Marinated Chicken Stir Fry With Pineapple and Beans

Get ready for an unexpected Stir Fry, done Brazilian style! This is Marinated Chicken Stir Fry with a tangy, sweet, and savory soy, garlic, ginger, and sesame sauce. It has crunchy onions and red peppers, soft and sweet pineapple, and creamy black beans. It's finished with that familiar cilantro flavor found in so many Brazilian dishes. It's like a fusion of Japanese and Brazilian flavors and ingredients to create one amazing recipe.

Did you know that Brazil is home to the world's largest community of Japanese descendants outside of Japan? That's right! So of course, there is Japanese cuisine influencing the food here. In fact, next door to our new apartment building in Sao Paulo, we have a very popular Japanese restaurant, Djapa, with crowds that wait outside to get in. The Japanese cuisine here is focused on Sushi, but you can definitely find other favorites such as stir fry.

Simple Ingredients and Substitutes

Chicken and Marinade

• Chicken Breasts, boneless skinless - I always have raw chicken breasts in the freezer as they can last up to 12 months if in an airtight container or packaging. These are easy to cut into strips. If you can find pre sliced raw strips at the store, that's even easier! You can also use chicken tenders or boneless skinless chicken thighs. You can also use pork tenderloin strips or beef stir fry strips.
• Sesame Oil – Sesame Oil is really for flavor and a little goes a long way. If you don’t have it, just eliminate it altogether. Or you can substitute with another deep umami ingredient, such as oyster sauce.
• Soy Sauce – I used regular Soy Sauce, but you can also use light soy sauce, low sodium, or Gluten Free. If you don’t have Soy sauce, you can add Worcestershire sauce or beef, chicken, vegetable, stock or broth.
• White Wine Vinegar - You can also use red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or rice wine vinegar.
• Fresh Garlic cloves, minced – Fresh is best when it comes to garlic, but you can buy pre-minced garlic to save time or mince it in bulk and freeze it for use when you need it! If you do not have fresh garlic, you can substitute dried garlic flakes or garlic powder.
• Ginger – I love to buy the fresh root and then mince it in bulk in the food processor, so that I can freeze and always have it on. If you do not have fresh ginger, you can substitute ginger powder.
• Ground Cumin - You can substitute with ground coriander or smoked paprika.

Stir Fry

• Soy sauce - See above.
• Unsweetened Coconut milk – I used Goya Coconut Milk in a can. However, you can use any brand of canned Lite or regular Coconut milk. If you buy your coconut milk from the dairy section, be sure to get the Plain Unsweetened variety. You can also substitute with regular cows milk, plain unsweetened almond milk, or heavy cream.
• Tomato paste - the tomato paste adds to a deep rich flavor. You can leave it out or even substitute in a mild or semi-spicy chili paste, such as Sambal Oelek Chili paste.
• Sesame oil - See above.
• Red bell pepper - You can substitute any bell peppers, such as green bell pepper. Other mild peppers, such as poblanos would also work. Or hot peppers, such as jalapeno or red chilis.
• Onion, diced – I used yellow onion, but you can use white onion, red onion, shallots, or even scallions.
• Jalapeño - You can substitute poblano pepper, serano pepper, or even green bell pepper.
• Pineapple, diced - I cut up my own, but you can use frozen and thawed or canned.
• Fresh Ginger, minced or grated - See above.
• Fresh Garlic cloves, minced - See above.
• Cooked Black beans, rinsed and drained - I used canned but you can of course make your own from scratch from dried beans. You can substitute in pinto beans, white beans, or even black eyed peas.
• Fresh Cilantro leaves - If you don't have fresh, you can use dried cilantro along with fresh parsley. You could also substitute fresh basil.

Simple Equipment and Tools

All you really need is a large skillet or frying pan. I use my absolute favorite 12″ Ceramic Pan.

How to Make Brazilian Marinated Chicken Stir Fry

You can get ahead on many of the steps for preparing this recipe. Peel and mince or grate the garlic cloves and the ginger. They are used in both the marinade and the stir fry.

Prep the chicken by slicing it into thin 3 inch strips. Place the chicken in a gallon storage bag or storage container to be marinated.

Make the marinade by measuring out the sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, cumin, salt, and pepper. Add them all to the chicken along with the minced garlic and ginger for the marinade. Mix to combine everything with the chicken. Marinate for 1 hour up to 24 hours in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Cut the onion in half and then quarters and then in large slices. You can also dice the onion for small pieces. Deseed and dice the jalapeno.

Dice the pineapple into bite-size chunks. Slice red pepper into thin strips or chunks. Chop the cilantro.

Make the sauce by mixing together in a small bowl, the soy sauce, tomato paste, sesame oil, and coconut milk. Add the Stir Fy portion of the minced garlic and ginger.

Cook this Brazilian Stir Fry!

Preheat a large skillet on high and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Using tongs, pull the chicken out of the marinade and add to the hot pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes on the first side, then flip the chicken pieces over to sear the other side. Cook the chicken for another 2-3 minutes until completely cooked through (no longer any pink pieces). Transfer the chicken to a plate.

Turn the heat under the pan down to low or medium-low and add another teaspoon of Olive oil to the pan, then add the onion, red pepper, and jalapeno to the pan. Stir so that they do not burn and cook for about 5 minutes, until they start to soften.

Using a spatula, push over the veggies to make space for the pineapple pieces. Add the pineapple and let brown for just a minute.

Add the black beans and then mix everything together. Add the sauce that you prepared ahead and half of the cilantro. Stir to combine.

Finally, mix in the chicken and cook for a final 3-5 minutes.

Serve over rice (try my Brazilian Rice!), then garnish with the remaining cilantro, and enjoy!

What to Serve with Marinated Chicken Stir Fry

There really is very little needed to go with this plentiful dish. The one thing is a starch to soak up or slurp up the flavorful sauce. A simple white rice or my Brazilian Rice {with Onions and Garlic} or even rice noodles would be perfect.

And for dessert, how about Brigadeiros! Brazilian Chocolate Dessert Truffles?

Brazilian Chicken Stir Fry FAQs

Can this stir fry be frozen?You can freeze this stir fry after cooking it in an airtight container for up to 4 months. To reheat, thaw it in the fridge for 24 hours before reheating it. Then to reheat it, the best way is in a skillet on the oven. This will help to give some texture and crunch back to the veggies that may have softened quite a bit in the freezing process. You can add a tablespoon of soy sauce, tablespoon of water, and teaspoon of sesame oil to help bring back some sauce at the end of the reheating.

Is this Marinated Chicken Stir Fry recipe gluten free?This Brazilian Stir Fry is gluten free with the ingredients listed, if you make sure that the Soy Sauce is gluten free. Soy sauce can often contain gluten, so be sure to check the label and swap for a gluten free option if needed. In fact, you should always check all packaging ingredient labels to ensure that they do not contain gluten.

Can I use a different meat or make this vegetarian?You can certainly swap in a different meat or vegetarian option in place of the chicken. Pork tenderloin strips, beef stir fry strips (tenderloin, flank steak, skirt steak), and shrimp are all great options. For vegetarian options, I suggest Portabella Mushrooms sliced for that meaty texture and flavor. There are a number of extra firm tofu and plant-based meat alternatives available today as well.