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 by far one of our favorite Instant Pot recipes here on The Typical Mom blog.
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.
Let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then LIKE our IP Facebook page for new ideas daily.
- This is a great InstaPot cookbook and set of wooden utensils are great to grab too.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot. It is easier to clean and will avoid the burn message too.
For reference, this is the pressure cooker I have 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.
How to make 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.
Chicken used for Hawaiian pineapple chicken
- Use boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Or you could use boneless skinless chicken thighs if you prefer
- Either way you want to remove the fat
- Then dice into bite size pieces
You do not precook your chicken, it’s put in raw with the sauce and it all cooks together.
This is how it looks once it’s done!
If you’re ready to make a type of Instant pineapple chicken I’m ready to share it. 😉
Once you’ve enjoyed this, here are a few more Instant Pot chicken recipes I know you’ll love:
- Pressure cooker chicken and rice is a family favorite cooked in just minutes.
- 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 Crockpot 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.
Want to see a few of my favorite things you might want to write on your Christmas list this year??!! 😉 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
Tinamarie says
Is there any way to make the rice in with everything as one pot meal. I would think it would need more juice to cook the rice.
The Typical Mom says
No that wouldn’t work. You need 12 minutes for rice and it would need to be in a separate pot on top of a tall trivet above the meat but then the meat would be overcooked since this only takes 6 min
Tina says
looks great. could you make this in an instant pot mini? only 2 of us. Thanks
Matt Hawley says
Cut the recipe in half should take care of that!
JLO says
I want to serve this in Hawaiian buns, but does it “shred”? I use your Hawaiian pulled pork IP recipe usually but I don’t have pork. Just trying to make sure I end up with shredded chicken and not chunks. Help?
Justine says
Well it’s diced instead of large pieces to shred but it will be fall apart tender yes
Lana says
We love the recipe. I always add extra pineapple! If I were to do this as a freezer meal, any idea what the cook time would be from frozen?
The Typical Mom says
Oh good!! Frozen will thin the sauce out as it will emit water when meat defrosts but I probably would only increase time by 2 min, just a guess.
Cat Sanders says
I used whole frozen chicken breasts and cooked on high pressure for 14mins, took the chicken out and cut it into pieces and added it back to the sauce in the pot before adding the cornstarch mixture. I also subbed half of the ketchup for sweet chili sauce because I was low on ketchup. It was AMAZING. My entire family loved it and I plan to add this to my freezer meal prep list!
The Typical Mom says
Yay!!
Elaine says
Do you know would you know how to make this using bone-in chicken drumsticks and thighs? Thank you!
The Typical Mom says
It would depend on how many you had. I have used 4-5 bone in thighs in another similar recipe for 12 minutes on high.
R. Frary says
We loved it. I used almost 3 lbs. boneless, skinless thighs, whole can pineapple chunks, added orange juice to pineapple juice to make 1 cup. At end, when thickening, I added frozen broccoli. Served over brown rice.
The Typical Mom says
Yay!!
Nicole says
Can you use cut up frozen chicken?
Natassja says
Can you substitute the rice vinegar with something else – regular or ACV?
Derek says
Tried this tonight, so far everybody loves it! Now I am no chef, I can throw some stuff together. This was easy to follow and enjoyable to eat.
Jenn says
I literally just made this (the plate is on my lap as I type this). I am a fan of the sweet heat and how the sauce thickens. Will definitely be making this again!
Patty Vasil says
I made Hawaiian chicken last night, I used a cooking bag, I didn’t seal it closed. Sprayed the sides and covered the sides w/ the bag. It worked great! It was so easy so delicious, Perfect.
Jay says
AWESOME RECIPE!! We just had it for dinner tonight, I did change a few things, not necessary by any means, but I like to experiment!! Lol. I used garlic powder cause my hubby can handle fresh garlic, I omitted the vinegar and used a lot more pineapple juice, omitted the ginger cause we just don’t like it…lol, the sriracha is too hot for us, (stomach problems)..lol, so on the table tonight I put a bottle of General Tso’s sauce for a dab of heat, awesome. I love this recipe & thank you so much for posting it. Please don’t anyone get upset cause of my changes, but I do that with all recipes. Have a good one all!!
The Typical Mom says
So glad you loved it
Carol says
I’m totally with you on the too-spicy sriracha and the no-thanks on the ginger so I will use your substitutions! Thanks!
Fred Jeffery says
It’s a keeper! Next time, I will add a touch more spice. It was delicious. My family wanted more!
The Typical Mom says
Yay!!
Sue says
This recipe is definitely part of our weekly meals. I’ve been making it for neighbours and friends who now request it when they come for dinner. I serve it over the rice vermicelli noodles. Delicious, delicious, delicious!!!!!
The Typical Mom says
Yay!! Glad its a hit
Tanya says
Made this last night, my husband and I loved it. I will make this again, super easy and I had everything on hand to make.
DiAnn says
My husband LOVES this!! He told someone that he could have this every day. We like the little kick to it. Great recipe! Thanks.
Sandra Youngblood says
Followed recipe, using frozen, skinless, boneless chicken breasts. 16 minutes at high pressure. Released pressure, turned IP off, diced chicken, then fully stirred into sauce. Turned IP back on, added cornstarch mixture, stirred as directed, then let rest w/IP off for about 3 mins. while I go rice off stove.
Family loved it! I’m imagining all kinds of ways to use sauce.
Thank you for posting, Typical Mom!
The Typical Mom says
Yay, yes you could easily use diced beef pieces too!
Julie says
We love this dinner!! We are having all our kids over for dinner tonight, can this recipe be tripled our quadrupled?
Thank you,
Julie
The Typical Mom says
Yeah!! Thanks!
Susan says
Excellent recipe and dish! Thank you for sharing. I did brown chicken with 3 chopped jalapenos in olive oil, prior to cooking in the Instapot. This one is definitely a keeper for our household.
The Typical Mom says
Yeah!! Jalapenos would be a good add in!
Jolene says
Well this work as a PIP dish? Chicken at the bottom and rice in corning ware at on top maybe?
Jacklyn says
sounds good!!!
Rayna says
Amazing!!! I’m going to try it as a freezer meal!!
The Typical Mom says
Great idea!!
Shadi Hasanzadenemati says
This recipe is awesome.I love to to make this.
The Typical Mom says
So glad it was a winner for you too.
Nellie Tracy says
This recipe is absolutely delicious! Love it!
Tiffany says
Can’t wait to try this one! I also lived in Hawaii as a kid…born in Guam then lived in Hawaii from age 4 to 8! Great memories. Thanks for the recipe!