Brown Sugar Chicken with Pineapple Salsa
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This brown sugar chicken skillet delivers delicious summer vibes any time of the year, with juicy pan-seared chicken cutlets, a sweet and tangy spice rub, drizzles of pan sauce, and big spoonfuls of fresh pineapple salsa. It takes about 25 minutes, and I love that everything together feels elevated and exciting, yet the components are simple to deconstruct for choosy kids.
When we’re craving some big flavors in a fresh, healthy dinner, this brown sugar chicken with pineapple salsa springs quickly to mind. Pan-seared chicken breasts are convenient, easy to make, and take on all the delicious flavor of a sweet and savory homemade spice rub. The colorful salsa is just the cherry on top!
Why You’ll Love Brown Sugar Pineapple Chicken
- Bold, bright flavors from simple ingredients
- Tastes like summer on a plate—no matter the actual weather outside
- Ready in about 25 minutes so you can enjoy homemade in a hurry
- Simple method of pan-searing the chicken with tips to keep it nice and tender
- Feels fancy assembled but easy to deconstruct for tough customers
This is the same pineapple salsa we adore with pork tenderloin, carnitas tacos, and more. It’s fresh and has a lovely balance of sweet and savory. It’s also super easy to just toss the main components—pineapple cubes, bell pepper strips—onto kids’ plates as you prep, so they’re eating the same things even if all the colors mixed together makes them twitchy.
Ingredient Notes
Simple Steps, Big Flavors
This chicken dish starts with a homemade seasoning blend that brings bold flavor from everyday staples: brown sugar, paprika, thyme, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Combine in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the chicken, pressing gently to adhere.
Warm a drizzle of olive oil and melt a pat of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add the chicken and sear until golden on the outside and cooked through.
While the chicken cooks, you can get started on the pineapple salsa, which is just a matter of chopping and tossing everything together. You can prep the salsa a few hours ahead of time, too, and keep in the fridge if you like.
Pro Tip
Don’t worry if the chicken blackens a bit or leaves more than the usual amount of browned bits on the pan. This is because the brown sugar can caramelize and blacken at high temperatures. Some is normal, but of course if it crosses the line to smell or look burnt, lower the heat and remove the chicken if even close to done. Carry-over cooking may be enough to get it the rest of the way to temperature.
I love to pour in a bit of chicken broth after removing the cooked cutlets from the pan. This gives you a delicious pan sauce that incorporates all the rendered browned bits; it also just so happens to make your skillet much easier to clean.
Return chicken to the pan—you can see the blackening here; it still tasted great and was not really hard to clean—and spoon sauce on top of each piece.
Serve over rice or any other base of your choosing, and pile that delicious pineapple salsa very generously on top of it all.
More Full-Flavored Chicken Skillets
- Balsamic Skillet Chicken Breasts
- Jerk Chicken with Mango Avocado Salsa
- Cajun Butter Chicken
- Creamy Tuscan Chicken with Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Brown Sugar Chicken with Pineapple Salsa
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts sliced or pounded thin
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth see note
- rice optional for serving
For the Salsa:
- 2 cups finely-chopped fresh pineapple
- 1 bell pepper finely chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper ribs and seeds removed, finely minced, more or less to taste
- 2-3 Tablespoons finely-chopped red onion
- 2-3 Tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves minced
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Set the chicken out at room temperature. If it’s not already in thin slices, cut the breasts lengthwise through the middle to make them fairly thin. If any pieces are really uneven (thicker in one part, thinner in another), use a meat mallet or just a heavy pan to smash down the thick parts and even them out.4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, paprika, thyme, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle this mixture evenly on both sides of the chicken cutlets.2 Tablespoons brown sugar, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- To prep the salsa, combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Be sure everything is chopped into small, relatively even pieces. Stir well to combine, sample and season with more salt and lime juice to taste, then store in the fridge until ready to serve.2 cups finely-chopped fresh pineapple, 1 bell pepper, 1 jalapeno pepper, 2-3 Tablespoons finely-chopped red onion, 2-3 Tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves, 1 Tablespoon lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Warm olive oil and melt butter together in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. When the butter melts, add the chicken and sauté for 2-4 minutes per side, until cooked through and lightly golden. Remove the chicken to a plate, tent with foil, and set aside.1 Tablespoon olive oil, 1 Tablespoon butter
- Pour the broth into the pan. Scrape the bottom well to loosen the browned bits and bring the liquid to a simmer. Bubble for 1-2 minutes to let it thicken a bit. Return chicken to the pan, reduce heat to medium-low, and spoon a bit of sauce over each piece.1/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- Place chicken over rice, top with salsa, and drizzle with the pan sauce, as desired. Enjoy!rice
Notes
- Don’t Overcook: An instant-read thermometer is one of my most reached for kitchen tools; it completely eliminates guesswork. Remove chicken as soon as it hits 165°F inside and it will stay tender and juicy.
- Broth: For an extra layer of subtle flavor, add a splash of dry white wine or pineapple juice to the sauce along with the chicken broth.
- Storage: Leftovers keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days. When warming it back up, I always recommend microwaving chicken at 50% power to avoid drying out.
