Here is an easy pineapple chicken thighs in oven recipe that comes out sweet and really tender. Served over rice in bowls it’s one of our favorite easy Crockpot Hawaiian chicken recipes with fruit chunks that bring a subtle tropical flavor to your dinner. If you’re looking for something different to serve, give this a try.
Coming up with new dinner ideas can get tricky. That’s when I came up with this easy pineapple chicken when I bought a package of chicken thighs at the store. I’ve made lots of teriyaki dishes so I thought of using the can of pineapple and went from there, it came out great! (affiliate links present)
Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken
Doesn’t this just look amazing?? I will say it was probably the most tender chicken I’ve ever cooked and it was so easy to throw together (my style of cooking). You could use chicken breasts but boneless skinless chicken thighs are totally overlooked, inexpensive to buy. These probably have the most flavor on the whole bird if you ask me, so that is what was used here.
How to Cook Frozen Chicken Thighs and Pineapple
Really want to make this but only have meat in the freezer? Baking Frozen Chicken Thighs in Oven is possible too!! You can follow those directions and then pour the sauce over the top halfway thru. You could also just add a few minutes as is just as long as the pieces are separated from one another.
What does pineapple do to chicken?
This juice has a natural enzyme that breaks down proteins in meat which can help tenderize it when marinated (for 30 minutes to 2 hours max) or cooked in it. It can in fact help to break down muscle fibers, making the meat more tender and juicy. And of course it adds a nice sweet flavor too!
So let’s go with cooking chicken thighs shall we…… I think the reason this easy pineapple chicken comes out so tender is not only is the meat itself tender, but it cooks/boils in pineapple juice which breaks down the tissue a bit and creates a melt in your mouth piece of meat.
If you’ve never tried it this is a great one to start with. So let’s talk about dinner time and eating together as a family. A few years ago we vowed to make this a priority and it has been such a great thing for us!
Part of it is we all put aside the electronics, ask how our days have been, and really connect. If you haven’t made it a point to have family dinner time just start with once a week and go from there…I promise you, you won’t regret it.
When we focused on eating together more often I wanted to create more unique dishes because it would give us something to talk about, have my kids try new flavors, and well. I like to cook so it gave me a great excuse to cook something new more often. 😉
Pineapple Chicken Ingredients
- Chicken thighs
- Pineapple juice
- Pineapple chunks – or tidbits would work
- Brown sugar
- Soy sauce
- Honey
- Salt
- Cornstarch – to thicken the sauce a bit
Can you bake frozen chicken in pineapple juice?
I would not do that directly. You could use the same mixture in the dish but would follow our Frozen Chicken Thighs in Oven half of the time and then add it at that time. That way it is slightly defrosted and can soak in the flavors.
If you have kids this definitely intrigues them, as mine love anything with fruit! You can thicken the sauce more after you take it out of the oven with a bit more cornstarch.
The amount I added at the beginning was enough for us and it did thicken a bit the longer it sat. If you’re looking for a great chicken thigh recipe this is it…let us know what you think when you try it paired with our Pineapple Casserole Recipe.
Pineapple Chicken Thighs in Oven
Equipment
- 1 8×8 pan
Ingredients
- 1 c pineapple juice
- 1/4 c chunk pineapple
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 lbs chicken thighs, boneless skinless
Instructions
- Lay chicken thighs in an 8×8 pan, pour chunks of pineapple on top (keep juice from can for later). Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Mix all other ingredients on list (except cornstarch) using 1 c pineapple juice from the can together in a bowl. Then whisk cornstarch into your sauce mixture until smooth.
- Pour pineapple liquid sauce over chicken and cover pan with foil.
- Put into oven and bake for approx 35 minutes or until thickest part is 165 degrees F.
- Remove foil, baste with liquid, and bake for additional 15 minutes or until thighs are just lightly browned on the top.
- Cook rice separately and serve over rice, or with butter noodles.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love watching food being put together to see all the lovely spices that go into them, I have started to use a lot more herbs and spices in my own foo, as I use fresh meat from Butchers