This version of Scalloped pineapple casserole has been created to replicate a family recipe my husband grew up with. He grew up in the Midwest (Central IL) and his grandparents and Mom used to make this on the holidays. It’s rich and sweet, a little creamy and almost like dessert. Forget your diet when you make this, trust me. It is so worth the extra holiday calories. I’ve gotta say to nay-sayers, don’t knock it till you try it. Whip this up in no time and then sit back and enjoy that spongy, sweet bite!
Scalloped Pineapple vs Pineapple Casserole
Scalloped pineapple is on the sweet spectrum, typically comprising a pineapple chunk mixture or in this case, crushed pineapple, adorned with bread cubes, sugar and butter. The result is a tender, sweeter pineapple dish. On the other hand, pineapple casserole, a Southern American specialty, like Paula Deen’s “southern pineapple casserole,” has cheddar cheese and flour in it. It has more of a sweet and savory profile. This scalloped pineapple dish is my take on the dish my husband grew up with and loved. This Scalloped pineapple recipe has more of a bread pudding kind of texture to it. It is served as a dinner side, but since it almost tastes like cake, you could easily serve it as a dessert. You could top it with some vanilla ice cream and enjoy it that way. Whatever way you want to enjoy it, I promise it’ll be a big hit!
How to Make Scalloped Pineapple Casserole
This is such an easy recipe, your kid could put it together if you want them involved in cooking. This is a perfect recipe for that! It’s as simple as mixing, pouring into a baking dish and baking.
Dry Out Bread Cubes
Firstly, I highly recommend drying out your bread cubes, unless you already have some stale bread. We just don’t normally have stale bread laying around. Just preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, place the cubed bread on a baking sheet and bake for 5-10 minutes, stirring halfway through. We like it pretty dried out to start so I usually do the full 10 minutes.
Make your Crispy Topping
This step can be done just before you are ready for the topping, once your pineapple mixture is in the baking dish. Many scalloped pineapple recipes do a buttery cracker topping, but after many trials I found the best topping for this to be a combination of just plain panko bread crumbs and melted butter. It gives you just the right amount of crunch without being overwhelming or too salty.
Make your Pineapple Mixture
Grab a large mixing bowl, and whisk together the butter, brown sugar, cream, salt and then eggs. After that, just fold in the pineapple and dried bread crumbs and pour it into your pre-greased baking dish. Top with the “crispy topping” as seen above made up of melted butter and panko and bake. It’s that easy.
How to Serve Scalloped Pineapple
This hot pineapple side dish is great served at holiday meals. It’s a perfect compliment to a Christmas or Easter ham. Some like it for Thanksgiving dinner as well, but we usually save it for Christmas. It’s a great make-ahead casserole that’ll be a hit for family gatherings.
Scalloped Pineapple Ingredients
- Small Bread Loaf– You want to use a “white” bread, but I recommend a decent white bread, not the cheapest processed bread. I like to grab a fresh baked Italian or French bread loaf from my local grocery store. I usually need to use about half the loaf. If it’s very soft, I will dry it out in the oven as shown above or mentioned on the recipe card. ***
- Pineapple– I like to use a standard 20 oz. can of crushed pineapple and I do NOT DRAIN the pineapple. If you do not have that, in a pinch you can use tidbits and chop them up more. If you only have canned pineapple chunks or fresh pineapple, just make sure to chop it up as fine as you can so it’s similar in texture to “canned crushed.” If you use fresh pineapple, be sure to save the juice on the cutting board after you chop it up. My recipe uses the pineapple juice in the canned version so you don’t want to lose those juices.
- Butter– I use unsalted sweet cream butter. The butter is in the pineapple casserole and part of the topping. If you use salted butter, be sure to adjust and lower your salt.
- Sugar– My husband believes his casserole growing up used white sugar, but I put my little spin on it and use brown sugar. We think it gives it a nice flavor.
- Salt- I like you use fine ground sea salt.
- Eggs– 3 standard large whole eggs
- Heavy cream- I use heavy whipping cream.
- Lemon Juice– Just a little bit goes a long way, just to add a touch of acid to this dish
- Bread Crumbs– I do not recommend standard plain bread crumbs, I really think panko is the way to go here to give that perfectly subtle crispy topping. If you do not have panko you can use buttery ritz-type crackers for the crumb mixture, but I’m sold on panko for it.
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Easy Scalloped Pineapple Casserole (Family Recipe)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups bread stale or dried out, cut into about 3/4" cubes. ***See Note Below Recipe
- 20 oz. Crushed Pineapple with juice
- 1 stick butter melted
- 3 whole eggs large (If you halve the recipe, just do 2 eggs)
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1.5 tsp Lemon Juice
Crispy Topping
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs or crushed ritz-type buttery crackers
- 4 Tbsp butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Use a whisk to cream together the butter, sugar, cream and salt in a large mixing bowl, then stir in eggs.
- Fold in crushed pineapple and the bread cubes.
- Add the pineapple mixture to a greased baking dish.
- Mix together the crispy topping: melted butter and panko with a fork in a small bowl.
- Top casserole with the pre-mixed butter-panko topping, sprinkling evenly.
- Bake, uncovered for 40-45 mins. Until top is golden brown. You can broil for last few minutes if you like.
- Allow the casserole to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving or keep warm till ready to serve.
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