This Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken combines tender chicken thighs with a sweet and savory glaze, juicy pineapple, and fresh ginger and garlic flavors. This easy baked dish is perfectly tangy and smoky with tropical notes in every bite.
If you love homemade takeout like sweet and sour chicken, you’ll love this dish. Pair it with chicken fried rice for the perfect meal.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights: Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken
- Flavor: A delicious blend of sweet, sticky, and savory! Fresh ginger, garlic, and lime elevate the classic pineapple-soy flavor for a light, tangy glaze you’ll love.
- Why It Works: Marinating the chicken thighs infuses them with flavor, while the reserved sauce thickens into a glossy glaze.
- Serving Suggestions: Spoon the extra glaze over oven-baked rice to soak up every bit of the sauce.
Total Time: 4 hrs 30 mins (4 hrs Marinating) Serves: 6 Cooking Method: Stovetop/Oven-Baked
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken: Boneless skinless chicken thighs stay tender and juicy during baking or grilling and absorb the marinade beautifully. Bone-in chicken breasts can also be used, but check them early to prevent overcooking. Boneless breasts will need less time.
- Pineapple Rings: Fresh or canned pineapple both work in this recipe. If using canned pineapple, choose rings packed in juice and reserve the juice for the homemade sauce. For easier serving over rice bowls, use pineapple chunks instead.
- Teriyaki Sauce: Reduced-sodium soy sauce can be used to reduce the salt. Use store-bought sauce for a convenient shortcut, ensure it is a thicker sauce (like the consistency of barbecue sauce).
- Note: If your store-bought sauce is thin, you can add a splash of pineapple juice and thicken it with a bit of cornstarch as directed below.
How to Make Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken
- Stir the homemade teriyaki ingredients together.
- Marinate the chicken, and reserve the remaining sauce.
- Simmer the reserved sauce, gradually adding a cornstarch slurry.
- Bake the chicken (full recipe below).
- Brush or spoon the thickened sauce over the chicken.
Storage and Leftovers
- Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Reheat in a 350°F oven until heated through. Add a spoonful of water if the glaze has become too thick.
Favorite Takeout-Style Dinners
Did you enjoy this Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken Recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Ingredients
- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch optional
- 6 pineapple rings
- 3 green onions cut into ½" pieces
- sesame seeds and green onion for garnish, optional
Teriyaki Sauce
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- ⅓ cup honey
- ⅓ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- ¼ cup pineapple juice
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 2 clove garlic minced
- 1 green onion minced
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Instructions
- Combine all sauce ingredients. Set half of the sauce aside and refrigerate.
- Combine chicken with remaining sauce. Marinate 4 hours or overnight, if possible.
- Place reserved sauce in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Combine cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water. Add cornstarch a little at a time until it reaches your desired consistency. You may not use all of it.
- Remove chicken from marinade and discard marinade. Place chicken, pineapple rings and green onions in a 9×13 pan. Top with thickened teriyaki sauce.
- Bake in a 425˚F oven for 25 minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Broil for 3 to 5 minutes or until brown.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
We do this with bottled teriyaki sauce from Aldi. Some things I did differently was using bone-in skin-on chicken thigh (since I think it has a lot more flavor, especially with the skin) and using a lot more pineapple than the recipe calls for. I was worried the amount of pineapple would mess things up but I thought it added a delicious flavor to the teriyaki sauce. You do end up with something that’s more of a juice than a sauce but that doesn’t bother me and rice absorbs it well. The chicken thigh I used also ended up delicious and buttery levels of moist but I’m sure skinless does the job too (I can never pass up chicken thigh skin, so). We served this with rice and steamed broccoli and it’s a delicious and easy meal. Definitely going to be a staple in our kitchen!
Delicious. I made with a bottled garlic teriyaki sauce and it was delicious. I’ll be making it again soon!
I made this last night and it was a hit! I used chicken wings and did not have green onions, but it still came out phenomenal. I followed the recipe as is and I would definitely recommend this!
Can I replace your teriyaki chicken with breasts?
If so, how would I just this recipe and how many pounds of chicken when I use and how would the recipe change? Thank you for your assistance
Hi Michelle, You can use chicken breasts if you’d prefer. Depending on the size of your chicken breasts you will use 3-4 and adjust the cook time so the chicken reaches 165°F.
Can you use lemon juice in place of lime juice?
I haven’t tried it but I think it’ll work just fine.
Your recipe ‘s look delicious
looks good and easy gonna have to try it.
Could b/s chicken breasts be substituted? I really like thighs, but my husband says the meat is “slimy”, which makes no sense to me because he eats chicken legs with no problem.
Hi Vicki, You can use chicken breasts if you’d prefer, adjust the cook time so the chicken reaches 165°F.
This didn’t taste like teriyaki. Maybe sweet and sour. But none of the family liked it. It also didn’t brown well in the oven so I had to transfer to a skillet to brown it. That at least made it edible. I’m not sure where all the five stars are coming from. I guess cause you can use easy ingredients that everyone has in their fridge. I’ll spend the extra pennies on the authentic ingredients next time.
To brown the chicken, we broil it for a few minutes at the end which definitely helps. Sorry to hear it wasn’t a hit with your family though. Mrs. S.
Hi Holly.. love your recipes I’ve tried some & they we’re very delicious…in this recipe can I use chicken legs ( that’s what I have thawed out)? If so will you tell me how long to bake in oven & what temperature please? Ty for sharing your recipes..have a blessed day!!
Hello Rosa, I haven’t tried this with drumsticks but I’m confident it will work just fine. The cooking time would be about 35-40 minutes. You’ll want to make sure they reach an internal temperature of 165°F. Enjoy and let us know how it goes!
I made this the other night and while we generally enjoyed it I feel like there’s a few things that I would do different next time. First, the chicken took about 10 minutes longer to cook but that’s no big deal. The teriyaki sauce was very good, and I followed the instructions of placing the reserved sauce on top of the chicken to bake it. The problem is that the juices that were released from the chicken during baking mixed with all of the teriyaki sauce which resulted in a runny, watery mixture that only vaguely resembled teriyaki sauce. Needless to say it was kind of pointless trying to put it on the chicken and rice because of the lack of flavor. Very disappointing. Next time I will probably either leave the reserved teriyaki sauce off and then add it after the chicken is cooked, or I will grill the chicken and add the teriyaki sauce afterwards.
Way too much ketchup in the sauce, we could barely eat it
So sorry to hear that Sugarkai. You can definitely reduce the ketchup in this recipe, let us know how it turns out.
What sides do you suggest with this recipe
We love serving this recipe with rice and a side of steamed broccoli or sesame ginger snap peas. Enjoy Doreen!
can i used ground ginger?
Hi Summer, we have only made this recipe with fresh but you can definitely give it a try! Just remember ground spices are more concentrated than fresh so you won’t want to use as much. Let us know how it turns out!
This is the second time for me to make this. My husband who usually doesn’t like oven baked chicken said I could make this anytime. So easy to make and so very delicious. Thanks for the recipe. I make a lot of your recipes.
Thanks Etta! Glad it was hit with you and your husband!