Crockpot Pineapple chicken, also known as Aloha chicken or Hawaiian Chicken, is an amazingly easy and filling meal with a perfect balance of sweet and savory.
You cannot go wrong with a honey bbq sauce peppered with crushed pineapple, and once thrown into a slow cooker, it becomes a magic dinner recipe at the end of the day.
Why you will love making Hawaiian Chicken.
Crock-pot Hawaiian chicken is so incredibly easy to make and perfect for busy weeknights.
With only three ingredients, this pineapple chicken with the ability to dump in the slow cooker and go; it’s also one of the simplest recipes on your menu this month and makes one of my family’s favorite chicken recipes of the year.
Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken Ingredients
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- Crushed Pineapple – canned
- BBQ Sweet BBQ Sauce – Unlike other Pineapple chicken recipes, no need to pile up the sauce ingredients. A complete meal, full of great flavor profiles, comes right in your favorite BBQ sauce and is perfect to season chicken.
How to make Hawaiian BBQ Chicken
This crockpot Hawaiian chicken truly is an easy recipe. If you can turn on your slow cooker, you are in!
- Add boneless, skinless chicken breasts to the slow cooker/crock pot.
- Empty a bottle of BBQ sauce over chicken breasts, making sure they are totally covered. You can use a regular-sized bottle of BBQ sauce. I had half of a large one left and used that, and it was plenty. I also use a sweet honey BBQ sauce to bring out more of the sweet flavor in this barbecue chicken dish but feel free to adjust to your taste.
- Dump a can of crushed pineapple directly into the pot.
- Slow cook canned pineapple and chicken for 8 hours on low or 4-6 hours on high for soft pull apart chicken pieces. Tender Chicken should easily shred and be pulled apart with two forks.
Serve Hawaiian Chicken With
Serve chicken with white rice, coconut rice, brown rice, or our favorite pineapple rice recipe. To keep it low carb, try a cauliflower rice recipe.
For dessert? A Hawaiian Cheesecake recipe of course!
Easy Recipe Variations
- Use fresh juicy pineapple; just cut it down into smaller fresh pineapple chunks to make the bites easier upon serving.
- Add more seasoning for extra flavor! Kosher Salt and Black Pepper to taste, ground or fresh ginger, brown sugar, garlic powder, and soy sauce are all complementary homestyle flavors for the Aloha chicken sauce mixture.
- You can also use chicken thighs but may adjust the slow cooking time as a result. Boneless chicken thighs tend to have a ton of flavor in a pineapple chicken recipe!
- Toppings that go well with this tangy sauce and juicy chicken are a spattering of green onions for color or pepper flakes for a little heat.
Do you have to remove pineapple juice?
Nope!! Do not remove or drain any excess juice in this pineapple chicken. I
However, if the chicken is cooked and you are ready to serve and feel like the pineapple juice mixture is too runny, you can take a tablespoon of cornstarch, add a little bit of hot water, and stir.
Add cornstarch slurry to the crockpot and stir. Set for 10 minutes, and tangy pineapple sauce will thicken up nicely.
What side dish recipes go with Hawaiian Chicken?
Pineapple lovers rejoice! Easy to add related side dishes to serve with chicken: Southern Style Green Beans, Roasted Carrots, or make it a meal with a Hawaiian Coleslaw Recipe!
Related Crock Pot Recipes
- Crock Pot Cinnamon Carrots are a no-fuss side dish recipe great for the Thanksgiving holiday.
- Love apple pie but hate the work? Try this no-crust crock pot apple pie recipe, a delicious alternative with all the best fall offers.
- This Crockpot Velveeta Cheese Dip recipe will keep everyone snacking during a football game – with no complaints!
- A crock pot sweet potato casserole recipe is what all the winter holidays need for a low-stress menu.
- Dump cake recipes are all the rage – get right in there with a fresh, low-fuss crockpot apple dump cake!
Comments & Reviews
Kathy says
Do you use pineapple in sweetened juice or nonsweetened
Trisha says
I use sweetened personally .
Sue says
This is in my crockpot right now. I used crushed pineapple that was in 100% pineapple juice. I also used Sweet Baby Ray’s B-B-Q Sauce and 1 teaspoon of soy sauce (just because I saw that ingredient in another recipe. 😀 ) I can hardly wait to try it tonight. I’m going to serve it with rice. I still haven’t decided on a vegetable yet.
Trisha says
That sounds amazing! I like to add a green veggie when I serve up an orange food (like green beans which pair well with sweet)
Luanne says
Looks good. I’m going to try this in my instant pot.
Trisha says
Oooh! I dont have an instant pot yet! Let me know how it goes.
Sandy says
How long would you suggest the cooking time for chicken thighs be?
Trisha says
I have unfortunately never made this recipe with chicken thighs to let you know.
Toni Cartwright says
Are you suppose to take the chicken out and shred it??
Trisha says
You can if you want, but we just take chunks out for our rice.
Michael says
I made this ladt night. Simple and delicious. This would be great as a sandwich or a slider as well. Put the meat on a delicious regular or Hawaiian roll and top with slaw and it’d be perfect for a large gathering.
Trisha says
Michael, thanks for the feedback on your Hawaiian Chicken! Yes, you are right, sliders would be great. The little Hawaiian sweet rolls!!
Michael says
*last
Cindy Fine says
YUMMY!! The chicken came out so tender and super flavorful. I will be adding this to my dinner rotation for sure. Thanks for the wonderful super easy recipe Trisha and Charlotte! I made your pineapple rice to go with. Super delicious as well!
Trisha says
Cindy, that is wonderful! It makes me so happy that you enjoyed this Hawaiian chicken recipe!
Trisha
Ari says
Hi, how much BBQ sauce should we use for this recipe, please? I doubt the entire bottle.
Thank you!
Ari
Trisha Haas says
Yes, you use the whole bottle.
Susan says
I couldnt find sweet honey bbq so i got Hawaiian marinade
Elaine G says
I was very pleased with the way this dinner turned out. It’s such an easy recipe! Who doesn’t love throwing a mere three ingredients in a slow cooker and having the result be so tasty. I chose to cook on high for 4 hours, but the chicken wasn’t as “pull apart” as I had hoped. Next time, I’ll be more patient and cook on low.
Pam says
Made this dish tonight used a teriyaki bbque sauce turned out great! Only Question I have is what to do with the left over sauce?