![Baked Chicken Thighs](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/01/04/multimedia/LH-Baked-Chicken-Thighs-hzgq/LH-Baked-Chicken-Thighs-hzgq-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
Pineapple-Marinated Chicken Breasts
![Pineapple-Marinated Chicken Breasts](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/06/04/dining/04chickenrex2/merlin_188173023_7594846e-27dc-4248-923c-af361af58a95-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
Advertisement
Ingredients
- 3packed tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 2tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1tablespoon soy sauce
- 1tablespoon fish sauce
- 2tablespoons olive oil, plus more for cooking
- 1teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
- 1teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ to ½teaspoon ground cayenne
- ½teaspoon black pepper
- 1cup diced fresh pineapple (½-inch chunks)
- ¼cup finely diced red onion
- 2tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 2tablespoons finely grated fresh pineapple, including accumulated juices
- 1½pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1½-inch chunks
- Cooked white rice, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
In a large bowl, stir together the brown sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, garlic powder, ground cayenne and black pepper. Transfer 1 tablespoon of this marinade mixture to a separate medium bowl and add the diced pineapple, red onion and cilantro. This is your salsa; toss until well mixed and set aside.
- Step 2
Add the grated pineapple and its juices to the marinade mixture in the large bowl, then add the chicken and toss to coat. Set aside to marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes (and no longer).
- Step 3
Once the chicken is done marinating, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high and add enough olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken pieces, leaving any marinade behind, in a single layer so that they don’t touch and let cook until the bottoms are browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides and no longer pink on the inside, 4 to 5 minutes more.
- Step 4
Serve the chicken over rice and top with the reserved pineapple salsa.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Step 1 is hard to parse. Rewritten below by me (a professional writer of technical instructions): Step 1a: Marinade base In a large bowl, stir together the brown sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, garlic powder, ground cayenne and black pepper. Step 1b: Salsa Transfer 1 tablespoon of the marinade base to a medium bowl and add the diced pineapple, red onion and cilantro. Toss until well mixed and set aside.
I don't like pineapple, can I leave this out of the recipe? Will it taste the same? (Ha! Just kidding! I love commenters who change or delete most of the ingredients and complain it didn't turn out right.)
The large bowl with the GRATED pineapple is the marinade. The medium bowl with 1 Tbsp, DICED pineapple, red onion, and cilantro is the salsa.
The first part of the second bowl is the second part of the first bowl which is party to the second pineapple omitting the second party of the party of the first pineapple in the second part of the first bowl. You're welcome.
Kate-- I agree with another cook here that a good idea would be to prepare the marinade, but don't add the grated pineapple, and let the breasts marinate for several hours, and then add the pineapple for the last 15 minutes.
Do NOT use canned pineapple--the bromelaine becomes denatured when cooked and doesn't have the same tenderizing effect. I used fresh precut pineapple because no one else in my house will eat pineapple. Less work, did the job.
This chicken was delicious, but boy, that recipe was unclear, and because of that, the comments were like the black/white, gold/blue dress!
Excellent. Made exactly as written with the exception of adding some lime juice and a finely diced jalapeno to the salsa. My pineapple was a little on the tart side which worked really well. Delivers exactly what it says it will, flavorful, tender, juicy chicken. I opted to grill these as kebabs which was a good choice. I think I will be adding grated fresh pineapple to a lot of chicken breast marinades as a secret weapon!
The salsa has ! CUP of diced pineapple, not 1 Tbsp, according to the recipe.
Peter - I’m reading it to mean: The marinade is the first half of Step 1, plus the grated pineapple & juice listed in Step 2. The second half of Step 1, where you transfer 1 T of liquid and toss with diced pineapple chunks, onions, and cilantro — that’s the “pineapple salsa” referred to in Step 4.
How does one grate a pineapple?
Step 1a: Marinade base In a large bowl, stir together the brown sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, garlic powder, ground cayenne and black pepper. Step 1b: Salsa Transfer 1 tablespoon of the marinade base to a medium bowl and add the diced pineapple, red onion and cilantro. Toss until well mixed and set aside. The salsa has 1 CUP of diced pineapple, not 1 Tbsp, according to the recipe.
I decided to deconstruct the recipe and use chicken pieces. I made the marinade (doubled)minus the grated pineapple and marinated the chicken pieces so they would absorb that yummy flavor. Also added fresh garlic. I will add the grated pineapple in the last 15 minutes of marinating. I’ll bake the chicken in the oven and think we’ll have some delicious sauce from the marinade and pineapple. I’ll add to the post after we’ve eaten and let you know how it was.
No, the salsa is the diced pineapple with red onion and cilantro and 1 tablespoon of the liquid you made in step one. The marinade is all the rest of that liquid and the grated pineapple.
Can this be made with canned pineapple?
I’ve made this 3 times and it’s a fantastic summer meal with the fresh corn and pineapple, the family gives it rave reviews! Easy, delicious, and never any left overs! Yummy
I love this recipe and easy to follow! So flavorful and the salsa is divine. It goes pretty fast if you make the marinade ahead of time; 15 minutes to marinade with chicken is so moist and delish! Thank you NYT, again.
I cut up the chicken into pieces that were too small and it had the effect of exposing each piece to the pineapple juice too much. It was raggedy and a bit weird.
I had drumsticks so I baked them at 425 for 35 minutes and then broiled briefly. If you use drumsticks, be sure to season them prior to the marinade. The pineapple is easy to grate with a flat Oxxo zester. I added a squeeze of sriracha to the salsa because it needs a kick and I didn’t have fresh jalapeños. I also added a bit of crushed fresh ginger to the marinade. Good enough but next time I will use breasts.
This was delicious - tangy and summery! I subbed the cilantro for Italian parsley and added some chili flakes. Otherwise, I followed the recipe as written and will definitely make it again! Yum!
Made this the other night and find it’s a pretty boring recipe, in my opinion. There are so many adds and adjustments required to give it any real flavour. But, if you’re looking for a way to tenderise the chicken, this is one way to do that.
Delicious as written. I opted to make tacos instead of serving over rice. We had the leftovers with a nice orzo feta salad.
I noticed the chicken had a lot of liquid around it and wasn’t browning so I took it out of the pan and put it on the grill outside for a couple of minutes and the result was great!
I made this exactly as written, but we love sauce so I doubled the marinade and salsa, it was delicious!! My husband doesn't love sweet sauces very much, but the fish sauce cut it well. We wil def have this again!
This was delicious Grating pineapple is absolutely unnecessary. I did it and then realized I could have accomplished the same thing in a very good blender w/ the juices. I doubled the recipe for marinade & salsa for 2.5lbs of chicken & drained the chicken in a colander before stir frying it…turned out beautifully
Marinate without grated pineapple ahead of time
Meh¡ followed to a ‘T’ and it just didn’t live up to the hype.
My family really enjoyed this. My son can’t eat chicken so I used pork tenderloin. I did everything else as written except I had to substitute tamari for soy sauce since he’s gluten free. I served it with rice, black beans, avocado, and sweet potatoes that I thinly sliced and tossed with avocado oil and cumin, and baked for about 40 minutes. A little extra cilantro and a little hot sauce. Will definitely make again!
Served in tacos instead of rice. Added jalapeño to the salsa. Will make again for sure!
Used canned pineapple because I didn’t have fresh… a mistake I will not be making again. Dish is pretty tasty though.
Advertisement