Tropical Pineapple Chicken Recipe

With influences from a recent trip to Hawaii and reading about the Caribbean in a magazine, I figured I’d keep the vacation memories alive with this Tropical Pineapple Chicken Recipe. It all starts with a marinade reminiscent of a jerk sauce. Super flavors and a kiss of heat to surprise the senses.

I’m sharing with you two versions of my Pineapple Chicken Recipe today; one baked and the other grilled. Both are outstanding in tenderness, flavor, and after three attempts, I feel this is the version I wanted to share with you guys.

Originally I made this as a baked dish for our dinner, then I had to attend a meeting and Dave invited some friends over and the meal needed to be doubled. I like this one for the tropical flavors and slow, baked chicken thighs are always a comfort food to me.

So with news of more people coming to dinner I opted to quickly do a grilled version using boneless chicken breasts that I had sliced horizontally. The baked version of this Tropical Pineapple Chicken Recipe uses bone in chicken thighs and takes a little longer to make cooking wise. You choose, but both are delish depending if you’re a white meat or dark meat chicken fan.

I simply purée some fresh (or canned) pineapple, green onions, ground cloves, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, thyme, garlic, ginger and brown sugar. Oh and a Scotch Bonnet pepper (or a jalapeño), did I forget that? Need a little heat friends. Pour that over the chicken to marinate and also use to baste as it bakes for a fall apart, tender Tropical Pineapple Chicken Recipe.

Beware this Tropical Pineapple Chicken Recipe is hot stuff if using the Scotch Bonnet peppers, not for the faint of heart with weak tastebuds!  Feel free to substitute jalapeño peppers if you like. Lot’s of flavor in this dish, but you can always cut the amount of peppers to suit your tastes and lower the heat factor. I would try this and scale back if need be.

I wrote about the Scotch Bonnet peppers in my Jamican Jerk Pork Ribs, but my tamer One Pan Jerk Chicken and Rice with Oranges is another good one and this Jamaican Pepper Sauce is always welcomed as a condiment, too. This Pineapple Chicken Recipe takes the flavors of jerk seasoning  for the marinade and with the grilled pineapples makes one killer dinner.

I had 2 fresh pineapples on hand and made sure I used one as part of the marinade puréed, and while the baked version has pineapple chunks baked in the sauce with the chicken thighs, the grilled chicken breast version has grilled pineapple slices right alongside. LOVE that flavor!

TIP: Did you know that pineapple doesn’t ripen after being picked? So pick one with a rich, sweet fragrance. The produce manager once told me that you need to pick pineapples with green and fresh-looking leaves obviously, but that if you can pull one from the center of the top stem with a little resistance, you’ll know it’s ripe.

Tropical Pineapple Chicken

Time does not include marinating time as it may vary per person. I also have given 2 ways to make this: baking using bone in chicken thighs and for grilling boneless chicken breasts. TIme reflects baking version. Please note cooking times do vary and grilling chicken breasts takes less time.

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Hawaiian

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 620kcal

Author: Kevin Is Cooking

Ingredients

• 2 lbs chicken (See Note 1)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 tsp cornstarch

For Grilling Pineapple

• 3 cups pineapple (See Note 2)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar

Marinade/Jerk Sauce:

• 1 cup pineapple chunks
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 4 green onions ends trimmed, cut half
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp ginger powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground thyme
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Scotch Bonnet pepper (See Note 3)

Garnish:

• 2 green onions tops only, chopped

Instructions

• In a blender add the Marinade/Jerk Sauce ingredients and purée. Add to a large container you can seal. Add the chicken and marinate 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.

Baking

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Prior to baking, bring chicken to room temperature. To a large cast iron pan or skillet add oil over medium high heat. Remove chicken from marinade, shaking off excess marinade. Reserve marinade and whisk in the chicken stock and cornstarch, set aside. Sear chicken for about 3-4 minutes on each side or until slightly browned.
• Add 3 cups of pineapple chunks over chicken and pour remaining marinade on top. Place skillet in oven and bake, uncovered for 35 minutes. Baste chicken several times. Chicken is done at 165°F. Garnish with green onions.

Grilling:

• Heat grill to 400°F. Prior to grilling bring chicken to room temperature. Sprinkle pineapple rings with brown sugar (See Note 2). Clean the grill. Shake off excess marinade from chicken. Reserve marinade and whisk in the cornstarch, set aside. Grill the chicken and pineapple for 4 minutes per side, or until chicken is cooked through depending on thickness (See Notes 4 and 5).
• Add the chicken stock and cornstarch to the reserved marinade in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and whisk until thickened. Brush grilled chicken with glaze and garnish with green onions.

Notes

1. Large boneless chicken breasts sliced half horizontally (for Grilling, optional) or chicken thighs bone and skin on (for Baking).
2. You will need 3 cups of pineapple chunks for baking with chicken and 1 cup for marinade. If using canned you will need 4 cups total. Cut off top and bottom of pineapple, and cut/remove outer skin. Cut fresh pineapple in half vertically and cut out core. slice one half into 1-inch thick pieces. Again you will need 3 cups of pineapple chunks for baking with chicken and 1 cup for marinade. Slice the other pineapple half into 3/4” thick crescent shape slices, sprinkle with brown sugar and grill for 4 minutes on each side.
3. Of course you can alter the number of peppers for your desired heat. Just use gloves when slicing and wash hands after. The Scotch Bonnet pepper is HOT. Substitute jalapeño peppers if you like less heat.
4. An inserted meat thermometer should read 165°F when chicken is done.
5. Turn each piece every 2 minutes slightly 45° to get cross grill marks. Completely optional.

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice.

Nutrition

Calories: 620kcal | Carbohydrates: 77g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 111mg | Sodium: 700mg | Potassium: 772mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 62g | Vitamin A: 450IU | Vitamin C: 131.3mg | Calcium: 93mg | Iron: 2.8mg

Have you made this recipe? Let me know on InstagramTag @KevinIsCooking and hashtag me #keviniscooking!