American Chinese Recipe
Pineapple Chicken
Pineapple chicken is a sweet-savory stir-fry or fried chicken dish using pineapple, peppers, and a glossy sauce.
Recipe at a glance
| Purpose | High-frequency Chinese restaurant menu dish |
| Cuisine or format | American Chinese |
| Menu variation rule | Protein may be adjusted without creating a separate recipe family. |
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken thighs or breast
- 1 cup pineapple chunks
- 1 bell pepper
- 1/2 onion
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice
- Cornstarch slurry
- Neutral oil
Method
- Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.
- Stir-fry or lightly fry chicken until cooked.
- Cook peppers and onion briefly.
- Add pineapple, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and juice.
- Return chicken.
- Thicken lightly.
- Serve with rice.
Variations and substitutions
- For chicken, beef, shrimp, pork, tofu, or mixed seafood variants, keep the same sauce logic and adjust the cooking time for the protein.
- For allergies or religious dietary needs, check sauces, broth, wrappers, cooking wine, and shared wok or fryer use.
- For takeout-style dishes, sauce texture matters: the sauce should coat the food rather than become a thin soup.