Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Pineapple Chicken

by Sabrina Snyder

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Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Pineapple Chicken is an easy weeknight dinner that you can set and forget. Tangy, tender chicken thighs with crispy skin.

This delicious Slow Cooker Meal takes the sweet and sour flavor of Brown Sugar Grilled Pineapple and makes it into an easy chicken recipe.

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Pineapple Chicken in crockpot

SLOW COOKER BROWN SUGAR PINEAPPLE CHICKEN

The pineapple chunks and brown sugar give this chicken an amazing blend of the sweet and sour. You won’t be able to get enough of this crispy and tangy chicken. It’s sure to become one of your go-to family dinners for a busy weekday. This Hawaiian Chicken has such a distinct taste from the pineapple, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar mixture. An easy Pineapple Chicken that you’re sure to find yourself making over and over again.

The great thing about slow cooker recipes, like this one, is that you can set it up in the morning and have an unbelievably delicious dinner ready at the end of the day. The total time may be several hours, but your crockpot is doing all the work. After cooking the chicken in the crockpot, you can broil it in the oven for a few minutes to make the skin extra crispy. 

For a super simple side dish to round off this Pineapple Chicken recipe into a full meal, make some Light Coconut Rice. It will pair wonderfully with the flavor from the pineapple juice and is easy to make while the chicken recipe is finishing up.

SLOW COOKER CHICKEN RECIPES

PINEAPPLE CHICKEN KEBABS

Make this Brown Sugar Chicken into a fun kabob dinner. Let the recipe cook in the slow cooker as usual. Once it’s done, cut the Pineapple and Brown Sugar Chicken into bite-sized pieces. Prepare bell peppers, roasted pineapple, sweet potatoes, and other fruits and vegetables. Put out the chicken and complementary ingredients. Everyone can skewer what they want onto their own kebab and enjoy a fun take on this simple recipe.

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Pineapple Chicken in crockpot before cooking

VARIATIONS ON SLOW COOKER BROWN SUGAR PINEAPPLE CHICKEN

  • Chicken Breasts: You can try making this recipe with chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs. Prep boneless chicken breasts the same way and put it in the crockpot with the same ingredients. Boneless chicken breasts cook more quickly. Set the slow cooker to low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours to cook the chicken breasts.
  • Sauce: There are lots of different flavors you can add to the sauce that will complement the fresh pineapple and sugar mixture. Try replacing the Worcestershire sauce with ketchup, teriyaki sauce, hoisin sauce, barbecue sauce, or soy sauce.
  • Add-ins: Try mixing in some more flavor with vegetables and other add-ins. Cauliflower, green onions, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, caramelized onions, or sesame seeds. You can also add seasonings to the recipe like paprika, garlic powder, mustard powder, cumin or cayenne pepper.
  • Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken: You can make the recipe with some more garlic flavor. Add in a teaspoon of garlic powder and 8 minced garlic cloves to the chicken.
  • Marinade: You can try marinating the chicken to make it extra juicy. Put the chicken in a covered bowl with the Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Then add in some chicken broth along with the rest of the ingredients. Whisk the marinade together and let the chicken sit for 4-8 hours.

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Pineapple Chicken in crockpot

INSTANT POT BROWN SUGAR PINEAPPLE CHICKEN

  1. Turn the instant pot onto sauté mode and add olive oil to the bottom.
  2. Brown the chicken thighs in the pot on both sides until golden brown. You may need to do this in batches.
  3. Add the chicken thighs, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, crushed pineapple, and brown sugar to the instant pot.
  4. Lock and pressure cook for 20 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes, and then quick release.

SIDE DISHES FOR SLOW COOKER BROWN SUGAR PINEAPPLE CHICKEN

HOW TO STORE SLOW COOKER BROWN SUGAR PINEAPPLE CHICKEN

  • Serve: Don’t leave cooked chicken at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
  • Store: To store your Pineapple Chicken recipe, let it cool to room temperature then store it in an airtight container in the fridge. It will last well for 3-4 days.
  • Freeze: This is also a great recipe to make ahead. You can freeze Brown Sugar Pineapple Chicken for up to 4 months. To reheat the chicken, let it defrost in the fridge overnight. You can reheat the chicken in the oven, then add some extra fresh pineapple chunks.

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Pineapple Chicken in crockpot

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Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Pineapple Chicken

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Pineapple Chicken is an easy weeknight dinner that you can set and forget. Tangy, tender chicken thighs with crispy skin.
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Keyword Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Pineapple Chicken
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours 3 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 8 minutes
Servings 5 Servings
Calories 474 kcal
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

  • 5 chicken thighs , bone-in, skin-on
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 20 ounces crushed pineapple
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar , packed
  • 3 cloves garlic , minced
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  1. Place chicken thighs in the slow cooker skin side up and season with Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper.

  2. Top with garlic, brown sugar and most of your pineapple (save 1/2 cup) along with all the pineapple juice from the can.

  3. Cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours.

  4. For crispy skin, put the chicken on a baking sheet, 8 inches below the broiler in the oven on high heat for 2-3 minutes.

  5. Top with remaining uncooked pineapple before serving.

Nutrition Facts
Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Pineapple Chicken
Amount Per Serving
Calories 474 Calories from Fat 216
% Daily Value*
Fat 24g37%
Saturated Fat 6g38%
Cholesterol 142mg47%
Sodium 617mg27%
Potassium 501mg14%
Carbohydrates 41g14%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 38g42%
Protein 24g48%
Vitamin A 169IU3%
Vitamin C 12mg15%
Calcium 55mg6%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Hello, love your recipes, maybe I missed it but I was wondering what adjustments I should make if cooking in the instant pot but with chicken breast instead of thighs? Thank you!

    Reply

    1. I’ve not tested it with breasts in the IP, just thighs. I think with all of the other ingredients though added, there wouldn’t need to be any adjustments. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out. Thanks!

      Reply

  3. The recipe mention topping the chicken with garlic and brown sugar, How much garlic should you use and is it fresh (chopped, whole) garlic or granulated garlic? The recipe doesn’t give the details.

    Reply

    1. You should use 3 cloves of minced garlic for this recipe. I’m not sure why it didn’t post correctly. I’ve edited the recipe card so hopefully it sticks this time. Thanks for you patience.

      Reply

  7. This sounded delicious. However, the ingredients don’t include garlic but the instructions do. The pineapple is included in the ingredients but not in the instructions! What is the actual recipe, please?

    Reply

    1. There must have been a glitch upon posting. I’ve edited it again to show the correct amounts in the recipe card. You’ll want to use 3 cloves of minced garlic and the pineapple are used as a topping before serving. Enjoy!

      Reply

  8. I have a few questions regarding this recipe.

    Do you drain the pineapple before adding it to the cooker?

    Also, the recipe says garlic, I assumed you meant the pineapple and brown sugar. Juat a bit confusing.

    Reply

    1. I totally understand your confusion. There was a glitch and the recipe card didn’t show a lot of important details. I’ve edited to read correctly now. Thanks so much for your patience will it was being fixed.

      Reply

    1. There was a glitch upon this posting. The recipe card has since been corrected to fill in the missing pieces. So sorry about that.

      Reply

    1. I’ve edited the recipe card to show the missing amounts and steps. I’m so sorry they were missing upon posting.

      Reply

    1. Thank you for catching that. There was a massive glitch with this recipe card but I’ve since gone in and corrected them. Fingers crossed it sticks this time.

      Reply

  18. Thanks Sabrina for the Instant Pot directions–I don’t have a slow cooker.
    Keep up the good work!!

    Reply

  19. In the instructions, you have add garlic and brown sugar, but no garlic in ingredient list.
    When does one add pineapple?
    Thank you for such great recipes

    Reply

    1. You’ll add some of it to the slow cooker and then use the rest at the end. I’ve edited the recipe card to read correctly.

      Reply

  21. In the instructions it says to top with “garlic, brown sugar” – I think that this should read “pineapple, brown sugar” . But it sounds delish anyway!

    Reply