Grilled pineapple spears stacked neatly on a plate with fresh pineapple crown nearby and white plates in the background.

This brown sugar grilled pineapple is sweetened with a delicious brown sugar glaze and comes off the grill nice and juicy to create a sweet side dish for all your grilled meals.

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Prep Time10

Cook Time6

Total Time46

Servings

Grilled pineapple doesn’t need much to shine—but a quick marinade with brown sugar, vanilla, and a hint of cayenne takes it from simple to seriously good. The sugar caramelizes on the grill, the edges char just enough, and that sweet-spicy syrup you drizzle over at the end? Worth every second. Serve it as a BBQ side or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Grilled pineapple spears drizzled with sticky brown sugar glaze, served on a plate with a bowl of glaze in the background.

Brown Sugar Grilled Pineapple Ingredients

Overhead shot of ingredients for grilled pineapple: brown sugar, vanilla, cayenne pepper, kosher salt, and fresh pineapple wedges.

Ingredients You’ll Need

1 fresh whole pineapple
¼ cup of light brown sugar
¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
⅛ teaspoon of kosher salt
vegetable oil spray for grill

Best Type of Pineapple

✅ 🍍 Fresh pineapple – Best choice. Firm texture, caramelizes beautifully.
⚠️ 🔪 Pre-cut pineapple – Okay if it’s fresh and not overly ripe.
❌ 🥫 Canned pineapple – Avoid. Too soft and watery. Doesn’t grill well.

📝 You can cut the pineapple into rings instead of spears. Be sure not to cut the slices of pineapple too thinly, or they will fall apart when grilling.

Ingredient Substitutions

Cayenne adds more of a warm background note than actual heat. You can reduce or leave it out entirely if making it for kids.

Dark brown sugar can be substituted for light brown sugar for a deeper molasses-like flavor.

Tips

How To Make This Brown Sugar Grilled Pineapple Recipe

How To Grill The Pineapple

You don’t need a traditional outdoor grill to make this recipe. While a hot grill adds that classic smoky char, a flat-top griddle like a Blackstone or a grill pan on the stovetop works just as well.

The key is high heat—whatever surface you use, make sure it’s fully preheated so the pineapple caramelizes quickly without becoming soggy.

🍍 Cut even spears – Uniform size helps the pineapple cook evenly and prevents burning on thinner pieces.

❌ Don’t move them too much – Let the spears sit to develop color. Flip once for best results.

🧼 Clean grill grates – Pineapple is juicy and sticky—clean grates help prevent sticking and keep the char lines clean.

Pineapple slices being brushed with glaze while grilling on a stovetop grill pan, creating dark caramelized grill marks.

Marinade & Syrup Notes

The marinade does double duty in this recipe. A quick mix of brown sugar, vanilla, cayenne, and salt draws out the pineapple’s juices and adds a layer of flavor that caramelizes beautifully on the grill.

As the pineapple grills, the leftover marinade can be reduced into a simple syrup—just a quick zap in the microwave and it turns thick and glossy. Drizzle it over the warm pineapple just before serving for extra flavor and shine. It’s a small step that makes a big difference.

Spoon drizzling brown sugar glaze over grilled pineapple slices just before serving, with stacked plates in the background.

How To Serve These Grilled Pineapple Slices

Serve warm, straight off the grill, with the syrup drizzled over just before eating.

These pineapple spears are great on their own, but even better alongside grilled meats such as grilled chicken or steak. Or, on the sweeter side, pair with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a simple dessert.

Three grilled pineapple spears on a plate with scoops of vanilla ice cream, all topped with syrup, with extra pineapple in the background.

For a crowd, slice the spears into bite-sized pieces and serve with toothpicks for easy snacking, similar to how we serve our bacon-wrapped pineapple appetizer recipe.

Storing Caramelized Pineapple

Let any leftovers cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat briefly in a skillet or microwave to warm through before serving. Freezing isn’t recommended—the texture becomes watery once thawed.

Close-up of grilled pineapple being lifted with a fork, served with melting vanilla ice cream and drizzled with syrup.

This is one of those recipes that’s low effort, high reward. A quick marinade, a few minutes on the grill, and you’ve got something that works as a side, a dessert, or just a snack straight off the plate. It’s the kind of thing you’ll start making for BBQs and end up craving year-round.

More Pineapple Recipes

Brown Sugar Grilled Pineapple

5 from 1 vote

This brown sugar grilled pineapple is sweetened with a delicious brown sugar glaze and comes off the grill nice and juicy to create a sweet side dish for all your grilled meals.

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 6

Total Time 46

Servings

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Ingredients

1 fresh pineapple (peeled, cored, and cut into 8 spears)
¼ cup light brown sugar
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
vegetable oil spray, for the grill

Instructions

Place the pineapple in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle with the brown sugar, cayenne, vanilla extract, and salt. Toss to combine.
Cover the pineapple with plastic wrap and let it marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature. You can also place the pineapple in the refrigerator to marinate overnight. You will have a few tablespoons of liquid in the bottom of your bowl. Do not discard it.
Preheat your grill pan over high heat and spray with cooking spray just before adding the pineapple.
Grill the pineapple for 1 to 2 minutes on each side.
While the pineapple is grilling, place the excess marinade liquid in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 90 seconds or until bubbly and syrupy. Set aside.
Remove the grilled pineapple to the serving platter and drizzle it with the excess marinade syrup just before serving.

Video

Notes

You can buy a pre-peeled and cored whole ripe pineapple from your grocery store’s produce department. This will significantly reduce your prep time as the pineapple prep takes a lot of time in this recipe.
You can cut the pineapple into rings instead of spears. Be sure not to cut the slices of pineapple too thinly, or they will fall apart when grilling.
If you don’t have an indoor grill pan, you can grill this outdoors. Use grill plates if your grill grates are too far apart for the small pineapple spears.

Nutrition

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Proudly Prepared by the Spaceships Kitchen

This recipe was developed, tested, cooked and photographed by the Spaceships Kitchen. From our dinner table to yours, we hope you think it's out of this world!

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Caramelized Brown Sugar Grilled Pineapple