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This Instant Pot Hawaiian chicken is loaded with flavor and is ready to serve in less than 20 minutes. Perfect for a quick and easy weeknight meal, this dump and go dinner is one the whole family will love.
Instant Pot Pineapple Chicken – Easy & Quick Dinner
When it comes to getting dinner on the table in a hurry I more often or not turn to my trusty Instant Pot! The flavors in this chicken recipe are to die for and yet it’s so simple and easy to make!
If you love your Instant Pot as much as I love mine, be cure to check out my Zuppa Toscana and Ham and White Bean Soup.
How To Make Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken
- Season chicken lightly with salt and white pepper. Place chicken pieces on the trivet in your instant pot as best as possible to avoid burning or sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Add the entire can of pineapple chunks with juice over the chicken. In a medium bowl whisk hoisin sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, ginger, garlic, and add to the instant pot.
- Close the lid, and turn the valve to sealing. Pressure cook on high for six minutes with quick release. When the cooking cycle is complete, mix the cornstarch with the same amount of liquid from the pot, to create a slurry, and add it back to the pot to thicken the sauce.
- Add the chicken and the pineapple chunks back to the Instant Pot and stir to coat. Serve warm over rice and top with cilantro.
What does Hawaiian chicken taste like?
Pineapple chicken is the perfect blend of sweet, sour and salty. The chicken is coated in a thick sticky sauce and the flavor of pineapple is wonderfully refreshing. There are only a few simple ingredients in this recipe but the taste is out of this world.
Do you need to marinate the chicken?
Ordinarily, if you were making Hawaiian chicken, it would require at least two hours marinating time to get the chicken nice and tender. Because we are cooking this in the Instant Pot you can skip that marinade, the pressure cooker cooks this chicken so perfectly without needing that extra time.
What’s the best chicken to use?
I like to use skinless chicken breast for this recipe, but you can use boneless and skinless thigh if you prefer. Remove any excess fat and cut it into evenly sized chunks. If you can, use free run or organic chicken. There’s no need to pre cook the chicken…just dump and go!
Can you use frozen chicken
Yes, you can use frozen chicken for this recipe. Just increase the cooking time to 10 minutes.
What to Serve with This Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken
I usually serve this chicken recipe over rice but you can also serve it over cauliflower rice for a low-carb & grain-free option, or even over spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles.
You can also serve it with steamed broccoli, roasted asparagus or bok choy.
Can You Make Hawaiian Chicken in the Slow Cooker
Yes, absolutely. You can make this Hawaiian Chicken recipe in the crockpot. Follow the instructions here:
- Arrange the chicken breasts in a single layer in the slow cooker. Add the pineapple chunks & juice on top. In a medium bowl whisk hoisin sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, ginger, garlic, and add to the chicken & pineapple.
- Close the slow cooker with the lid and cook on LOW for 4 hours or HIGH for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, until chicken is cooked through.
- When the cooking time is over, remove the chicken & pineapple chunks. In a small bowl, make a slurry of the cornstarch and the sauce. When the cornstarch is dissolved, add the slurry back to the slow cooker and stir everything until the sauce thickens.
Tips and Recipe Notes
- You can wait until the end to add salt and pepper if you wish. I went light on the salt since the soy sauce is already pretty salty.
- If you don’t have any fresh ginger on hand you can substitute it with 1 tsp of ground ginger powder.
- If you like things spicy, try adding in some chili flakes or sriracha!
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days and reheated on the stovetop. Take care to only reheat the chicken once.
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes
- Instant Pot Chicken Cacciatore
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Instant Pot Honey and Sesame Chicken
- Chicken Tikka Masala
Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken
INGREDIENTS
- 2 lbs chicken breast, diced in about 1-inch cubes
- Salt (approximately 2 tsp) and White Pepper (approximately 3 tsp) to taste
- 1 20 oz can of pineapple chunks in juice
- 1/3 cup hoisin sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce, or tamari sauce if gluten-free
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, or coconut sugar or honey
- 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1-2 Tablespoon cornstarch , arrowroot starch if gluten-free
- Cilantro
INSTRUCTIONS
- Season chicken lightly with salt and white pepper. Place chicken pieces on the trivet in your instant pot as best as possible to avoid burning or sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Add the entire can of pineapple chunks with juice over the chicken. In a medium bowl whisk hoisin sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, ginger, garlic, and add to the instant pot.
- Close the lid, and turn the valve to sealing. Pressure cook on high for six minutes with quick release.
- When the cooking cycle is complete, quickly release the pressure. When the pressure is released, remove the chicken and pineapple from instant pot. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with the same amount of liquid from the pot, to create a slurry, and add it back to the pot to thicken the sauce.
- Add the chicken and the pineapple chunks back to the Instant Pot and stir to coat. Serve warm over rice and top with cilantro.
TIPS & NOTES
- You can wait until the end to add salt and pepper if you wish. I went light on the salt since the soy sauce is already pretty salty.
- If you don’t have any fresh ginger on hand you can substitute it with 1 tsp of ground ginger powder.
- If you like things spicy, try adding in some chili flakes or sriracha!
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days and reheated on the stovetop. Take care to only reheat the chicken once.
- You can use frozen chicken as well. Just increase the cooking time to 10 minutes.
NUTRITION
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My Instant Pot is becoming my favorite kitchen tool! I love how quickly dinner comes together. Plus all of that flavor!
I love Hawaiian flavors! What a perfect use of the instant pot!
This was amazing! My super picky teenager LOVED it (her words). Thanks for a great recipe!
This is soooooo tasty! Really glad I happened upon this recipe; super easy to prepare and ready in a snap! Thanks for sharing!
so easy and it turned out AMAZING! This was also my first recipe in my new instant pot and its definitely going down as one of my faves. Make this, it’s worth it and soooo easy!
Best instant pot dinner I’ve made yet!! I’ve made it several times for my family, and we all love it! Thanks for the great recipe! 😄
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.
Recipe looks wonderful. This is a first for me…I have everything for a recipe, even gluten free, arrowroot starch and coconut sugar. My pineapple can is tidbits, not chunks but…I do not have hoisin sauce…I have the ingredients to make it but for only 1/3 cup is it worth it?…is there a sub for hoisin sauce? Maybe will add a drop or 2 of hot sauce. Can’t wait to try it.
I think you can add a BBQ sauce or eve ketchup instead of hoisin sauce. The taste will be a little bit different but it will still taste delicious! 🙂 Hope you enjoy it!