Canadian Bacon, Pineapple, and Sauerkraut Pizza

Team pineapple on pizza (and also sauerkraut!)

I feel like people usually fall on one of two sides when it comes to pineapple (and fruit in general) on their pizza: strictly against in all regards, and on the other side, PUT IT ON EVERYTHING! If you can’t already tell from the name of this pizza, I fall squarely in the latter category — Go Team Pineapple! But I’ve taken it one step further. I figure if you’re already putting fruit on your pizza, let’s just throw the “rules” out the window and use sauerkraut too. This Canadian Bacon, Pineapple, and Sauerkraut Pizza is the combination that I hold all other pizza toppings to — I know, but just hear me out!

When pineapple is used on pizza appropriately — i.e, baked in a properly hot oven on the very top of your pie rather than under a layer of thick cheese — it renders a lovely caramelized flavor that nicely balances out an umami-rich pizza. When amplified with tangy, fermented sauerkraut that also gets the ‘very tip-top of the pie, hot oven, caramelized treatment,’ this pizza is the perfect balance of sweet, tangy, and savory. This is my slightly convoluted way of saying, it might be weird in theory, but you’re gonna love it!

What you’re in for: A garlicky red sauce base, mozzarella, Parmesan, Canadian bacon, pineapple, and sauerkraut on top of your chosen crust (I’ve got an Easy Same-Day Pizza Dough recipe for you right here!). If you’re feeling particularly extra, I love this pie with a generous sprinkle of red pepper flakes and an occasional dunk of ranch dressing, but it’s awesome one it’s own too.

Let’s talk about the sauce and cheese for a moment

I personally prefer a pretty saucy pizza with a moderate amount of cheese. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good cheese-pull, but too much mozzarella makes for a thick and plasticky texture in my opinion, so I like to use a blend of soft and melty shredded mozzarella as well as a hard shredded parmesan as the base cheese blend for this pie. I generally end up adding between 3-4 oz shredded mozzarella and 1-1.5 oz shredded parmesan cheese for this pie. If you’re tempted to use more I support your cheesy ambitions, but I will argue that this pie is topped fairly heavily with other delicious things, so I personally think you get a better end result if you don’t go overboard with the cheese.

For the sauce, I like to keep things pretty basic. For a large pie, I use 8 oz classic tomato sauce with a healthy pinch of salt. The base of my pizza crust gets lightly dressed with a garlic-infused olive oil (because I personally tolerate that much better than fresh garlic), but if you don’t happen to have that in your cupboard (most won’t unless they have the same intolerance), you can add a good pinch or two of garlic powder to your tomato sauce for the same flavor boost.

WHAT TEMPERATURE IS BEST TO BAKE PIZZA AT?

Your aim is a perfectly golden crust and nicely caramelized toppings, so the hotter the better. Many professional pizzerias keep their ovens heated to 800 degrees F or higher, but most home ovens only reach temperatures between 500-550 degrees F so this recipe is created with those constraints in mind. I bake my pizzas at 500 degrees F / 260 degrees C and get wonderful results. If your oven tops out at 450 degrees F / 232 degrees C, I have tested that temp many times over as well and it works well, though you’ll want to plan on a few extra minutes in the oven, especially if your pie is piled high with toppings.

Reheating pizza leftovers

It would be cliche if I made a joke about leftovers and pizza right now, so we’ll just skip that and assume you didn’t eat the entire pie for a moment. My two favorite methods for reheating pizza so it retains it’s crisp crust while remelting the cheese, is in the oven or in a cast-iron pan on top of the stove.

Oven method: Bake on a sheet pan at 350 F / 175 C for 10 minutes or until pizza has reached your desired level of warmth and crispness.

Stovetop method: Set pizza in a cast-iron pan over medium-low heat. Allow to cook until the crust has reached your desired level of crispness. If the cheese isn’t melted enough for your taste you can add a few drops of water to the pan (away from the pizza) and cover the pan for a minute or two to allow the steam to melt the cheese further.

WHAT TOOLS DO I NEED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE?

• A cutting board
• A chef’s knife
• Cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel (to squeeze the juice out of the sauerkraut)
• A cheese grater (only if you plan to use block cheese rather than pre-shredded)
• A bakers half sheet
• Parchment paper

Are you looking to upgrade to your cooking tools or replenish your pantry? Check out my kitchen tools shop page and pantry staples shop page to find my must-have kitchen tools, pantry items, and other Whip & Wander favorites.

Canadian Bacon, Pineapple, and Sauerkraut Pizza

• Author: Whip & Wander
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 16 minutes
• Total Time: 26 minutes
• Yield: 1 large pizza 1x
• Category: Pizza, Mains
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

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Description

This Canadian Bacon, Pineapple, and Sauerkraut Pizza is the perfect balance of sweet, tangy, and savory — and one of my all-time favorite pizzas for a delicious Friday pizza night!

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1/2 recipe Easy Same-Day Pizza Dough
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder (can omit in favor of using garlic-infused olive oil for the olive oil portion above, if intolerant)
• 1/4 tsp Kosher salt
• 1 cup (4 oz) mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
• 4 oz uncured Canadian bacon
• 1 (8 oz) can pineapple chunks in juice, juice strained off
• 2/3 cup sauerkraut
• Optional: This pie is really good with a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and ranch for the occasional dip, but also great on its own sans additions

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Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F / 260 degrees C and set a bakers half sheet to the side.
   • If you are hand-stretching your dough:
     1. I like to rub a small amount of olive oil into my hands first; this allows me to shape the dough easier without it ripping accidentally from friction.
     2. Press the dough down with the palm of your hand into a disk shape, then use your fingertips to gently press down on the dough disk, further flattening it.
     3. To further extend the dough, I prefer to press one palm on top of one side of the dough and with the other hand lift the alternative side of the dough and gently work the dough outward, pulling very gently with the tips of my oiled fingers (like a very discrete “come hither” motion) to slowly stretch the dough out. Rotate slightly and repeat until the dough is shaped and stretched to your liking. If you find that the dough starts to snap back or is beginning to tear, allow the dough to relax for a minute or two before proceeding again. Transfer your stretched dough to a sheet of parchment paper.
   • If you are using a rolling pin:
     1. I prefer to place my dough between two sheets of parchment paper to avoid the dough sticking to my rolling pin, but if you prefer you can also sprinkle a bit of flour over the dough ball as well as wiping some over your rolling pin by hand to prevent sticking instead. Once the dough has been rolled to your preferred size and shape, peel the top layer of parchment paper off (if using). The bottom layer that the dough is resting on can be utilized for your baking sheet. If you find that the dough starts to snap back or is beginning to tear, allow the dough to relax for a minute or two before proceeding again.Shape your dough. If you prefer a classic pie-shape with a thicker crust compared to the center of your dough, I suggest hand-stretching your dough. If you prefer your pizza to be an even thickness, I suggest rolling your dough out with a rolling pin.
2. Transfer your shaped dough to the reserved baking sheet.
3. Brush olive oil onto the pizza dough lightly and evenly. This can be done with a pastry brush or the back of a spoon
4. In a small bowl combine tomato sauce, salt, and garlic powder, if using (see notes below). Pour over the top of the pizza dough and using the back of a spoon spread the sauce out evenly over the dough.
5. Top the pizza with mozzarella, then parmesan. Layer the Canadian bacon on top of the cheese, dispersing evenly across the pizza. Then repeat with the pineapple.
6. Gather the sauerkraut into a cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel securely. Over the sink, squeeze out as much of the juice from the sauerkraut as possible. The less juice, the less potential for a soggy pizza.
7. Bake for 16-22 minutes or until the crust has reached your preferred level of crispness and the cheese is fully melted and starting to blister; The edges of the sauerkraut should be turning brown. I find that pizzas that have a thinner topping layer take less time to bake and heavier-topped pizzas generally take a bit longer to bake so watch your pizza closely after the 16-minute mark and adjust as desired.

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Notes

Nutritional information on Whip & Wander is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1/8th of the pizza
• Calories: 262
• Sugar: 6 g
• Sodium: 695 mg
• Fat: 9 g
• Saturated Fat: 3 g
• Carbohydrates: 32 g
• Fiber: 2 g
• Protein: 13 g
• Cholesterol: 19 mg

Keywords: Canadian Bacon, Pineapple, and Sauerkraut Pizza