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Best Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken

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! 

instant pot pineapple chicken 2

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:

For reference, this is the pressure cooker I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.

star wars instant pot

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.

instant pot hawaiian chicken 2

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?

You could alternatively serve it alone with a side of vegetables for a more low carb meal.

pressure cooker hawaiian chicken

Pineapple chicken marinade

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:

  1. Chicken
  2. Pineapple chunks or tidbits
  3. Onion

You could add bell pepper diced too if you chose to.

pressure cooker pineapple chicken

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 hawaiian chicken 3

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:

  1. 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.
  2. Instant Pot sesame chicken has a similar feel to this one but different.
  3. Spicy honey Instant Pot chicken has been pinned over 100K times and gets rave reviews.
    1. 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. 

hawaiian chicken recipe

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!

Looking for more easy family recipes and tips? LIKE The Typical Mom Facebook page?

Then sign up for my free newsletter, and follow me on Pinterest! 😉

***** If you LOVED this recipe give it 5 Stars below and let everyone know what you thought about it. 😉

the typical mom
instant-pot-hawaiian-chicken recipe
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5 from 18 votes

Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken

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! 
Course Entree, Main Course
Cuisine American, hawaiian
Keyword chicken, hawaiian, instant pot, pineapple, pressure cooker
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 6 minutes
Total Time 21 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 348kcal
Author The Typical Mom

Ingredients

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

Nutrition Facts
Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken
Amount Per Serving (3 oz)
Calories 348 Calories from Fat 36
% Daily Value*
Fat 4g6%
Cholesterol 96mg32%
Sodium 1168mg51%
Potassium 847mg24%
Carbohydrates 42g14%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 34g38%
Protein 34g68%
Vitamin A 195IU4%
Vitamin C 19mg23%
Calcium 48mg5%
Iron 1.4mg8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
instant pot pineapple chicken
Recipe Rating




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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!

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