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I’m updating my “Tuesday night dinner that feels like we’re in Hawaii” with double the sauce! You guys asked, so I added more of that sweet, tangy, deliciousness to this Baked Sweet Hawaiian chicken! It’s easy, even after a busy day!
Say Aloha to Your New Favorite Dinner
- Simple Ingredients, Big Flavor: You don’t need anything fancy here, just pantry staples that come together into a sweet, tangy sauce.
- Sauce That Actually Hits: It’s perfectly balanced, not too sweet, not too heavy, and coats every piece of chicken!
- Consistently Good: No complicated steps, no guesswork, just a great recipe that turns out every time.
A Reader’s Review
Alyssa, I had to leave a comment because this was out of this world!! I doubled the recipe and there’s hardly any left!! Definitely will be making this again.
Jennifer
Baked Hawaiian Chicken Ingredients
- Pineapple: You can use diced fresh pineapple instead of pineapple tidbits if you’d like.
- Bell Pepper: Any color works, but green peppers have a slightly more bitter flavor, while red, yellow, and orange are sweeter.
- Soy Sauce: For lower salt content, use low-sodium soy sauce.
Baked Sweet Hawaiian Chicken Recipe
My baked Hawaiian chicken recipe is just so good, and every time I make it, I wonder why I don’t make it more. I whip up some instant pot rice and some Hawaiian sweet rolls for a full meal!
- Prep: Preheat oven to 325°F and spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces, then season with salt and pepper.
- Cornstarch Chicken: Add cornstarch to a large ziplock bag and eggs to a bowl. Add the chicken to the bag, seal, and shake until evenly coated.
- Coat Chicken: Dip each piece of chicken in the egg mixture until coated, then place on a parchment lined baking sheet to prevent sticking.
- Cook in Batches: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook the chicken in 2 to 3 batches until browned, then transfer to the baking dish. No need to cook through; it will finish in the oven.
- Make Sauce: Combine the pineapple juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, and cornstarch in a medium bowl, then pour over the chicken.
- Bake: Top with bell pepper and pineapple. Bake uncovered for 1 hour, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes to coat in the sauce. Let the baked sweet Hawaiian chicken stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Must Have Tools For This Recipe
- Nonstick Skillet: Ensure good browning and less sticking!
- Splatter Screen: Prevents oil from popping everywhere. Also protects you from burns from hot oil.
- 9 x 13-inch 3-quart baking dish: Perfect for baking then serving!
Air Fyer Instructions
- Skip the Eggs: Omit the eggs and coat the chicken in cornstarch only.
- Air Fry: Place the chicken in a greased air fryer basket and lightly spray with oil.
- Cook: Cook at 350°F for 4 to 5 minutes, flip, spray again, and cook another 4 to 5 minutes until it reaches 165°F.
- Work in Batches: Cook in batches if needed, so everything cooks evenly.
- Finish: Add the cooked chicken to the baking dish and continue with the recipe starting at step 6.
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Baked Sweet Hawaiian Chicken
Delicious chicken that gets breaded and baked in a sweet and tangy pineapple sauce. It bakes to perfection and is so much better than takeout!
Equipment
- 1 large nonstick skillet 12 or 14-inch
- 1 9 x 13-inch baking dish
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts about 1.5 pounds
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 ¼ cups cornstarch
- 3 large beaten eggs
- ⅓ cup canola oil or vegetable oil
Sweet Hawaiian Sauce
- 1 ½ cups pineapple juice
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup soy sauce low-sodium for less salt
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic about 1 large clove
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 ½ teaspoons
- 1 cup diced red bell pepper about 1 medium bell pepper
- 1 (20-ounce) drained can pineapple tidbits
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray, then set aside.
- Cut 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces and season well with ¾ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon ground black pepper.
- Add 1 ¼ cups cornstarch to a large ziplock bag, and 3 large beaten eggs to a bowl. Add the diced chicken to the ziplock bag and close it securely before shaking vigorously, until all the chicken is evenly coated in cornstarch.
- Dip each piece of chicken into the eggs until coated. To prevent the chicken from sticking, you can place the coated pieces on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Heat ⅓ cup canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the breaded chicken in 2-3 batches until browned. No need to cook them completely through, since they will finish cooking in the oven. Add the browned pieces to the prepared baking dish.
- Combine 1 ½ cups pineapple juice, ¾ cup packed brown sugar, ½ cup soy sauce, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a medium bowl, then pour over the chicken.
- Top with 1 cup diced red bell pepper and 1 (20-ounce) drained can pineapple tidbits.
- Bake uncovered for 1 hour, stirring the chicken every 15-20 minutes or so to coat it evenly in the sauce. Let the dish stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes
-
- Leftover, Make Ahead, and Reheating Instructions
- Fridge: Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Freeze pan-fried chicken on a parchment-lined sheet for 1 to 2 hours until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag. Store sauce separately. Bake from frozen with sauce, adding 10 to 15 minutes. Freeze up to 3 months.
- Make Ahead: Sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Don’t prep the chicken early or it will get soggy.
- Reheat: Warm on the stove over medium heat, stirring often, until heated through. Avoid the microwave so the chicken stays tender.
Nutrition
Calories: 446kcalCarbohydrates: 59gProtein: 23gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 124mgSodium: 1163mgPotassium: 589mgFiber: 2gSugar: 36gVitamin A: 748IUVitamin C: 36mgCalcium: 56mgIron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic!
in your Hawaiian chicken dish brown chic. in a stir fry pan it works great.
Look great
Meh. I made this exactly as written, a little bland, something is definitely missing here
Thank you for trying, I’m sorry it tasted bland. You could add 1/2 a teaspoon of salt to see if that brightens up the flavor for you! Happy cooking!
We just finished this for dinner. It was good, just good. I will not be making this again.
Has anyone tried this with adding sweet Onion also?
Suggestions for freezing this for another day?
Should I cook chicken and make sauce separately and freeze separately and thaw and combine and bake? Anybody else try this?
I think freezing the chicken and sauce separately would give you the best texture once everything is combined and reheated again. ?
Worked great for me. Let it sit with mixture for 10-15 minutes then had to do some slight seperating while frying but otherwise worked amazing.
Excellent recipe! After dipping in cornstarch and egg, I place each individual piece on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. This makes it a bit easier for me. I then use tongs to toss them in pan. No messy fingers. The first batch I forgot to add oil for browning. No big deal. Cooked in a non-stick bronze pan. 2nd batch browned in canola oil. Partner also loves this recipe! Thanks!
How about cooking this in a Ninja? Air crisp the chicken then do the baking on these bake feature?
That sounds awesome! Let me know how it turns out!
Did you trybthis receipe in the ninja? Wanted to try bit as well but not sure how it would turn out
I feel like I must be doing something wrong. This recipe is soo good and my family loves it but it’s the cooking of the chicken part that gets me. My entire kitchen ends up a complete mess and I always need a second person to cook the chicken while I am doing the dipping. What am I doing wrong? What do you do that makes this part easier?
You are exactly right! It was delicious, but trying to bread and fry bite-size pieces of chicken makes for a real mess. I ended up putting the corn starch in a gallon baggie, dumping all the bite-size pieces in, shaking it, and then scooping them out into the eggs before browning. I wonder about breading and then browning the chicken breasts and THEN cutting them into the small pieces? I may try that next time.
Served it over quinoa. Big hit!
I thought this was a weight watchers recipe but with the high calories, sodium, sugar and carbs I probably won’t make again as a lot of ingredients and long prep time. This may have been from browning a few batches rather than all at once
Can this be made in a crockpot… also is this really sweet
I don’t recommend baking this recipe in the crockpot. It’s not overly sweet at all. It’s not as sweet as sweet and sour chicken if that helps! If you’re looking for a similar flavor profile for the crockpot, you could make my crockpot Huli Huli chicken.
I was short pineapple juice so I added orange juice to make enough
I didn’t add the pineapple tidbits , instead cut up fresh pineapple (not necessary of course) and served it with white rice and lightly grilled, salted veggies. It was INCREDIBLE! A little extra work with the frying, but sooo worth it. A true hit that I’ll use time and again. Thanks much!
What if I don’t use the pineapple Tibits?
That is fine! You are welcome to leave them out.