Name: Slow Cooker Pineapple Chicken
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 4 h
Total time: 4 h 5 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 2 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs; 20oz can canned pineapple; ⅓ C packed brown sugar; ⅓ C soy sauce; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; 1 teaspoon onion powder; ½ teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon ground black pepper; 3 tablespoons cornstarch; 3 tablespoons water

Print the Recipe

This Slow Cooker Pineapple Chicken recipe is the perfect combination of sweet and savory. This recipe is loaded with flavor and easy to prepare in your favorite crockpot.

The combination of canned pineapple and sugar with onion and garlic powder in this pineapple chicken recipe is reminiscent to your favorite Chinese takeout.

If you are looking for a great way to mix things up with your typical meal plans add in this crockpot pineapple chicken recipe. The whole family will devour it, you’ll love that it’s easy to make.

Disclosure: This post contains links to items you can purchase that we make a commission on.

Pineapple Chicken

If you like a sweet and sour chicken recipe, then this is a much simpler option that gives you all of that yummy sauce and flavor of a more traditional meal.

Since this isn’t deep-fried, it’s also a much healthier option than takeout chicken with pineapple sauce.

This cooks in just 4 hours, but if you have to be gone all day, you can turn the heat down lower and cook for 6-8 hours with just as good a result!

Can I Use Chicken Breasts for Pineapple Chicken?

If you prefer to use boneless skinless chicken breasts in this recipe, that is a great choice. I personally prefer the richer flavor of chicken thighs, but not everyone cares for dark meat.

Remember that chicken breasts can become dryer than other cuts of meat. In this case, the sauce should provide plenty of moisture, but cooking slow and low works best with breasts for optimum flavor and texture.

Is This a Good Freezer Meal?

Yes! I absolutely love this if I am making up bags of easy dump and go freezer meals. For this recipe, you would add everything except the cornstarch and water to the freezer bag.

Label and date the bag, then pull out the night before you want to cook. It will thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and can easily be dumped into your slow cooker the morning you wish to serve it to your family.

A close up of the finished recipe ready to serve.

What Should I Serve with Pineapple Chicken?

I think that this recipe is perfect over your favorite rice. Brown rice, jasmine rice, basmati rice, or even saffron rice can all be great alongside this sweet and savory chicken. You can even make your rice in the Crockpot!

With the rice, I like to serve stir fry vegetables or my favorite steamed veggies. It pairs exceptionally well with carrots, snow peas, broccoli, and bell peppers.

Close up of the finished chicken made in the slow cooker ready to eat.

Ingredients needed for slow cooker chicken:

This recipe uses really simple ingredients to make a delicious takeout style meal in the slow cooker. You will need chicken thighs (you also use breasts if that is what you have on hand), canned pineapple, brown sugar, soy sauce, cornstarch and water.

Fresh ingredients needed to make crockpot pineapple chicken.

We will be using garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper from the spice rack. That’s it! Can you believe that you only need a handful of ingredients to make this delicious meal for your family? It’s a sweet and sour chicken recipe that everyone will thoroughly enjoy. You can also add chopped bell peppers if you like some extra veggies in with your chicken!

Seasonings and spices for making slow cooker pineapple chicken.

How to Prepare Pineapple Chicken

Measure and prepare your ingredients. Set aside the cornstarch and water for once the chicken has finished cooking.

All the ingredients in the crockpot ready to cook.

Pour all of the ingredients into the slow cooker, except water and cornstarch. Mix together until the chicken is coated.

cornstarch slurry going into the crockpot.

Place the lid on your slow cooker, and cook as directed.

Finished crockpot pineapple chicken ready to eat.

Serve your pineapple chicken recipe with rice and vegetables.

Kitchen essentials for Crockpot cooking:

These links are great for shopping the best Crockpots and accessories for making slow cooker pineapple chicken in your Crockpot.

I use a liner whenever I’m making anything that might get stuck on. It makes cleanup a breeze and keeps everything easy to remove! You’ll need a good metal serving spoon to get this recipe served up pretty and easily.

When it comes to Crockpots I have MANY…it’s an obsession of mine, I’m not too proud to admit. I like to have options when it comes to sizes. A nice 6 quart is useful for all kinds of recipes. You can also use a 4 quart for many recipes and these Little Dipper crockpots are perfect for dessert, fondue, and more!

A look at the finished pineapple chicken in the crockpot ready to eat.

Looking for more delicious Crockpot meals to try?

If this is your first time here at Slow Cooker Living (welcome!) you might not know that we have TONS of super simple recipes that are all made in the Crockpot.

Here are some of our popular choices that I think you’ll want to check out. Don’t miss out on any of these delicious meals. The slow cooker can make your life in the kitchen so much easier, try out some of these simple meals for your next meal prepping session as well!

My family loves Super Easy Nacho Chicken And Rice, Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup Recipe, Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken Wings, Slow Cooker Beef Stew, Asian Crockpot Shredded Chicken, and Crockpot Meat Loaf Recipe.

You can also try out these other tasty side dish recipes like Crockpot Baked Beans, Crock Pot Cowboy Beans, Slow Cooker Loaded Potatoes, Crockpot Cheesy Potatoes, Crockpot Rice Recipe, Crockpot Green Bean Casserole or Crockpot Corn Casserole!

Finished slow cooker pineapple chicken over rice ready to eat.

Printable Slow Cooker Pineapple Chicken Recipe: