Grilled Pineapple Chicken and Rice

Pineapple marinated chicken thighs, a spicy pineapple salsa, and lots of fluffy rice make for the perfect summer bowls in this grilled pineapple chicken and rice.

I’m convinced that bowl dinners just taste better than any other kind of dinner, am I the only one?? It’s just really hard to beat a good rice bowl.

Especially if said rice bowl is piled to absolute capacity with juicy pineapple grilled chicken and smoky pineapple salsa. I wouldn’t rule out faceplanting here.

Summer meals like this where you can do nearly all of the cooking outside are just where it’s at this time of year! These bowls tick every single summer box.

You can even prep most of the components for these bowls ahead of time like marinating the chicken the night before, making up the salsa, or even assembling the bowls meal prep-style in containers.

Just be warned, you’re not ready for the explosion of flavors that’s about to hit ya.

This Pineapple Chicken features…

• Chicken thighs marinated in a pineapple soy-based sauce and grilled until perfectly smoky
• A sweet and spicy grilled pineapple salsa
• A base of fluffy white rice
• Perfect for meal prepping

Making the Pineapple Chicken

(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)

Ingredients You Will Need

• Pineapple
• Lime juice
• Soy sauce
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Honey
• Cornstarch
• Chicken thighs
• Tomatoes
• Jalapeno
• Cilantro
• Rice

Choosing Your Chicken

I recommend using boneless skinless chicken thighs for these bowls. This cut of chicken is fast to cook up on the grill and turns out super tender and juicy after being marinated in the pineapple marinade.

If you don’t have thighs on hand, boneless skinless chicken breasts will work great instead, however, you may need to adjust the cook time slightly if they are thicker breasts. Always use a kitchen thermometer to test the internal temperature of meat.

Tips for Perfect Pineapple Chicken

1. Use fresh garlic and ginger in marinade – this gives the marinade tons of flavor.
2. Marinate chicken at least 2 hours – a good rule of thumb with marinating is 2 hours if you’re in a hurry and up to 12 if you’ve got some extra time.
3. Marinate chicken on bottom shelf of fridge – it’s always a good idea to keep raw meats away from fresh produce and on the bottom shelf of your fridge to reduce risk of cross contamination.
4. Save the marinade – don’t throw out the marinade after removing the chicken. Simmer marinade on the stove several minutes to cook it through and save it for drizzling over chicken after grilling.
5. Cut pineapple into planks – we prefer 1/2-inch thick planks for the pineapple as this thickness will hold its shape during grilling.
6. Cut tomatoes and grilled pineapple in uniform size for salsa – ideally, you want 1/4-inch cubes so you end up with a scoopable salsa.

Recipe Variations

Try these ideas for a different twist on this recipe.

• Make chicken spicy – for an added kick of heat, add 1/2-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes or a minced jalapeno to the chicken marinade.
• Make it mild – the salsa is only moderately spicy as is, but you can decrease the jalapeno or leave it out entirely for a more mild version.
• Use a different fruit in salsa – try grilling mangos or peaches for the salsa.
• Swap out rice – try using steamed quinoa, brown rice, farro, or cauliflower rice in place of the white rice.
• Add more toppings – try serving bowls with a scoop of guacamole, a sprinkle of cotija cheese, crushed tortilla chips, or black beans on top.

Stovetop and Oven Instructions

Follow these instructions for how to make these bowls indoors instead of on the grill.

• Stovetop: Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large skillet (or brush over a large cast iron grill pan) Once pan is hot, add chicken and sear on both sides until chicken registers 165F, adding more oil to pan as needed. Repeat cooking with pineapple until slightly charred. Note: if you are using a thicker cut of chicken, such as a chicken breast, I recommend searing chicken on both sides, then finish cooking in a 400F oven 5-10 minutes.
• Oven: Arrange chicken and pineapple slabs in a single layer on a greased sheet pan. Bake at 400F 20-25 minutes until chicken registers 165F. Optionally, broil chicken and pineapple 1 inch from heat 2-3 minutes to crisp up the outside.

Tropical food-lovers, these bowls are 100% up your alley! The double dose of pineapple in both the marinated chicken and the spicy salsa brings so much incredible flavor to these bowls.

Every dinner rotation needs this goodness on it!

Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.

Watch this chicken made step-by-step on Google web stories.

More grilling favorites to try next!

• Blackened Salmon Tacos
• Green Goddess Grilled Chicken
• Greek Grilled Salmon Kabobs