Pineapple Bread Casserole

This classic southern Pineapple Bread Casserole is like a sweet bread pudding made with crushed pineapple, cubed white bread, eggs, sugar, and butter. It’s a popular side dish and perfect for Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas! It’s the perfect side for a glazed ham.

This recipe has many names: one popular version is scalloped pineapple.

What I love about the taste and texture of this recipe is that it’s a combination between a hearty treat and a full-blown amazing side dish. It’s hard to believe that you can eat pineapple any other way than raw but this simple dish proves it to be true.

I’ve been making this for years and it’s perfect Easter or Thanksgiving side dish.

Pineapple Bread Casserole

You’re going to be so impressed with the ease of this recipe that you might not wait very long to make it again the next time. And I can promise you that there will be a next time!

Since you can use canned pineapple as well, there’s really no reason to not make this recipe for scalloped pineapple. Once you whip up this pineapple bake, it’s going to be gone before you even realize what happened!

Ingredients Needed To Make This Baked Pineapple Casserole

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained
• 1-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 4 cups white bread

How To Make This Scalloped Pineapple Recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Spray an 8×8 baking dish and set aside. 

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix to incorporate. Mix in drained pineapple and lemon juice. 

Remove crusts from bread and cut into cubes. Gently fold cubes into the mixture. Add mixture to prepared baking dish. Bake 40-45 minutes, uncovered until the top is golden brown.

Can you use pineapple rings for this southern baked pineapple dish?

You can. Even though the recipe calls for crushed pineapple, you can use whatever you have at home if you can’t get to the store.

Just cut up the rings to make them easier to eat in the casserole and that’s really all that you’ll have to worry about.

Can you make this pineapple bread casserole with fresh pineapple?

Again, yes. Fresh pineapple would taste really good as long as it was ripe and sweet. Just cut off the outside of the pineapple and chop it up fine to add to your dish.

Where did pineapple casserole originate?

You can thank the folks in the South for this sweet dish. It’s a HUGELY popular dish that is created and eaten during Easter and at big family gatherings.

Variations For This Pineapple Casserole

The great thing about this recipe is that you can alter it up to change the taste and flavor. Some people make it with bread as you’ll see in the full directions below while others like to use Ritz crackers instead.

In my opinion, either is fine and both serve their purpose quite well. I love how the bread soaks up the flavors and taste but I also appreciate the extra buttery flavor that the Ritz Crackers bring as well.

You can also omit a bit of the sugar as well and rely more on the natural sweetness of the pineapple.

Tips For Making Pineapple Casserole

The truth is that this pineapple recipe is pretty straight-forward but there are a few things to keep in mind.

One of the biggest and most important tips is that you need to be certain that you drain the pineapple really, really well. The last thing that you want is a soggy casserole that causes it to lose that texture that it’s famous for.

You also want to be certain to bake this uncovered so that the top of this simple casserole recipe becomes a beautiful golden brown.

Once you pull it from the oven, let it rest a few moments and cool as that pineapple really does a great job of holding in that heat!

One other important tip to note is that when it cools, it will form together a bit more but there’s still a high probability that it won’t hold its shape completely when serving. That’s okay, it’s nothing that you’ve done wrong.

When you’re dealing with pineapples and their juice, sometimes there tends to be a bit that does come out when you’re cooking it no matter how much you thought that you drained out!

Do you add any toppings to this baked pineapple dish?

I never do but that doesn’t mean that you can’t. I would assume that shredded coconut, a little bit of powdered sugar, or even a drizzle of glaze or honey would go perfectly with the taste and texture.

But remember, this isn’t a must and I don’t even have anything about toppings on the recipe. Try it first as is and see what you think.

More Side Dish Recipes

• Creamy Bacon Pea Salad
• Jiffy Corn Casserole
• Grape Salad