The Pineapple Sandwich Is An Easy, 3-Ingredient Southern Delight

While Americans' favorite sandwiches tend to be made with either meat, cheese, or both — the PB&J being one notable plant-based exception — most sub shops will have a "veggie delight" or similarly-named offering on their menu. Fruit sandwiches, however, are not such a thing unless you're eating at the kind of hipster bistro where you can't get a grilled cheese without someone slathering fig jam all over it. If, however, you're visiting your grandma in Alabama (assuming you have such a thing), she may introduce you to the super-simple, three-ingredient pineapple sandwich.

To make this old-timey Southern sandwich, you'll start with a loaf of squishy white supermarket sliced bread — none of your fancy multigrain or artisanal sourdough loaves. Plop a bunch of mayonnaise or Miracle Whip on both pieces of bread, about 1 tablespoon per side, and then cram in some canned pineapple pieces.

If you're using pineapple rings, you'll need to cut them up to cover the bread, but you should be able to fit about four of these if you try. If you're using chunks, just keep piling them on one piece of bread until the mayonnaise is covered, then slap the other piece of bread on top (mayo-side down, of course). Once you take a bite, you'll no longer need to stay up nights wondering what pineapple with mayonnaise tastes like.

While canned pineapple and mayonnaise on white bread may sound like the kind of thing you'd eat standing over the kitchen sink (which is probably a good idea if the sandwich starts to get drippy), a different pineapple sandwich recipe might be served up on china plates at a vintage tea party. These pineapple tea or finger sandwiches also use canned pineapple as an ingredient, although usually in crushed form, while here the fruit is made spreadable with the addition of cream cheese instead of mayonnaise.

Everyone and their Southern granny seems to have a different recipe for the pineapple-slash-cream cheese spread. In many cases, it seems to involve combining roughly equal amounts of the stuff, like an 8-ounce brick of cheese with an 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple. Some cooks will also add anywhere from ⅓ to ¾ cup of sugar to this mixture, while others omit the sugar entirely, so sweetening seems to be a matter of personal preference.

Chopped nuts such as pecans or walnuts are also a popular mix-in, as are sliced green onions, while some like to add spices like cinnamon or nutmeg or even a little food coloring. While pretty pastel-colored pineapple sandwiches might not make for the type of tea-time fare you'd find at Buckingham Palace, they'd be fun for an Easter brunch.