Pineapple Casserole

A sweet, savory, Southern casserole recipe with pineapple, buttery Ritz crackers and sharp cheddar cheese traditionally served with baked ham.

Man, DANG, I wish I’d gotten this recipe out to y’all before Easter! I can’t believe I’ve never shared it with you before because it is a huge favorite with my entire family. When we have ham, we MUST have Pineapple Casserole with it.

We MUST.

It’s the RULE.

Period.

Even my meat-and-potatoes husband has to have it. There’s just something about the sweet pineapple and cheddar cheese that just goes with ham.

We kinda had a weird Easter this year… Mama and Daddy are both dealing with some medical issues so we decided to have Easter dinner at my house. I’ve been crazy busy with work and our own hectic schedule (three baseball tournaments back to back to back three weekends in a row before Easter – Lord, help me) and then some kind of flu-like crud jumped on me last week so our planning went something like this…

Me: OK, I’ll do Easter at my house.

Mama: What can I bring?

Me: Not a thing. I got it.

Mama: What are you going to cook?

Me: Ham and stuff.

Mama: What stuff?

Me: I don’t know yet… whatever I can pull off between now and then.

Mama: hmmph... [obviously rethinking her decision to hand over Easter dinner to me 😏]

We usually sit down a week or two before a big “eating” holiday and map out everything we’re going to cook, who’s gonna cook what and when it’s gonna get cooked. But with the way things have been going around here, I just stuck with the basics.

And I bought a frozen pie.

Don’t tell anybody.

I did feel a little better about that when Mama showed up at the house with a coconut cake she bought at Sam’s. Not to knock the cake, though, that sucker was delicious! My pie? Not so much.

Anyway, when Mama and Daddy arrived Sunday I got so tickled because she came in toting a sleeve of crackers, a block of cheddar cheese and a can of pineapple and I knew exactly what it was for! We might be winging Easter dinner but Mama was going to make sure we had Pineapple Casserole!

Here’s what I managed to put on the table Sunday:

• Slow Cooker Hawaiian Ham
• Black-Eyed Peas
• Greasy Rice
• Ambrosia Fruit Salad
• Pineapple Casserole (thank you, Mama)
• Super Easy Scalloped Potatoes
• Deviled Eggs

I know, I know, I know... where's the Macaroni & Cheese, right? Well, since I was making the cheesy scalloped potatoes, I didn't figure we needed another cheesy, starchy side dish. And I have to tell you, I felt sketchy all weekend about not having a green vegetable on the table but, well, I just gave slap out of steam.

You can use pineapple chunks or tidbits in the Pineapple Casserole. We usually use chunks but Mama said all she had in her cupboard were tidbits so that’s what’s pictured here. Use whichever you prefer!

You can play around with this recipe a good bit. I have no idea where our recipe came from originally but it calls for 1/2 cup of sugar which I find to be waaaaay too sweet. I only use 1/4 cup but I suppose if you’re using some sort of unsweetened pineapple, you might need more sugar. There’s no wrong way to make this… as long as it holds together when you put it in your baking dish, it’ll cook up just fine!

This is an AWESOME side dish for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner! Here are some more of my favorites for serve too!

• Confetti Cornbread Salad - Crisp bacon and diced fresh vegetables, creamy beans and shredded cheese tossed with sour cream dressing and crumbled cornbread
• Zucchini Pie - Sauteed zucchini and onions with Italian herds and cheese baked in a crescent roll crust.
• Sweet Potato Praline Casserole - A classic recipe with whipped sweet potatoes crowned with a pecan praline topping.
• Mama's Cornbread Dressing - Southern cornbread dressing made with cornbread and herb stuffing that everyone will love.
• Southern Cornbread Dressing with Sausage - Much like Mama's recipe for dressing but with sausage!
• Southern-Style Green Beans & Potatoes - Green Beans & Potatoes cooked low and slow (both stove-top and crock pot instructions).
• Squash Casserole - A delicious squash casserole recipe made with herb stuffing, sour cream and cream of chicken soup.
• Southern-Style Collard Greens - A step-by-step recipe for cooking authentic Southern collard greens.
• Corn Casserole with Cheese & Bacon - An easy casserole recipe with corn, butter, cheddar cheese, bacon, a little flour, eggs and chives!
• Country-Style Baby Lima Beans - A no-fail Southern recipe for tender baby lima beans (butterbeans) cooked low and slow with bacon.

This recipe was shared at the Weekend Potluck and Meal Plan Monday!

pineapple, casserole, southern, cheese, cheddar, recipe, best, side dish, ritz, crackers

Yield: 4-6 ServingsAuthor: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth

Pineapple Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 20-oz can pineapple chunks or tidbits
• 3 tablespoons reserved pineapple juice
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about a cup)
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 1/2 cups butter cracker crumbles (such as Ritz)

Instructions:

Drain pineapple, reserving 3 tablespoons. Combine cracker crumbles and butter then gently stir with a fork to combine. Lightly spray a shallow 1-quart baking dish with cooking spray or rub with butter.

Combine reserved 3 tablespoons of juice and flour in a bowl then mix until smooth. Add sugar, drained pineapple and cheese then stir until combined. Gently stir in 1/3 of the cracker crumbles.

Spoon mixture into baking dish then top with remaining cracker crumbles. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and crackers are starting to brown. Serve immediately.

Notes:

• A small pie plate works great for this recipe!
• This recipe doubles beautifully! Just use a 13x9 baking dish then cook about 5 minutes longer. 
• You can use pineapples in heavy syrup, sweetened juice or unsweetened juice – just add a tablespoon or two of sugar if using unsweetened. 
• You can use self-rising or all-purpose flour – we’re just using it as a binding agent.
• I say to use cracker “crumbles” instead of “crumbs” because I like the crackers to stay kinda chunky – not to be crushed too fine.
• I always use sharp cheddar when I make this because I think it goes so well with the sugar and sweet pineapple.
• I have often thought of using cheese crackers (like Cheez-Its) in this recipe – if you’ve tried it, I’d love to hear about it!

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