Aloha Pineapple Chicken Rice Casserole
Ever notice how you can make anything taste Hawaiian by putting pineapple in it?
I’ve already used this trick a couple of times with chicken, once in a Crockpot Hawaiian BBQ and once in a foil packet dinner for the grill. And those are both good, but neither one is a true one-dish meal – something you can just pop on the table and serve, with no need for side dishes.
This Aloha Pineapple Chicken Rice Casserole fills that need. It’s got all the makings of a meal – chicken, rice, and veggies – in one casserole dish. And it’s all swimming in a tangy, salty-sweet pineapple sauce that gives it a real Hawaiian flavor.
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Better still, it comes together in no time. You use instant white rice in the casserole, so you don’t need to cook it first – just throw it in the dish with the veggies, chicken, and sauce, and it cooks up right in the pot, soaking up the juices of the chicken and sauce as it softens. So instead of being just a lump of bland white starch on the side, the rice is every bit as flavorful as the meat and veggies.
Whipping up a batch of this Aloha Pineapple Chicken Rice Casserole is the fastest and easiest way to whisk yourself away to Hawaii for an evening.
Aloha Pineapple Chicken Rice Casserole
Printable recipe directions and ingredient list at bottom of post
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. I used an 11 x 7-inch dish.
- In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, and chicken broth.
- Add uncooked rice, onion, bell pepper, pineapple and it’s juices and chicken. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil. Bake for 50 minutes. Once cooking is done, uncover and stir ingredients.
- Return the dish to the oven, uncovered, and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and rice is tender.
Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Top with diced bacon and cilantro.
Aloha Pineapple Chicken Rice Casserole
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Ingredients
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1-2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 1 ½ cups uncooked instant white rice
- 1/2 cup diced red onion
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 20 ounce can pineapple tidbits in juice, NOT drained
- 1 lb. thin-sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins, diced into bite-sized pieces
- Optional garnish: chopped cilantro and diced cooked bacon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. I used an 11 x 7-inch dish.
- In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, and chicken broth.
- Add uncooked rice, onion, bell pepper, pineapple and it's juices and chicken. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil. Bake for 50 minutes. Once cooking is done, uncover and stir ingredients.
- Return the dish to the oven, uncovered, and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and rice is tender.
- Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Top with diced bacon and cilantro.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer: Family Fresh Meals is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Can I use regular rice instead of instant?
I made this tonight with pre-cooked rice (since that’s what I already had in the cabinet). I followed some of the suggestions below and cut the pineapple and brown sugar in half. I also reduced the soy sauce in half. I probably should have cut back on the chicken broth as there was a bit too much liquid but otherwise tasted great!
I made this with good quality brown rice but in a large deep covered frying pan. Otherwise followed the recipe but there was insufficient liquid to fully cook the rice. However two glasses of white wine worked wonders – both for the dish and me – bringing out some sublime flavours!
I’ve never made a meal that I (my husband and I both) were sorry to see it gone after eating it for 3 days straight! It was that good! The only changes I made was I did use instant brown rice instead of white and not quite an entire half cup of brown sugar. Sooooooo good!
I will definitely be remaking this. I cut the brown sugar in half but will probably cut back more next time and I used chicken thighs because that’s what my family prefers. I also used regular Jasmine rice and cooked it for 12 minutes on high pressure in the Instapot. Next time I’ll probably do 13 minutes because the rice was just a tad underdone.
To confirm, did you cook the whole recipe in your instapot (including the raw chicken and the uncooked rice all mixed together)? I’m curious about trying this option and would love to use your experience to save some trouble-shooting 🙂