Quick and Easy Pineapple Curry Rice

Quick and Easy Pineapple Curry Rice recipe that’s perfect for an easy weeknight dinner! Make it in 20 minutes or less, add your favorite protein. Flavorful way of using leftover rice. Incredibly delicious! This Thai inspired pineapple fried rice is an explosion of flavors - the sweetness form the pineapple, the spice and fragrance from curry powder and the umami from the soy sauce and mirin - it tickles all your taste buds.

Ooh! it is an ultimate bowl of comfort food!

If you are new to making fried rice, please read the post in it’s entirety. I have shared a lot of tips and tricks to prepare this dish. I have given substitution ideas for rice, the proteins you can use in the recipe and storage/meal prep tips. This recipe post has everything you need to make a tasty pineapple curry rice.

This is such an easy dish to make that you do not need any special skill to make this. If you can chop and stir, you are well equipped to make this. This is more like a pineapple fried rice with curry flavors.

Jump to:

• what are the ingredients?
• what kind of protein can i add in pineapple curry rice?
• substitute for white rice
• additional notes about the video
• how to store leftovers?
• how to avoid sticky/mushy rice while making curry ice?
• more rice recipes for you check out
• Additional notes
• Pineapple Curry Rice

what are the ingredients?

Full recipe + measurements + video can be found in the recipe card below.

Mis en place is key to this dish. Make sure you have everything you need before you start - chop all the vegetables, bring your spices and measure it as per your taste. Keep everything next to you before you start heating the wok.

• Rice
• Mix of your favorite Vegetables
• Curry Powder
• Red Chilli Flakes
• Soy Sauce
• Garlic
• Onion/Shallots
• Pineapple
• Mirin
• Thai Basil
• Oil

Rice: Rice is an integral part of this dish. No doubts about it. The key to a perfect pineapple curry rice is rice that is previously cooked and cooled.

This pineapple curry rice has amazing southeast Asian flavors. Typically we use aromatic Jasmine rice to prepare this rice. The rice is cooked and cooled before use in the recipe.

As I mentioned, we typically use Jasmine rice to make this dish. When our grocery stores had a shortage of rice varieties and I have had to make this with another short-grain rice, which is popular in Indian Cuisine - the Jeerakasala rice. This type of rice has a distinct aroma and cooks well. In the video, that is what we have used to demonstrate. talk about fusion!

I pre-cook the rice with salt and transfer it to a tray to cool it down (this speeds up the cooling process). The time denoted in the recipe card does not involve pre-cooking the rice. If you want to consider this time also, add another 25-20 minutes.

A mix of your favorite Vegetables: You can use any of your favorite vegetables for this recipe. I have used shallots, carrots, green bell pepper, and zucchini to prepare this. Use quick-cooking vegetables to reduce cooking time. Add vegetables in the order of cooking time required for e.g carrots take longer than zucchini to cook. So, I have added carrots first and zucchini last.

I like to have my vegetables to have a crunch when I eat, and hence I do not cook them too much. If you like your veggies well cooked, you can cover and cook the vegetables to the desired level before you add the rice.

I have cut the vegetables lengthwise. But you can dice the vegetables into smaller pieces if you prefer that way.

Curry Powder: The curry powder (the McCormick brand) is a mix of spices like Coriander, Fenugreek, Turmeric, Cumin, Black Pepper, Bay Leaves, Celery Seed, Nutmeg, Clove, Onion, Ginger, and Red Pepper. It has a very bold flavor and has a golden yellow color due to the turmeric(turmeric can stain very easily, so be careful!).

People ask me whether I use a lot of curry powder in my day-to-day Indian cooking! None of my Indian dishes use curry powder. The concept of curry powder was alien to me till I moved to the US. Though we have a ton of spice concoctions in India, I have never used this curry powder while in India. I use it in my Thai/South East Asian dishes more than in my Indian cooking.

I feel the curry powder adds a distinct aroma to the South Asian dishes and elevates them. With the warming spices in the mix, curry powder itself adds a lot of warmth and heat to the pineapple curry rice. (adjust to your taste and spice level). This brings me to .....

Red Chilli Flakes: As I mentioned, curry powder itself brings in a little bit of heat (not just flavor) to the dish. If you have a mild palette, then skip adding the red chili flakes altogether. if you like a spicier version, add this. Always, adjust to your taste and spice level.

Soy Sauce: oooh! I love this! It brings in so much umami flavor! Use your favorite brand. Since this has enough salty taste, and my rice is cooked with salt, I do not add additional salt while preparing the curry rice.

Use Gluten-Free, Vegan Brands for Soy sauce if required.

Garlic: I love the garlic flavor and use it generously. Make sure you finely chop the garlic.

Onions/Shallots: I have used shallots in the recipe, but you can use thinly sliced onions.

Pineapple: I always have a can of pineapple rings in my pantry. Since I do not like the taste of fresh pineapple, I always use canned pineapple. If you are using canned pineapple rings, you will need about 3 rings in total for the recipe. Cut them into small chunks. Of course, you can use fresh pineapple for the recipe.

Mirin: Mirin is a rice wine that is slightly sweet and tangy and is used in East Asian cuisine. I love the sweetness it adds to the pineapple curry rice. But if you do not have it, you can totally skip it.

Thai Basil: Use fresh finely chopped Thai basil in the recipe to get the maximum flavor.

Oil: Use any oil with a high smoking point. Like, peanut oil, vegetable oil, palm oil, etc.

what kind of protein can i add in pineapple curry rice?

Use this pineapple curry rice recipe as a base to make your variations.

• You can add green peas, shelled edamame or tofu as vegetarian/vegan protein options.
• Scrambled eggs would be a good addition if you like eggs. I prefer to scramble the eggs separately with a pinch of salt and curry powder and then mix with the rice.
• Non vegetarian option could be chicken and shrimp.

substitute for white rice

We are all becoming health conscious and for a very good reason. Health is indeed wealth.

If you are trying to consume less white rice, you can use short grain brown rice instead. Adjust the flavors and spices to make it tasty.

Cooked quinoa would be a nice substitute for white rice in this recipe. Or you can do as I do sometimes, use a combination of rice and quinoa if you are just transitioning into quinoa.

Experiment with cauliflower rice for a no-carb version.

Didn't want to leave you without the obligatory pineapple curry rice picture - the rice inside a hollowed pineapple. 🙂

additional notes about the video

I usually prepare this in a large wok (non-stick) on the stovetop. My main stove is against a wall with countertops on each side. This prevents me from recording good videos (I am still a newbie at food videos creation) directly on the stovetop. I use a makeshift induction cooktop on my small kitchen island to shoot videos. The large wok that I use for my regular use does not work with an induction cooktop. I have used my small Lodge cast iron wok for demonstration. The Lodge cast iron wok is small and can hold only half of the quantity mentioned in the recipe card. So, I have halved the recipe for the demonstration video.

how to store leftovers?

The leftovers can be easily stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. This can be reheated in a microwave making it an ideal dish for lunchboxes where you have access to reheat your food.

Meal prep tip: - Cook the rice ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator. You can cut the vegetables to the desired length and save them in the fridge till ready to use.

how to avoid sticky/mushy rice while making curry ice?

Perfectly cooked rice is the key! Do not overcook the rice. This will prevent stickiness and mushiness.

Use leftover/older rice to prepare the dish. if you do not have leftover rice to use in the recipe do the following

Make a fresh batch of rice. Spread it on a tray and let it cool down. You can even refrigerate it or freeze it to cut down on cooling time. (Cooling the rice is important to prevent "steaming" while assembling the fried rice. When you have hot rice, it adds more vapor to the dish while assembling, thereby robbing the flavor. To get the maximum flavor and to prevent a sticky mess, cool the rice completely. ).

Break the lumps in the rice before adding to the wok.

more rice recipes for you check out

Additional notes

• 1 cup = 250 ml. Typical US cups are 240 ml. You can use US cups for measurements without any drastic difference in the recipe.
• Use your favorite vegetables (you can dice the vegetables instead of cutting them lengthwise) and choice of protein.
• The cooking time in the recipe card, does not indicate the time required to cook the rice.
• For a milder version, skip the red chilli flakes/crushed red pepper.
• Mirin is optional , but if you have it use it.
• Use cooled rice for recipe. Break the lumps in the rice before adding to the wok.
• I have not added additional salt and pepper while preparing pineapple curry rice. I cook the rice with salt and the saltiness from Mirin and Soy Sauce is sufficient for us. Adjust salt to your taste.
• Grams to cups measurements - we strive to provide these conversions as accurately as possible. There might be some slight variations depending on the brand, weighing scale etc.

Fried rice is popular is because it is highly adaptable - you can adjust the flavors, vegetables, proteins, etc. to suit your taste. It is a steaming bowl of comfort food! Enjoy this flavorful pineapple curry rice without any further adieu!