This easy pie has a burst of tropical summer sunshine baked right into it! Southern Pineapple Pie is full of juicy pineapple, a creamy custard filling, fluffy meringue, and a buttery pie crust. It’s the perfect dessert for any BBQ, cookout, or summer evening.
This post was originally sponsored by Dixie Crystals. All words are 100% mine, and this recipe now lives here on Big Bear’s Wife.
Southern Pineapple Pie is one of those vintage-style desserts that feels right at home on any southern dessert table. With a creamy pineapple custard filling, fluffy meringue topping, and a buttery baked pie crust, it’s a pie that feels both old-fashioned and perfect for summer.
I love recipes like this because they have that sweet nostalgic feel to them. This pie is bright, fruity, creamy, and just a little bit unexpected. It’s a great dessert for cookouts, family dinners, church suppers, and holiday weekends when you want something a little different from the usual fruit pie.
Y’all know I love old southern recipes!
One of the biggest keys to making this pie work well is draining the crushed pineapple really well before adding it to the custard. That helps the filling stay thick and sliceable after it chills.
PLEASE NOTE – if you do not drain the crushed pineapple, this pie will be mushy and pudding-like. It’ll still taste great, but won’t slice well.
Let’s Make Southern Pineapple Pie!
Ingredients For Southern Pineapple Pie:
- deep dish pie crust, baked and cooled
- granulated sugar
- egg yolks
- salt
- cornstarch
- milk
- crushed pineapple, drained very well
- vanilla extract
- egg whites
- cream of tartar
- extra sugar for the meringue
Ingredient amounts and recipe directions are below with a print option!
How To Make Southern Pineapple Pie:
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In the top of a double boiler, combine sugar, egg yolks, salt, cornstarch, and milk.
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With water in the bottom part of the double boiler, heat on medium-high heat and whisk the egg yolk mixture for 10 to 15 minutes until thick like custard.
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Once very thick, remove custard from heat. Let cool for 2 minutes and stir in crushed pineapple that has been drained well and vanilla extract.
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Pour pineapple custard mixture into cooled pie shell.
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Preheat oven to 350F.
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With an electric mixer, whisk together egg whites for 45 seconds. Add in cream of tartar and sugar.
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Whisk on medium-high speed for 10 minutes or until meringue is smooth and stiff.
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Pile meringue on top of pineapple pie, spreading it to cover the entire top of the pie.
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Place pie into preheated oven for 10 minutes or until top is lightly browned.
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Let pie cool on the counter for 1 hour and then place into the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight to chill.
The meringue topping gives this pie such a classic southern feel. If you love old-fashioned pies, this one is a fun and sunny twist on a traditional meringue pie.
If meringue isn’t your thing, you could also serve this pie with thawed Cool Whip or homemade whipped cream right before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to add cream of tartar to the meringue?
Short answer: no. But it does help make the meringue stiffer and can help keep it from beading up in the fridge.
Can I make Southern Pineapple Pie ahead of time?
Yes! This pie actually needs a long chill time, so it’s a great dessert to make the day before you want to serve it.
How should I store Southern Pineapple Pie?
Store the pie covered in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
More Pineapple Recipes that you’ll love:
Southern Pineapple Pie
Southern Pineapple Pie
This easy pie has a burst of tropical summer sunshine baked right into! A Southern Pineapple Pie like this would be perfect for any BBQ, Cookout or Evening in!
Ingredients
For Pie:
- 1 - 9 inch deep dish pie crust, baked and cooled
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- Pinch salt
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup crushed pineapple, drained VERY WELL
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Meringue :
- 3 room temperature egg whites
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
Instructions
In the top of a double boiler, combine 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolks, salt, cornstarch and milk.
With water in the bottom part of the double broiler, heat on medium high heat and whisk egg yolk mixture for 10-15 minutes until thick like custard.
Once very thick, remove custard from heat. Let cool for 2 minutes and stir in crushed pineapple that has been drained well and vanilla extract.
Pour pineapple custard mixture into cooled pie shell.
Pre heat oven to 350F.
With an eclectic mixer, whisk together egg whites for 45 seconds. Add in cream of tartar and sugar.
Whisk on medium-high speed for 10 minutes or until meringue is smooth and stiff.
Pile meringue on top of pineapple pie, spreading it to cover entire top of pie.
Place pie into preheated oven for 10 minutes or until top is lightly browned.
Let pie cool on counter for 1 hour and then place into fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight to chill.
If you make this recipe, leave me a comment or snap a picture and share it on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag #bigbearswife — I love to see what you’re cooking from the blog!
Love it? Pin it to Pinterest!
What an amazing pie and pineapple is one of my favorite fruit so that this is perfect pies for me….and it looks soo yummy & truly delicious…i will make it now…Thanks for sharing….!
Where is the recipe?
Hi Christine. I made this recipe for Dixie Crystals so the entire recipe is on there site. If you at the bottom of my post, there is giant wording that says “Recipe Here” – “Just CLICK here to get it” 🙂 You scrolled right past it in order to get to the section to make a comment 🙂
I made this and it turned out just horrible! I don’t know why it wasn’t even fit to feed to our chickens! I followed the recipe exactly. What happened?
Hi Janis. Without being in the kitchen with you when you were making this recipe I don’t know how to tell you what went wrong because I wasn’t able to watch you make it. Although over the 12 + years I’ve been sharing recipes, anytime someone says “I followed the recipes exactly or “to the T”, it turns out they did not not in fact follow the recipe directly. I apologize that the recipe didn’t work out for you. I do make sure to test each recipe multiple times before posting it. I’ve also gotten comments on this recipe on Pinterest, Facebook and on the Dixie Crystal site itself that say it’s a wonderful recipe and delicious. So I know it has also been tested by others. I do hope you’ll give it another chance because it is a great dessert. As far as the chickens, I would advise against feeding it to the chickens as the amount of sugar in the pie wouldn’t be good for them.
Well said.
Was looking for something different for desert this pie was delicious made it by the recipe it was so easy will make it again
This recipe has been removed from the Dixie Crystal page. Just FYI
Hi! I have added it to my blog now. You should be able to see it on the blog post.
When you click to go to recipe there is no recipe. 🙁
Hi Betty! I’m so sorry! Dixie Crystals deleted all of my recipes from their site without telling me. I’m in the process of updating 100s of my post with the full recipes. This one is already done and you can find the recipe at the bottom of the post.