Want to make it the easy way or the hard way? I suggest a combination of both!

Read Time: 10 minutes

As you might have guessed, I spend my free time creating many components from scratch for the sandwiches I write about. But sometimes I don’t have enough time in the day, and I need a shortcut. This is one of those times, and I will be sharing tips for the easy way and recipes for the hard way. Feel free to choose your own adventure based on your own sandwich vibes.

What is this sandwich?

I was recently scrolling through YouTube and found a SPAM sandwich video with a real clickbait-y title of “Gordon Ramsay Makes a Spam Sandwich?!?!” And I just had to watch.

In the video, instead of yelling at other chefs or making Idiot sandwiches, Ramsay is grilling on a beach in Hawaii, making a sandwich out of sliced SPAM and pineapple, and it got me thinking about what I would do with those two ingredients.

You might not be aware, but that meat in a can isn’t Spam or spam. It’s SPAM®. The folks at Hormel insist you spell SPAM in all caps to differentiate it from spam, which is the annoying stuff you get in your inbox.

Chef Ramsay cooks his SPAM and pineapple on the grill, basted with teriyaki sauce, and then he adds miso caramelized onions and miso mayonnaise. If you’re interested, he’s added his full Grilled Spam and Pineapple Sandwich recipe online.

Why is SPAM so popular in Hawaii? The popularity of canned meat dates back to World War II. Because of SPAM’s shelf stability and its ability to be ready to eat at a moment’s notice, it was served to soldiers during the war. You have to remember that Hawaii was a war zone at that time, with rationing and restrictions on certain foods, and SPAM was more readily available than other options. Hawaiians continued to buy SPAM after the war and sautéed it to pair with rice and other traditional dishes. According to some sources, 7 million cans of SPAM are sold in Hawaii each year, and there are only 1.4 million residents living on the islands.

Gordon Ramsay grills a SPAM sandwich on the beach.

I decided to take a slightly different trajectory with my SPAM and pineapple sandwich, but I did end up using similar ingredients and flavors. I also leaned into a Hawaiian theme since it’s hard to avoid with the inclusion of pineapple. For my sandwich, I decided to focus more on ingredients that were easy to make or that you could possibly buy from the store.

My SPAM and pineapple sandwich has a savory ssamjang mayonnaise, seared SPAM and pineapple, topped with a miso-focused Japanese BBQ sauce and crispy fried onions inside of a homemade Hawaiian-style sweet sandwich bun. Sounds complicated, right? Well, some of it is and some of it isn’t.

First, as always, we need some buns.


Hawaiian sweet sandwich buns

I’ve shared this bun recipe before, and they’re fun to make because you basically swap out all the water for pineapple juice. I’m just an amateur bread baker and not a bread scientist, but before making these, you should be aware that substituting slightly acidic juice for the water will make some changes in the consistency of the bread. It works, though. I’ve just found that my resulting buns are a bit firmer, and they take longer to rise.

Besides the sugar in the pineapple juice, there’s a little bit of additional sugar in the buns, which also helps to give them a sweet result when fully baked. You’ve probably had Hawaiian rolls or slider buns before, and that’s what this recipe attempts to recreate.

Other than the introduction of pineapple juice, though, these are just regular buns that proof, rise, and bake like you might be used to.

The egg wash in this bun recipe isn’t required, but it will help the buns bake up nice and brown, and they will be extra shiny and pretty. It’s worth it.

Hawaiian sweet sandwich buns, the hard way

The difficult way to procure Hawaiian-style buns for this sandwich is to bake them. Use the recipe below or your favorite bun recipe, and then it’s time to move on to the next sandwich step.

2 hours and 45 minutes
Hawaiian sweet sandwich buns

A sweet sandwich bun with just a hint of pineapple flavor. This is a great choice for almost any sandwich.

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Hawaiian sweet sandwich buns, the easy way

For a SPAM and pineapple sandwich, you need Hawaiian buns. I don’t make the rules, I just write them down. If I weren’t baking my own buns, I would definitely use King’s Hawaiian brand sandwich or burger buns for this sandwich. They’re a good size (meaning not too large), and they have great flavor. They are soft but should still stand up to a couple of sauces and some seared pineapple and SPAM. I believe these should be pretty available across the United States; if you live in a foreign land, you might need to make a new plan, or just buy a soft bun that would typically be used for burgers.


SPAM

There’s no shortcut or easy way with SPAM because SPAM itself is a shortcut. It’s supposed to be a blend of pork shoulder and ham—or the leg of a pig—combined with salt, starch, sugar, and preservatives, and then molded tightly into a rectangular can with curved corners. The meat takes the shape of the can, which leaves you with the ability to slice it into mostly rectangular, almost ovoid-shaped slices of meat.

If you’ve never eaten it before and you’re intimidated by SPAM, there’s no need. It tastes similar to bologna. It’s a little bit sweet and a lot bit salty, and the texture and flavor are akin to eating an uncased hot dog. If you can handle a hot dog, you’ll be fine with SPAM.

Technically, you can eat SPAM straight from the can without cooking it, but I wouldn’t suggest it. SPAM needs to be warmed up to be at its best, and adding some crispy texture to the exterior will improve it even more. The easiest way to warm it up is by searing it in a hot pan. You can grill it as Chef Ramsay does in his version of the SPAM and pineapple sandwich, but I think searing in a pan or on a griddle will give the meat the best texture because you’re crisping up the entire surface of the meat instead of just small sections of it.

Once the SPAM has been released from its metal prison, you can choose to slice it as thin or thick as you’d like, but for the sake of this sandwich, I went with about 1/4 inch thick pieces. Any thicker and it seems like the balance is off with the ratio of seared external meat and soft internal meat. Keep it around that thickness for the best results.

The easy thing about this sandwich is that you can cook the SPAM and the pineapple in the same pan for about the same length of time. Both items just need to be cooked until they start to brown just a little, or in the case of the SPAM, you want to make sure the entire flat surface is starting to get a darker color than the sides. That’s it. This is easy sandwiching.


Pineapple

There are multiple options for securing the pineapple to be used in this sandwich. None are really difficult, but I guess breaking down a whole pineapple is the most complicated if you’ve never done it.

Pineapple the hard way

A pineapple might be a little bit intimidating if you’ve never cut one, but it’s really simple. The top and the bottom need to be cut off. Neither of those parts are any good. Chuck ’em in the trash.

Then you need to be aware that there is a tough, inedible core inside the pineapple that also needs to be disposed of. I think you can buy pineapple corers, but it’s easy enough just to cut the pineapple in half and slice the core out.

After the core is removed, you can cut the pineapple into smaller pieces and slice off the exterior. This process should leave you with the ability to slice 1/4 inch thick small pieces that will work great on a sandwich.

Pineapple the easy way

If you don’t want to break down a whole pineapple or you’re not sure what you’re going to do with all the leftovers, just buy canned pineapple. It obviously won’t be as fresh, but it’s still really good and will add a great sweetness to the sandwich, which will work well with seared SPAM. Try to find the pineapple that’s stored in its own juice, and you should be all good.

You will want to remove the slices from the juice and maybe drain them a bit before searing if you hope to get much in the way of color. But otherwise, they should cook the same way as fresh pineapple.

The final option for getting pineapple would be to buy pre-cut pineapple, which is often available in the produce section of larger grocery stores. This should be fairly fresh pineapple, but the issue is that there’s no telling what shape or size the pineapple pieces will be. If you’re ok with that, then this might be a good, easy option as well.


Crispy onion strings

Homemade crispy fried onion strings are great, but you know what else is great? These crispy onions that you can buy at the store. They are made with magic that keeps them super crunchy, and they can be stored in your cabinet for a really long time. I think the last container I purchased had a best-before date of at least a year after purchase. Buy some and start using them in random sandwiches and tacos. I guarantee they won’t reach the expiration date.

Homemade onion strings (the hard way)

Like most of the other ingredients in this SPAM and pineapple sandwich, I took the easy way out for the versions that I made, but if you wanted to go the hard route, you would fry your own crispy onion strings immediately before making the sandwich. These things do not have a long shelf life, so don’t try to make them the day before because they simply will not have any crunch left.

I chose the easy way for this component, and you probably should too unless you’re making a SPAM sandwich for the King of England or something. Don’t do that. Make him a crumpet or something.

45 minutes
Crispy fried onion strings

Crispy fried onion strings are a fantastic addition to almost any sandwich. Be very careful though because you may end up eating them all as snacks. This recipe is using a quarter of an onion which is enough for 3 to 4 sandwiches, but double or quadruple the recipe for more.

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French’s crispy fried onions (the easy way)

The easiest way to get crispy onions into your sandwich is to buy them. Those crispy onion things that you typically see at Thanksgiving are a fantastic addition to your year-round pantry. They last for a really long time, and they stay crunchy through the soggiest situations. They’re basically magic that scientists invented in a lab, and you simply can not recreate this crunch in your own kitchen.

Keep some of these crispy, shelf-stable crispy onions in your kitchen for times when you need to add a bit of extra crunch to a taco or sandwich, and you can thank me later. I used this “easy way” in my SPAM and pineapple sandwiches, and it added great texture to the final experience.


Two sauces

This sandwich probably only needs one sauce, but I added two because I’m in charge. One of the sauces is super easy and doesn’t require an “easy version,” and the other one can be made at home, but there are many options at the store that you can purchase as well.

Ssamjang mayonnaise

There’s no hard way or easy way for this sauce, because it’s already very easy. It’s two ingredients mixed together.

This sandwich spread is Korean-focused, and it’s definitely not traditional to Hawaii, but it works well with SPAM, and I enjoyed it in this sandwich. It’s also one of the easiest ways to fully change a boring sandwich into something a bit more exciting and a bit more flavorful with just a couple of minutes of effort.

Buy some ssamjang at your local Asian market or online, and keep it in the fridge. Ssamjang is not that spicy, but it brings a lot of savoriness and umami to anything you spread it on. Mix it with mayonnaise and plus up your next sandwich.

5 minutes
Special ssamjang sauce

Super simple combination of savory flavors that add complexity to your next burger or grilled cheese. Add it to a plain deli meat sub for a big pop of flavor.

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Japanese BBQ sauce

Hawaiian cooks have proven that pineapple and SPAM work great when paired with a teriyaki-focused sauce or situation. This is the sauce that this sandwich really needs.

Japanese-style BBQ sauce the hard way

Just like with the ssamjang mayonnaise, this sauce isn’t difficult to make. It doesn’t require any cooking, just adding ingredients to a bowl and mixing.

5 minutes
Japanese-style barbecue sauce

A sweet and savory barbecue sauce that leans heavily into teriyaki sauce.

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Japanese BBQ sauce, the easy way

My Japanese-style BBQ sauce recipe is easy. But buying your own sauce at the store is easier.

Banchan’s makes great sauces. They are expensive, don’t forget that, but they are really flavorful with lots of sweet, teriyaki flavors, and I tried a new one on this sandwich. This is their Miso sauce, which is very savory and just like the label says, it’s packed with umami.

The sweetness in a barbecue sauce like this works great with seared meat, and it even complements the sweetness in the pineapple very well. If you can’t find Bachan’s version of sauces, you can just use a teriyaki sauce or even a sweet BBQ sauce would be just fine in this application. All we’re trying to do here is bring out the sweetness in the sandwich to balance the savoriness of the SPAM.

SPAM and pineapple sandwich photos and recipe

I’m only sharing the Easy option as a recipe for this SPAM and pineapple sandwich. If you want a challenge and you want to make the hard version, all the recipes and ideas are in this blog post, you just need to find them and get to work.

Scroll through to see some photos and read my sometimes boring, sometimes enjoyable photo captions, and then the recipe just a bit further down the page.

The balance of sweet to savory is a crucial part of this SPAM and pineapple sandwich experience.
SPAM and pineapple sandwich view printable page for this recipe

A very balanced combination of savory and sweet flavors is the main focus in this easy-to-make SPAM and pineapple sandwich, but the textures are on point as well.


Ingredients:

  • 2 slices of SPAM (about 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick)
  • 5 or 6 pieces of pineapple (about 1/4 inch thick - or one big pineapple ring)
  • 1 Hawaiian sandwich bun
  • Japanese BBQ sauce (or teriyaki sauce or just regular sweet BBQ sauce)
  • mayonnaise (or ssamjang mayonnaise)
  • crispy fried onions

Directions:

In a medium pan over medium-high heat, add the slices of SPAM and pineapple. If you're making multiple sandwiches, sear the pineapple first and move it to a plate to rest, but if you're just making one sandwich, everything should cook at the same time for the most part. 

Cook the slices of meat and fruit for about 4 minutes on the first side and then flip and cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes or until both sides of the SPAM have a nice darkened sear. Remove the meat and pineapple to a plate until you're ready to make the sandwich.

Once the meat and fruit have been removed from the pan, you can slice and toast your bun lightly in the pan for about 1 minute per side. Remove the bun from the pan and turn off the heat.

Add a spread of mayo to the bottom bun and then top it with slices of SPAM and pieces of seared pineapple. 

Drizzle the meat and pineapple with some Japanese BBQ sauce, and then top that with a handful of crispy onions. 

Add mayonnaise to the top bun if desired and close the sandwich. Serve and enjoy. 

Check back next week

I’m on a short vacation as of the posting of this blog post, so I don’t know what sandwich is coming next week. Come back on Monday and find out with me. It’ll be exciting, I’m sure!