Spicy Pineapple Chicken

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This dish is (sort of) a riff on a PF Chang’s recipe, but I’ve never actually eaten at PF Chang’s so I can’t tell  you whether or not it compares. What I can tell you is that it doesn’t really matter either way, because I loved it. It’s pretty easy to love a meal with crispy chicken and a spicy-sweet sauce, particularly when it comes together quickly. Toss in any vegetables you want, add some rice, and you have a complete meal.

The chicken gets nice and crispy because it’s dredged in cornstarch and pan-fried in oil. I’m not really into deep frying often, so I just put enough oil on the bottom of a nonstick pan to get the chicken cooked and crisp, without overloading it with fat and grease. Slicing the chicken rather than cutting it into cubes also works better for this, because it takes less time to cook through.

I ended up using Sambal Oelek in this since it’s a staple in our house and I wasn’t really sure what “chili sauce” was, to be honest (My mind conjured up images of the Heinz bottle, but that didn’t seem appropriate in this recipe). It worked really well and gave this dish a nice kick. Obviously, use  more or less to suit your spice preference.

I’m happy to report that this meal will definitely be a repeat in our home.

 

Spicy Pineapple Chicken

16 thoughts on “Spicy Pineapple Chicken

  1. This was great! As promised, I went home and made this last night. I didn’t have quite enough pineapple juice, so I had to adjust the sauce a bit, but we both still really liked it. Thanks for sharing!

  2. I made this not long after you first posted it and it has become one of our favorite dinners! I love how the flavors come together so well, and it’s a great weeknight meal.

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