Quick and easy pineapple fried rice with shrimp, vegetables and cashews is an amazing flavor-blasted healthier take on the classic takeout dish. Make it in less than 30 minutes at home!

bowl of pineapple fried rice with shrimp and cashews

You know how fried rice is supposed to be a side dish when youโ€™re doing takeout? Yeah…itโ€™s a main entree in my household.

One of our favorite Thai restaurants in Reno has a pineapple fried rice on the menu, so naturally every single time we go, we order it, no doubts, questions or concerns.

Recently, Iโ€™ve been making a point of recreating my favorite restaurant comfort foods at home. For a few reasons. 1.) Lockdown. 2.) Reverse-engineering (and ideally improving upon!) recipes is a hobby of mine and 3.) I like knowing exactly what is going into my food. 

You say, โ€œcontrol freak,โ€ I say โ€œawareness.โ€ ๐Ÿ˜‰

IRREGARDLESS ( <- donโ€™t kill me with fire ) pineapple fried rice is such a treat! And when made in the comfort of your own home, you can make it as healthy or as trashy as youโ€™d like.

close up photo of pineapple fried rice with shrimp

For instance – you can turn this into cauliflower rice and cut the carbs down to a minimum. You can add veggies, proteins, dried fruit, you name it…this your party. In addition, you have control of the type of oils and add ins (such as coconut aminos or liquid aminos, organic ingredients, etc).

The best part of this recipe (aside from the fact that itโ€™s blow-your-brains delicious) is the fact that you can make it in under 30 minutes. In fact, the last time we made it was during a hanger emergency, and boy did we extinguish that fire quickly.

So letโ€™s make this super quick, easy, amazing tasting side dish (err..meal)!

How to Make Pineapple Fried Rice:

Begin by cooking the white rice according to package instructions. While the rice is cooking, prepare the rest of the recipe.

Add the oil to a large skillet or wok and heat to medium.

Add the onion, garlic, carrots, peas, green onion and Thai chilies (if adding) and saute, stirring occasionally until vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the shrimp, fish sauce, red curry paste, and coconut aminos and continue cooking until shrimp is pink and cooked through, about 3 minutes.

Add the cooked rice and pineapple to the skillet and stir well. Taste for flavor and add red pepper flakes and sea salt to taste. You can also add more coconut aminos, curry paste, and/or fish sauce.

Stir in roasted cashews and serve!

Big bowl of pineapple fried rice with shrimp

Recipe Adaptations:

  • Omit the onion and garlic for low-FODMAP.
  • You can halve the recipe if a smaller portion size is desired.
  • Use fresh or frozen shrimp. Just be sure the shrimp are cooked (pink and opaque) before serving.
  • Replace white rice with brown rice. If doing so, follow cook time on package instructions.
  • Make this rice ultra spicy by including Thai chilies, habenero, serranos, or jalapenos. Skip the chilies to keep it mild!
  • Replace the red curry paste with green or yellow curry paste, or omit it and use more liquid aminos.
  • Use soy sauce or liquid aminos instead of coconut aminos.
  • Omit the roasted cashews or replace with roasted hazelnuts, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, or almonds.
  • Use chicken instead of shrimp.
  • Add any of your favorite vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, bell pepper, and/or zucchini.

My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your support!

If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!

Big bowl of pineapple fried rice with shrimp

Pineapple Fried Rice with Shrimp

5 from 1 vote
Easy soy-free pineapple fried rice with shrimp
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 cups uncooked white rice
  • 2 Tbsp avocado oil or coconut oil
  • 1/2 small yellow onion finely chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 large carrots peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup peas
  • 3 stalks green onion chopped
  • 1 to 5 Thai chilies finely chopped, optional
  • 1 lb frozen shrimp or fresh raw shrimp, de-veined
  • 2 Tbsp fish sauce
  • 3 Tbsp red curry paste or green curry paste
  • 2 Tbsp coconut aminos or liquid aminos
  • 2 cups fresh pineapple chopped
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes optional
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt to taste
  • 2/3 cup roasted cashews

Instructions

  • Begin by cooking the white rice according to package instructions. While the rice is cooking, prepare the rest of the recipe.
  • Add the oil to a large skillet or wok and heat to medium.
  • Add the onion, garlic, carrots, peas, green onion and Thai chilies (if adding) and saute, stirring occasionally until vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the shrimp, fish sauce, red curry paste, and coconut aminos and continue cooking until shrimp is pink and cooked through, about 3 minutes.
  • Add the cooked rice and pineapple to the skillet and stir well. Taste for flavor and add red pepper flakes and sea salt to taste. You can also add more coconut aminos, curry paste, and/or fish sauce.
  • Stir in roasted cashews and serve!

Nutrition

Serving: 1of 6 ยท Calories: 482kcal ยท Carbohydrates: 58g ยท Protein: 29g ยท Fat: 15g ยท Fiber: 4g ยท Sugar: 10g
Author: Julia
Course: Main Dishes
Cuisine: American
Keyword: fried rice, gluten free, pineapple, seafood, shrimp
Did You Make This Recipe?I want to see it! Tag @the.roasted.root on social media!

Julia Mueller
Meet the Author

Julia Mueller

Julia Mueller is a recipe developer, cookbook author, and founder of The Roasted Root. She has authored three bestselling cookbooks, – Paleo Power Powers, Delicious Probiotic Drinks, and The Quintessential Kale Cookbook. Her recipes have been featured in several national publications such as BuzzFeed, Self, Tasty, Country Living, Brit.co, etc.

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Questions and Reviews

  1. Question, you do not have green onion listed in the ingredients, but in the instructions (number 3) you say to add green onion? IS this missing from the ingredients?

    1. Hi Stephanie! Oops, my mistake! I usually add 3 green onions. I have added it to the ingredients list. Thank you for catching that! xoxo

  2. Now that is a great idea, to recreate recipes from your favorite restaurant! I can imagine that this dish is a treat. I am going to make my favorite restaurant item, a Roasted Beet salad. Thank you for sharing the recipe and the idea!