Something like this chicken with pineapple Chinese stir-fry was always a childhood takeout family favourite! If you can relate, why not try making your own Chinese pineapple chicken at home? It’s so delicious with its colourful, crunchy vegetables and cashews. The easy sweet and sour sauce contains just six every day ingredients and it’s on the table in less than 30 minutes!
Why you’ll love it
Coming up with an easy homemade version of a takeout classic always makes me happy. Especially when it’s as easy and delicious as this easy chicken pineapple stir-fry.
Perhaps sweet and sour dishes are one of those ‘love it or hate it’ kind of things. But if you’re a lover, here’s why I think you should give this version a go:
- It’s on the table in around 30 minutes – less time than you can order a Chinese takeout, really.
- This is an EASY sweet and sour pineapple chicken. You only need 6 simple ingredients to make the sauce. Then all you need is chicken, a can of pineapple and a few healthy veggies. Add crunchy cashews for extra texture if you like.
- It’s healthy, made with pretty simple and innocent store cupboard ingredients… and lots of vegetables.
About the ingredients
Apart from the easy sauce (see below!), this is all you need to make this:
chicken breast: chopped into small(ish) pieces. Or you can use chicken thigh if you prefer.
onion, garlic and ginger: for awesome flavour
vegetables for stir-frying: peppers, baby corn and snow peas are perfect, but there’s a bit of flexibility on which veggies you can use
a can of pineapple: use the juice in the sauce, and the actual pineapple in the stir-fry
cashew nuts: this one’s optional, but I like to toss in around a handful of cashews for extra taste and crunch
the sauce
The cool part about this is that you use the juice from a can of pineapple in the sauce. Yum!
So here are the 6 ingredients you need:
- cornflour / cornstarch to thicken the sauce
- pineapple juice from a can of pineapple
- vinegar
- a bit of sugar
- tomato ketchup (yes, really!)
- a little soy sauce
The first thing you do is whisk a little of the pineapple juice into the cornflour/cornstarch to make a paste. Then you whisk in the rest of the sauce ingredients and set aside, ready to add to your stir-fry.
So easy, right? And apart from the pineapple, all things you probably have in your cupboard already.
How to make the stir-fry
Pro tip: When making any stir-fry, prepare all the ingredients before you start cooking. You can even do this earlier in the day. When you’re ready to eat, you can throw dinner together in minutes!
You’ve made your easy sweet and tangy sauce, you’ve chopped up all your vegetables and opened a can of pineapple. Now what?
Easy.
Step 1: Stir-fry chicken pieces until just cooked. Then take out of the pan for now.
Step 2: Stir-fry the vegetables for a few minutes.
Step 3: Add the cooked chicken back into the pan.
Step 4: Pour the sauce into the pan with everything else. Let it bubble for a few minutes to thicken.
Step 5: Stir chopped pineapple and cashew nuts through the stir-fry. Enjoy!
Variations
Prefer a different protein? No problem. Just stir-fry pork or prawns instead of chicken.
You can also vary the vegetables. Any vegetables that cook in a few minutes in a pan will work well. Some examples include:
- broccoli chopped into small pieces
- zucchini
- thin slices of carrot
- Chinese vegetables like bok choy
- mushrooms
- small lenths of asparagus
- different kinds of peppers e.g. yellow, orange
Amazing pro tip: For a fun twist, why not serve your pineapple chicken in hollowed out pineapples? I could even see this going down well at a dinner party!
How to serve it
As with most stir-fries, a side of plain rice is all you need to go on the side.
If you prefer, noodles would work, too – either egg noodles or rice noodles.
It’s best to serve your stir fry immediately, but if you have leftovers you can keep them in the fridge for up to a few days. The cashew nuts will go soft and soggy though if you reheat them, so if you think you’re going to have leftovers you can leave out the cashews.
Or just don’t stir them into the stir fry. Just let everyone sprinkle a few over the top of their own dish.
Really want to impress your friends? Why not serve your Chinese chicken and pineapple inside a hollowed out half a pineapple?
More things to know (recipe FAQ)
Absolutely! The cook time for pork will be around the same as the chicken (a few minutes). Prawns take from 3 to 7 minutes to cook depending on their size. Cook until they turn pink.
You can even use tofu. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes until brown and crispy. Then remove the protein from the pan as you would the chicken while you cook everything else.
You absolutely can! In fact arguably thighs are better as they’re more moist and forgiving if you accidentally overcook them by a minute or two. On the other hand, breast is easier to buy already chopped up, just in case you want to make this meal even easier than it already is 😉
You can, but you’d also need to get a small amount of pineapple juice to make the sauce. This is wonderful served in hollowed out pineapples, so it might be worth going this route if you’d like to impress your family (or guests!).
It can be – very easily. Just make sure that you use a gluten free brand of soy sauce that uses rice instead of wheat. Why not finish your meal off with these incredible gluten-free brownies?
It does, except… make sure that if you think you’re going to have leftovers, don’t stir the cashew nuts into the whole pan of food before serving it. Instead, sprinkle them over each dish at the end.
If you reheat leftovers with cashew nuts in, they’ll go a bit soggy! Not the end of the world, but you can prevent this by only adding the nuts to the dish just before serving.
More quick and easy Asian dinners
- Can you believe this delicious Shanghai chicken is ready in just 15 minutes?
- This Thai basil pork stir-fry will make you feel like you’ve been transported to a Bangkok street.
- This 30-minute mee goreng (Indonesian noodles) is soooo delicious. I worked hard on getting it JUST right!
- This easy peanut putter chicken recipe (Thai style) will blow your socks off. Mildy spicy, so easy to make, perfect for entertaining. My favourite!
Love to make Asian recipes for dinner sometimes? Me too! Take a look at my Asian recipes collection for more ideas.
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Easy Chicken With Pineapple Chinese Stir-fry (Sweet And Sour)
Equipment (affiliate links)
Ingredients (UK/Australia? Click below for grams/ml)
for the sauce
- 2 tablespoons cornflour
- 1 can pineapple juice from a 14 ounce can of pineapple
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
rest of ingredients
- 14 ounces chicken breast chopped into small bite-size pieces (usually about 2 to 3 chicken breasts)
- 1 onion chopped into chunks
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 piece ginger (about the thickness of your thumb) peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 peppers (I usually use 1 green and 1 red)
- 4 ounces baby corn roughly (I usually use a 125 gram pack and throw it all in!)
- 4 ounces snow peas (sometimes called mange-tout or sugar peas)
- 1 ounce cashew nuts about a handful – optional
- 14 ounces pineapple roughly one can, chopped into chunks
Instructions
- In a jug or bowl, add a bit of the pineapple juice to the cornflour to make a runny paste. Then whisk in the rest of the sauce ingredients. Put aside.2 tablespoons cornflour, 1 can pineapple juice, 2 tablespoons vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup, 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- Stir-fry the chicken in a little oil for a few minutes until cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.14 ounces chicken breast
- Add a little more oil to the pan, then stir-fry the onion for a minute or two. Add the ginger, pepper pieces, and sweetcorn and mange-tout/snow peas. Stir-fry on high for another few minutes.1 onion, 2 garlic cloves, 1 piece ginger, 2 peppers, 4 ounces baby corn, 4 ounces snow peas
- Add the chicken back into the pan along with the sauce. Let bubble for a minute or two. Stir through the pineapple, and cashew nuts if using.1 ounce cashew nuts, 14 ounces pineapple
- Serve immediately over rice.1 ounce cashew nuts
Sue R says
The sauce was amazing and very easy as you said. I did something a little odd as I had frozen Fish Fingers (fish sticks) I needed to use up and remember seeing Sweet and Sour Fish Fingers as a kid. I just cooked the fish in the oven and did the rest as you said just adding the crumbed fish in last so it didn’t loose it’s crunch. This will be a handy camping recipe for us in the caravan with a bag of mixed frozen Asian style veg or even some canned. Thanks!
Helen says
Oh wow Sue, I love that you did that! Fabulous idea, and yes that would make a great no-hassle camping meal. Sweet and sour crispy fish… mmm! 🙂
Aracy says
That sounds so good, Helen ! Never in a million years would have thought of putting together sweet and sour, but it sounds good ! I like the dressing is slightly low in fat as well. We would like to try this someday !
Helen says
Thank you so much, Aracy, and I hope you do give this a try some day 🙂
Pauline says
Oh boy!!! Something as simple as snow peas….and here I am thinking it was some exotic delicacy lol !!!! I will definitely be making this very soon including the “mange-tout which are not overly expensive if you buy them loose.
Pauline x
Helen says
I really must add a little note to the recipe – I suspect that readers in the US won’t know what ‘mange-tout’ is, either! Really hope you enjoy this when you give it a go, Pauline. It’s beautifully simple … but sort of impressive when it’s done. 🙂
Peter says
Two Words …….. Bloody Beautiful
and enjoyed right to the the last lick of the bowl…..mmmm love this food
Helen says
Hello Peter! You’ve just made my day … I love it when readers make and enjoy my recipes. Very very happy that you enjoyed this so much … and even licked the bowl! 🙂
Bintu @ Recipes From A Pantry says
I defo have a love hate relationship with sweet and sour. But right now I am gong thru a love phase.
Helen says
Phew … thank goodness I caught you on a ‘love’ phase! 😉
Pauline says
Super easy recipe that looks so good but living in Australia I haven’t a clue what
mange-tout is. Can you enlighten me please?? X
Helen says
Ha! Hello Pauline, and thanks so much for letting me know that mange-tout isn’t well known in Australia! I should have known that because my husband is Australian and we’ve spent quite a bit of time there! OK … so I’ve asked Mr. Scrummy and he says mange tout is ‘snow peas’! To be honest though these are not essential for the success of the recipe. If I remember rightly snow peas can be pretty expensive over there. Hope you do give it a go!
Dawn @ Words Of Deliciousness says
I am in the I love camp when it comes to sweet and sour chicken. This looks yummy and easy to make. Great recipe!
Helen says
Thank you so much, Dawn. I really hope you give it a go some time!
Jess @ whatjessicabakednext says
I made it last night for dinner and my family absolutely loved it! Gorgeous flavours, and it so quick and easy to make! Thanks for sharing your great recipe, Helen! I can’t wait to make it again soon! 🙂
Helen says
Awww, I’m so happy that you made this, Jess! And that your family enjoyed it so much. You’ve made my day! 🙂
mira says
I’m loving the veggies you used Helen! This is one of my favorite takeaway dinners! Pinning to try it 🙂
Helen says
Glad you like it, Mira. And thank you for pinning, as always xx
cheri says
Hi Helen, my husband loves those tiny little corns, I know he would love this, looks delicious!
Helen says
Yeah, they’re my fave too! They’re so sweet … not to mention cute-looking!
Dini @ The Flavor Bender says
I love that this is completely homemade!! No bottled sauce (which is actually hate to use!) I haven’t had sweet and sour for so long for this very reason, so I am SOOO excited that I can try this! PLUS i have pineapple juice in my fridge RIGHT NOW too!! (It was meant to be!)
Helen says
Oooh, this was defintely meant to be, Dini! So excited that you want to make this!
Kathleen | Hapa Nom Nom says
Ha! Just tell Mr. Scrummy you’re doing him a favor by expanding his horizons 😉 Well I am definitely in the love it camp and you’ve created one incredible dish! I’m loving all the veggies you’ve included too!
Helen says
Now there’s a good strategy! Glad you’re in the love-it camp too, Kathleen! 🙂
[email protected] says
This looks so much better than any takeaway I’ve ever had. This is one of my favorites, I must give it a try.
Helen says
Thank you, Janette … really hope you do give it a try next time you fancy a takeaway!
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
It’s so easy to make your own takeaways at home, isn’t it. Not to mention so much healthier too! This looks delicious.
Helen says
Totally agree, Dannii … I love it!
Claudia | The Brick Kitchen says
YUM!! Love the sound of an easy (and WAY healthier) version of sweet & sour – I never thought about using pineapple juice in a marinade before, but it makes so much sense as a way to get that sticky sweetness! Looks awesome <3
Helen says
Hi Claudia! Thanks so much for passing by. It’s a great idea to use the pineapple juice, isn’t it? So glad you like this!
Denise @ Sweet Peas & Saffron says
I have been LOVING stir fry lately, and this one looks like it wouldn’t disappoint! Looks delicious, Helen!
Helen says
Thank you so much, Denise … really happy you like it!
Chrissy says
So easy! The possibilities for this marinade are endless.
Helen says
True … I’m thinking on meat skewers. Mmmm!