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A pineapple bowl filled with fresh cut chunks of pineapple ready to eat.
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5 from 2 votes

How To Make Pineapple Bowls

Learn how to cut pineapple bowls or boats the easy way plus how to use the chunks for recipes like shish kabobs, huli huli chicken or sorbet.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Side Dishes & Vegetables
Cuisine: American
Keyword: how to cut a pineapple, how to pick a ripe pineapple, pineapple boat, pineapple bowl, ripe pineapple
Servings: 4 pineapple bowls
Calories: 226kcal
Cost: $5

Ingredients

Pineapple Bowls

  • 1 large fresh pineapple

Instructions

  • Using a large knife cut the pineapple lengthwise and through the leaves into 2 halves.
  • Next, use a small serrated paring knife, cut all the way around the edge leaving about ¾” of the outside edge.
  • Cut the core out by cutting down both sides of the core at a slight angle inward in a "V" shape.
  • Now remove the core.
  • Discard as it is tough and inedible.
  • Slice into chunks by making a grid pattern of about 1" pieces. Be careful not to cut through the skin.
  • Use a large serving spoon, scoop out the pieces, save the juice ~ drink it or make a smoothie.
  • Place the cut pineapple back into the bowl.

Notes

Top Ripe Pineapple Tips

  • Be sure the pineapple has a sweet smell towards the base.
  • A green color indicates that it might not be ripe and was picked too early.
  • Use the "Press Test."  A sweet (and ripe) pineapple will yield slightly to pressure.
  • Make sure to avoid overripe pineapples. They usually have reddish-brownish skins and dark dried leaves that crumble when you touch them and have a fermented smell. Pass on that pineapple, it will taste-off, and be mushy and overripe inside.

How To Store Pineapple Bowls

Keep chilled in the fridge covered with plastic wrap. Serve within two days.

Ripe Pineapple

Wondering how to pick a juicy pineapple ready to use that day?
First, smell the bottom for sweetness.  This is the first tell-tale sign to determine how sweet and ripe your pineapple will be.  Sugar comes from the bottom of the fruit, where it migrates to the top as it ripens.  The bottom is where it should be most fragrant, so put your nose there not on the crown.
If it smells sweet, like pineapple juice, it is ripe.  If you smell nothing, that means there is insufficient sugar and the fruit will not be sweet, and it has been harvested too early. 
Pineapples ripen very little after they have been harvested. So you don't want to pick one that is underripe, hoping it will get ripen later. Unfortunately, it won't.
What you want to look for is a yellow-golden color. As the fruit starts to ripen in the field, it starts from the bottom, the higher the yellow rises toward the crown, the more sugar (and sweetness) it will have!  
Yellow on the bottom and green on the top will yield inconsistency in sweetness (i.e. some parts are sweet, other parts are not).  Ideally, you want the yellow color to rise all the way to the crown, which means the sugar is distributed evenly through the fruit.

Nutrition

Calories: 226kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 0g | Saturated Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 4mg | Potassium: 493mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 44g | Vitamin A: 265IU | Vitamin C: 216.3mg | Calcium: 59mg | Iron: 1.3mg