Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken
Tender chicken, sweet pineapple, and bold island-inspired flavor, this Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken meal is a family favorite that’s easy and packed with flavor!
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Get ready to add a tropical twist to your dinner table with this Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken. It's the perfect blend of sweet, savory, and just a hint of heat. Juicy chicken thighs cook low and slow in a tangy pineapple BBQ sauce alongside colorful bell peppers, onions, and garlic,finished with fresh pineapple! If you love Hawaiian insped recipes try this BBQ Hawaiian Chicken Pizza.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken is such an easy meal to prep. It's just 10 minutes of chopping and mixing, then let the slow cooker do the rest! The pineapple juice, BBQ sauce, and ginger create a sweet and tangy sauce the whole family will love. There's so many different ways to serve this. You can serve it over fluffy white rice, healthier cauliflower rice, brown rice, steamed veggies, or even tossed with noodles. You only use common, simple ingredients for this recipe.
Let's Gather The Ingredients
- BBQ sauce: grab a bottle of your favorite, or use Homemade BBQ Sauce
- Soy sauce: can use regular soy sauce or light soy sauce
- Brown sugar: Light or dark is fine.
- Pineapple: Fresh or canned pineapple works.
- Herbs and spices: red pepper flakes, ginger powder, salt, black pepper, mined garlic cloves
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs: Chicken breasts will also work.
- Veggies: onion, red bell pepper, green pepper, and green onions
- Cornstarch: Thickens the sauce.
How To Make This Hawaiian Chicken
- Step 1: Add barbecue sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, pineapple juice, red pepper flakes, and ginger powder to a small bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Step 2: Toss chicken, salt, pepper, green and red peppers, onions, and garlic to a Crock Pot. Pour the sauce you made in the small bowl, all over the chicken and veggies in the Crock Pot. Cook.
- Step 3: Make the cornstarch slurry and add to the Slow Cooker towards the end of cooking.
- Step 4: Remove chicken thighs from Crock Pot and place on an aluminum foil lined pan. Broil for a few minutes to give color and return back to Slow Cooker before serving.
Recipe Tips
- Cooking pineapple too long can make it mushyadd it during the last hour for the best texture.
- Don’t forget the cornstarch slurry during the final hour! It helps give the sauce that perfect consistency.
- Depending on your BBQ sauce and soy sauce brands, you may want to adjust salt or sweetness before serving.
- Try boneless chicken breast or even pork tenderloin slices instead of the tender chicken thighs. If you do use chicken breast, you may need to change the cooking time.
- Carrots, snap peas, or even zucchini would be tasty additions.
- Instead of serving this on a bed of rice, you could serve on slider buns to make Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken Sliders.
Recipe Faq's
Yes! Just make sure to include some of the juice or add a splash of water or chicken broth to keep the moisture balance.
Yes, it freezes well. Let it cool completely, then store in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months.
It’s best to thaw chicken before cooking in a slow cooker for food safety. Cooking from frozen can keep it in the "danger zone" temperature range too long.
More Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes
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Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¾ cup bbq sauce
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup pineapple juice
- ¼ teaspoon Red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon ginger powder
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 green bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1 medium onion cut into bite size pieces
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoon water
- 2 cups pineapples cut into bit sized pieces
- Green onion and sesame seeds for garnish optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl add the bbq sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, pineapple juice, red pepper and ginger and mix until combines.
- Add the chicken, salt, pepper, peppers, onions and garlic to the slow cooker.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken and veggies, cover and cook for 2-3 hours on high or low 5-6 hours.
- During the last hour of cooking time mix the cornstarch and water together until combined then stir it into the chicken along with the diced pineapple and cook for the remaining time to thicken.
- Optional: Set your oven on broil and place you chicken thigh on a foil lined baking sheet and broil for 2-3 minutes to get some color. Place the chicken back into the slow cooker.
- Add more salt and pepper to taste and serve over rice or pasta and garnish with green onion or sesame seeds.
