This Pineapple Fried Rice with Pineapple-Soy Glazed Chicken Skewers is an easy Asian-inspired meal you can make at home in less time than it takes to wait for takeout!
We all know that food holidays are my favorite holidays. Or really just that I use every holiday as an excuse to eat! The Chinese New Year is coming up next week and it’s a perfect occasion to celebrate with food!
When I cook at home, I’m not really into the usual American comfort foods. I like to branch out and explore different cultural foods. I make a lot of Thai and Indian curries, lots of Greek and Mediterranean foods.
Since it’s the hubby’s favorite, I most often seem to be making Asian-inspired dishes. I especially love to make Chinese takeout copycats at home, since eating Chinese food out at restaurants can be pretty grease- and salt-laden. I love knowing what’s going in my food, and homemade food is so much more delicious anyways!
So in honor of the upcoming Chinese New Year, I took to the kitchen to recreate a couple of our favorite takeout items– chicken skewers and fried rice!
But of course I can’t leave well enough alone, so I put a little twist on it by adding some pineapple. I’m a huge fan of the sweet and savory combo, so I loved the flavor profile on this dish.
I marinated the chicken skewers in some of the pineapple juice reserved from the can of pineapple chunks, plus some soy sauce to balance out the sweetness. After the chicken marinated, I made a glaze from the marinade for extra deliciousness!
This is a really easy meal to make, and you can practically make it in less time than you’d spend waiting for takeout! I used quick-cooking brown rice, which has the same nutritional values as regular long cooking brown rice, but cooks in just 10 minutes. The secret is the rice is naturally precooked. You don’t have to spend as long cooking it at home, so you can get dinner on the table quicker.
This was an awesome meal! I don’t make fried rice nearly enough– it’s so easy and flavorful. Especially with the quick-cooking rice. We had leftovers the next day and this reheated really well, so this would be a great meal to make ahead for the week, too.
- For the chicken skewers:
- ½ cup pineapple juice, reserved from can of pineapple (see below)
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup honey
- 4 thin-cut chicken breasts, halved lengthwise or 8 chicken tenders (about 1½ lbs)
- For the fried rice:
- 2 cups uncooked quick-cooking (such as Minute) brown rice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup diced onions (fresh or frozen)
- 1 cup frozen peas and carrots mix
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 (20 oz) can pineapple chunks or tidbits in 100% juice, juice drained and reserved
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- Salt & pepper, to taste
- For the chicken skewers: Whisk together pineapple juice, ½ cup soy sauce and honey. Place chicken in a large ziplock bag and pour marinade over chicken. Seal the bag and let sit 30 minutes.
- Preheat grill to medium-high heat. (You can also use a grill pan on the stovetop, or a George Foreman-type grill.)
- Remove the chicken from the ziplock bag (DON'T DISCARD THE MARINADE!), and thread each piece onto a wooden skewer. Pour the marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens and reduces by half, about 20 minutes.
- Grill the chicken skewers 2-3 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.
- Brush reduced glaze over chicken skewers.
- For the fried rice (can be cooked simultaneously while you're working on the chicken): Cook rice according to package directions and set aside.
- In a large skillet or wok, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the peas and carrots and continue sauteing 3 minutes. Move the veggies to one side of the pan (if your pan is not non-stick, add another splash of olive oil) and pour the eggs into the other side of the pan, stirring until lightly scrambled and cooked through. Break up the eggs a bit and mix with veggies.
- Add the cooked rice and pineapple chunks to the pan. Then add soy sauce, garlic, ginger and sesame oil and stir to evenly mix everything. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook until everything is heated through.
- Serve rice along with chicken skewers!
Do you like celebrating holidays with food? Are you making anything fun for the Chinese New Year?
Asian Food is absolutely one of my favorites and I just love fried rice. This looks so delicious and simple! For a busy mom like me that is a must. Thanks so much for sharing! #client
Thanks, Cristi!! Hope you try it!
I’m not Chinese, but I love Chinese New Year – Hello delicious food! 🙂 LOVING this fried rice and chicken skewers, Jess! The pineapple is absolutely perfect in here! SO MUCH YUMM! Cheers, friend!
I love homemade takeout food – so easy and so much better! This looks amazing!
I love pineapple fried rice! This looks so much better than takeout and I bet it’s better for you too 😉 I’d love some of this for dinner right about now!
I adore pineapple fried rice, and your at-home version looks to die for! Those glazed chicken skewers are the perfect compliment. Love this! Pinned 🙂
This looks so incredibly yummy! I’m loving how you used pineapple both in the fried rice and in the chicken, it sounds like the perfect bowl of bright spring flavors in the midst of this gross winter weather. Pinning for sure!
Ok I want a huge bowl of this pineapple fried rice for breakfast! 🙂 I used to never like warm pineapple, but now I love it! And I’ve always wanted to make pineapple fried rice, so this is just calling my name. Sounds so delicious!
Thanks, Gayle!! It was really yummy!
Oh man, you are giving me SUCH a huge craving for Asian food now, Jess! I seriously cannot even handle how amazing that fried rice looks and those chicken skewers just take it over the top! Hello, winner dinner! 😀
What a yummy dinner! That pineapple glaze sounds amazing!
Oh, I looooove pineapple fried rice, and yours looks awesome! Great combination of flavors + textures. By the way, I keep trying to comment on your Cheddar Cauliflower Chowder post, but I keep getting error messages. Just FYI in case you notice your comments are down on that one — others may be having trouble with the comment form, too! Also, apologies if you get 4 of the same comment from me. =)
Hmmmm! Thanks for letting me know, Amy! It’s a widget run by the sponsor on that post so I’ll have to check with them and see what’s up!
This is very good , made it for dinner last night and enjoyed it very much
So glad you liked it! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Pineapple fried rice is one of our favorites and making it at home is so much much better! Yours looks perfect with the chicken skewers! So much better than takeout! 🙂
Thanks, Kelly! It was so yummy!