Coming up with new dinner ideas to ‘wow’ your family with can be tricky to say the least. Often it’s a balancing act between choosing nutritious meals and considering food preferences of those living in your home. Let’s be honest, it can be a refined art to get kids to try something new. Our friend, Heather from @fitmamarealfood, shared her Hawaiian Chicken Bake recipe with us and we are confident it will become a weeknight dinner staple. Featuring Pure flavor®Aurora bites Mini Sweet Peppers, it’s the complete dinner package – fun, fruity, sweet, colorful, delicious, and healthy!

Is it just me or does dinner time always seem to be just around the corner? Within a busy household, the thought of figuring out what to serve for dinner constantly looms. It is very easy to fall back on ‘tried and true’ meals, but that can grow boring. And the last thing anyone wants to here after spending the time to make dinner is “oh, this again?” 

HAWAIIAN CHICKEN BAKE

If you’ve been looking for recipes to bring excitement and fun to your dinner table, I have a recipe that will easily become your home’s new go-to weeknight dinner—Hawaiian Chicken Bake! It’s quick to pull together and full of delicious, sweet pepper and pineapple goodness. This healthy, balanced meal features chicken, brown rice, sauteed Pure Flavor® Aurora Bites Mini Sweet Peppers, plus a creamy coconut aminos sauce that brings the whole dish together.  Enjoy it as-is or serve along with your favorite steamed veggie.  It’s filling, flavorful, and a meal your family will keep requesting time and again! 

START WITH GREAT INGREDIENTS

Dinner winner right here! This Hawaiian Chicken Bake offers up the best sweet notes, thanks to the crushed pineapple and coconut aminos which balances perfectly with the chicken and sautéed Aurora Bites Mini Sweet Peppers. It’s a dream meal that will spark feelings of relaxing in tropical Hawaii! Every time I make this recipe I am instantly transported back to a Hawaiian restaurant near my home. The flavors remind me of a combination of sweet teriyaki chicken, meets barbequed pineapple, meets creamy macaroni salad.  Sounds wild, I know but give it a try!

Pure Flavor® Aurora Bites Mini Sweet Peppers are so delicious and the perfect vegetable addition to this meal! They are sweet, they have THE BEST crunch factor, and they pair really well with the sweet pineapple flavors.  To be honest, I pack these Mini Sweet Peppers in lunchboxes for an easy veggie on the go, I roast them to us in bowls, and I often sauté them for dinner recipes. No matter how you want to enjoy them, they work and are a favorite in our household!

HOW TO MAKE HAWAIIAN CHICKEN BAKE

Making Hawaiian Chicken Bake is just a few simple steps! Sauté sliced Aurora Bites Mini Sweet Peppers over medium heat until they start to get some color around the edge. Then add half the cooked peppers, cooked rice, shredded chicken, and pineapple into a large bowl and mix to combine.

While the peppers sauté, combine the sauce ingredients together in a bowl, then pour into the chicken and rice mixture and stir until fully combined.  Add the Hawaiian Chicken Bake mixture into a large baking dish, and top with the remaining cooked peppers, and bake! When it’s bubbling around the edges it’s ready to enjoy!

MAKE TIME TO MEAL PREP

This recipe was made for busy weeknights!  While prepping ahead is definitely not required, the ingredients that are used in this recipe lend themselves to simple prep in the best way.

The two items I suggest prepping in advance are the chicken and the brown rice. For the chicken breast, you can roast it or boil it, shred it, and then simply store it in the fridge until it’s assembly time.  For the rice, cook ahead of time using your favorite method (I love my rice cooker!), cool it, and store in the fridge until assembly. 

To be honest, this is the perfect dish to make on the weekend – just assemble together and then bake when you need it during the week. No time to bake? If you only have a few minutes to get dinner on the table, go straight to the stovetop! Add the chicken bake into a large pot on the stovetop, heat over medium heat while stirring until warm.  

MAKE IT YOUR OWN

Though this recipe is great as is, I’ve put together a list of substitutions that will also work well in this Hawaiian baked chicken recipe so you can customize it to your family’s needs.  

  • Brown rice – White rice or cauliflower rice work well as a substitute
  • Shredded cooked chicken – You can use shredded chicken thighs, or even try it with shredded pork or beef!
  • Crushed pineapple – Diced pineapple will work, however, if you can, give it a quick chop before adding to help distribute the pineapple throughout the casserole
  • Kefir – Plain yogurt works as a great alternative, or you can increase the mayo amount
  • Coconut aminos – Use a combination of soy sauce and pineapple juice (half and half) as an alternative to coconut aminos.  You can also substitute in teriyaki sauce

So, if you are always scrambling to come up with new ideas for dinner, try something a little different with this Hawaiian Chicken Bake.  Hopefully it will please everyone around your dinner table and soon become one of your favorite weekday dishes to create.  Dinner doesn’t have to be boring! Mixing in the sweet and savory flavors in this meal is what really brings it all together.  Add in your favorite veggies to make it perfect for you and your family – the sky is the limit! 

For more delicious, healthy recipes you can feel great about eating, click here.

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