Garlic-pineapple chicken and rice puts an Asian spin on a classic dinner

Pineapple is one of my favorite ingredients in cooking savory dishes when I want to add a sweet and slightly sour touch. Its flavor is so good and strong, but it doesn’t overpower the other ingredients in a dish.

For a different approach to chicken and rice dinners, I chose an Asian-inspired blend of pineapple, garlic and soy sauce to cook the chicken. The result is addictive and so good, because for me and my family, it was a chicken and rice dish we finished quite quickly. Too quickly, I might say.

Accompanying the chicken with pineapple ham mixed rice might seem like pineapple overload, but while you are eating them together, you will taste how both meet midway with their similar (yet different) blending of tastes. They complement each other, which is the fundamental thing.

Garlic-pineapple chicken with pineapple ham mixed rice recipe

Serves 4

Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 40 minutes | Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup pineapple juice
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 garlic cloves, grated or pressed in a garlic press
• 1 tablespoon ginger, grated
• Pepper, to taste
• Olive oil
• 4 chicken thighs, skin on
• 2 cups diced fresh pineapple (not the preserved sweet ones)
• Pineapple ham mixed rice (see recipe below)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, pineapple juice, water, garlic, ginger and pepper.
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, place the chicken thighs side by side, add the diced pineapple, and then pour in the soy sauce-pineapple mixture. Boil, and then simmer on low heat until the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
3. Separate the chicken from the sauce and pineapple, into separate bowls.
4. In the same saucepan, pour in some olive oil, and when it becomes hot, brown both sides of the chicken.
5. When the chicken thighs are brown, return the sauce and the pineapple to the pan, and cook for another 10 minutes. When everything is cooked, set it aside.
6. Serve the chicken on top or on the side of the pineapple ham mixed rice (see recipe below).

Pineapple ham mixed rice recipe

Serves 4

Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 10 minutes | Total time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 2 cups diced ham
• 1 cup diced fresh pineapple (not the preserved sweet ones)
• 3/4 cup peas
• 4 cups cooked rice
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat with the olive oil, sauté the ham for 2 minutes, and then add in the pineapple and peas. Sauté together for 5 minutes.
2. Add the cooked rice, and mix well. Add the soy sauce, and mix.

More chicken and rice recipes

One-pan Greek lemon chicken and rice
Pineapple and chicken fried rice
Baked lemon-soy chicken and rice platter