Get ready for the best side dish you’ve never heard of: pineapple casserole!
We’ve all got Easter recipes we make every year. My family does a big spiral ham as the star, which means at least one of our Easter side dishes is pineapple. Which, don’t get me wrong, goes great with the ham — but I’ve always been on the hunt for something MORE.
Enter pineapple casserole! It’s everything you want as a side dish — and if you add a scoop of ice cream, you’ve got a treat for the Easter dessert recipes books!
Ready? Let’s bake!
What I Love About This Recipe
The thing I love most is that pineapple casserole is still such an unusual side dish to serve! It makes everyone perk up and take notice — and the flavor will knock them over to boot!
- Side dish + dessert all in one
- Goes GREAT with spiral ham!
- Easter flavors gone wild
- Crowd-pleasing WOW!
Baked Pineapple Casserole Ingredient Notes
There are a few things you should know before you start baking!
- Pineapple: If you can’t find canned pineapple (or want to use fresh!) there’s a simple way to convert fresh to canned: a blender! Popping freshly cut pineapple into a blender will get it to the desired consistency.
- Sugar: Pineapple comes packed with a lot of deliciously sweet sugars, so if you want to exclude the extra sugar, feel free. Be warned though that you might not get as much caramelization!
- Cheese: It’s important that you use a bold-flavored cheese in this casserole to stand up to the sweetness of the pineapple, which is why I use cheddar. But feel free to use other bold cheeses — I love Red Leicester!
- Flour
- Ritz Crackers
- Butter
- Cherries
Pineapple Cheese Casserole Recipe Notes
Since this is likely your first time making this casserole, I’ve got some tips to make sure your side dish is secretly a STAR!
- Baking Dish: Be sure to get the correct size baking dish! The last thing you need is the pineapple juice overflowing during the baking process and burning in your oven.
- Do Not Cover: Most casseroles have you cover your dish for the baking process — not this one! You want the pineapple and cheese open to the oven’s heat so you get as much caramelization as you can. If you still want more, you can always turn your broiler on and let it crisp up the topping!
How To Make Pineapple Casserole Recipe
- Drain the canned pineapples.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together sugar and flour.
- Toss the pineapple chunks in the flour mixture.
- Pour into the baking dish.
- Sprinkle cheese evenly over top.
- Sprinkle the crushed cracker and butter mixture over the cheese. Bake.
- Garnish.
***See the full instructions below.
How to Store and Make Ahead
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? Once cooked, you’ll get a week out of your casserole leftovers in the fridge. You can rejuvenate them in the same way you did when it was frozen — pop them in the oven and let the heat do its magic!
- Can You Freeze This? Yes! You can freeze your pineapple casserole for up to two months — but be warned, a lot of the texture will change. The crackers will get soggy and the caramelized bits will lose their structure.
- To reheat, let it thaw in the fridge overnight, then bake it off in the oven until the crackers and sugars come back to life!
- Pineapple Ritz Casserole Make Ahead Tips: There isn’t much you can do in the way of prep for this — no one wants gummy flour-covered pineapple! — but you can assemble the full casserole and bake it once your guests arrive. An assembled casserole can sit in the fridge for up to a day.
- Food Safety: If you’d like more info on food safety check out this link.
More Easter Dessert Recipes
Need more Easter desserts to round out your meal? Here are my favorites!
- Atlantic Beach Pie
- Berry Chantilly Cake
- Cherry Delight
- Watergate Salad
- Pineapple Pound Cake
- Strawberry Pretzel Salad
Tried This Recipe?
Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pineapple Casserole
Sweet, cheesy, savory, crunchy -the best side dish that'll steal your Easter dinner show! Pineapple Casserole is here to stay in all its sweet-and-sour glory
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 2 (20-ounce) cans pineapple tidbits, drained, and 15 pieces reserved for garnish
- 1 cup sugar
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
- 2 cups crushed Ritz Crackers
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 3 maraschino cherries drained and rinsed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Spray a 1 1/2-quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together sugar (1 cup) and flour (6 tablespoons). Toss pineapple chunks in the flour mixture to coat well.
- Pour into prepared baking dish and sprinkle cheese (2 cups) evenly over top.
- In a small mixing bowl stir together crushed crackers (2 cups) and melted butter (1/4 cup). Sprinkle crumbs over cheese.
- Bake, uncovered for 25-35 minutes or until the topping is golden and the cheese is melted. Let stand for 10 minutes. Garnish with reserved pineapple tidbits and cherries in a flower pattern and serve.
Fans Also Made:
Notes
- Baking Dish: Be sure to get the correct size baking dish! The last thing you need is the pineapple juice overflowing during the baking process and burning in your oven.
- Do Not Cover: Most casseroles have you cover your dish for the baking process — not this one! You want the pineapple and cheese open to the oven’s heat so you get as much caramelization as you can. If you still want more, you can always turn your broiler on and let it crisp up the topping!
Nutrition
Serving: 1/6 of the recipe | Calories: 479kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 478mg | Potassium: 69mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 36g | Vitamin A: 614IU | Calcium: 305mg | Iron: 1mg
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Our new go-to pineapple recipe. We loved it
Yaaay! Thanks, Charlie 🙂
Can I use fresh pineapple instead of canned? We prefer the taste of fresh.
Would I need to adjust the sugar amount if I did use fresh?
Suzie. Hi I haven’t developed this recipe to use fresh pineapple. Yes, surely you can use it. Adding more sugar will most likely depend on how ripe and sweet your fresh pineapple is. Fresh pineapple may be a bit firmer also. You might wish to cook it a little longer so the finished dish it’s not too firm. Again, it depends on how ripe the fresh pineapple is <3
Do you include the juice from the canned pineapple? Or just the bits.
Hi Lee. Just the tidbits. I drain them in a sieve set over the sink but don’t press down on the fruit or wrap it in towels so there will be a little bit of juice that clings to the fruit. I hope that helps. This is such a delicious dish I hope you enjoy!!