Hawaiian Haystacks Recipe (2024)

I am a huge Hawaiian Haystacks fan. They are so easy to make and taste absolutely amazing. The toppings with the chicken and rice, all come together and form a delicious meal, the whole family will love.

We had Hawaiian Haystacks all the time growing up. The best part of this recipe? They are SO easy,quick, and versatile.

When things are super crazy, this is a meal you can throw together in minutes (and you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry right now).

It is one of those recipes that can help you clean out everything you have in your crisper drawer. We always loved picking out our toppings and decorating them ourselves – especially with the chow mein noodles on top.

You really can’t go wrong with this recipe. It’s a family favorite, that even the picky eaters will love.

What could I serve as a side dish with this recipe?

This recipe can be tricky to pair with a side dish, because it has so many elements to the main dish. However, we do have a few simple recommendations that would work great with this dish.

Here is what we recommend:

• Seven Layer Green Salad (or any green salad, but this one is delicious).
• Parmesan Peas (We love this with just a frozen bag of peas and carrots as well, but this is a yummy twist).
• Pina Colada Fruit Dip (the kids love this when we make it as a side dish for dinner).
• 30 Minute Dinner Rolls (I love dipping my roll or bread, into the leftover chicken sauce).
• 5 Minute Jello Salad (yes it is a salad, not dessert).

How we make our Hawaiian Haystacks:

I know there is no certain order to making a Hawaiian Haystack, but there should be. Here is how we recommend a Hawaiian Haystack to be served:

• Perfectly Shredded Chicken: The trick to getting your chicken perfectly shredded, is a food processor. I give it 3 quick pulses in my food processor and it comes out perfectly shredded. Saves me a ton of time.

• Add the chicken to your sauce. I highly recommend thinly shredded chicken. It makes it less dry, and gives the sauce a better texture. I don’t like big chicken chunks in my chicken/sauce mixture.

• I’m all about shortcuts and fast ways to make dinner, so I use minute rice. You could also use quinoa, steamed rice, brown rice, or any rice or grain you prefer.

• I always use the rice as my base, add my chicken sauce, then I go a little crazy with crushed pineapple. It is the best combination to me.

• I then add all my other toppings. This is a great way to introduce your kids to new foods and vegetables. I like bell peppers, tomatoes, green onions, olives, and coconut on mine.

How could I make this a little more low fat?

I am not a huge fan of cream of chicken soup, mostly because it seems a little strange and unnatural to me. However, I love it in this recipe, and still make it all the time.

I usually like to make it a little more healthy by using the low fat cream of chicken soup, as well as adding plain Greek yogurt to the mixture. The plain Greek yogurt really makes it so creamy and yummy.

It’s easy to make and full of flavor. It also makes it so there is more sauce, which my husband loves, because he is a sauce lover.

Watch how to make another delicious chicken dish, here:

Did you know we have a Youtube Channel? We have hundreds of simple and delicious recipes, your family is going to love. We take you through each recipe, step by step, and show you exactly how to make them.

I love Chinese food, but I love staying home in my sweatpants even more. This Instant Pot General Tso’s Chicken is the perfect main dish and chicken dinner for busy nights, or nights you want to stay in. Watch how simple it is to make, here:

Looking for more chicken recipes? Here are a few of our favorites:

• Chicken Enchilada Pasta
• Cashew Chicken and Vegetables
• Copycat PF Changs Chicken Lettuce Wraps
• Mom’s Chicken and Cream Cheese Roll Ups
• Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie