Pineapple Casserole

In honor of Thanksgiving (my second favorite holiday) all the Monday recipe posts in November leading up to Turkey Day 2016 will contain top secret information that will shed light on some of my family’s holiday meal favorites. We will kick off the series today with Pineapple Casserole.

I’m just going to be honest with you – this is a weird recipe. It came into my family through my aunt on my dad’s side. I have no idea where she got it from, but I’m grateful to her for sharing with us (and by us I mean my mom; she was the only one who wanted to try it the first time).

The top three ingredients are pineapple, cheddar, and ritz crackers. See what I mean? Weirdness notwithstanding, if you can put aside any preconceived notions I think you will enjoy it. Having an inherently suspicious nature when it comes to new flavor combos, it was a bit of leap for me the first time I tried it, but I was pleasantly surprised and have been partaking with gusto ever since.

Pineapple Casserole
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Serves 8

2 20oz cans of pineapple chunks
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1 sleeve Ritz crackers
1/3 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350F. Drain the pineapple, reserving 3 tbsp of juice. Combine the pineapple, reserved juice, sugar, flour, and cheese. Place mixture in a greased 2 quart baking dish. Crumble the Ritz crackers over the top and drizzle with butter. Bake for 35 minutes until golden brown and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

And then? Embrace the weirdness.