This healthy, sweet and spicy firecracker pineapple chicken is way better than takeout! A gluten free, paleo and whole30 dinner that everyone will love!
BOOM goes your taste buds!
Straight up, this fire CRACKAH chicken is going to be the newest dinner to BLOW up your families taste buds, in the most CRAZY addicting, totally obsessively-gotta-eat-it-weekly kinda ways.
It’s the kind of chicken that you make 4 servings of for your hubs to bring to work the next 4 days and then – POOF – after day 1 you look in the fridge and ALL CHICKEN IS GONE. AAAND, you’re not even mad that it means you now need to make 3 more lunches because you TOTALLY get it.
Really happened. True story. Right down to the “not even being mad” part.
You guys. This is my new favorite recipe. You know, until next week when I have a new favorite recipe.
Whatever. You get it.
Considering we have had whole30 mango chicken with coconut cauliflower rice, paleo orange chicken and whole30 bacon cauliflower fried rice, you know I have this obsesses ion with “whole30-fying” takeout dishes.
Mostly because I RLY RLY like takeout food, but I RLY RLY don’t like how it makes my GRUMBLY (in a bad way) belly feel after a major binge sesh. Considering you and I agree on ALL things food, I know you also have these feelings in your soul.
#FoodBuddies.
This healthy, real-food, takeout-fakeout (too much?) chicken uses pineapple juice to create a sticky-sweet sauce that wraps itself around each tender, golden-brown, crispy-crunchy bite of chicken and then – POW – those bursts of spicy hot sauce and salty coconut aminos hit your taste buds SQUARE IN THE FACE.
It’s the sort of spicy-sweet heat that tingles your taste buds and warms the back of your throat in happy-delicious-food GOODNESS, each and every time you MUNCH.
Also, random side story about fire crackers that is totally unrelated to chicken:
They remind me of the first July 4th that Mr. FFF and I celebrated together as married humans. We lived on a farm, on a ollllld farm road that had NO PEOPLE EVER driving on it. We celebrated this VRY important holiday by sitting on VRY ghetto lawn chairs, in the middle of the field, throwing fire crackers at the ground.
If we’re having a party, you probably don’t want to come. #WeDon’tKnowHowToParty.
BUT, if this chicken was hosting the shindig? You would DEFS want to get your taste buds on the VIP list.
A few words for you internet friends who are secretly thinking that you will bake each juicy morsel of chicken instead of throwing it in a deliciously sizzling pot of heart-healthy avocado oil:
DO. NOT. DO. IT.
It does NOTNOTNOT go golden brown and crunchy and you will NOT have the ultimate FOOD NIRVANA, soul-SATISFYING experience that is crunchy, crispy AMAZING firecrackers chicken.
Also, don’t use olive oil. It does not do good things when you craaaaank the heat up to ensure crispy-chicken exterior.
It burns.
Leaving your could-have-been-chicken extremely not edible and MAJORLY lacking in YUMS.
You are now armed with every possible tidbit of knowledge that could have come between you and spicy-sweet chicken heaven tonight.
I suggest you utilize your new-found knowledge for the good of your food-eating, hungry family.
For step-by-step instruction of this recipe, watch my video tutorial below:
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Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Avocado oil
- 1 1/2 tsp Fresh ginger, minced
- 3/4 Cup Pineapple juice
- 1 Tbsp Franks red hot sauce
- 1/2 Tbsp Coconut aminos (or soy sauce if not paleo)
- 1 tsp Tapioca starch
For the chicken:
- 3 Tbsp Tapioca starch
- Salt and pepper
- 8 Oz Chicken breast, cubed
- 2 Tbsp Avocado oil
- 1/4 Cup Pineapple tidbits, drained
- Cooked white rice, or cauliflower rice, for serving
- Sliced green onion, for garnish
- Sesame seeds, for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium frying pan heat the avocado oil (for the sauce) on medium heat. Add in the ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Turn up the heat to medium high and add in the pineapple juice, hot sauce and coconut aminos. Bring to a boil.
- Once boiling whisk 2 tsp of the sauce with the 1 tsp of tapioca starch in a small bowl until smooth. While whisking, pour in the tapioca starch mixture until well mixed.
- Boil, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens and starts to reduce, about 2-3 minutes. Turn down the heat to medium/low and cook an additional 1 minute, until the sauce begins to become shiny. Transfer to a medium bowl and cover to thicken and keep warm while you make the chicken. *
- Place the tapioca starch and a pinch of salt and pepper in a large Ziploc bag. Add in the cubed chicken and shake until evenly coated.
- Heat 1 Tbsp of the avocado oil on medium high heat in a large frying pan. Add in half of the chicken paces and cook until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook until the other side id golden brown. Then, transfer to a paper towel lined plate and lightly press out any excess oil. Repeat with the remaining oil and chicken.
- Add the cooked chicken into the sauce, along with the pineapple tidbits and toss to evenly coat.
- Serve over cauliflower rice (or rice,) and garnish with green onion and sesame seeds.
- DEVOUR!
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Info:
Recipes written and produced on Food Faith Fitness are for informational purposes only.
WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS PER SERVING: SMART POINTS: 15 POINTS+: 10. OLD POINTS: 10
(per half the recipe, with no rice option)
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Recipe is delicious and creates a whole30 option even your pickiest eaters will enjoy. Sweet with a kick, pairs nicely. We quickly became big fans of Taylors!!
Thank you, Lexy! So glad you loved it!