Instant Pot Hawaiian chicken is pineapple sweet with a bit of a kick. Served on top of rice or by itself it’s one of our favorite pressure cooker dinners!

Let me share this easy Instant Pot Hawaiian chicken recipe with you! If you’re looking for a protein packed dinner with pineapple chicken pieces with a bit of a kick to it you will love this! It’s our favorite quick Instant Pot recipe. (originally published 2/19, affiliate links present)
Most people don’t know this about me but I was born and raised for the first 6 years of my life in Hawaii! Crazy right?? It is true and I guess that is where my love of all of these bold flavors came from.
You can make this as a Ninja Foodi recipe, in a Crockpot Express, Mealthy or any other brand. All these pressure cookers work very similarly so no worries.
FIRST – You should sign up for my free newsletter so you get new posts emailed to you twice a week and never miss out on anything! Now let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
- This is a great InstaPot cookbook and a set of wooden utensils are great to grab too.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should still deglaze pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.
For reference, this is the pressure cooker I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.

Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken
Because of this I not only LOVE rice with everything, but remember the unique flavors of that area. Everything had pineapple in it, and soy sauce was always a must.
Still to this day I can have a snack or almost dinner with just brown rice and soy. I’m in heaven.
Of course adding protein is a plus. Once I made this I had my girls ask for it over and over again.

If you’ve never tried easy pineapple chicken before it is great! Not only do you get the sweetness of this delicious fruit, but it’s countered by a bit of heat from the Sriracha you’ll add.
- It is up to you just how spicy you make this pressure cooker pineapple chicken. The below recipe is very mild, so adjust as you wish.
It only takes 6 minutes to cook on high pressure, so about 15 minutes total including the time it takes to reach pressure.
Meaning…quick dinner for sure! If you want a bit of heat red pepper flakes could be added. We like it sweet sweet though so we didn’t do that.
What do you serve with Hawaiian chicken?
- I serve it on top of Instant Pot white rice. I make it in my Instant Pot mini so it’s all done at the same time.
You could alternatively serve it alone with a side of vegetables for a more low carb meal.

Pineapple chicken marinade
- Mix together:
- brown sugar
- minced ginger
- minged garlic
- ketchup
- soy sauce
- rice vinegar
- pineapple juice
There’s no need to marinade it overnight though, you just dump it in and go!
Main ingredients for this sweet style Hawaiian bbq chicken:
- Chicken
- Pineapple chunks or tidbits
- Onion
You could add bell pepper diced too if you chose to.

Hawaiian pineapple chicken
There are many choices as to what you could use. If I buy meat in bulk I use what I have on hand that needs to be cooked soon. Meat on sale at your store? Use what is less expensive y’all and you might find a new favorite.
- Use boneless skinless chicken breasts for the leanest cut
- Or you could use boneless skinless chicken thighs which is what I prefer because it is the most tender. It does have a bit higher fat content but so worth it in the end friends.
- Either type you choose I would definitely remove the fat and trim each piece before cubing it.
- Then dice into bite size pieces. Remember that the smaller they are the faster it will cook. Too small though and it may dry out.
You do not precook your chicken, it’s put in raw with the sauce and it all cooks together. That is why I love making it this way, I mean you can’t get any easier right? Really very little prep and no sauteeing at the beginning.
This is how it looks once it’s done!

Instant Pot pineapple chicken
Once you’ve enjoyed this, here are a few more Instant Pot chicken recipes I know you’ll love things like our 3 ingredient bbq sauce chicken and these:
- Pressure cooker chicken and rice is a family favorite cooked in just a few minutes. You can add 1 1/2 cups or more protein and it’s great if you have leftovers to use up.
- Instant Pot sesame chicken has a similar feel to this one but different.
- Spicy honey Instant Pot chicken has been pinned over 100K times and gets rave reviews.
- This ramen is next on our list of tries.
Need directions for Slow cooker Hawaiian chicken? We have that for you too! It has a longer cooking time but I like to pass along as many variations as possible for all of you.

Instant Pot Hawaiian pulled pork is a recipe I made with my childhood in mind too and is a hit made into sliders. Visit all our Instant Pot recipes for even more ideas too.
If you’re still looking for more this Hawaiian pork roast with pineapple recipe is on our list to try. You can eat this with rice or shred it and throw it inside some tortillas to make tacos. Any way you slice it it’s delish.
Let us know what your family thinks of this one. We have heard so many success stories of families making this a weekly meal so they can eat together more often and enjoy every bite. 😉
Want to see a few of my favorite things that I am totally obsessed with?? Take a peek and see how many you might already have…twinsies!
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Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken breasts boneless, skinless, diced
- 1 c pineapple juice
- 1 c pineapple tidbits
- 1/3 c soy sauce
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 1/2 tbsp ginger minced
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1/2 c ketchup
- 1/3 c brown sugar
- 1.5 tbsp Sriracha makes it cut down the sweetness, but not spicy, add more if you want heat
- 1/2 onion diced, optional
- 3 tbsp cornstarch + 3 tbsp of hot liquid from pot to thicken at end
Instructions
- Put your diced (bite size) pieces of chicken as well as all other ingredients in the list into your pressure cooker (except for the cornstarch, we will use that later).
- Stir together so chicken is coated well.
- Close lid and steam valve and set to high pressure for 6 minutes.
- Do a quick release, turn off/cancel button, and then press saute button.
- In a small bowl whisk together 3 tbsp of cornstarch + 3 tbsp of the hot liquid inside your pot. Pour this mixture in.
- Mixture should now be bubbling. Stir and bubble for about 1 minute, then turn pot off.
- Sauce will have thickened a bit, and will continue to thicken as it sits for a few more minutes.
- Serve as is or on top of rice, enjoy!
Video

sherry
Saturday 22nd of April 2023
Followed recipe exactly. The sauce is excellent but the chicken came out dry. Going to use thighs next time.
The Typical Mom
Saturday 22nd of April 2023
May have been on the smaller side?? Haven't had that issue but for sure thighs are much more moist.
Cindi
Saturday 1st of October 2022
I really like this recipe. My question is can you tell me the amounts to serve at a party for 30?
The Typical Mom
Saturday 1st of October 2022
Doubling it in one batch shouldn't be an issue. I wouldn't make more than that at once so you would need to make multiple batches.
Karen
Thursday 2nd of June 2022
Easy and delicious! Added red pepper flakes before cooking, and added bell peppers for a minute or two while the sauce was thickening. Perfectly seasoned for my taste - didn’t even need to add salt or pepper!
The Typical Mom
Sunday 5th of June 2022
Oh good!
Emily
Wednesday 27th of October 2021
Can I make this ahead of time and set the IP to “keep warm” for a couple hours before serving? Or will the cornstarch keep thickening and cause issues? Excited to try this at a potluck! Just have to figure out timing.
The Typical Mom
Wednesday 27th of October 2021
I wouldn't leave it for a few hours. It will continue cooking on warm still and meat will dry out beyond about 20 minutes on that function.
Niki
Sunday 15th of August 2021
Made this tonight for dinner! It was too spicy for my kids but my husband *raved* about it! Will definitely make it again (with bit less Sriracha 😊)!!
The Typical Mom
Monday 16th of August 2021
Yes, adjust the heat and enjoy!