Baked Sweet Hawaiian Chicken with Jaca

By Jaca Kitchen · · Updated

This sugar-free baked sweet Hawaiian chicken swaps every bit of brown sugar for Jaca allulose, so you get the same sticky, tangy pineapple glaze over crispy chicken with about a quarter of the sugar. It's the Tuesday-night dinner that tastes like a mini vacation — crispy chicken pieces baked in a glossy pineapple-soy sauce with sweet bell peppers and juicy pineapple tidbits, all spooned over a bowl of rice.

This is a Jaca-adjusted, healthier version of the classic. We replaced the brown sugar with Jaca allulose at twice the amount (¾ cup brown sugar becomes 1½ cups Jaca). Allulose is a rare sugar that caramelizes and sweetens just like the sugar we grew up with, but your body barely metabolizes it — so the sauce still turns sticky and glossy while the sugar drops from about 36 g to roughly 9 g per serving.

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1.5 lbs), cut into bite-sized pieces
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1¼ cups cornstarch
  • 3 large eggs, beaten
  • ⅓ cup canola or vegetable oil

For the sweet Hawaiian sauce:

  • 1½ cups pineapple juice
  • 1½ cups Jaca allulose (replaces ¾ cup packed brown sugar)
  • ½ cup low-sodium soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 1 large clove)
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 cup diced red bell pepper (about 1 medium pepper)
  • 1 (20 oz) can pineapple tidbits, drained

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 325°F and spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
  2. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and season well with the salt and pepper.
  3. Add the cornstarch to a large zip-top bag and the beaten eggs to a bowl. Add the chicken to the bag, seal, and shake until every piece is coated.
  4. Dip each coated piece into the egg, then set it on a parchment-lined baking sheet so the pieces don't stick.
  5. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken in 2–3 batches — no need to cook it through, it finishes in the oven. Transfer the browned pieces to the baking dish.
  6. Whisk together the pineapple juice, Jaca allulose, soy sauce, garlic, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch, then pour it over the chicken.
  7. Scatter the diced bell pepper and drained pineapple tidbits over the top.
  8. Bake uncovered for 1 hour, stirring every 15–20 minutes to coat the chicken in the sauce. Let it rest 5–10 minutes, then serve over steamed rice.

Prep time: 20 minutes · Cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes · Total: about 1 hour 35 minutes · Serves: 6

Adapted from The Recipe Critic and made healthier with Jaca allulose.