Today’s recipe is for Traeger Smoked Pineapple with Cottage Cheese and it is a guaranteed winner! This dish is a flavor explosion that you will devour.
This tasty treat is proof that you can do a lot more with a Traeger than smoke briskets and pork butts!
We smoked the pineapple on a Traeger Trailhead portable pellet grill that I got at Costco but you can use any pellet smoker that can hold a steady temperature at 225F.
Get the Pineapple Ready for Smoking
We like to start with a whole, fresh pineapple. You can use canned pineapple slices if that is all you have but we like the larger slices you get when you cut your own.
There are several different ways of slicing a pineapple but the only thing that is really important is to cut away the tough core. You will eventually want to remove the outer skin as well but we did that after it was smoked.
Once the pineapple is sliced it is time to get it seasoned.
The flavor profiles you want are primarily sweet with a little bit of salt, savory and spicy.
We used Three Little Pigs Touch of Cherry bbq rub along with a sprinkle of chipotle powder. If you want to make your own rub then the following would work just fine:
Pineapple Rub
- 3 Tbls brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp chipotle powder
Season both sides of the pineapple and let them sit while you get your Traeger ready.
Fire Up Your Traeger
We were smoking on the Traeger Trailhead that was hooked up to our Jackery 300 power supply and sitting on the Yukon Glory Portable Grill Table.
We filled the hopper of the Trailhead with Kirkland wood pellets, added a foil liner to the grease deflector, closed the lid and set the temperature to 225F. It was a cold, windy day and it took the Traeger about 20 minutes to get to temperature.
Smoke the Seasoned Pineapple Slices
Put the pineapple slices on the Traeger, close the lid and walk away.
This is a fast cook and you really don’t need to do anything other than wait.
After the pineapple has smoked for about an hour it will be done.
There is no target internal temperature that you are aiming for. Instead you are looking for a nice color and will see that the pineapple has dried up a bit on the surface.
The time in the Traeger will have let the pineapple taken up some nice smoke and concentrated the pineapple flavor as some of the moisture evaporated.
Serve It Up!
After the pineapple has smoked for an hour at 225F go ahead and take it off the grill.
We love this when sliced and served over cottage cheese. The flavors of sweet, smoky pineapple with a touch of heat are simply incredible.
The textural contrast between the pineapple and cottage cheese makes the dish fun to eat.
This is best served with the pineapple hot off the grill which gives another delightful contrast between the warm pineapple and cold cottage cheese. If needed, you can also make this a day in advance and store in the refrigerator and it will still be delicious.
Traeger Smoked Pineapple with Cottage Cheese
Equipment
- Traeger Pellet Grill
Ingredients
- 6 Pineapple Slices
- 16 oz Medium Curd Cottage Cheese
- Seasoning Blend Recipe Below
- 3 tbls Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Chipotle Powder
Instructions
- Combine the seasoning ingredients and mix well.
- Season both side of the pineapple slices.
- Turn on your Traeger and set the temperature to 225F.
- Put the seasoned pineapple slices on the Traeger and smoke for one hour.
- Take the pineapple slices off the Traeger, slice and serve on top of a platter of cold cottage cheese.
