Ooooh, I ate good for lunch today! 🤤 I whipped up this really easy Skillet Pineapple BBQ Chicken, spooned it over some rice, and fixed a little broccoli for the side. I absolutely love skillet chicken dishes because the browning action that you get in a skillet makes super flavorful pan sauces without the need for a million ingredients. This sauce combines sweet pineapple, tangy BBQ sauce, and the savory chicken drippings for a to-die-for sauce. So easy and delicious, so little needed. This is the perfect easy weeknight dinner!
See this recipe used in my weekly meal prep.
Make it Spicy or Mild
I’ve had a thing lately for super thinly sliced fresh jalapeños, so I added those to the dish at the end, but they are entirely optional if you don’t want a spicy dish.
Can I use Chicken Breast?
Also, you can totally do this with chicken breasts instead of thighs. I do suggest pounding the chicken breast to an even thickness first to help them cook evenly (You don’t want the tip to get tough and rubbery before the thick part cooks through).
Try Other BBQ Sauce Flavors!
P.S. I used regular BBQ sauce in effort to make a “base” recipe but as I was standing in the sauce aisle at the grocery store my mind was spinning with all the fun BBQ sauce flavors that would go great with this. Or maybe it was spinning because I had just gotten out of a really hard circuit training class. Either way, there are a lot of options!
Skillet Pineapple BBQ Chicken
Servings 6Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.02)
- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs* (about 2.3 lbs.) ($6.85)
- Pinch Salt and pepper ($0.05)
- 20 oz. can Pineapple slices in juice ($1.19)
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce ($0.68)
- 1 jalapeño (optional), sliced thinly ($0.08)
- 2 green onions, sliced ($0.25)
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium. Once hot add the cooking oil and swirl to coat the surface. While waiting for the skillet to heat, season both sides of the chicken thighs with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Once the skillet is hot and the oil is shimmering, add the chicken thighs and cook until golden brown on each side and cooked through. Remove the cooked chicken to a clean plate.
- While the chicken is cooking, drain and reserve the juice from the canned pineapple slices.
- After removing the chicken from the skillet, turn the heat down to low and add about 1/2 cup of the reserved pineapple juice. Stir to dissolve and loosen the browned chicken bits from the bottom of the skillet. Once everything has been loosened from the skillet, add the BBQ sauce and stir until a thick sauce forms. Taste the sauce and add salt if needed. If your sauce gets too thick, simply add another splash of the reserved pineapple juice.
- Add the cooked chicken thighs and pineapple slices to the skillet, dredging both sides in the pineapple BBQ sauce. Spoon any excess sauce over the chicken.
- Adjust your oven’s rack so that the skillet will be about 6 inches from the broiler unit and turn the broiler on to high. Transfer the skillet to the oven and broil for about 5 minutes, or just until the BBQ sauce caramelizes on the edges of the chicken and pineapple. If you don’t have an oven safe skillet** you can transfer the chicken, pineapple, and ALL of the sauce to a casserole dish for broiling, or skip the broiling step and enjoy as is.
- After broiling, sprinkle the sliced jalapeño and green onion over top, and then serve.
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Notes
Nutrition
Video
Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Pineapple BBQ Chicken – Step by Step Photos
Heat a large skillet over medium, then add a tablespoon of cooking oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the skillet. While waiting for the skillet to heat, season both sides of six boneless, skinless chicken thighs with a pinch of salt and pepper.
One the oil is hot and shimmering, add the chicken thighs and cook until golden brown on each side and cooked through. Remove the cooked chicken thighs to a clean plate.
While the chicken is cooking, drain and reserve the juice from a 20 oz. can of pineapple slices (packed in juice, NOT heavy syrup).
After removing the chicken from the skillet, turn the head down to low and add about 1/2 cup of the pineapple juice. Stir to dissolve the browned bits off the bottom of the skillet. You want to stir and gently scrape until it all comes off the skillet and is floating around in the liquid.
See how the appearance of the pineapple juice has changed after all the chicken bits are dissolved into it? Add 1/2 cup BBQ sauce and stir until a thick sauce forms.
If the sauce is too thick (say, if the skillet was too hot and the juice reduced too much), you can add a splash more of the reserved pineapple juice. Taste the sauce and add salt if needed. The chicken I used was heavily brined, so that seemed to season the sauce well enough with salt. And when I say brined, that’s like when you look at the package and it says “contains up to 15% broth” or “sodium chloride solution”. That’s basically a brine that makes the meat super tender and juicy.
Add the cooked chicken back to the skillet along with the pineapple slices, dredging both sides of both in the pineapple bbq pan sauce. Adjust your oven’s rack so that the skillet will be about 6 inches from the broiler unit, then turn the broiler on to high. If your skillet is not oven safe, you can put everything in a casserole dish or just skip the broiling part (it’s still quite delicious at this point!).
Broil the chicken and pineapple for about five minutes, or until it’s caramelized on top and the edges. Sprinkle thinly sliced jalapeño and green onion over top, then serve!
Seriously though, that pan sauce… And I can’t lie. If you sprinkled some Monterey jack cheese over the skillet pineapple BBQ chicken before broiling, it would be like a BBQ chicken pizza minus the crust.
I’m making this tonight and your Monterrey Chicken Skillet tomorrow with the leftover bbq chicken. You should make blog posts where you cook one day and reuse the leftovers for a different meal the next.
Giant grocery store has a store brand “Charred pineapple” BBQ sauce, so I grabbed a bottle to use with this. It was great. We served with mashed sweet potatoes instead of rice.
My tried and true recipe for “fresh pineapple” juice is below. I peel and core the pineapple, slice it into rings and use leftover pieces and/or a few of the rings for processing. You will need a blender or small food chopper, tablespoon, large water glass and a fine mesh strainer for the recipe. To make about 1/2 cup of fresh pineapple juice, you will need:
1-1/3 cups fresh pineapple, chopped into small pieces.
1/3 cup ice water
1 tsp. granulated sugar, or more for desired taste
pinch of salt
Place chopped pineapple in a blender or food chopper. Add chilled water and blend until smooth. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar and taste for sweetness and add more in small amounts, if desired. Continue blending until smooth. Pour mixture into a fine mesh strainer, placed over a large glass. Strain the juice by using the back of a tablespoon to gently press the liquid into the glass. Continue pressing down until all the juices are extracted, and discard the remaining pineapple fibers in the strainer. Add a pinch of salt to the liquid and stir. Keep juice chilled, if not using immediately. Just double the recipe for more juice. I used a large pineapple for this recipe and had plenty of rings to make the Skillet BBQ Pineapple recipe for 6 servings. I suggest not using the core for pieces, as it may tend to add bitterness in flavor.
Made this over the last weekend and it was easy and delicious! Definitely will make again, and I can easily see this being adapted for whatever boneless skinless chicken pieces are on sale. After I started the recipe I found out that I’d mistakenly bought bone in, skin on chicken thighs but it only took a few minutes to pull the skin off and then I removed the bones after cooking the chicken in the sauce.
I just so happen to have a beautifully ripe fresh pineapple I got on a whim while grocery shopping, and always have frozen chicken on hand, so this is nearly perfect. Obviously I can use rings/pieces from the fresh fruit in place of the canned, but I’m wondering what to do about the juice in the sauce? Maybe let the fresh pieces cook a bit? Any thoughts?
I think you’re on the right track there. I’d probably dice the pineapple and sauté it in the skillet, which should release enough juice to dissolve the browned bits. And if you need more moisture, you can use a little water or chicken broth.
Did this yesterday with the fresh pineapple and it turned out great! A tip to anyone else who wants to try it: put a lid on the pan when cooking the pineapple to release juices so the juice doesn’t completely evaporate off.
This was AMAZING.
This is going on the meal plan ASAP! My family is going to love it. We love pineapples and BBQ sauce, definitely going to try this soon!!
How long does it take to cook the thighs roughly?
Probably about 5 minutes per side, but it will ultimately depend on the size of the thighs, the type of cookware you’re using, and the nuances of your range top. :)
What’s your favorite BBQ sauce that doesn’t have HFCS?
Any ideas on what protein would be good to use in place of the chicken to make this vegan?
I would try very firm tofu slices.
Hmm, I’m not sure. Those browned chicken bits are quite important to the end flavor.
The pineapple + BBQ combo looks awesome! Love the simplicity of the recipe too, only 7 ingredients!
I can just taste this as I’m reading. Come Saturday, my grands & family will love ❤️ it too. Thank you.
I would also like to ask if the labels under the recipes,(like related posts) could be in a darker color. Old eyes will happen to everyone, if you’re lucky.
Thank you. I love your food philosophy and your recipes. I have tried many, and even though I adjusted them to my carnivorous family’s preferences, you haven’t given us a loser yet.
Claire
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Thanks. This just became dinner tonight.
Although this looks delicious, the photo of the chicken thighs in the step by step shots, reveal skinless thighs and the finished photos most definitely reflect skin on the thighs. For that reason, I am hesitant to bother with the recipe. Why the discrepancy?
I can guarantee you that the chicken in the end photos is the same chicken in the other photos – no skin. When the chicken goes under the broiler, the BBQ sauce caramelizes and created that browned crust appearance that I think you are mistaking for skin.
OMG. I LOVE pineapple and barbecue sauce. I’m going to have to make this recipe very soon!!! :-)