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Weeknight-style Hawaiian inspired Chicken Tacos with Jalapeño Pineapple Salsa. Shredded crispy chicken in a tangy Hawaiian-inspired Hula Sauce with pickled ginger, pineapple, and sriracha. Cooked quickly in the instant pot, or use the oven or crockpot – use the method that works best for you. Serve each crispy chicken taco with homemade creamy basil ranch dressing and fresh jalapeño pineapple salsa. These fun summery tacos are the perfect weeknight dinner. Use the leftover chicken for sandwiches and salads.
I’ve been making these tacos, or a variation, since the early days of creating recipes. Over the years I’ve shared them in the form shrimp and salmon tacos, but now for the original shredded chicken variation. My brothers are obsessed with these. Especially my older brother, Trevor, who is constantly telling me to make more Hawaiian-inspired recipes.
We love anything with a spicy, sweet, tangy kick. And any dinner that’s ready in less than an hour is an immediate yes during the summer.
Here are details
You can make these tacos in 1 of 3 ways. The instant pot, the oven, or the crockpot. I always use the instant pot or the oven. I never plan ahead enough for the crockpot.
Basically, we’re seasoning the chicken, cooking it, shredding it, then throwing the saucy chicken under the broiler to get crispy. For the chicken, I love to toss it together with garlic, shallots, and pickled sushi-style ginger. In my opinion, using sushi-style ginger is the secret here. It caramelizes so wonderfully and adds such a yummy, spicy bite.
Then, I do tamari, sriracha, and fresh pineapple chunks. Let the chicken cook in the sauce, then shred. Cooking the chicken in the sauce ensures that it doesn’t dry out.
Once the chicken is shredded, I add 1 or 2 whole jalapeños. Broil together until the jalapeños roast and the chicken becomes caramelized, watch carefully.
While the chicken is cooking, I make my current go-to sauce, jalapeño basil ranch. It’s a mix of yogurt, mayo, lemon, Worcestershire, fresh basil, fresh cilantro, chives, and lots of pepper. Now this is when I toss in the roasted jalapeños from above. I leave everything in, seeds and all, but you do what works for you!
Then toss the remaining pineapple with fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice. Put everything together in the tacos.
I assemble as follows: charred flour tortillas, smashed avocado, lettuce, ranch, and a few spoonfuls of chicken. Finish with the pineapple chunks and ranch!
Hawaiian inspired Chicken Tacos – simple to make, but so yummy and fun for spring and summer nights. My family loves these, spicy, tangy tacos. The ranch is a must, so don’t skip it!
Looking for more simple weeknight recipes? Here are a few favorites:
One Pan Lemon Pepper Yogurt Chicken and Rice
Crispy Jalapeño Cream Cheese Buffalo Chicken Taquitos
Sheet Pan Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Healthier Homemade Crunchwrap Supreme
Crispy Chipotle Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Lime Ranch
Lastly, if you make these Hawaiian inspired Chicken Tacos with Jalapeño Pineapple Salsa, 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!
Hawaiian Chicken Tacos with Jalapeño Pineapple Salsa
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 362 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breasts or thighs
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 shallots, chopped
- 1/3 cup pickled ginger
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1/3 cup soy sauce or tamari
- 1-3 tablespoons sriracha
- 3 cups fresh pineapple chunks
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1-2 jalapeños
- warm tortillas, shredded lettuce, and avocado for serving
Jalapeño Basil Ranch
- 1/2 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup mayo
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire
- 1 cup fresh basil
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
- kosher salt and black pepper
Instructions
- 1. In the instant pot combine the chicken, garlic, shallots, ginger, chili powder tamari, sriracha, and 2 cups pineapple. Cook 10 minutes on high pressure. 2. Preheat the broiler to high. When finished cooking, shred the meat and toss with the sauce. Spoon the chicken and sauce onto a greased baking sheet. Add the jalapeños. Broil 10-15 minutes, until charring, watch closely. 3. Meanwhile, toss 1 cup of pineapple with the cilantro.4. To make the Jalapeño Ranch. Combine all ingredients in a blender. Add 1 roasted jalapeño, seeded if desired. Blend until creamy. Season with salt.5. Stuff the chicken and pineapple chunks into charred tortillas. Serve with ranch.
Oven
- 1. Preheat the oven to 425°. In a baking dish, mix the chicken, garlic, shallots, ginger, chili powder, tamari, sriracha, and 2 cups pineapple. Roast 30 minutes, until tender and falling apart. Finish as directed above through step 2.
Crockpot
- 1. In the crockpot, combine the chicken, garlic, shallots, ginger, chili powder tamari, sriracha, and 2 cups pineapple. Cover and cook on LOW for 3-4 hours or on HIGH for 2 hours. Finish as directed above through step 2.
Hi Tieghan,
Just a quick question on the oven option, should the chicken be covered or not while cooking ? So excited to try this one … love so many of your recipes.
Thanks so much Jolene!! You do not need to cover the chicken in the oven:) I hope this recipe turns out well for you, let me know if you give it a try! xx
This was a huge hit in our house! The tacos the ranch … amazing!
I’m so glad my client referred me to your site.
Hi Anna,
Happy Sunday!!🏖️🌤️ I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear that it turned out well for you! xT
I loved this recipe. This is the first recipe of yours that I tried and I look forward to trying more. I thought everything went together wonderfully. My family however did not care for the Jalapeno Ranch so next time I’ll eliminate that item but they liked the rest. Thank you 🙂
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear it was enjoyed by your family! xT
We loved this so much, after eating it for 3 nights my daughter asked me to make it again:)
Hi Missy,
Wonderful!! I love to hear that you have been enjoying this recipe and appreciate your notes and feedback! xT
This was the best taco recipe I’ve ever made! Loved the jalapeño basil ranch, loved the pineapple and chicken, loved everything about it. I used chicken thighs and flour tortillas that I charred up on the open flame of the stove. Cannot stop thinking about how good this was. 😍
Wow thanks so much Jami!! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks a lot for trying it out! xT
Really delicious. I may have let it broil a bit too long as there wasn’t much sauce left. The basil/jalapeno ranch really added tons to the dish
Hi Jill,
Amazing!! I love to hear that you enjoyed this recipe and thanks so much for sharing your feedback! xT
I wish you would reference your sources/inspiration! this is basically a copy cat of a Pinch of Yum Recipe. Give credit where credit is due.
This meal was really delicious! The jalapeno basil ranch was especially amazing and I ended up dipping blue corn tortilla chips in the leftovers and just eating it all up. I will mostly likely make the ranch again more than I’ll make the tacos again because it was just so good.
Hey Anna,
Fantastic!!🥗🌮 I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear that it turned out well for you! xx
These were great! I reduced the chili powder to 1/2 tsp and only used 1 T of sriracha (I know from experience that Tieghan likes it hot! ;), and that was just right for us. I also ended up with almost two cups of basil for the ranch sauce, and it was still fantastic.
One odd thing.. the recipe title says “jalapeno pineapple salsa”, but there are not actually any jalapenos in the salsa part. So, we improvised and added pickled jalapenos and tomatoes to the pineapple/cilantro mix. Excellent!
Hey Heidi,
Happy Monday!! Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it! The jalapeño part comes from the ranch, lol just trying to get it all in! xT
It looks like the jalapeno just got left off the ingredients list, because it is in the directions part 🙂
Surprisingly light and yummy. My 10 and 6 year old even liked them!
Love to hear this Kristen!! Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your comment! xT
This was a huge hit in my family! I made the chicken in the crockpot and then broiled it as the recipe said. The sauces/fillings were delicious. My question is, how do you char the tortillas? I haven’t tried that before. We used regular flour tortillas and corn tostadas.
Hi Christy,
Thanks so much!! I love to hear that this recipe was delish and I appreciate you making it! I put my tortillas directly over a stove top flame:) xT
I think this is her best recipe! So much flavor. The grocery store was out of pickled ginger so I used fresh ginger and it worked perfectly. I also used 2 jalapeños and did not find it too spicy.
Hey Treena,
Thanks so much!! I love to hear that this recipe was delish and I appreciate you making it! xT
This recipe is a flavour bomb!
I looooves this and it was so easy!
Hi Kate,
Happy Wednesday!🌤️🌸 I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear that it turned out well for you! xx
Very flavorful and delicious! This recipe was simple to make and was definitely a crowd pleaser!
Thanks so much Margarita!! Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and I appreciate you making it! xT
This was delicious and enjoyed by all 6 of my family members! It’s so hard to find a meal that satisfies all of us. Thank you!
Hi Erin,
Happy Wednesday!🌤️🌸 I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear that it turned out well for you! xx
Delicious and so easy to make. It’s going to be on rotation.
Hey Claire,
Happy Wednesday!🌤️🌸 I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear that it turned out well for you! xx