Juicy chicken chunks stir-fried with bell peppers, onions and pineapple chunks in an easy sweet and savory stir fry sauce.
This is my favorite recipe when I’m in the mood for one sweet and sour I don’t have dinner-style dinners, but I don’t have time to bread and fry chicken pieces.
Everything is added to the wok in stages, making it super easy to prep without getting fussed.
Jump to:
It’s easy to get into trouble when it comes to stir-fries. Most of the time I go back to mine simple chicken panbecause that’s the first thing that comes to mind, but there are so many ways you can jazz up a skillet:
- add heat with chilli flakes, chili sauce or fresh chilies
- Swap vegetables – Sugar snap peas, snap peas, extra fine green beans, tender broccoli, carrots cut into matchsticks, finely chopped asparagus and chopped mushrooms are good options that can be quickly fried.
- Swap the protein B. Pork tenderloin, thin strips of ribeye steak or vegetarian options such as Quorn strips or marinated tofu.
- Change the flavor profile by adding Cajun seasoning, peanut butter, or sesame oil (plus a pinch of sesame seeds). I would recommend adding just one, not all three at once! Although I wonder how that would taste 😁
- add fruit – like chopped plums (see mine Stir fry the chicken prunes), mango strips or as in this recipe – chopped pineapple.
Let’s get back to this recipe…..
📋 What do we need?
📺 Check out how to make it
Full recipe with detailed steps in recipe card at the end of this post.
👩🍳PRO TIP You can also use boneless, sliced chicken thighs if you’d like. I find chicken breasts to be a little less fiddly to slice, so I can use them faster in this recipe. Dusting the chicken breast pieces with cornstarch will help the chicken stay juicy and moist as it cooks.
🍽️ What to serve it with
⬇️ The full instructions recipe card is located just below these additional recipe suggestions.
🍲 More amazing chicken skillet recipes
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Sticky pineapple chicken
Sticky Pineapple Chicken – Juicy chunks of chicken stir-fried with bell peppers, onions and chunks of pineapple in an easy sweet and savory stir fry sauce.
INSTRUCTIONS
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Place the chicken breast pieces in a bowl and sprinkle with cornmeal and salt and pepper. Mix with your hands so the chicken is coated in the cornstarch.
3 chicken breasts, 2 tablespoons cornmeal (cornstarch in the US), pinch of salt and pepper
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Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat.
3 tbsp oil
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When the oil is hot, add the chicken. Cook over high heat, stirring the chicken occasionally with a spatula, until the chicken is golden brown on all sides (about 5-6 minutes).
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While the chicken is cooking, prepare the skillet sauce by combining the canned pineapple juice with the brown sugar, soy sauce, and tomato puree in a bowl. Mix everything and set aside.
435 g can of chopped pineapple in juice, 2 tablespoons soft brown sugar, 3 tablespoons dark soy sauce, 1 tablespoon tomato puree (paste in the US)
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Add the onions and peppers to the wok and sauté with the chicken for 2 minutes.
1 onion, 1 red pepper
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Add the canned pineapple pieces to the wok and cook for another two minutes.
435 g can of chopped pineapple in juice
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Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute.
2 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp chopped ginger
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Add the stir-fry sauce you prepared earlier to the wok.
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Continue to cook on high, letting the sauce bubble and reduce, stirring occasionally. On medium-high heat, it should take about 5-6 minutes for the heat to reduce and the chicken to appear darker and caramelized.
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After cooking, turn off the heat and serve over cooked rice. Sprinkle with coriander and serve.
coriander (cilantro), Cooked rice, Sriracha
✎ Notes
Can I make it?
This recipe tastes best when cooked and eaten immediately. However, you can make it if it cuts down on dinner time.
Prepare, then allow to cool and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator (up to 1 day).
Warm it up by heating a tablespoon of oil in a wok over medium-high heat, then add the pineapple chicken to the wok. Agitate it frequently in the pan with a spatula until piping hot all over. The heating takes about 10 minutes.
You may need to add a splash of water as you reheat to loosen it up a bit.
can i freeze it
I do not recommend freezing this recipe as the peppers and onions may get a bit mushy.
ingredient swap
- Swap the chicken for chopped pork tenderloin Pieces, or go vegetarian and swap for quorn pieces.
- Add to additional vegetables – Mange Tout (snow peas), coarsely chopped spring onions, mushrooms, asparagus and tender broccoli pieces work well and have a similar cooking time to the peppers.
- Add 1 tsp chilli flakes or 1-2 chopped fresh chilies or 1-2 tsp sriracha spicy kick.
- Add to ready cooked egg noodles Finally, cook for another 2 minutes (until piping hot) to create a pineapple chicken noodle skillet. Saves on cooking rice!
Here’s how to zoom in and out of this recipe
You can double or halve this recipe while keeping the same ingredient ratios. If doubled, the chicken, vegetables and sauce will take longer to cook (add about 5-7 minutes total to cook time).
Nutritional information is per serving, excluding the serving suggestion of cooked rice, cilantro and sriracha.
Nourishment
Calories: 377kcalCarbohydrates: 32GProtein: 31GFat: 14GSaturated Fatty Acids: 2GPolyunsaturated fat: 4GMonounsaturated fatty acids: 8thGtrans fats: 0.1GCholesterol: 84mgSodium: 914mgPotassium: 784mgFiber: 3GSugar: 24GVitamin A: 1046IUVitamin C: 53mgCalcium: 44mgIron: 1mg
This recipe was first published in July 2015. Updated May 2023 with new photos, videos, additional details in the instructions and a little housekeeping.
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