This Pineapple Chicken Curry is a Thai Inspired dish packed with Asian flavours. Its sweet and spicy comfort food that makes your tastebuds sing. Rich and creamy curry sauce with tender chicken pieces, loads of flavours, veges, and pops of juiciness from cherry tomatoes and sweet tangy pineapple.
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Lately I’ve been loving fruits in savoury dishes, especially ones that have a little spice to them. I find that the sweetness of the fruit is a nice balance to the spiciness of a little added chilli, sambal olek, sriracha or curry paste as in this recipe.
If you like the sweet, sour, spicy and tangy combination of curries, you'll love this Kerala Fish Curry - it takes just 20 minutes to make.
Vegetables to Use in Chicken Pineapple Curry
I chose to use red and green capsicums (peppers), and cherry tomatoes. The capsicums give it a bit of crunch, and the tomatoes add to the overall tang of the dish. Other vegetables you could also try include:
- ½ cup Zucchini chopped into small chunks
- ½ cup of Diced Pumpkin
- ½ cup Green beans sliced into 1 inch sticks
- Even 1 cup of frozen diced veges would work!
Note: I wouldn’t use anymore than 3 types of fresh veg as the ratio of curry sauce to everything else might not be right.
Related Recipe: Indian Beef Masala Curry made in the pressure cooker or slow cooker
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.
Essential Ingredients for Making this Chicken and Pineapple Curry
Chicken – chicken breast is my preference, but you could also use thigh. Just be sure to trim all the fat off and chop into small chunks.
Aromats – Garlic, ginger and lemongrass. For convenience I used bottled garlic and ginger, as well as the lemongrass that comes in a tube. If you can’t find lemongrass paste in the tube, try to look for bottled lemongrass or buy fresh lemongrass. I also used a dash of fish sauce and lime juice for seasoning, along with raw honey to balance out the flavours.
Curry Paste – Yellow curry paste is a must and my favourite is Ayam Yellow Thai Curry Paste. I used ¼ cup of curry paste in this recipe to create a mild to medium curry. It had just a hint of spiciness.
Coconut Milk – Full fat is best for a nice rich creamy curry sauce. If you opt for light coconut milk the sauce will be thinner, and using a coconut cream will make it too gluggy.
TIP: If you can’t find yellow curry paste, you can use red curry paste. Instead of ¼ of a cup, use 1 ½ tablespoons of red curry paste as it is spicier than yellow. Or, check out this Slow Cooker Red Thai Curry.
Pineapple – If you can’t get fresh pineapple, buy a good quality canned pineapple. When using fresh pineapple, make sure to cut all the rough edges off.
Expert Tips
- Buy diced chicken breast, and have it already thawed in the fridge
- Get the rice cooking in your rice cooker, or use a packet rice you can cook in the microwave
- Chop the veges and have them at the ready
- Use a wok as it distributes heat more evenly, uses less oil and will keep everything in the pan
- Use coconut oil or Peanut Oil when cooking on high heat as it cooks the meat quickly without burning.
- Use bottled garlic, ginger and lemongrass for extra convenience and speed
- Buy lime juice in bottle so you always have it on hand in the fridge.
Serving Suggestions
Regular Options:
- White Jasmine Rice
- Brown Rice
- Pearl Cous Cous
- Pearl Barley
Low Carb Options:
- Cauliflower Rice
- Zucchini Noodles
- Broccoli Rice
Can You Freeze Pineapple Chicken Curry
This dish makes great leftovers but I would avoid freezing it. Leftovers will last upto 3 days in an air tight container in the fridge, and this is a tasty dish to also take to work. Totally transportable and able to be heated in the microwave.
What’s For Dinner?
One of the great things about this Pineapple Chicken Curry is that it can be made all with pantry staples, plus the chicken and your choice of veges.
This means it’s easy to keep these ingredients on hand for nights when you’re not sure what’s for dinner. Along with keeping packets of diced chicken breast in the freezer, you could also use frozen veg in this recipe. Any type of vege would work, fresh or frozen.
This recipe can be made more spicy or less spicy depending on who will be eating it and this is one of the reasons I love it so much.
It pleases fussy eaters (chicken + saucy veges or just curry sauce and rice), those who love spice (⅓ cup yellow curry paste) and those who like it a little milder (1 tablespoon of yellow curry paste).
This is a chicken curry with pineapple that is reminiscent of those you get at Thai restaurants, but with a healthier twist.
More Healthy Asian Dishes
- Healthy Mango Chicken Bake (Comfort food you can eat all year round)
- 15 minute Indian Chicken Coconut Curry
- Super Quick Salmon Curry in a Hurry
- Slow Cooker Thai Green Beef Curry (perfect for putting on, on Sunday Mornings)
- Quick and Easy Savour Beef Mince Curry (Great for Freezer Meals)
- Oven Baked Apricot Chicken Curry Casserole (Classic Comfort Food)
Pineapple Chicken Curry
comfort food that makes your tastebuds sing. Rich and creamy curry sauce with tender chicken pieces, loads of flavours, veges, and pops of juiciness from cherry tomatoes and sweet tangy pineapple.
Ingredients
- 500 grams/1 pound Chicken Breast chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 2 teaspoons Crushed Garlic
- 2 teaspoons Minced Ginger
- 1 teaspoon Raw honey
- 1 teaspoon Lemongrass - paste or freshly chopped
- ¼ cup Yellow Thai Curry Paste
- 2 cups Coconut Milk - Full fat
- 1 brown onion - diced
- 1 Cup Diced Pineapple
- 1 cup Cherry tomatoes - halved
- ½ cup Red Capsicum/Pepper
- ½ cup Green Capsicum/Pepper
- 1 tablespoon Lime juice
- 1 tablespoon Fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
Optional
- 1 ½ cups Rice - white or brown
Instructions
- Cook the rice as per packet instructions
- Heat a pan or wok on the stove on medium to high heat. Add the coconut oil, garlic, ginger and onion. Cook for a couple minutes until onion turns translucent.
- Add the chicken and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until just cooked. Add the capsicum/peppers and stir for a further minute.
- Add the curry paste and lemongrass and stir through for 1 minute
- Add the coconut milk and stir through for a couple of minutes. Turn down to medium heat.
- Add in the honey, fish sauce and lime juice, stirring through.
- Add in the tomatoes and pineapple and stir through.
- Divide up the curry and serve with rice.
Notes
- Curry Paste: I used Ayam Thai Yellow curry paste. Thai Red curry paste would also work. If using red curry paste, use 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons for a mild to medium level curry.
- Spiciness: ¼ cup curry paste makes a mild curry. For a more mild to medium, add an extra tablespoon of curry paste. Alternatively you might like to add some chilli flakes to the mild curry for an extra bit of spiciness (this is my favourite way to enjoy this curry!)
- Pineapple: I use canned pineapple in chunks, but you can use fresh if you prefer.
- Lemongrass: Use lemongrass paste if you can. Its easier and more convenient. If you can't find it in the supermarket, look for bottled lemongrass in the asian food aisle, or buy fresh lemongrass and diced up the same amount
- Other types of vegetables to use: ½ cup Zucchini chopped into small chunks, ½ cup of Diced Pumpkin, ½ cup Green beans sliced into 1 inch sticks, even 1 cup of frozen diced veges would work!
- Serving Options: Regular Options: White Jasmine Rice, Brown Rice, Pearl Cous Cous, Pearl Barley. Low Carb Options: Cauliflower Rice, Zucchini Noodles, Broccoli Rice.
- Storage: Curry will keep in the fridge for 3 days in an air tight container. I wouldn’t recommend freezing it.
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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