Skillet Pineapple BBQ Chicken

$9.12 recipe / $1.52 serving
by Beth - Budget Bytes
4.94 from 61 votes
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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.

Finished Skillet Pineapple BBQ Chicken in a skillet with green onion and jalapeño sprinkled over top.

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!

Pineapple BBQ Chicken on a plate with rice with green onion and jalapeño sprinkled over top.

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Skillet Pineapple BBQ Chicken

4.94 from 61 votes
A quick pan sauce drenches tender chicken thighs and thick pineapple slices in this easy Skillet Pineapple BBQ Chicken. 
A quick pan sauce drenches tender chicken thighs and thick pineapple slices in this easy Skillet Pineapple BBQ Chicken. BudgetBytes.com
Servings 6
Prep 5 minutes
Cook 25 minutes
Total 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 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.

See how we calculate recipe costs here.


Notes

*Boneless, skinless chicken breasts can also be used, but should be pounded to an even thickness before cooking.
**Do not place teflon skillets or skillets with plastic handles under the broiler.

Nutrition

Serving: 1ServingCalories: 350.9kcalCarbohydrates: 13.4gProtein: 30.27gFat: 20.18gSodium: 1004.82mgFiber: 0.87g
Read our full nutrition disclaimer here.
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Video

Scroll down for the step by step photos!

Close up of BBQ sauce being drizzled over chicken thighs with slices of pineapple.

How to Make Pineapple BBQ Chicken – Step by Step Photos

Raw Chicken Thighs with salt and pepper

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.

Brown Chicken Thighs in skillet

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.

Drain Pineapple Slices

While the chicken is cooking, drain and reserve the juice from a 20 oz. can of pineapple slices (packed in juice, NOT heavy syrup).

Deglaze Pan with Pineapple Juice

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.

Add BBQ Sauce to Pineapple Pan Sauce

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. 

Pineapple BBQ Pan Sauce

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.

Dredge Chicken and Pineapple Slices in BBQ pan sauce

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!).

Broiled chicken and pineapple in BBQ pan sauce

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! 

Close up of Skillet Pineapple BBQ Chicken with thick slices of pineapple in skillet.

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. 

Side view of finished Skillet Pineapple BBQ Chicken
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  1. Just made this recipe and it came out great!! Used this recipe to meal prep for my work week. Lots of flavor from the pineapple, and the barbecue sauce wasn’t too strong/salty. I’ll definitely be making this again!

  2. Wonderful! My stepson and I like to take leftovers for lunch, so I used a bigger pack of thighs and there was still enough sauce. Might try with bite sized chicken breast and pineapple chunks and serve over rice next time, just for easier eating at lunchtime. Thank you!

  3. This was easy, quick and delicious, also a pretty presentation! I used pineapple chunks because that’s what I had and served with rice. Will make again.

  4. This was super delish, easy to make, easy cleanup. All ingredients on hand except the chicken.
    Paired with coconut rice as suggested and it was perfect!
    Thank you!

  5. Can you use this recipe with pork chops? I’ve made this many times and love it, but wondering if it would be the same for pork.

    1. Yes, you could definitely do this with pork chops. I would do boneless, though, as bone-in chops would take too long to cook through.

  6. As promised this reciped was tasty, quick and economical. My husband’s “this was good” is my top priority. Simplicity is a high priority for me. Smaller portion pounded breast was perfect for the two of us. I’ll be exploring more of your site!

  7. As promised this reciped was tasty, quick and economical. My husband’s “this was good” is my top priority. Simplicity is a high priority for me. I’ll be exploring more of your site!

  8. This was awesome! I always double everything. Next time I might lightly brown the chicken in the pan make the sauce and cook them in the oven to save time then broil. I made rice with this and it was sooo good! Will definitely be making this again. One of my favorite recipes for chicken for sure!

  9. My sauce didn’t really thicken up. I like it when more specific times are given. The chicken gets golden brown after about 4 mins each side, but I normally cook 6-8 mins so it’s darker brown but I was trying to follow the recipe. I broiled probably longer than 5 mins.
    Flavor was okay sauce was runny – will try cooking the sauce only for longer. I served with coconut rice and roasted broccoli

    1. Unfortunately, it’s often impossible to provide more specific time frames because there are so many variables that affect how long things take to cook (type of stove top, type of cookware, size of cookware, size of ingredients, variances in heat settings from one stove top to another), so we try to offer other visual queues to help. In this case, if the sauce was runny, it probably just needed a slightly higher heat or to simmer just a bit longer.

  10. My boyfriend loves anything with pineapple so I decided to give this a go. I made it for dinner when his parents came over. It was a huge hit. Everyone loved it. I served it with some brown rice. 10/10 will make again.

  11. Had some fresh pineapple I waited too long to cut.   It has to be used immediately!     So I made this tonight.    It was SCRUMPTIOUS!!!!  We added peanuts on top for a little added salt and crunch. It was truly delicious!    Budget Bytes is my “go to” website if ever I want to know how to use something or do something.    So glad you’re out there!!!

    1. I’m glad to see you had success using a fresh pineapple. I have one I need to cut up and use, too.