Succulent chicken cutlets, bell peppers, and pineapple chunks are baked in a sweet and sour pineapple sauce and served over rice for a fast weeknight dinner the whole family will love.
This Simple Recipe Is Ready in About 30 Minutes!
If sweet and sour is your flavor combo of choice, you’re going to go gaga for this simple pineapple chicken recipe.
The honey pineapple sauce reminds me of my favorite sweet and sour pork, except there’s no tomato products in this recipe so the pineapple flavor can really shine.
To keep things budget-friendly, I used canned pineapple chunks rather than fresh, and for ease I baked the pineapple chicken instead of stir-frying it. I don’t always want to stand by the stove babysitting my dinner (even if it’s a lightning fast recipe like cashew chicken), so having more hands-off recipes like this is handy on busy nights.
Enjoy!
Heidi’s Tips for Recipe Success
Purchase canned pineapple that’s packed in its own juices. Avoid the kind packed in syrup, which will make the sauce more sweet than sour.
Chicken cutlets cook in half the time as chicken breasts. Sometimes my grocery store sells pre-sliced cutlets, but more often than not I just buy breasts and cut them in half lengthwise to make my own. Chicken cutlets cook faster and more evenly than breasts, which creates a juicier bite and more tender texture.
Honey adds sweetness and flavor. I’ve seen pineapple chicken recipes that call for sugar, but I much prefer the subtle floral sweetness that honey adds to the sauce. It goes hand in hand with the tropical pineapple and makes for a more interesting tasting dish overall.
What’s in This Recipe?
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
For the chicken:
After being cut in half to create cutlets, boneless skinless chicken breasts are dredged in a seasoned cornstarch and flour mixture to encourage browning and give the pineapple sauce something to cling to.
The chicken is then baked in the sauce alongside chunks of bell peppers (I used green and red, but you can use your favorite) and, of course, the pineapple.
For the pineapple sauce:
Chicken broth forms the base of the sauce, with pineapple juice added for flavor and its tenderizing properties. Honey is the “sweet” and rice wine vinegar the “sour” components of the sauce, with soy sauce and ginger rounding out the flavor.
How to Make Honey Pineapple Chicken in the Oven
- Prep the chicken. Slice two chicken breasts in half lengthwise to create the cutlets (you’ll have four cutlets total), then dredge in a mixture of salt, pepper, flour, and cornstarch.
- Brown the chicken. Heat a thin layer of oil in an oven-safe skillet. Once shimmering, cook the chicken on both sides until golden brown (it won’t cook through completely at this stage, but that’s what you want).
- Make the pineapple sauce. To the same skillet, add all of the sauce ingredients and simmer until thickened. You want the sauce to reduce by about ⅓.
- Finish the chicken in the oven. Return the browned chicken to the skillet, add the bell pepper and pineapple chunks, and bake until done.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Baked Pineapple Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 15.5 oz canned pineapple chunks, juice reserved
- ¾ cup seasoned rice vinegar
- ½ cup chicken broth
- ½ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground ginger
- ½ green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
- ½ red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
Instructions
- Prep the chicken. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Trim any excess fat from 1 ½ pounds chicken breasts and slice each in half lengthwise to make two thin cutlets (four total). With ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper and ½ teaspoon Kosher salt, evenly season both sides of the chicken breasts. Add 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon flour to a plate, then dredge each side of the breasts in the mixture, shaking off any excess.
- Brown the chicken cutlets. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown. Transfer to a platter or sheet pan and tent with foil.
- Make the sauce. Drain 15 ounces chunk pineapple, reserving the juice. Add enough chicken stock to make 1 cup. Whisk in ¾ cup seasoned rice vinegar, ½ cup honey, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, and 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Add to the skillet and bring to a boil, and skim out any burned bits. Add 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the sauce reduces by ⅓ and thickens to coat the back of a spoon.
- Bake the chicken in the sauce. Add the reserved chicken breasts and their juice back to the skillet with 1 ½ cups chunk pineapple, ½ green bell pepper, and ½ red bell pepper cut into 1-inch pieces. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until the chicken registers 165°F. Serve with cooked rice.
Nutrition
FAQs
The chicken should register 165ºF at the thickest part. If you first browned the cutlets as instructed, they’ll only need to bake for about 20 minutes at 350ºF.
Most likely, yes, but then you’d also need roughly ½ cup of 100% pure pineapple juice to make the sauce.
Sides to Make This a Meal
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