What should I do with a whole pineapple?

January 9, 2025 2:29 PM

Nothing alcoholic (a hint of booze is fine, but not interested in brewing tepache or anything.) I would ideally want something that makes the effort of butchering the pineapple worth it vs opening a can, and something that would use up the whole thing. All I can think of is pineapple upside down cake. Any other fun suggestions? I have an adventurous palate, a well-stocked pantry, and love pineapple on pizza, but I think I’d be hard pressed to use up a whole pineapple that way.
posted by music for skeletons to Food & Drink (33 answers total)

🍍 Al 🍍 Pastor 🍍 Tacos 🍍
posted by seemoorglass at 2:32 PM on January 9 [7 favorites]

I would eat a whole fresh pinapple in one sitting. I can't imagine "wasting" it on a cake.
A friend made a delicious thing, I am afraid I don't have proportions, but please use it as a jumping off point. She used fresh pinapple chunks and finely diced red onion and vinegar, just like that, and we used it as a salsa. I nearly died it was so good.
posted by J.R. Hartley at 2:36 PM on January 9 [18 favorites]

Agree that eating a fresh pineapple straight up is probably the best use for it, assuming it's ripe and sweet. If you want to spice things up, sprinkle it with li hing powder or Tajin.
posted by flod at 2:42 PM on January 9 [11 favorites]

Best answer: Grill/roast it. The caramelization of the edges that occurs gives it a kind of savory umami flavor that makes it a decadent treat.
posted by SinAesthetic at 2:43 PM on January 9 [25 favorites]

I often buy whole pineapples and cut them up to eat fresh. Good with plain yogurt.
posted by olopua at 2:46 PM on January 9 [4 favorites]

A cube of cheese, a chunk of pineapple and a pickled pearl onion stacked on a cocktail stick was a staple at all of my birthday parties as a kid. Still love them.
posted by pipeski at 2:55 PM on January 9 [2 favorites]

Seconding pineapple salsa. Love it on fish or shrimp tacos, especially.
posted by EvaDestruction at 2:57 PM on January 9 [3 favorites]

I mean, yeah, you *can* use some of it for pineapple upside down cake, but it's far better to just eat it fresh. Chop it up and it will last at least 3-4 days in the refrigerator. Fresh pineapple is SO superior to canned. But I think canned is actually perfect for cake.

Nthing using some of it in a pineapple salsa. I love sweet/spicy salsas on tortilla chips.
posted by hydra77 at 2:58 PM on January 9 [4 favorites]

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posted by j_curiouser at 2:58 PM on January 9 [5 favorites]

Jam.
posted by Phanx at 2:59 PM on January 9 [1 favorite]

The butchering is kind of a chore, so once the thing has sat on my counter for a few days and looks more yellow than green, meaning it is good and ripe, I cut it up into bite-size pieces and put it in the fridge. Or leave some of it in slices for specific uses. From there, multiple directions are possible:
-- Breakfast: add other fruit for a nice fruit salad, top with cereal and yogurt if you like.
-- Lunch, dinner: a healthy dessert
-- Pizza: per a recipe you like.
-- Put slices on top of ham slabs, bake.
-- Churn some into a smoothie, with banana and Greek (or regular) yogurt.
-- Pina colada!
-- Also, a friend of mine posted some pix of hollowed-out half pineapples, filled with rice and some kind of curried meat, then baked. Something like this.
posted by beagle at 3:00 PM on January 9 [1 favorite]

What a great problem to have!

A favorite summer treat growing up was to cut a pineapple up into chunks, then mix it with canned frozen (thawed) strawberries in syrup.

I also take pineapple chunks mixed with cut-up chicken sausage, and cook it on the stovetop in teriyaki sauce - makes a great meal, especially when paired with rice.

Also, here's some pineapple-related entertainment for while you eat it.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 3:11 PM on January 9 [2 favorites]

You don't have to skin it if you butcher it like a watermelon and eat down to the rind.
posted by Iteki at 3:19 PM on January 9 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Doubling down on grilled slices. A sprinkle of cayenne or old bay and grill them hard. More than you think. Absolutely a stand alone treat and something I'd cross the street for
posted by chasles at 3:19 PM on January 9 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I cut it longitudinally in 6ths or 8ths, and grill it after sprinkling it with brown sugar and cinnamon, Brazilian steakhouse style. Or, I just chop it up and eat it while watching TV.
posted by bashos_frog at 3:44 PM on January 9 [1 favorite]

We frequently go thru a whole pipeapple per meal during summer bbq season - we just throw the sliced pipeapple directly on the grill and eat them as a side dish. Grilled pineapple is amazing. Admittedly it's not the right season at the moment, but there's no reason you couldn't replicate grilled pineapple indoors. Any leftovers are usually made into a pineapple salsa or just snacked on the next day.
posted by cgg at 3:45 PM on January 9

Definitely eat it fresh! If you don't feel like taking on the faff of cutting up the whole thing in one go, you can just cut slices off the bottom and leave it with the cut side down on a plate (in the fridge or even on the counter, since pineapple is pretty acidic). Then you just eat each slice watermelon style or trim each slice as you go.

In theory, if you leave it on the counter, this gives a little more time for the top slices to get softer and tastier (since pineapples ripen from the bottom up, though they don't really ripen in the traditional sense of the word, but you'll notice the bottom is often softer, juicier and sweeter than the top).
posted by ssg at 3:46 PM on January 9 [3 favorites]

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posted by phunniemee at 3:48 PM on January 9 [3 favorites]

I am an "eat it fresh" person myself. To me, fresh pineapple is like sour candy in fruit form, but obv a bit better for you.

Barring that, tacos al pastor (cannot believe no one has mentioned that :P ).
posted by Kitteh at 3:59 PM on January 9 [3 favorites]

Butchering a pineapple is much less of a hassle if you have a corer-slicer tool. They are worth every penny if you have access to fresh pineapple regularly. It leaves a "cup" behind with the rind which obviously you can use for festive drinks, or you can put the rind in the juicer to get the juice out.
posted by blnkfrnk at 4:40 PM on January 9 [2 favorites]

I find it much easier to cut up a pineapple with a serrated knife than a straight edge one. I hope this helps whatever way you enjoy it!
posted by raccoon409 at 5:57 PM on January 9 [1 favorite]

I always make grilled pineapple to go with yakatori chicken.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 8:22 PM on January 9 [1 favorite]

Seconding the corer-slicer tool! Fresh pineapple, ready to eat in just a few minutes.

(I'm such a fan that I gave one as a birthday gift once, paired with a fresh pineapple, of course.)
posted by demi-octopus at 10:40 PM on January 9

Best answer: Cut it into chunks, drench with cinnamon and roast for 20 mins in a 350F oven. Serve warm (not hot) with Greek yoghurt.
posted by essexjan at 2:48 AM on January 10

If you're going to cut off the skin, I'm told that you can use it to brew pineapple beer. One pineapple's worth may not make a lot, but it could be a fun experiment with only a pinch of baker's yeast.

You can clean the fleshy bits and outer leaves off the green top and plant it to get a little succulent (you may want to leave it in water for a bit until it roots).
posted by confluency at 2:59 AM on January 10

(I totally missed the non-alcoholic part, but my understanding is that pineapple beer can be made only very mildly alcoholic, like ginger beer.)
posted by confluency at 3:00 AM on January 10

Best answer: I used to make the best pineapple sorbet. Puree one-half a pineapple until smooth. Add 1 cup simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water heated and stirred until dissolved.) Put in the freezer in shallow containers and freeze solid. Once frozen, pop it out of the container on a cutting board. Using a big kitchen knife, cut into 1 to 1 1/2 inch chunks. Put these in a food processor and process until smooth, like a milk shake. You'll probably have to do this in batches. If you like--and I like--this is the time to pour in a jigger or so of dark rum. Freeze the "milk shake" in a covered container. Amaze your family and guests.

As it is frozen, this will keep but it may get icy over time since it is totally natural with no starches or emulsifiers. If it gets too icy, puree it again as before and freeze.
posted by tmdonahue at 5:43 AM on January 10 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I second the grilling suggestion! Grilled pineapple is such a treat, especially when eaten warm.

When I was in grad school and living in a shared house full of grilling fanatics, I was introduced to a birthday tradition of making a cake using grilled pineapple (like a hummingbird cake). Friend, when I tell you that you can grill a piece of cake that has been made with grilled pineapple... my mouth is watering.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 6:05 AM on January 10 [1 favorite]

Another vote for 🍍 Al 🍍 Pastor 🍍 Tacos 🍍for sure.

If you decide you now love pineapple and to buy one every week, this Filipino-style pork and pineapple adobo stew is sooooooooo so so so sososososos good. Ugh so good.
posted by urbanlenny at 11:06 AM on January 10 [2 favorites]

Southern Pineapple Casserole . That's a link to a PDF in a Dropbox folder, which I hope is permissible here. You can do a search for "southern pineapple casserole" and get quite a few recipes, so there are varieties of this. I just wanted to post the one that I use, since I can personally vouch for it.
posted by TimHare at 10:50 PM on January 10

Sweet and sour pork. Meathead's grilled take is really good and miles away from the gloppy corn syrup version: https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/pork-recipes/grilled-sweet-and-sour-pork-recipe/
posted by libraryhead at 8:54 AM on January 11

Mod note: [Yum! We've added this whole pineapple to the sidebar and Best Of blog. Thanks everyone!]
posted by taz (staff) at 10:12 AM on January 12

Response by poster: Thanks everyone! I marked the best answers as ones most similar to what I ended up doing: roasting it and then turning it into ice cream with the help of a Ninja Creami (with vanilla, cinnamon, and persimmon). But everything suggested here sounded amazing!
posted by music for skeletons at 7:37 AM on January 24