This post is sponsored by King’s Hawaiian, maker of pillowy soft sweet sandwich buns that are the vessel of choice for this grilled pineapple pork sandwich business. Check out their first ever commercial here to see people go pupule (crayyyzee!) for this bread.
Happy Father’s Day almost!
I pinkie promise that this recipe has nothing to do with my personal love and adoration of grilled pineapple and everything to do with making something nice and meat-lovery for Dad. See how thoughtful I am? Just because my thoughtfulness just happens to come through via my food obsessions doesn’t mean that this is about me. It’s my love language and it’s called gifts and foods, foods that are gifts, gifts that can be used to make food, and so on. And I’m using the gifts and food love language to speak to all the great dads everywhere: YoU’rE dA BeSt YoU gUyS!
And if this gifting opportunity for Dad doubles as a chance for me to put grilled pineapple on my juicy shredded pork sandwiches, to that I say –> win win.
Here’s the thing about me + meat.
I could usually do fine without it. Tofu and veggies of the honey ginger garlic variety has me totally captivated.
But pork is in a meat category all its own for me and I do not care to find out what life would be like without it. I mean, hullo? Bacon? And breakfast sausage? and adobo, and carnitas, and chorizo, and humba? My pork loyalty runs strong and deep. And this just in: I’ve accepted my place in the pork all-star super fan club by slow cooking it in pineapple juice and soy sauce with bell peppers and jalapeno and red onions, and then broiling it to golden browned bits of perfection and THEN topping it with grilled pineapple and serving it up on a soft, sweet King’s Hawaiian sandwich bun. Like whoa. I can feel myself about to hula dance.
Much like the simple french toast bake that we talked about for Mother’s Day, this is one of those recipes that allows the maker to enjoy a few hours of fun and games while the whole thing basically cooks itself. It’s like a cooking freebie.
And I can think of one person who might enjoy a little bit of your extra time and attention this weekend pre-face-stuffing of the grilled pineapple pork sandwich —> Dad <—! How perfectly perfect.
PS. I used my regular slow cooker for this recipe which is a Crock-Pot that I’ve had for the last five years. SO MUCH FOOD has come out of that thing over the life of this blog which is pretty impressive for a $28 kitchen appliance.
Grilled Pineapple Pork Sandwiches
- Total Time: 6 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Description
These Grilled Pineapple Pork Sandwiches are easy and delicious! Featuring juicy shredded pork and sweet sandwich rolls from King’s Hawaiian.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lbs. pork shoulder or pork butt
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 red onion, diced
- 2 red bell peppers, diced
- 1–2 jalapenos, diced (keep the seeds for a little heat)
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 8 King’s Hawaiian sandwich buns
- 1 pineapple, peeled and cored
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro or parsley for topping
Instructions
- Place the pork shoulder, garlic, onion, peppers, jalapeno, pineapple juice, and soy sauce in a slow cooker. Cover and cook for 4-5 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low. Shred directly in the slow cooker with two forks.
- Cover a baking sheet with foil and preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Use tongs to transfer the meat to the covered baking sheet, letting the extra juice drip off back into the slow cooker before transferring, otherwise you’ll have a big mess on your hands. Arrange the meat in an even layer and bake for 15 minutes or until some of the pieces are turning golden brown. Mine actually turned a reddish golden brown, which is fine – the color is from the red peppers. Remove the meat from the oven and gently toss all the pieces with tongs. Drizzle with a little bit of juice from the slow cooker.
- Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Cut the pineapple into rings and cut each ring in half. When the skillet is hot, add the pineapple slices and “grill” them for a few minutes on each side to get a nice golden brown color, or you could grill them for real on the actual grill. Arrange the meat and pineapple on each sandwich bun and sprinkle with a tiny bit of cilantro or parsley for some fresh green color. Use the juice in the slow cooker to re-moisten the meat or give a little extra shine to the pineapple slices.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 6 hours
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Hawaiian-Inspired
Keywords: pineapple pork sandwiches, hawaiian pork sandwiches, grilled pork sandwiches
This post is sponsored by King’s Hawaiian
Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links.