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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!
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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
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!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
My kids and I all liked it, which is a big feat! Usually one likes something and the other turns up their nose. This is a keeper 🙂
Hey Tiffany,
Awesome! Love to hear your family enjoyed this recipe, I appreciate you making it!
This recipe was horribly salty! It completely overpowered any other flavors. I might try it again with maybe 1/8 of a cup because 1/2 cup was wayyyy too much.
Hi Terry,
So sorry this was so salty! Thanks for trying the recipe and your feedback. You could also use low sodium soy sauce next time.
Have a great weekend!
Finally got all the stuff to make it and it came out delicious!
Thank you SO much Sara! I”m so glad you’re enjoying this stir fry! Perfect easy dinner recipe! xT
This is one of our favorite quick midweek meals! Browning the ground chicken is a genius move, the little crispy pieces are an awesome textural surprise. Lots of flavor from the aromatics. Cashews, pineapple, scallion & toasted sesame seed for the perfect finish 👌
Hey Ann,
Thanks so much for making this recipe so often, I am so glad to hear this always turns out nicely for you!
Excellent recipe! Didn’t have enough ground beef so mixed in some ground turkey. In the pineapple salad, I added 3 sliced Thai red chilis. Will be making this on repeat. Thank you!!
Thank you so so much! I am so glad you loved the recipe! Thanks for giving it a try! xT
I just made this and loved it! The ground chicken really absorbed the pineapple flavor.
Thank you SO much Taylor! So so happy to hear you loved this stir fry! Have a wonderful week! 🙂 xT
This recipe is perfect. I made it last night for my boyfriend and we both agreed it was the best thing I had ever made! Thank you for sharing it 🙂
Hey Tia,
Fantastic!! So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks a bunch for giving it a try! Happy 4th of July!
Would Yellow Curry paste work instead of red curry paste?
Hi Maria,
I would recommend the red curry paste, but yes, yellow will work. Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! x
My DIL made this dish for our recent family reunion and oh my goodness! I am now a believer!
Lol thanks so much, Lillian! Love to hear this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for sharing:) Have a great week!
We’ve made alot of HBH recipes and this was one of my husband’s favorites. The leftovers were even better than the night we made it. Definitely worth using fresh instead of canned pineapple.
Made it exactly as in the recipe. Loved this and will definitely be making it on repeat.
Hey Tracey,
Fantastic!! Love to hear this recipe was a winner, I appreciate you making it! xx
Looking forward to making this! The ingredients list curry paste but the instructions say chilli paste. Not sure which to use?
Hi Teresa,
So sorry about that, you are going to use curry paste. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xx
Very delicious! My only complaint is that I which it had more of a saucy texture. Do you recommend any adjustments to give this recipe more of a sauce? Maybe red curry paste and coconut milk?
Hi Deanna! Absolutely! To make this saucier, you can mix 2 tablespoons red curry paste with ½ cup coconut milk and add it to the pan after cooking the chicken and vegetables. Simmer for a few minutes until it thickens slightly, this will give you a creamy, flavorful sauce that pairs perfectly with the pineapple! Hope you enjoy! xT
Made this.recipe for the family tonight and it was a HUGE hit. We love anything sweet and savory and all the fresh fixens pumped up the flavor. This one will be on repeat for sure!
Hey Kristen,
Wonderful!! So glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed by your family, I appreciate you making it! Have a great week! xx
Success! I admit I was a little nervous to try this recipe with the “to salty” reviews, but after reading all of them I made some adjustments and it was amazing! For reference my husband and I are in our late 50s and we love Tieghan’s recipes, but are also watching our fat and salt intake. I used 1 T. olive oil at the beginning and added 2 pounds ground chicken. I have red thai spices not paste so I used 1/2 T red thai spice, 1T. fish sauce and 1T olive oil ( I probably could have used 1 T red Thai spice) and I added only 1T butter.
I also only used one red bell pepper, but also two carrots, matchsticked and one small head of broccoli cut fairly small. I cut the soy sauce down to 1/4 c. and 1 T. honey. The cashews I had were salted so that by cutting down on the soy sauce it helped it not be too salty. The pinapple, cilantro, and basil topper is fantasic! I did’t make the finishing thai sauce.
Thanks so much, Ann! I appreciate you giving this recipe a try and sharing your detailed notes. So glad it turned out nicely for you! xT
My family really enjoyed this! I added broccoli to the skillet after the chicken was browned with the spices and let that soften a bit, then added snap peas with the pineapple before finishing with the red pepper and a handful of baby spinach. Will definitely make again!
Hey Janice,
Happy Monday! Love to hear this dish turned out nicely for you, thanks a lot for giving it a try! xx
I loveee every HBH recipe I try but this one wasn’t my favourite – a bit too salty and didn’t have the flavour depth I was expecting based on all the ingredients. I think less soya sauce or unsalted butter would help. I did like that it was with ground chicken — much quicker!
Thanks so much, Jane! I appreciate you making this dish and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear you didn’t love it! xx
Ingredients call for curry paste but instructions say chili paste. Which should I use?
Hi Kate,
You are going to use curry paste in step 1 and then you can top with chili sauce when serving. I hope you love this recipe! xT