy can be used. Dark soy isn’t recommended as its too strong in flavor
- Cornstarch: this helps to thicken the sauce
- Sweetener: a granulated sweetener that measures like sugar is perfect. My favorite is Monkfruit golden or Monkfruit brown, but the white varieties also work just as well. Granulated stevia can also be used.
- Rice Vinegar: this helps to balance the tartness and sweetness. Alternatively apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar could be used.
- Garlic and Ginger: whilst you can’t beat fresh garlic and ginger, the ones that come in a jar or tube will work just as well. Don’t skip the garlic and ginger as they are essential to creating a savory base for the pineapple chicken
- Serving Ideas: This is fun served in a hollowed out pineapple. Serve this dish with fried rice, white rice or cauliflower rice for a low carb option
- Want some crunch? Add some macadamia or cashew nuts.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Freezing: May be cooled, then frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Note: Sugars contained in this recipe are from naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables or other natural sweeteners. Calories have been calculated for your convenience using My Fitness Pal and are based on the ingredients listed in the recipe card.
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