Gluten-Free Pineapple Chicken (Instant Pot)

Author: London Brazil

Recipe Link: Gluten-Free Pineapple Chicken

Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken is full of fresh pineapple chunks, juicy and tender chicken, bell peppers, onions, and a sticky sweet and spicy sauce.  This healthy, gluten-free and kid-friendly pressure cooker meal can easily be prepped ahead for busy weeks and on the dinner table in under 30 minutes!

Testing the Recipe

For the test, I base it off of four factors:

• Ingredients
• Taste
• Quality
• Cooking Level

The ingredients were mostly ingredients that I would use for everyday cooking, therefore I had a lot of the ingredients already. The pineapple is canned, I have not tried it with fresh pineapple but I hope to one day. The taste of the sauce is a mixture of sweet, sour, and a kick of spice. It spotlights the recipe and the ingredients may be random but it makes a very delicious sauce. The quality of the recipes is good and I would say the cooking level is intermediate due to switching from the instant pot to a food blender.

Ratings:

• Ingredients: 10 out of 10
• Taste: 10 out of 10
• Quality: 10 out of 10
• Cooking Level: Beginner
• Overall Rating: 10 out of 10

Final Thoughts

Overall, this is one of my top two favorite recipes with chicken. I personally am not the biggest fan of eating chicken, but this orange chicken recipe was really good. I did cook mine in my Ninja Foodie Pressure Cooker under Saute since I do not own a Wok, it tasted the same.

---

INSTANT POT HAWAIIAN PINEAPPLE CHICKEN

YIELD: 5 servings

COOK TIME: 15 minutes

ADDITIONAL TIME: 15 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. chicken breasts cut into 1-inch cubes
• ¼ cup cornstarch or tapioca flour (I use cornstarch)
• ¾ tsp. salt divided, to taste
• ¼ tsp. black pepper
• 2 Tbsp. avocado oil or olive oil (I use avocado oil)
• 15- oz can pineapple chunks in juice divided
• ¼ cup ketchup
• 3 Tbsp. sugar or coconut sugar (I use sugar)
• 3 Tbsp. soy sauce Tamari sauce, or coconut liquid aminos (I use gluten-free soy sauce)
• 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar (I use rice vinegar)
• 1 lime juice
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 tsp. Sriracha sauce optional
• 2 bell peppers cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 red onion cut into bite-sized pieces.
• Green onions
• Rice (I use jasmine rice)

Instructions:

1. Combine chicken cubes, starch, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper in a large bowl. Toss to coat chicken completely.
2. Add oil to the Instant Pot while it is set to the sauté function and wait until the oil begins to sizzle.
3. Place chicken cubes in a single layer on the bottom of the Instant Pot and sauté for 2-3 minutes.  After sautéing, scrape the bottom of the pot to ensure any bits are no longer stuck. (This step is HUGELY important.  If you do not scrape the bottom of the pot you’ll end up getting that dreaded BURN error.)
4. Add ¾ cup of pineapple chunks, ⅓ cup pineapple juice, ketchup, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, lime juice, crushed garlic, Sriracha sauce, and ¾ teaspoon of salt to a high speed blender. Blend for 20-30 seconds or until sauce is completely smooth.
5. Pour sauce over chicken and be sure to lift it off the bottom of the pan so it does not burn.
6. Add chopped bell pepper and onion on top of the chicken. Do not stir or mix them in.
7. Place lid on Instant Pot and close pressure valve. Using the manual pressure cook function turn to High Pressure and set the timer for 5 minutes.
8. Keep the lid on and the valve closed for an additional 5 minutes after the timer goes off. (This is called a 5-minute natural pressure release, or NPR.)
9. Turn the Instant Pot off, and open the pressure valve. Once the lid has unlocked, you can open the pot. Stir in the remaining pineapple chunks that have been finely chopped.
10. Serve your Hawaiian chicken over cauliflower rice or regular rice and with a sprinkle of green onions.  Enjoy!

Disclosure: I receive no compensation or affiliation of any kind for mentioning the recipe, the Ninja Foodie Pressure Cooker, or Walmart.

For more Information, please follow my social media platforms of Tik Tok and Instagram, @SamOnDemand.

---