Best Baked Pineapple Chicken Recipe

This is the best baked pineapple chicken recipe! This is one of those recipes where you can just dump everything into a baking dish. I don’t know about you, but an easy dinner recipe is my favorite for weeknights. And this is extremely kid-friendly when you leave off the sriracha that I personally like to add when serving!

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Why I love this recipe

Dinner recipes can be hit or miss with kids, especially when they have meat. I hear from parents ALL the time that their kids barely eat any meat. But adding the pineapple and pineapple juice to this recipe adds a fresh sweetness that kids love! This is such a great recipe for families since the chicken is mild enough for your kids, and some added sriracha will liven it up for the parents.

If you have a hard time getting your little one to eat meat, also check out If Your Toddler Won’t Eat Meat and How to Get Your Toddler to Eat Meat.

Best Baked Pineapple Chicken Recipe

To keep things simple, I pair this pineapple baked chicken with white rice (comes out perfect every time in my rice cooker). Plus, some simple steamed broccoli to round out the meal with a veggie.

Ingredients Needed

Ingredients you’ll need:

• Avocado oil or vegetable oil
• Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 100% pineapple juice
• Low sodium soy sauce
• Honey
• White or red wine vinegar
• Pinch of salt
• Pineapple chunks, fresh, canned, or frozen
• Optional: Sriracha for serving
• Optional: green onions for garnish

Pineapple notes

I used canned pineapple chunks in 100% juice so I could strain out the juice and place the pineapple on top of the chicken to bake. You could use pineapple rings, pineapple slices, or pineapple tidbits – really any kind of canned pineapple would work. The bigger pieces, like rings, can be diced. Fresh pineapple chunks would also be delicious, you’d just need to get the pineapple juice separately.

If you use frozen pineapple, I would defrost before baking.

How to make this recipe

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Drizzle 1 tbsp oil in bottom of 9×13 baking dish. Arrange chicken thighs in one even layer. Prick chicken with fork multiple times on both sides to tenderize. (I learned this trick to quickly tenderize chicken from Cook Smarts – I love their meal plans and their cooking tips!)

Strain the canned pineapple over a bowl to reserve juice, if you are using canned pineapple and juice.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together ½ cup strained pineapple juice, 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp honey, and 1 Tbsp vinegar.

Pour marinade evenly over chicken. Sprinkle on salt to taste. (I didn’t use much because of the salt in the soy sauce.)

Spoon ½ cup pineapple pieces onto the chicken.

Bake uncovered at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Serve with rice and a drizzle of Sriracha (or leave it off for the kids), and steamed broccoli.

Pineapple Chicken Thighs FAQs

Can I use boneless skinless chicken breasts instead of thighs?

You can, but you may need to lengthen the cooking time depending on the thickness of your chicken breasts.

Is this sauce like teriyaki sauce?

It has a similar taste to teriyaki sauce but without to much added sugar. I wanted to avoid the brown sugar that you typically see in pineapple chicken recipes to make it a bit healthier.

Is this recipe like hawaiian chicken?

It’s similar but does not include bbq sauce like traditional Hawaiian chicken recipes. But, I bet it would be delicious with some barbecue sauce added in! I might try that next time.

Expert Tips

If you don’t have white or red wine vinegar, try substituting rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.

Other recipes you might like

If you want some tips you can start using asap to help with picky eating, grab my free Picky Eater Starter Guide.