Healthy Pineapple Casserole

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Healthy Pineapple Casserole

This southern classic has gone healthy with minor substitutions that make a HUGE difference in health and a TINY difference in taste!

Course Healthy Junk, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 4 -6

Author Brewing Happiness

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
• 4 cups pineapple, sliced
• 5 tablespoons all purpose flour (sub gluten free all purpose flour)
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1 cup low fat cheddar cheese, shredded (sub vegan cheese)
• 1 cup oats
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/3 cup vegan buttery spread, melted (sub coconut oil or butter)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Grease the bottom of a 9x9 casserole dish with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil.
3. Layer the pineapple, flour, sugar, cheese, oats, coconut flakes, and pecans into the dish - in that order.
4. Pour the buttery spread on top, covering the whole dish.
5. Bake for 20 minutes.
6. Serve warm & EAT UP.

If you haven’t heard of a pineapple casserole, you probably aren’t southern. I grew up eating it ALL THE TIME. It was my mom’s second most requested food (first were her chocolate chip cookies). She always served this casserole alongside teriyaki chicken, I’m not quite sure why. I suppose it was “Hawaiian themed” to her. But truthfully pineapple casserole is a thing Paula Dean probably made for her family every week. And when I show you the ingredients you’ll understand why. There is no shortage of sugar, or butter, or processed things in the original. The picture below is my mom’s actual recipe she followed (which I think she copied from the back of a Ritz Cracker box). 

So yeah, I guess it’s obvious why I needed to “health-ify” this recipe. But truthfully I wouldn’t have thought about going back to this childhood favorite if it weren’t for my sister who requested a health-ier version. So that is where we are at. A casserole layered with pineapple, flour, sugar ‘n stuff. 

Here are the changes I made to my mom’s recipe (incase it wasn’t already obvious.)

• I switched out butter for coconut oil when greasing the pan.
• I used fresh pineapple instead of canned.
• I opted to use gluten free all purpose flour (you don’t have to), but I did it because my sister is gluten free and I want to share.
• I used coconut sugar instead of refined sugar.
• I used low-fat cheese instead of full fat – feel free to take it a step further and use soy/vegan cheese.
• I made a crumble topping out of oats, coconut and pecans instead of Ritz Crackers. It’s still crunchy and delicious, just less processed.
• I used a vegan buttery spread (ie. Earth Balance) instead of butter, and reduced the amount from ONE WHOLE FREAKING STICK to just 1/3 cup.

So there you have it. Maybe it’s not completely healthy, but it’s for sure health-ier.  And that counts for a lot.