This smoked pineapple with brown sugar glaze is a sweet and tangy treat that is great as a side, delicious on top of the dessert or add it to your burgers, and more. Coated with brown sugar and butter before being smoked to caramelized perfection, this recipe is versatile and sure to become a fan favorite.
As an avid pellet griller and smoker, I believe in smoking all things, fruit included. The char from the hot grill grates adds impressive complexity and depth to the fruit’s sweetness. My favorite grilled fruits include bananas, peaches, plums, and nectarines. I even love making smoked apple pie. But by far, my family’s favorite smoked fruit is this smoked pineapple with a brown sugar glaze. The sweet-tart flesh begins to release its juices during the smoking process is fantastic.
Whole Smoked Pineapple
Smoked pineapple can be done in various ways, but my favorite is to trim the skin and bottom, keeping the rest of the pineapple intact. This allows each serving you slice off the pineapple to have fantastic flavor. Think about the pineapple you love eating from your local Brazilian grill, and you’ll begin to understand why I smoke it this way.
To take the flavors to the next level, I brush all sides with brown sugar and butter. I’ve tried substituting the butter for maple syrup, but the butter helps penetrate deeper into the pineapple, giving it more flavor. The sugar caramelizes as the pineapple is smoked through, and the little hint of butter makes this perfect for a warm dessert. Add it to coconut ice cream, and you’re in an island flavor paradise!
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Steps for a Smoked Pineapple with Brown Sugar Glaze
Tips for Smoking the Best Pineapple
Before making this delicious recipe, take note of these tips for smoking the most flavorful, juicy pineapple ever:
- Keep the temp down but not too low; we aren’t smoking a large piece of meat. Don’t crank your pellet grill or smoker too high before putting the pineapple on. If it’s too hot, you burn the sugar in the glaze before cooking the pineapple. Keep the pellet gill set at about 375 degrees Fahrenheit, and you will be good to smoke!
- Smoke to your preferred doneness. Yes, you can smoke pineapple to different doneness, just like meat. If you’re looking for a crunchy pineapple just barely heated through, only smoke for 5 minutes per side. If you want your brown sugar caramelized thoroughly and the pineapple melting with every bite, aim for closer to 10 minutes of smoke time on each side but rotate the pineapple 360 degrees a couple of times.
- Don’t fear adding salt. Adding a bit of kosher salt on top of your smoked pineapple sounds weird, but it truly helps to finish this fruit. Think of this like salted caramel, where the sweet and salty complement each other. A small pinch of salt makes the fruit taste sweeter.
Smoked Pineapple with Brown Sugar Glaze
Ingredients
- 1 Pineapple
- 2 tbsp butter melted
- 5 tbsp Brown sugar heaping spoonful's
- ½ tsp Kosher salt
Instructions
- Set your pellet grill or smoker to 375°F.
- Slice off the bottom of the pineapple, leaving a flat surface.
- While leaving the crown on the pineapple, slice off the shell using a sharp knife and slice from the crown down to the bottom, removing any part of the shell.
- Mix 2 tablespoons of melted butter in a small bowl with about 5 heaping tablespoons of brown sugar. Mix well until combined into a thick paste. Add more brown sugar if needed.
- Using your fingers, spread the brown sugar paste over the pineapple's yellow flesh, making sure to coat the entire surface on all sides.
- Place the pineapple in the center of the lowest rack and close the lid.
- Turn or rotate the pineapple slightly every 5 minutes, so a new sliced surface is exposed to the grill grates.
- Continue rotating the pineapple until all the sides are cooked to your preference. This should take approximately 30 minutes.
- Once the pineapple has dark grill marks on all sides and is cooked to your liking, remove it.
- Immediately slice in the same direction you followed when removing the shell. Slice around the entire pineapple once or twice until you've removed all the fruit down to the core.
- Sprinkle the slices with a coarse sea salt or kosher salt.
- Serve warm!
Nutrition
Below is a Pinterest friendly photo…. so you can pin it to your favorite Smoking Food Board!!
We adapted this recipe from Hey Grill Hey to allow for a smoked version of this pineapple, where we substituted the maple syrup for butter. (This recipe is based on my preference, you can use whatever recipe or method you wish for your pineapple).
Check out the recipes below if you’re curious about what else to smoke.
Bon Appétit