14 Things to do With Pineapples
Pineapples have to win the prize for one of the most recognisable fruits out there. Whether they are whole with their weird skin or in those distinctive pineapple rings, you can’t really mistake them for anything else. They are also one of the top tropical fruits, associated with anything from cocktails on the beach to tropical fruit salad. But what are the other things to do with pineapples?
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What are pineapples?
Pineapples are a tropical plant that is the most famous member of the Bromeliaceae family. The plant grows 1-1.5 metres high and has a short stem with tough, waxy-looking leaves. A good sized plant can produce some 200 flowers, and these become the pineapple fruit. The top places for growing pineapples are Costa Rica, Brazil and the Philippines.
The name ‘pineapple’ was first used when European explorers saw the fruit in the 16th century. They thought they were a bit like pine cones, so they called them pineapples. Their Latin name Ananas comosus comes from the native Tupi word nanas meaning ‘excellent fruit’.
Health benefits of pineapples
Pineapples have great taste, but they also have a lot of health benefits that make them worth fitting into your diet.
Vitamins
The fruit is highly nutritious including vitamin A, C and B-6 as well as calcium, potassium, manganese, magnesium, folate and riboflavin. Potassium is beneficial in reducing the blood pressure and preventing hypertension while Vitamin C is great to get the skin in good condition.
All of the vitamins mean they can help with general health and also protect against the effects of ageing as they contain antioxidants to fight skin conditions, early onset dementia and eye deterioration.
Other nutrients
Fruits with beta-carotene such as pineapples have been shown to help overcome childhood asthma and therefore make sure you don’t suffer from it as an adult. Others containing it include apricots, carrots, pumpkin and papaya.
One caution is that pineapples contain something called bromelain which can cause skin reactions, vomiting and also interact badly with medications. So if you are on any medication that tells you to avoid pineapple, don’t touch it. And never eat or drink unripe pineapples as these can make you unwell.
How to prepare pineapple
Pineapple is a little harder to prepare than many other fruits but there are some cool gadgets you can get to make the job easier.
If you are going old-school, you need to cut off the top and base and stand on a board. Slice off the skin in strips and remove any spines. Finally, you need to remove the core as this is usually quite tough – you can do this with a knife. You can also get a gadget called a Pineapple Corer that easily removes the middle and helps create those nice pineapple rings.
Pineapple contains an enzyme that works to tenderise meat. So if you use the juice in a marinade, don’t leave it longer than the recipe says, or the meat won’t have a nice texture. The same stuff stops gelatine setting so don’t use raw pineapple or juice in jellies or other similar dishes as they won’t set. Go for canned fruit or pasteurised juice instead.
How to freeze and store pineapples
Learn how to get the most from your pineapples with these tips
14 Things do to with pineapples
There are hundreds of things to do with pineapples, but we can’t list them all here. So instead here are 14 different ideas across a few categories to get you started on your pineapple discovery trip.
Sweet treats
No Bake Tropical Pie recipe
Ingredients:
- 20 oz. can crushed pineapple with juice
- 8 oz. can sliced pineapple, drained
- 1 package of instant vanilla pudding mix
- 8 oz. sour cream
- 3 tbsp sweetened coconut
- 8 Maraschino cherries
- 1 graham cracker (biscuit) crust
Directions:
Pour the crushed pineapple and juice into a large mixing bowl. Add the cream and pudding mix then blend together and pour into the biscuit base. Top with the sliced pineapple, cherries and coconut.
Cinnamon pineapple upside-down cake
- 200g unsalted butter, softened
- 125g soft brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 pineapple, peeled, cut into quarters, core removed and cut into 2cm slices
- 140g golden caster sugar
- 2 large eggs plus 1 egg white beaten
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 200g plain flour
- 75ml whole milk
- Crème Fraiche to serve if required
Directions
Heat the oven to 180C. Add 4 tbsp butter into a 22cm springform cake tin and melt in the oven. Remove and stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon and ½ tsp of vanilla. Arrange the pineapple into the mix, tossing a little to coat and try to make a solid layer.
In a bowl beat the caster sugar and rest of the butter with a hand whisk for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and egg whites one at a time and the remainder of the vanilla, the baking powder and a pinch of salt. Then add the flour and milk and mix until smooth.
Add the batter to the cake pan above the pineapple. Bake for one hour, covering with baking foil if it is browning. Rest for 5 minutes then serve warm with crème fraiche as a pudding or leave cool and eat as a cake.
Fruit salad
Stuffed Pineapple Fruit Salad
Ingredients:
- 2 whole pineapples
- 1 pt. fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, and cut in half
- 1 pt. fresh blueberries washed and patted dry
- 1 bunch green grapes washed and patted dry
- 1 bunch purple grapes washed and patted dry
- fresh mint, to garnish
Dressing:
- ¼ cup pineapple juice
- ¼ cup orange juice
- ½ cup grapeseed oil
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
Start with the dressing and combine everything in a bowl and whisk. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cut the pineapples in half including the leafy crown. With a small paring knife cut around the inside, leaving about ½ an inch between the cut and the outside. Cut a grid pattern into the pineapple to create squares. Scoop out with a spoon and put to one side.
In a bowl, mix the pineapple chunks with the berries and grapes. Top with the dressing and serve in the pineapple bowls.
Blueberry and Pineapple Fruit Salad
- 4 tins pineapple chunks
- 3 tbsp plain Greek yoghurt
- ¼ tsp grated lime zest
- 1 tsp honey
- 150g blueberries
Directions
Whisk the pineapple juice, honey, lime and yoghurt together in a bowl. Fold in the chunks and blueberries until coated then serve.
Barbecued Pineapple
- 1 fresh pineapple
- 4 tbsp rum
- 4 tbsp soft brown sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground cloves
Directions
Peel the pineapple and remove the core. Slice into 8 rings and put them in a bag. Mix the rum sugar and spices then pour over the pineapple and chill for an hour. Preheat the barbeque and cook the rings for around 15 minutes, turning once until dry and chargrilled. Serve the with remaining marinade. Serve with ice cream or Greek yoghurt.
Savoury dishes
Spicy Pineapple Pork
Ingredients:
- 1 small onion diced
- 16-oz. fresh pineapple cut into 1” chunks
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 2-3 cloves fresh garlic minced
- 2 tsp five-spice powder
- 1 medium red bell pepper cut into 1” chunks
- 1 medium jalapeno pepper, finely diced
- 2 Tbsp natural, creamy peanut butter
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 4-5 lb. pork shoulder butt roast trimmed
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup fresh pineapple juice
- 3 Tbsp fresh cilantro chopped
- Optional: 2 Tbsp arrowroot
Directions
Add onion, fresh pineapple chunks, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, sesame oil, garlic, five-spice powder, bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, and peanut butter to a 5 or 6-quart slow cooker crock. Stir to combine thoroughly.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season trimmed pork roast on all sides with salt and pepper, to taste. Add to hot skillet and sear on all sides, approximately 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer seared pork to slow cooker crock.
Reduce heat to medium and deglaze skillet with fresh pineapple juice. Use a spatula to scrape up flavourful brown bits from bottom of the pan. Remove from heat and pour pan juices into the slow cooker.
Cover and cook over high heat for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8. When finished, stir in fresh cilantro and transfer pork and pineapple mixture to a serving platter with a slotted spoon. Cover and keep warm.
Optional: If desired, create a slurry by combining 2 tablespoons arrowroot and ¼ cup of juices from the slow cooker. Transfer remaining juices from the slow cooker to a large skillet over medium-high heat and whisk in the arrowroot slurry until well combined. Cook for several minutes or until sauce is reduced and thickened.
To serve, spoon warm pork and pineapple mixture over a bed of cooked brown or cilantro-lime rice. Top with the juices or thickened sauce, if desired, and enjoy!
Penang prawn and pineapple curry
For the toasted coconut
- 100g fresh coconut flesh
- 2 tsp sunflower oil
For the curry
- thumb-sized piece ginger peeled
- 6 garlic cloves peeled
- 1½ tbsp mild curry powder
- 100ml sunflower oil
- 7 curry leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 star anise
- 3 cardamom pods
- 6 cloves
- 6 shallots thinly sliced lengthways
- 3 tbsp tamarind paste
- 1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
- 1 tbsp palm sugar or soft brown sugar
- 400ml can full-fat thick coconut milk
- 24 large raw king prawns peeled
- handful coriander leaves and cooked white or brown rice, to serve
Directions
Grate the coconut and cook in the wok until dark brown. Pound into a waste with the oil in a pestle and mortar.
Pound the ginger and garlic together then add 75ml water to the curry powder. Heat the oil until the wok smokes then add the curry leaves, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom and cloves and cook for 1 minute.
Add the shallots and ginger paste then cook for another 7 minutes. Add the curry paste and heat on low until the oil separates and bubbles over, usually 10-12 minutes. When the oil has come to the top, add tamarind paste, pineapple and sugar. Then add the coconut milk and when boiling, add the prawns and cook. Finally add the toasted coconut, season with salt and coriander and serve with rice.
Sweet and sour pork
Ingredients
- 1 pork fillet (about 500g), trimmed and cut into 3cm chunks
- sunflower or vegetable oil, for deep-frying
- cooked rice or noodles, to serve
For the marinade
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
- 1 garlic clove grated
- thumb-sized piece ginger grated
For the coating
- 50g cornflour
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground white pepper
- 2 tsp celery salt
- 2 tsp caster sugar
For the sauce
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- thumb-sized piece ginger chopped
- 1 green or red pepper, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 4 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp soft brown sugar
- 300g can pineapple chunks
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
For the batter
- 100g rice flour
- 100g cornflour
- 1 tsp baking powder
Mix the pork with the marinade and leave for 15 minutes to a few hours. Mix the coating ingredients, drain off excess liquid from the pork and toss in the coating.
Heat the oil in a shallow pan and fry the garlic, ginger and peppers. Add all the other ingredients apart from the sesame seeds and cook until thickening. Take off the heat. Whisk the flours and baking powder together with 200ml water.
Heat oil in a wok and add a drop of batter to make sure it sizzles. Dip the marinades pork in the batter mix then let excess drop off, fry in batches for 5-6 minutes until golden and leave on kitchen towel to dry. Make sure the oil is hot between each batch. Coat with sauce and sprinkle with seeds and coriander. Serve with rice or noodles.
Drinks and cocktails
Pineapple juice
One of the easier drinks to make with pineapple is just to use its juice. You can add a little sugar to it if you find it bitter, but it is a simple way to get the vitamins in pineapple without eating it.
Pineapple water
Another simple idea is pineapple water. The idea is similar to other infused waters where you add pieces of pineapple to a glass, bottle or jar of water to allow the juice and oils from the fruit to infuse the water. It is a sweeter taste than lemon water.
Pineapple and Vanilla Iced Tea
To make iced tea with pineapple and vanilla, take a small pineapple and chop off the skin and remove the core. Add it to a pan with 1 scraped vanilla pod. Add enough water to cover the fruit and bring to the boil then simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, add 1 English Breakfast tea bag and steep for 5 minutes or more. Strain sweeten with 1 tbsp golden syrup and cool. Serve with ice.
Minty Pineapple Smoothie
For a minty, pineapple smoothie, take 200g pineapple and a few mint leaves. Add 50g spinach leaves, 25g oats and 2 tbsp linseed. Add to a blender with a few cashew nuts and lime juice to taste and blend – add water until you get the right consistency.
Pina Colada Punch
Ingredients:
- 1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple
- 2 (15 oz.) can cream of coconut
- 1 (46 oz.) can pineapple juice, chilled
- 1 (32 oz.) bottle club soda, chilled
- 2 c. light rum (optional)
In a pitcher add the pineapple juice, cream of coconut and crushed pineapple then store in the fridge. Before serving add club soda and rum then stir. Garnish each glass with a maraschino cherry and orange slice.
French Martini
Take 2 ounces or dry gin or vodka, depending on your preference and add to a cocktail shaker with ½ ounce Chambord and 1 ounce pineapple juice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Favourite pineapple recipe
These are just a few of the many things to do with pineapples including some very tasty drinks. Pineapple nutrition means it is worth getting them in your diet and there are lots of options even if you aren’t the biggest fan of the flavour (like me).
What’s your favourite pineapple dish or drink? Tell us about it in the comments!
