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Pineapple Chicken Stir-Fry is a fast and easy meal, perfect for a weeknight dinner. Tender chunks of chicken, pineapple, bell peppers, and onion, all served up in a sweet, savory sauce over rice. Great with egg drop soup or egg rolls.
When I first started eating out at Chinese restaurants with my family as a girl one of the first dishes I would select was Pineapple Chicken. That or Sweet and Sour Pork. Those dishes seemed “safe” to try.
You have to understand that I am a Kansas girl and my family ate “traditional” foods like meatloaf, steak and potatoes, or fried chicken. My mom never served us any chow mien noodles or stir-fry. That was all foreign and alien to me and my family.
Fast-forward twenty-five years, and now my family and I love Chinese/Asian food. In fact, you’ll find many of our favorite Asian Recipes on this blog. Life is all about trying and tasting new things.
Ingredients for Pineapple Chicken Stir-Fry
(As a Walmart Affiliate, I earn from qualified purchases at the links below. See the full recipe at the bottom of this post.)
How to Make This Stir-Fry
Gather the ingredients so you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
Prepare the Ingredients
Using a Chef’s knife and cutting board, slice the chicken tenders into 1-2 inch pieces.
With a second cutting board, peel and slice the carrots, green bell pepper, and sweet onion. Mince the fresh garlic.
I have separate cutting boards for meats and vegetables. It’s a safe practice, and I encourage you to do so also.
Drain the juice from the canned pineapple chunks into a glass measuring cup. Add enough water to make 2 cups. (You will add the chicken bouillon cube to this later in this recipe.)
Go ahead and start prepare the white rice, following package directions. I like to use Long-Grain Jasmine Rice, which takes approximately 18-20 minutes to cook. If you start now, the rice should be done at about the same time as the Pineapple Chicken!
Cook the Chicken and Vegetables
Mix together the all-purpose flour, seasoning salt, and freshly ground black pepper in a large plastic bag. Add in chicken pieces and toss to coat.
In a large skillet, heat 5-6 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium high heat. When the skillet is hot and the oil is shimmering, place chicken pieces in the skillet and brown on all sides, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer chicken to a large bowl. Cover to keep warm.
If necessary, drizzle more vegetable oil to the skillet and add prepared carrots, green bell pepper, sweet onion, minced garlic, and pineapple chunks. Cook for another 8-10 minutes until vegetables are tender. Transfer the vegetables to the bowl with the cooked chicken pieces.
Prepare the Sweet and Sour Sauce
In a medium bowl, combine the red wine vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, ketchup, cornstarch, and ginger. Whisk together until smooth. Pour the reserved pineapple juice (and water) into the skillet along with the chicken bouillon cube. Bring to a boil and stir until the bouillon cube has dissolved. Add in the vinegar sauce and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently until thickened.
Add chicken and vegetables to the sweet and sour sauce. Stir together until the chicken pieces are completely coated with the sauce.
By the time the Pineapple Chicken is done, the rice should have completed cooking as well. If not, you may keep the chicken warm in a 300°F oven until ready to serve.
Serve this easy chicken stir-fry over cooked long-grain rice. For a complete Chinese dinner you may add Egg Rolls, Crab Rangoon, and Easy Egg Drop Soup to this dish. This recipe will serve 4-6 people.
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Pineapple Chicken Stir-Fry
(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders (cut into chunks)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon seasoned salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 6-8 tablespoons vegetable oil (divided)
- 2 medium carrots (peeled and sliced)
- 1 large green bell pepper (sliced)
- 1/2 medium sweet onion (sliced)
- 20 oz. pineapple chunks (drained and reserve juice)
- 1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice (cooked according to package directions)
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- 2 cups pineapple juice + water (drained from pineapple chunks)
- 1 cube chicken bouillon
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Gather the ingredients so you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
Prepare the Ingredients
- Using a Chef’s knife and cutting board, slice the chicken tenders into 1-2 inch pieces.
- With a second cutting board and with a clean knife, peel and slice the carrots, green bell pepper, and sweet onion. Mince the fresh garlic.
- Add enough water to make 2 cups. (You will add the chicken bouillon cube to this later in this recipe.)
- Preparing the long-grain white rice, following package directions, which should take approximately 18-20 minutes to cook.
Cook the Chicken and Vegetables
- Mix together the all-purpose flour, seasoning salt, and freshly ground black pepper in a large plastic bag. Add in chicken pieces and toss to coat.
- In a large cast iron skillet, heat 5-6 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium high heat. When the skillet is hot and the oil is shimmering, place chicken pieces in the skillet and brown on all sides, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer chicken to a large bowl. Cover to keep warm.
- If necessary, drizzle more vegetable oil to the skillet and add prepared carrots, green bell pepper, sweet onion, minced garlic, and pineapple chunks. Cook for another 8-10 minutes until vegetables are tender. Transfer the vegetables to the bowl with the cooked chicken pieces.
Prepare the Sweet and Sour Sauce
- In a medium bowl, combine the red wine vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, ketchup, cornstarch, and ginger. Whisk together until smooth.
- Pour the reserved pineapple juice (and water) into the skillet along with the chicken bouillon cube. Bring to a boil and stir until the bouillon cube has dissolved. Add in the sauce mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently until thickened.
- Add chicken and vegetables to the sweet and sour sauce. Stir together until the chicken pieces are completely coated with the sauce.
- Serve over the cooked rice. Serves 4-6.
