This Simple Grilled Pineapple Dessert comes together in just minutes and is an instant, healthy taste of the tropics.
My obsession with pineapple began when I was young on our annual trips to Hawaii. Living in Alaska meant dealing with some serious cold and dark spells, so each spring our family would fly south to defrost on the warm beaches of Hawaii.
And growing up in Alaska meant we never had the cream of the crop when it came to exotic fruits and vegetables. You’d pay big money for a pineapple in Alaska, only to find it pale, sour, and far less than satisfying.
So when I first sunk my teeth into a Hawaiian pineapple while visiting the Dole Plantation on Oahu, my world flipped upside down.
The rest of that vacation was spent in oscillation between stuffing my face with pineapple, not being able to eat anymore on account of the acidic pineapple burning my tongue, and waiting to be able to eat pineapple again. It was a vicious, delicious cycle.
But as much as I loved fresh Hawaiian pineapple, I could never get into the whole cooked pineapple business. Pineapple pizza? Noooo thank you.
The thought of hot cheese combined with acidic pineapple just gives me goosebumps. So for a while I just stayed clear of anything with cooked pineapple, assuming pineapple just wasn’t meant for heat.
That is until last month while I was traveling around Southeast Asia, a.k.a. exotic fruit central.
For lunch one day I ordered fried rice, my food of choice for essentially the entire holiday, and when the server brought it out I was confronted with a huge plate of pineapple fried rice.
Hot, cooked pineapple all sprinkled throughout my innocent fried rice. What did my fried rice do to deserve this?!
But being hungry and low on money, I ate it anyways. And once again, pineapple flipped my world upside down.
So now that I’m back from Asia, I’ve been trying to find ways to bring some of that Asian influence into my cooking, to include giving this cooked pineapple thing a go. The result? Heaven.
This is a simple recipe involving honey, lime, pineapple, and coconut. Cut your pineapple into slabs, or peel off the skin then cut it into slabs.
You can cut out the core of you want, I didn’t. I suppose you could also use canned pineapple rings if you live in a place like, oh say Alaska. Combine some lime juice and honey and rub it onto the pineapple slabs then grill, either on a grill or in a grill pan, until you get nice, charred lines.
Sprinkle with shredded coconut and top with coconut ice cream for unadulterated tropical paradise in food form.
- 1 medium pineapple
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- 4 Tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
- Recommended for serving: coconut ice cream or sorbet
- Either leave the skin on or cut it off (completely up to you!) then cut the pineapple into ¾ inch slabs.
- Whisk together lime and honey in a bowl. Brush onto each side of each piece of pineapple.
- Heat either a grill or grill pan to medium heat and grease well. Cook pineapples for about 3 minutes on each side, or until char lines develop, increasing heat if necessary.
- Transfer to serving plates and sprinkle with shredded coconut and top with a scoop of coconut ice cream. Serve immediately.