This Crockpot Pineapple Chicken is packed with tender chicken smothered in a sticky sweet and spicy sauce. Fresh pineapple chunks adds the best tropical flavor! Served over rice and veggies for a complete meal.
If you like sweet and spicy (spice level is up to you!), then you’ll love this crockpot pineapple chicken. If you like easy recipes that the whole family will love, then you’ll definitely love this crockpot recipe.
Ingredients
- Pineapple Juice, Lime Juice, Soy Sauce, Honey, Sriracha, Brown Sugar (optional), Garlic, Ginger, and Black Pepper – a sweet, tangy, spicy, and savory base for the pineapple sauce.
- Chicken Breast – use boneless and skinless chicken breasts or thighs for ultra tender and juicy chicken!
- Pineapple – use fresh pineapple cut into 1 inch chunks for the best flavor and texture.
- Cornstarch and Pineapple Juice – makes up a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. Typically a slurry is made with cornstarch and water, but the pineapple juice works just as well without diluting the flavor!
- Cooked Rice – for serving.
- Sliced Green Onions, Sesame Seeds, and Red Pepper Flakes – for garnish, if desired!
How to make
With just 15 minutes of prep, this crockpot pineapple chicken makes the perfect weeknight dinner. Throw it together in the morning and come home to a fresh and flavorful home-cooked meal!
- Grease your crockpot with cooking spray then whisk in 1 1/4 cups pineapple juice, lime juice, soy sauce, honey, sriracha, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and black pepper.
- Stir in chicken breasts and pineapple then cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup pineapple juice and cornstarch until well combined then mix that into the crockpot.
- Remove chicken from the crockpot and cube into chunks.
- Stir the chicken back into the crockpot then cover and cook on HIGH for an additional 30 minutes then serve and enjoy!
How to cut pineapple
I absolutely love using fresh pineapple in this recipe…which means unless I’m buying pre-cut pineapple at the store, it’s up to me to prep it. Here’s an easy to way to cut your pineapple perfectly!
- Lay the pineapple on its side and, holding with one hand, slice off the top, about 1/2-inch down from the green crown. Do the same on the other side, about 1/2-inch down from the bottom.
- Flip the pineapple to stand upright, resting on the now flat bottom and use a large knife to carefully slice down around the outsides, removing the layer of skin but preserving as much of the fruit as possible.
- Once, the pineapple is peeled, remove any of the brown “eyes” from the fruit.
- Lay the pineapple down on its side again and slice it into circles. There is a tough “core” in the center of the fruit so be cautious as you do this. If you want to slice it in half lengthwise first to have a flat side feel free.
- Once you have your pineapple circles, you can cut out your chunks around the core!
What does pineapple do to chicken?
The pineapple juice in the sauce not only adds delicious fruity and tropical flavor, but the acidity helps break down the meat. This allows it to absorb more of the flavors and become ultra tender!
Is it better to cook chicken on high or low in the crockpot?
Although either one works, I definitely prefer to cook my chicken on LOW in the slow cooker. The longer cook time allows the meat to become ultra tender!
If you don’t have time to cook it on low, no worries! It will still be delicious cooked on high!
Variations
I think this crockpot pineapple chicken is pretty darn perfect… 😉 However, if you do want to switch things up, here are a few variations!
- Add veggies. In the last 30 minutes to an hour of cook time, stir in broccoli florets, peppers, or green beans. Be sure to cut all your veggies pretty uniform in size so they cook fully.
- Make it smoky. Give your sauce a sweet and smoky flavor with some BBQ sauce!
What to serve with pineapple chicken?
I love to serve my pineapple chicken over a bed of basmati rice or coconut lime rice with an additional side dish or two!
- Roasted Green Beans
- Roasted Vegetables
- Instant Pot Broccoli
- Sautéed onions and peppers
How to store
Leftover pineapple chicken will last in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 2-3 days.
To reheat, thaw in the fridge if frozen then microwave or warm on the stove then serve over cooked rice!
– Jennifer
Crockpot Pineapple Chicken
Equipment for this recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups pineapple juice divided
- ¼ cup lime juice
- ¼ cup soy sauce use a gluten free variety if necessary
- ½ cup honey
- 1-4 tablespoons sriracha *
- 1-4 tablespoons brown sugar optional to balance out the spice*
- 4 cloves garlic minced or pressed
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cups fresh pineapple cut into 1 inch chunks
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- Cooked rice for serving
- Sliced green onions for garnish, if desired
- Sesame seeds for garnish, if desired
- Red pepper flakes for garnish, if desired
Instructions
- Grease a 6 quart crockpot with cooking spray, then whisk in 1 1/4 cups pineapple juice, lime juice, soy sauce, honey, sriracha, optional brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and black pepper.
- Stir in chicken breasts and pineapple.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 3-4 hours.
- Remove chicken and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/4 cup pineapple juice and cornstarch until well combined, then slowly whisk into the crockpot.
- Cube chicken and stir back into the crockpot.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 30 minutes.
- Taste and re-season, if necessary, then serve and enjoy!
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Notes
Nutrition Information
*Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on products used.
Carla
Jennifer @ Show Me the Yummy