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This colorful 20 Minute Ginger Pineapple Chicken Stir Fry is inspired by my dad’s speedy summertime stir fry. Just a bit healthier, quicker, and with a few little tweaks that make it unique and maybe even more delicious! The ground chicken (or pork) is cooked in a golden buttery spicy chili garlic sauce before adding fresh chunks of bell peppers and sweet pineapple. Serve this simply with steamed rice and fresh herbs. The addition of Thai red curry paste and that sweet pineapple are the secrets here. It’s saucy, salty, tangy-sweet, and has just the right amount of spice!
After spending a couple of days in LA last week, I am absolutely in full-time summer mode. The weather ended up being pretty nice for most of my stay. The roses, jasmine, and fresh lilacs were all blooming and the homes around Beverly Hills all smelled incredible. It definitely felt like summer.
Upon returning I knew I needed to find a way to make it feel like summer here too. I decided to make my own version of my Dad’s summer stir-fry. In the summer, Dad was a big stir-fry guy. He’d toss chicken in a pan, add veggies, and then his special sauce. He kept it simple, but we always enjoyed those fast summer dinners of his!
The stir fry I’m sharing today isn’t a lot like Dad’s, but the idea was taken from his quick, in-a-pinch, dinner.
Here are some details
Step 1: cook the chicken
I like to use ground chicken for my stir fry. This saves me the step of cutting yucky raw chicken! It’s my little trick for super fast chicken dishes. Brown the chicken in olive oil and black pepper (or feel free to use ground beef or pork). Then, add a few pats of butter, a couple tablespoons of Thai red curry paste, fresh chopped garlic, and ginger.
Allow the butter to brown around the chicken and the garlic to turn a light golden shade. At this point, the dish should already be smelling wonderful.
Step 2: add the pineapple
When the butter browns and the dish is smelling fragrant and yummy, mix in the bell peppers, chunks of fresh pineapple, and either cashews or peanuts. Whatever you love most, or do a mix!!
At this point, you can also add in a few spoonfuls of pickled sushi-style ginger, which is a favorite ingredient of mine. This is optional, but delicious of course!
Be sure to save half of the chopped pineapples for serving.
Step 3: the sauce
Just before everything is finished cooking, mix in the tamari (or soy sauce) and honey. Let the sauce thicken around the chicken.
Meanwhile, you can toss the remaining pineapple chunks with fresh chopped cilantro and I love to use some fresh Thai Basil here too! Super good!
When the stir fry is looking perfect, remove the whole skillet from the heat.
Step 4: serve the stir fry
I serve my stir fry over bowls of steamed rice with fresh pineapple on top. I also add green onions plus a small drizzle of sweet Thai chili sauce. It just adds a little something special to each bowl!
This is a dinner the whole family really will enjoy!
Looking for other quick weeknight dinners? Here are some favorites:
20 Minute Garlic Butter Cashew Chicken
Sweet and Sticky Vegetable Stir Fry
20 Minute Thai Basil Beef Rolls
Chili Crisp Chicken Mango Cucumber Rice Bowl
30 Minute Sticky Thai Meatballs with Sesame Noodles
Better Than Takeout Sweet Thai Basil Chicken
Thai Basil Beef and Lemongrass Rice Bowls
Lastly, if you make this 20 Minute Ginger Pineapple Chicken Stir Fry, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
20 Minute Ginger Pineapple Chicken Stir Fry
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 491 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons sesame oil or olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds ground chicken (or ground pork)
- black pepper and chili flakes
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 1-3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
- 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
- 2 bell peppers, sliced
- 1 1/2 cups fresh pineapple chunks
- 1 cup cashews or peanuts
- 1/2 cup tamari or soy sauce
- 1-2 tablespoons honey (or real maple syrup)
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped Thai basil or basil
- sweet Thai chili sauce and sesame seeds for topping (optional)
Instructions
- 1. In a large skillet, combine the oil, chicken, and black pepper. Cook over medium heat, breaking up the meat as it cooks until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the chili paste, butter, garlic, and ginger. Cook 2 minutes, until the butter browns and the chicken gets crispy.2. Mix in the peppers, 3/4 cup pineapple, and cashews. Cook another 2-5 minutes. Pour over the tamari and honey. Cook until the sauce coats the chicken, 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat.3. In a bowl, toss 3/4 cup pineapple with the cilantro and basil. 4. Serve the chicken, peppers, and sweet chili sauce over bowls of rice. Top with the pineapple/cilantro/basil. Add the chopped green onions, and if desired, serve with sweet Thai chili sauce and sesame seeds. Enjoy!
This post was originally published on June 5, 2023
Amazing! Huge HBH fan, and we’re adding this one to our rotation. I couldn’t find ground chicken so I just used thinly sliced chicken breast and it turned out perfect!
Hi Chelsea,
Amazing!! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and thanks for trying it! Have a great weekend:) xx
Loved this! Fresh, quick and delish!
Hey Chrystal,
Happy Sunday!!🏖️🌤️ I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear that it turned out well for you! xT
Came together wonderfully on my griddle grill. Also, kid approved! Made quite a bit, can’t wait to have it for leftovers. Thanks!
Hi Jessica,
Amazing!! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and thanks for trying it! Have a great weekend:) xx
We tried it for the first time tonight. So so good!
Hey Cassurie,
Happy Friday!! I’m thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a lot for making it and your comment!😎🍑 xx
Super tasty!! Tons of flavor and it made a LOT for just 2 of us but we love yummy leftovers! I regret not using my cast iron skillet because the chicken never really got crispy but who cares when it tastes this good!
Hi Laura,
I appreciate you making this dish and sharing your feedback! I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you! xT
This is so gooood! Now, to get the chicken **crispy** the total time increased to about 55 minutes for me. Here’s what I did (I hope my experience can help the next HBH fan girl to try this recipe!) – I cooked the whole thing in our cast iron skillet, as Tieghan suggested, but the recipe produces a lot of juice so the chicken was not crisping up. I followed all the directions through step #2 and THEN I heated up another skillet to HIGH HEAT (this was nonstick), added some more sesame oil, and added the chicken mixture one batch at a time (leaving the sauce/juice behind) to get everything totally crispy and slightly charred, just how I like it. I highly recommend this extra step! The crisp makes the whole dish!
Good tip, Mauri! Wish I’d read this before I cooked it last night. Oh well… next time!!
Hi Mauri,
Amazing!! Thank you so much for making this recipe and sharing your feedback, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! Thanks for sharing your handy notes! xx
I made this tonight, and it’s a new favorite! It was a perfect summer meal and so easy to make! Thanks for another delicious recipe!
Hey Andrea,
Happy Thursday!! I love to hear that this dish turned out well for you, thanks a lot for making it and your comment! xx
This was so good! Another winner. My toddlers, husband and his grandma all loved it. I think next time I will try it with coconut rice!
Hi Katie,
Happy Thursday!! Thank you for making this recipe and your feedback, so glad to hear it was a winner! xx
This was delicious! Made it exactly as directed. With all of your recipes, I have confidence I will never be disappointed. You have such a gift with flavors.
Hi Tiffany,
Amazing!! Thank you so much for making this recipe and sharing your feedback, I love to hear that it turned out well for you! xx
I made this recipe last night for myself and my boyfriend. Overall it was pretty good, but I used 1,5 tablespoons of red curry paste and it was far too spicy for us. I’ll make this again, but probably just with 0.5 tablespoons of red curry paste.
We had rice the night before so I went with noodles, which was fine. It’s probably better with rice so I’ll try that next time.
Awesome, easy recipe! Really loved the pineapple/curry paste combo
Thanks so much Alexander! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you! Have a great Thursday! xx
Hey Meliena,
Thanks so much for making this dish and sharing your feedback! So sorry to hear it was spicy for you! Let me know if you give it another try! xx
This recipe was amazing! It had the crunch, flavor, sweetness, and was so quick to make. I really enjoyed this recipe and it didn’t need the sweet chili sauce at all! It’s perfect!💛
Love to hear this Candace!! Thanks so much for trying this dish and sharing your feedback!! Happy Thursday! xT
Simple ingredients, but so good! I especially love using the ground chicken. Whole family loved it.
Hey Anne,
Happy Wednesday!! I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for trying it! xT
Soo yummy! I found some baby bok choy I forgot I had so I threw that in too. I’m a huge sweet and savory fan so the little pops of pineapple were right down my alley. Def making this again. Thank you!
Hey Jaime,
Wonderful!! I love to hear that you have been enjoying this recipe and appreciate your notes and feedback! xT
This is really really good! The fresh pineapple w basil and cilantro is the perfect addition!
Hi Dana,
Wonderful!! I love to hear that you have been enjoying this recipe and appreciate your notes and feedback! xT
Hi, is there a non-meat alternative that you would recommend?
Hi Stephanie,
Sure, beans would be great here! You could also use tofu or cauliflower. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xT
We didn’t use any Thai sweet chili sauce, I just couldn’t imagine adding any other flavors to this, it was perfect as is! And I couldn’t get the chicken to crisp up on medium heat, but I may have been stirring it too much while it cooked. Any other tips on how to get the chicken nice and crispy?
But even with un-crispy chicken, this was an instant favorite. I knew it would be while I was cooking, the aromatics are amazing! This is definitely going in our growing list of HBH favorites. My husband said thanks to your amazing recipes, our home is now his favorite ‘restaurant’. You have a gift!
Hey Ruth,
Thanks so much for your kind message and making this dish! So glad to hear it was enjoyed!! I find I get the best crisp on my chicken when using a cast iron skillet:) I hope this helps for next time! xT
Just made this and it was delicious! The only thing that threw me off was that the ingredient list calls for curry paste, but the recipe says “chili paste.” I assume it’s supposed to say 1-3 Tablespoons of curry paste? That’s what I used. It’s definitely a new favorite and I can’t believe how easy it was to make.
Hi Rachael,
Happy Friday!! I’m thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a lot for making it and your comment! Yes, that is correct:)😎🍑 xx