Description
Tender chicken slow-cooks all day in a glossy pineapple-soy-brown sugar glaze alongside sweet bell pepper and juicy pineapple chunks, then gets served over fluffy jasmine rice for one of the most crowd-pleasing slow cooker dinners in the American home cook’s arsenal. Kids ask for it by name. The whole thing takes 10 minutes of prep. Leftovers taste even better the next day.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
- Salt and black pepper, to season
- 1 cup pineapple juice (from canned chunks or fresh)
- 1 can (8 oz) pineapple chunks, drained (reserve the juice)
- ½ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp cold water (for thickening slurry)
- Cooked jasmine or white rice, for serving
- Sliced green onions and sesame seeds, for garnish
Instructions
1. Season chicken pieces lightly on both sides with salt and black pepper. Place in the bottom of the slow cooker in a single layer — overlapping slightly is fine, but keep pieces as flat as possible so the sauce surrounds them evenly during cooking.
2. Whisk together pineapple juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, minced garlic, and ground ginger in a medium bowl until the sugar fully dissolves. Taste the mixture and adjust — more pineapple juice for tang, an extra tablespoon of brown sugar for sweetness. Pour the sauce over the chicken.
3. Scatter drained pineapple chunks and sliced red bell pepper over the top of the chicken and sauce. Do not stir — keep the chicken submerged in sauce while the fruit and pepper sit on top and caramelize softly during cooking.
4. Cover and cook on LOW for 5–6 hours or on HIGH for 3–4 hours. Do not lift the lid during cooking — every peek adds 15–20 minutes to the cook time. The chicken finishes when it shreds easily at the touch of a fork and the sauce smells deeply caramelized.
5. Remove chicken to a plate. Whisk cornstarch and cold water together in a small bowl until smooth. Stir the slurry into the hot liquid in the slow cooker, turn setting to HIGH, cover, and cook 15 more minutes until the sauce thickens into a glossy glaze.
6. Return chicken to the pot and coat it completely in the thickened sauce. Spoon over warm jasmine or white rice, garnish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds, and serve immediately while the glaze is hot and glossy.
Notes
USE CANNED PINEAPPLE JUICE: Don’t discard the syrup from canned pineapple chunks — use it as your cup of pineapple juice. It carries concentrated pineapple flavor and sweetness that plain bottled juice lacks.
THIGHS OVER BREASTS: Chicken thighs stay moist and juicy through the full 6-hour cook. Breasts dry out past 5 hours on LOW — check them at the 5-hour mark and remove as soon as they shred easily.
CORNSTARCH SLURRY — ALWAYS MIX WITH COLD WATER FIRST: Adding dry cornstarch directly to hot liquid creates lumps that never dissolve. Always whisk it into cold water before stirring into the slow cooker.
COCONUT RICE UPGRADE: Cook jasmine rice in coconut milk instead of water for a tropical, creamy base that elevates the whole dish without any extra effort.
FREEZE AHEAD: Cool completely, portion into zip-lock freezer bags, and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in a saucepan with a splash of water to restore the glaze.
SLIDER IDEA: Shred the glazed chicken and pile into warm Hawaiian sweet rolls for a party appetizer that disappears in minutes. Top each with a pineapple chunk and a drizzle of sauce.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 6 hours
- Category: Main Course, Dinner
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American, Hawaiian-Inspired
Nutrition
- Serving Size: About 1½ cups with rice
- Calories: 420
- Sugar: 28g
- Sodium: 810mg
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 52g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 35g
- Cholesterol: 110mg