Juicy pieces of chicken, fried up with peppers, onions and pineapple chunks in a simple, sweet and savoury stir-fry sauce.
This is my go-to recipe when I've got a hankering for a sweet and sour style dinner, but I haven't got the time to coat and fry up chicken pieces.
Everything gets added to the wok in stages so it's easy to prep as you go, without getting in a fluster.
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It's easy to get stuck in a rut with stir-fry type recipes. I most often go back to my simple chicken stir fry, because it's the one that comes into my head first, but there are so many ways you can jazz up a stir fry:
- Add in heat with chilli flakes, chilli sauce or fresh chillies
- Swap out vegetables - mange tout, sugarsnap peas, extra fine green beans, tenderstem broccoli, carrots chopped into matchsticks, fine asparagus and chopped mushrooms are all good options that can be stir-fried quickly.
- Swap out the protein for pork tenderloin, thin strips of ribeye steak or go for vegetarian options such as quorn strips or marinated tofu.
- Change the flavour profile by adding in Cajun spice, peanut butter or sesame oil (plus a sprinkling of sesame seeds). I'd recommend adding on one, not all three at once! Although I do wonder how that would taste 😁
- Add fruit - such as chopped plums (see my chicken plum stir fry), strips of mango or like this recipe - chopped pineapple.
Coming back to this recipe.....
📋 What do we need?
📺 Watch how to make it
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
👩🍳PRO TIP You can use sliced boneless chicken thighs if you prefer. I find chicken breasts a little less fiddly to slice up, so it's quicker for me to use them in this recipe. The dusting of cornflour on the chicken breast pieces will help to ensure the chicken stays juicy and moist when frying.
🍽️ What to serve it with
- Boiled Rice
- Egg Fried Rice
- Cauliflower Fried Rice
- Stir-fried noodles
⬇️ The recipe card with full instructions is just below these extra recipe suggestions.
🍲 More fantastic Chicken Stir-Fry recipes
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Sticky Pineapple Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts - (approx 525g/1.1lbs altogether) chopped into bitesize chunks
- 2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch in USA)
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 3 tbsp oil
- 435 g (15oz) can of chopped pineapple in juice
- 2 tbsp soft brown sugar
- 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp tomato puree (paste in USA)
- 1 onion - peeled and chopped into wedges
- 1 red bell pepper - chopped into chunks
- 2 cloves garlic - peeled and minced
- 1 tsp minced ginger
To Serve:
- Coriander (cilantro)
- Boiled Rice
- Sriracha - (add some to give the dish a little kick of heat)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place the chicken breast chunks in a bowl and sprinkle on the cornflour and salt & pepper. Mix with your hands to cover the chicken in the cornflour.3 chicken breasts, 2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch in USA), pinch of salt and pepper
- Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan over a high heat.3 tbsp oil
- When the oil is hot, add in the chicken. Cook on a high heat, moving the chicken around occasionally with a spatula, until the chicken is golden on all sides (about 5-6 minutes).
- While the chicken is cooking, make the stir fry sauce by combining the pineapple juice from the tin of pineapple with the brown sugar, soy sauce and the tomato puree in a bowl. Mix together and put to one side.435 g (15oz) can of chopped pineapple in juice, 2 tbsp soft brown sugar, 3 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp tomato puree (paste in USA)
- Add in the onions and peppers to the wok, and fry with the chicken for 2 minutes.1 onion, 1 red bell pepper
- Add the pineapple chunks, from the tinned pineapple, into the wok and cook for a further two minutes.435 g (15oz) can of chopped pineapple in juice
- Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for a further minute.2 cloves garlic, 1 tsp minced ginger
- Add the stir fry sauce you made earlier to the wok.
- Continue cooking on high, allowing the sauce to bubble and reduce down, whilst stirring occasionally. It should take about 5-6 minutes on a medium-high heat to reduce down and start making the chicken look darker and caramelized.
- Once cooked, turn off the heat and serve over boiled rice. Sprinkle with coriander and serve.Coriander (cilantro), Boiled Rice, Sriracha
Video
✎ Notes
Reheat by heating a tablespoon of oil in a wok, over a medium heat, then adding the pineapple chicken to the wok. Move it around the pan often, using a spatula, until piping hot throughout. It will take about 10 minutes to heat through.
You may need to add a splash of water to loosen it up a little when reheating. Can I freeze it? I don't recommend freezing this recipe as the peppers and onions are likely to go a little soggy. Ingredient swaps
- Swap the chicken for chopped pork tenderloin pieces, or go vegetarian and swap for quorn pieces.
- Add in extra vegetables - mange tout (snow peas), roughly chopped spring onion, mushrooms, asparagus and tenderstem broccoli pieces all work well and have a similar cooking time to the peppers.
- Add 1 tsp chilli flakes or 1-2 chopped fresh chillies or 1-2 tsp sriracha for a spicy kick.
- Add ready-cooked egg noodles at the end and cook for a further 2 minutes (until piping hot) for a pineapple chicken noodle stir fry. Saves having to cook rice to go with it!
Nutrition
This recipe was first posted July 2015. Updated May 2023 with new photos, video, extra detail in the instructions and a bit of housekeeping.
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.
Carol Channon says
This is utterly scrumptious. Simple, quick, tasty and now I have my neighbours addicted too.. thank you!
Rosalind Walker says
It was easy and quick to make and very tasty
Jess says
Really yummy! And very easy to make. My kids loved it too. Better than takeaway.
Thanks Nicky!
Andy Ross says
Had some fresh pineapple and chicken breasts to use up and found this recipe online.
As I had fresh Pineapple there wasn't much juice but the dish still turned out to be delicious, with lots of subtle flavours from the Ginger, Soy Sauce, Garlic and Pineapple
Once the sauce was reduced down it gave a lovely sticky caramelised coating to the Chicken which remained lovely and tender.
The fresh Coriander added at the end is a must in my opinion as it compliments the rest of the flavours in the dish, a nice alternative to Sweet and Sour Chicken and one I would definitely make again
Marwa Samy says
I don't have any soy sauce but i need to make this recipe today badly... i have lots of pineapple that needs to be consumed 😊
I have only fish sauce, worcestershire sauce and dates molasses.. any of these could replace the soy sauce? please help
Chris Corbishley says
Hi Marwa,
Sorry we haven't tried it without soy sauce and couldn't recommend those ingredients you suggested as a substitution for soy sauce.
Our Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken uses a good amount of pineapple https://www.kitchensanctuary.com/healthier-baked-sweet-and-sour-chicken
Thanks
Chris & Nicky
MM says
I love how a lot of your recipes can be adapted for gluten free diet, this is another yummy one.
Amanda Mccammon says
Just made this looks yummy
Trudy Shaw says
OMG this is my fave recipe for a loooooooong time. So quick! So delicious! Thank you Nicky 🙂 x
Julie @ Cooks with Cocktails says
Making this tonight! Ive been searching for an hour for the perfect dish to make with my chicken breast Ive got thawing in the fridge. I had a serious dinner block in my brain and this dish has sorted me out 🙂
Nicky Corbishley says
Excellent! I really hope you enjoyed it Julie 🙂
Jen says
Hi Nicky,
Is this recipie healthy?
thanks
Nicky Corbishley says
Hi Jen, I probably wouldn't call it healthy - as it does have a reasonable amount of salt, sugar and fat in there. But I don't think it's too bad. You could always add in some extra veg to make it more healthy. Yummly gives a nutritional breakdown of the recipe here: http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Hawaiian-Sticky-Chicken-with-Pineapple-1208317?columns=5&position=8%2F56
Anna says
This is a wonderful keeper. Like others, I dusted my chicken in corn starch before I started cooking it which definitely helped to thicken the sauce. I also chose to cut the sugar back by almost 1/2 which worked out perfect for us. As for the ginger, I added a little extra...I took my vegetable peeler and peeled fresh strips of ginger and added them directly to the pot. Everything else I kept the same. I served the chicken over rice with Chinese style sesame green beans on the side. Much less expensive the take-out and better tasting too. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for sharing.
Nicky Corbishley says
Sounds fab! Thanks for coming back and letting me know how it went. Your updates sound great too 🙂
Annie says
This looks absolutely delightful! Beautiful recipe and sound like one my whole family would enjoy-thank you for sharing!
Nicky Corbishley says
Thanks Annie 🙂
april says
In America we call cornflour "cornstarch". Thankfully I didn't use cornflour/corn meal in my dish tonight because that would make it grainy, howerver that means i left out the corn starch and it wasn't glossy/sticky. Just making the language connection.
pat says
Thank you for figuring this out I was puzzeled.
Nicky Corbishley says
Thanks for the heads-up April, I've updated the recipe to include the reference to cornstarch now 🙂
Pamela says
Your chicken dish looks yummy. Thanks for sharing. Your have a great weekend.
Nicky Corbishley says
Thanks for stopping by Pamela 🙂
Jhuls says
I love chicken with pineapple... and caramelised? I love anything caramelised, too. 😀 This looks really mouth watering, Nicky. Have a lovely weekend. 🙂 xx
Nicky Corbishley says
Thank you Jhuls - girl after my own heart 🙂