Instant Pot Sweet Hawaiian Chicken–an easy 5 ingredient recipe of chicken with a sweet tangy sauce.
This recipe can be made in the Instant Pot or the Crockpot. Both instructions are listed below.

Instant Pot Sweet Hawaiian Chicken
This is an easy dump and go recipe that you’re going to love! The chicken gets moist and tender and the sauce is sweet (not overly sweet) and tangy. With only a handful of ingredients it is fast to put together.
I love how you can cook chicken from frozen in the Instant Pot and this recipe is no exception! You can throw the chicken in frozen and it gets cooked in almost the same amount of time as fresh chicken.
The sauce is the shining star of this recipe. Thanks to the reduction process it gets ultra flavorful and thickened. So don’t forget to reduce it for a few minutes after the chicken has been cooked! It’s worth the extra 10 minutes of time. Plus it’s a hands off 10 minutes (no stirring necessary).
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts–I did a combination of the two which I think is the best of both worlds. You can use frozen or fresh.
- Pineapple juice–I used the Dole brand. shake it up before adding into the pot because it gets a little separated.
- Kosher salt and pepper
- Barbecue sauce–I used Sweet Baby Ray’s brand.
Steps
- Add ingredients: Add chicken and pineapple juice into Instant Pot. Sprinkle the chicken with a pinch of salt and pepper. You can use frozen or fresh chicken.
- Pressure cook: Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 10 minutes for fresh chicken or 12 minutes for frozen chicken. When time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting.
- Move the chicken to a cutting board.
- Reduce the sauce: Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Whisk the barbecue sauce into the pineapple juice. Let the sauce simmer on the saute setting for 10 minutes. It will reduce down and get thicker and more flavorful. This step is more than just getting the sauce thicker. It’s getting the sauce to be more flavorful! You’ll be surprised at how awesome the flavor of the sauce gets with this step.
- Shred or pull the chicken and stir it into the sauce.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips
- Serve with rice (or fried rice) and a side of vegetables like broccoli.
- Love pineapple? Add a drained can of pineapple chunks to the finished product.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
- This recipe can be gluten-free. Check your BBQ sauce and make sure it is gluten-free before using.
- This recipe is dairy free.
- To cut down on sugars in this recipe use a low sugar BBQ sauce.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Other recipes you can make with barbecue sauce are Instant Pot Honey Barbecue Chicken and Instant Pot 3-Ingredient Root Beer BBQ Pulled Pork.
- If you have leftover pineapple juice it is delicious to drink but you can also use some of it to make hawaiian sweet bread or rolls.
- Recipe adapted from Cook at Home Mom.

More Instant Pot Recipes You’ll Love…
Instant Pot Shoyu Chicken
Soy sauce and brown sugar marinated chicken thigh pieces cooked quickly in your Instant Pot. A flavorful chicken that tastes great over rice.
Instant Pot Aloha Chicken
An easy dinner for savory and sweet chicken, pineapple and sauce served over rice…all made together in the Instant Pot.
Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken
A super fast and easy, 5-ingredient, dump and go Instant Pot recipe of slightly sweet chicken and pineapples. Serve this chicken on Hawaiian rolls or over rice.
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.


Instant Pot Sweet Hawaiian Chicken
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
An easy 5 ingredient recipe of chicken with a sweet tangy sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts (I did a combination)
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- Kosher salt and pepper
- 3/4 cup barbecue sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s)
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Add chicken and pineapple juice into Instant Pot. Sprinkle the chicken with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 10 minutes for fresh chicken or 12 minutes for frozen chicken. When time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting.
- Move the chicken to a cutting board.
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Whisk the barbecue sauce into the pineapple juice. Let the sauce simmer on the saute setting for 10 minutes. It will reduce down and get thicker and more flavorful.
- Shred or pull the chicken and stir it into the sauce.
- Serve and enjoy!
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Add pineapple juice and barbecue sauce into slow cooker. Whisk together until smooth.
- Add in the chicken and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
- Shred or pull the chicken and stir it into the sauce.
- Serve and enjoy!
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker

*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Very good!
★★★★★
Thanks!
OH MY GOSH……fabulous recipe…..thank you so much.
So glad you like it Brenda! Thank you!
Very yummy!
★★★★★
Thanks for the 5 stars!
It was very easy and very good. Will serve the leftovers with brown rice.
★★★★★
Thanks Sharon!
I loved the
Monterey pasta and so did all the people I served it to.
Same for me with the HFCS! Stubbs is the one for me.