My favorite kinds of cakes are the ones that need only 5 minutes of prep!
This easy old-fashioned pineapple cake needs just 5 ingredients and comes together faster than you can preheat the oven! It comes out so moist with lots of pineapple flavor.
This moist, sweet cake can be served plain or topped with cream cheese icing or a dollop of freshly whipped cream. No fresh cream? Whipped topping works like a charm!
Why We Love this Easy Cake Recipe
As you likely know, I love recipes that are quick (and yummy) but don’t require tons of dishes or ingredients. This one tops my list.
- This homemade Pineapple Cake is so easy to make, and even easier to serve.
- With just 5 ingredients, if you’ve got crushed pineapple you likely have all of the ingredients on hand.
- Prep takes just a few minutes and one bowl. No stand mixer is required!
- It’s simple to bake in a 9×13, no fussing with layers or multiple cake pans.
- This pineapple cake is best made ahead so all the flavors can meld together!
Ingredients
This cake uses simple ingredients you most likely have on hand!
DRY All-purpose flour, sugar, and baking soda are mixed together to create the dry portion for this cake.
EGGS This recipe uses eggs and crushed pineapple.
PINEAPPLE This cake is full of crushed pineapple for flavor and moisture. If you don’t have crushed pineapple, pulse pineapple tidbits or fresh pineapple in a food processor a few times. Do not drain, the pineapple juice is needed for moisture.
FROSTING Cream cheese frosting or fresh whipped cream will both taste wonderful, use whatever you have on hand!
Optional Additions
- Add 1/2 cup of shredded coconut, some lime zest and a teaspoon of vanilla to the batter.
- Shredded carrots pair perfectly with the crushed pineapple.
- Toasted pecans, walnuts, and especially macadamia nuts add a little crunch and texture to pineapple cake.
- Better yet, sprinkle chopped nuts or toasted coconut on the top.
How to Make Pineapple Cake
This recipe is so simple, it bakes in less than 30 minutes!
- Combine dry ingredients, stir in the eggs, and pineapple per the recipe below.
- Spread the cake batter into a prepared 9×13 pan.
- Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
Top with whipped cream or even cream cheese frosting. Sprinkle with chopped nuts or top with pineapple chunks if desired.
Tips for the Perfect Pineapple Cake
- Don’t drain the juices from the can of crushed pineapple to get that moist, sweet flavor.
- Because this cake has fruit, it should be stored in the fridge. It will keep for 3-4 days.
- This cake can be frozen. Cut into portions or freeze the entire cake by wrapping it in plastic wrap, then foil and label the outside with the date.
- Pineapple cake should last about 6 weeks in the freezer.
More Pineapple Treats
- Pineapple Upside Down Cake
- Hummingbird Cake
- Easy Ambrosia Salad
- Pineapple Coconut Rice Krispie Squares
- 3 Ingredient Pineapple Angel Food Cake
- Pina Colada Cake
- Grilled Pineapple
Did your family love this Pineapple Cake? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 20 ounces crushed pineapple with juices, 1 can
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13 pan.
- Combine flour, sugar and baking soda in a bowl and mix well.
- Stir in eggs and pineapple until very well mixed. Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overcook.
- Top with cream cheese frosting or whipped cream.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Cake, Dessert
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
I Have a jar of pineapple chunks in juice (20 oz.). Can I use this if put through a food processor to crush it up? Would love to try the recipe. Thanks
Hi Cathleen, I haven’t tried that but it sounds like it should work well. You will have to let us know how it turns out!
I crush chunks or rings all the time. I use a cruisinart. Just be careful to watch and not end up with puree
Hello, I’m fixin’ on trying this soon, and interested in your suggestion about mixing in coconut.. how much would you use? Thanks in advance..
You could add ½-1 cup depending on your preference. Enjoy, Steve!
Great recipe! Everyone who had a piece loved it and it was so easy to make!
I have a jar of “pineapple sauce” and was looking for a pineapple cake recipe…and landed on your website. I’d like to try my “sauce” in place of the “crushed”. From the looks of it, the jar of sauce is a bit thinner than an apple sauce. Would you advise I still use 20oz of the sauce? Looking forward to trying out your recipe (and reading your comment). Thank you.
I’ve never tried using pineapple sauce, so can’t say for sure. Let us know if you try it Erin!
This is a hit every time I bake it and the easiest cake I do! I love to add a few pecans to the batter and also to garnish the top. It keeps well and stays very moist. I strongly recommend you try it if you haven’t yet!
This is an exotic cake. Once baked it’s texture was not like an everyday cake but closer to an English pudding. A bit on the sticky side. It’s flavor was light and not overly sweet. Topped with whip cream seemed to lighten the texture. My family lived the cake. This cake will grace our table again. Thank you for creating this very special dessert
I split the recipe in half, added vanilla and baked it in an square 8×8 cake pan. In MY oven it took 30 min to bake (I used the toothpick method to check to make sure the cake was done).
So happy your family enjoyed this recipe, Colleen! Thanks for sharing your variations :)
I made your Easy Pineapple Cake with the Baking Soda add but thought that it should be baking powder. The cake was dense flat no flavor couldn’t even tell it was pineapple. The followed your recipe and was not impressed. Is Baking Soda in the recipe correct?
I’m sorry this recipe didn’t turn out for you Cindy, we have had great results with it. We do make it as listed with baking soda, and be sure to add in the juices from the pineapple as well to give it that full pineapple flavor!
This cake is very moist – texture more like a bread pudding or tres leches cake than a quick-bread. I had fresh pineapple which was left over from making a fruit salad so I used fresh pineapple in the recipe. I didn’t have 12 ounces of the fresh pineapple, so I added a clementine. One of my guests is on a strict low cholesterol diet so I substituted 3 egg whites for the 2 eggs. It was delIcious; the flavor is quite simple so next time I will add some cinnamon and a few chopped walnuts.
I really enjoy your recipes
Thank you Theo :)
Very moist and delicious.
Amazing. Came out perfect! Great with and without cream cheese icing & sooo easy. Will keep this one!
I was sitting on the front porch trying to decide what to do with the afternoon. I recently went through my pantry and found some canned crushed pineapple that needs to be used up. So I found this recipe and asked my 7 year old daughter if she would like to make a cake. She read the instructions aloud to me, helped measure and stir. We tossed in a tsp of vanilla extract and sprinkled some cinnamon until the batter tasted just right. 28 minutes later, this simple cake turned out perfectly. I didn’t ice it, we just ate it as is and it was a splendid after dinner treat. Thank you for the recipe, this will be a repeat in our house now!
Love it when I hear about the kids cooking and baking Jenelle!
this is the best pineapple cake I’ve ever had
So happy to hear that! We love it too Noah! Easy and tasty!
I wish I’d read the other reviews. This cake is lacking in vanilla, and it is so wet I cannot tell whether it is cooked or not. Mine doesn’t taste like anything either, I’m sorry to say. Maybe I did use too much flour. I don’t remember reading the flour suggestion in the Comments response on the instructions. Frustrated.
Sorry to hear this didn’t work out for you. You could add vanilla if you’d like. If it is wet, it would still need to bake. Did you use a 9×13 pan? Did you make any changes or substitutions to the recipe? Did you measure the flour by scooping or by fluffing and spooning into your measuring cup? How long did you cook it for and at what temperature?
This cake was so disappointing! I couldn’t taste the pineapple and it was quite bland. total waste of ingredients. no vanilla no butter! not even any salt that’s is essential or good deserts.
Sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy this cake. It is a staple at our house. Thank you for trying it.
I made this pineapple cake yesterday. It looks so pretty but it taste so flat. No flavor at all. My granddaughter loves pineapple so I made it for her. We both were disappointed. I followed the recipe just as it is printed. I used Del Monte pineapple.I bake cakes all the time and wanted to try this one. Sorry.
Sorry to hear that Cookie, that’s disappointing. We love this recipe and make it often. I wonder if your pineapple was a bit more on the bland side?
Great starting point this recipe! Good basic cake recipe to take off with. I love the no oil. I used 1/2 c brown sugar and 1/4 c honey. Substituted 1/2 c flour with brown rice flour. Added vanilla. Also used baking powder with the baking soda. Used toasted pecans and coconut as suggested. Squeezed a little lemon juice in it and added some cinnamon. I didn’t have much juice because I used fresh pineapple but added a little cashew milk. I put it in little mini muffin pan and it made about 30 muffins. So good. No topping needed for me!
More like a sweet and fruity cobbler I would say. I am from the UK however and not used to using cups (although I did have baking measurement cups to measure it all out). Saying that, all the family ate it with cream and didn’t complain.
Can you double the recipe and use a sheet pan for cooking it?
I have not tried doubling this recipe, so I can’t say for sure. Let us know how it goes if you try it Susan.
The recipe looks great. Want to try it. Do you think it would be okay to substitute thr sugar with monk fruit sweetner? Thanks!
I’ve never tried substituting the sugar, but maybe some other readers can help with your question MK.
Yum. This is so quick and easy. The only change I made was adding about 3additional oz of pineapple juice to cake batter. And for the cream cheese icing I add about 3 oz of pineapple juice instead of vanilla or lemon. My hubby’s new favorite treat.