I made this Hawaiian Pineapple Pizza Dip for my friend Susie, lover of all things Hawaii.

She loves to tag me in things on social media and say, “please make this for me.” Being a fan of a challenge, I usually oblige. Her most recent request was found on a website, devoted to over-the-top, borderline obscene, food called Foodbeast. Gargantuan, ooey-gooey burgers and cheese drenched pizza are typical fare for this digital dining destination. What was her request? Pineapple Pizza Dip. Yes, it’s ridiculous and we couldn’t wait to give it a go.

I made it. We tried it. As promised, it was a gut bomb. After a few bites, we both agreed that there was room for improvement for this decadent party plate. I took to my test kitchen and after two rounds of tests, I hit pineapple gold.

This recipe has a good bit of similarity to the original, but the few minor tweaks send it from one-note gut-bomb to a delightfully decadent dish. Thank you to Foodbeast for the tropical inspiration!

Time to luau (full printable recipe at the bottom).

Hawaiian Pizza Dip (bigger and better!)

Preheat oven to broil.

Halve one pineapple and scoop out the insides of both halves, reserving 1/2 cup worth of chopped pineapple chunks to be used later as topping.

Small dice 10 pizza sized pepperoni and 2 slices of Canadian bacon (McMuffin sized…in case Canadian bacon isn’t standard in sizing?). Also small dice 1/4 of a red onion.

Put a saucepan over medium high heat and add in 4 ounces cream cheese, 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese, 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, 2 Tbs canned diced green chiles, 2 Tbs milk, a dash of garlic salt and 1 tsp oregano. Stir over the heat until the cheeses melt and you have a smooth cheese sauce. Add in pepperonis and diced Canadian bacon and stir to combine.

Pour the pepperoni/ham cheese sauce evenly divided into each half of the pineapple. Spread 1/4 cup of your favorite pizza sauce on top of the cheese sauce of both halves, then top with 1/2 cup divided shredded mozzarella cheese, pineapple chunks, and diced red onions.

Place the pineapple halves on a sheet pan and cook in the upper 1/3 of your oven under the broiler for 5 minutes, or until the mozzarella on top is bubbling. Fair warning, make sure the fronds don’t touch the heating element. Word to the wise 😉

After that, remove from the oven and serve with crackers.