Sweet Hawaiian Crockpot Chicken

Sweet Hawaiian crockpot chicken is an easy dinner made with tender chicken breast, colorful vegetables, and chunks of pineapple in a sweet and savory sauce. This Hawaiian chicken will have you saying “Aloha!” as it transports you to the beautiful islands of Hawaii.

This recipe takes about 10 minutes to prepare, and then you dump it all into a crockpot and walk away. My favorite kind of recipe! Sweet Hawaiian crockpot chicken is a great recipe for meal prep, too. We will often cook this dish in the slow cooker on a weekend and then portion it out in these glass 2-cup containers to eat for lunches all week!

This recipe for a Hawaiian-style pineapple chicken is a cross between a sweet and sour chicken and huli huli (Hawaiian BBQ) Chicken. It’s sweet and savory, and delicious over rice or cauliflower rice.

Healthy Hawaiian Chicken with Pineapple

Many recipes for slow cooker Hawaiian chicken include lots of brown sugar, honey, and canned pineapple in heavy syrup. Instead, I lightened up this Hawaiian chicken by skipping all the added sugar and using pineapple canned in pineapple juice. I also added my favorite sugar-free barbecue sauce and some orange juice to sweeten the sauce. You will get a sweet sauce, without all the added sugar!

Sweet Hawaiian Crockpot Chicken Ingredients

For a slow cooker recipe, this one cooks up pretty quickly! Since this Sweet Hawaiian crockpot chicken only takes about 3 and half hours to cook, I like to use chicken breast to keep the recipe light. With such a short cooking time, your chicken breast will be tender and delicious!

So, you’ll see that I don’t add any extra sugar. It’s because I think that the pineapple (including the juice), orange juice, and sugar-free barbecue sauce add plenty of sweetness to the recipe.

For my vegetables, I used one whole green bell pepper and one whole red bell pepper, along with some onions. We round out the flavors in the sauce by adding in garlic, ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil.

I recommend serving this sweet and savory pineapple chicken over rice (or cauliflower rice) and topping with some scallions and black sesame seeds.

Easy Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken Recipe

To start, you’ll want to spray the inside of your slow cooker with non-stick spray. Next, chop your vegetables and chicken into bite-size pieces. Then, add your chicken to the slow cooker and season with salt and pepper.

On top of the chicken, add your chopped bell peppers and onions.

In a small bowl, mix together your minced garlic, grated ginger, sesame oil, sugar-free barbecue sauce, and soy sauce.

Pour sauce on top of vegetables in the slow cooker.

And then add in your can of pineapple, including all that delicious pineapple juice. Basically, the pineapple juice will cook down with the soy and bbq sauce into a delicious sweet and savory sauce. It’s the sauce that gives this sweet Hawaiian crockpot chicken its zing!

Give everything a good stir to coat, and put on the lid. Then you cook on low heat for 3 hours.

After 3 hours, mix together orange juice and cornstarch to make a slurry. Then, pour the slurry into the crockpot and stir to combine. Cook for an additional 30 minutes with the lid off, until the sauce is nice and thick.

Finally, serve Sweet Hawaiian Crockpot chicken over rice or cauliflower rice. In addition, top with scallions and sesame seeds if desired.

Enjoy!

FAQ for Sweet Hawaiian Crockpot Chicken

Can you put raw chicken in a slow cooker?

Yes! You can put raw chicken in a slow cooker. However, you will want to make sure it’s completely defrosted.

What is Hawaiian chicken sauce made of?

Hawaiian chicken sauce is made from pineapple juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and sometimes bbq sauce. Some recipes also call for brown sugar or honey.

What makes chicken rubbery in a crockpot?

Overcooking chicken in a crockpot will make it rubbery and tough. This recipe cooks the chicken for only 3 and half hours on low heat so the result is tender, juicy chicken breast.

If you love crockpot recipes, please check out this one I did for gluten-free beef stew. In addition to being healthy, it turned out tender and delicious!