The deliciously sweet and tart flavor of pineapple is loved by many for a reason!
It’s one of those flavors that really elevates certain bakes, beverages, and dishes to a whole new level, adding a special taste that’ll make people beg you for the recipe!
Now, it can be difficult to add actual pineapple to some things, as that’ll change the texture or just doesn’t work, like in drinks. That’s exactly where pineapple extract comes into play…
It provides an easy and convenient way to add the delicious pineapple flavor with just a few drops through a very concentrated liquid – it’s basically a superpowered pineapple juice! That’ll let you flavor any dish, bake, or beverage without changing the texture!
However, not all pineapple extracts are good. That’s why we’ve gone ahead and tested a bunch of different ones, ranking our findings so that you can get a high-quality and effective pineapple extract right aways!
Let’s check them out!
What is pineapple extract?
Pineapple extract is simply a liquid that has a very strong pineapple taste. It’s made by putting chopped pineapples into a jar with alcohol (usually unflavored vodka), and leaving the two together for a long period of time – often around 8 weeks!
During this time, the alcohol extracts all the delicious flavors of the pineapple. It is then strained, leaving us with pineapple extract!
This stuff is very strong, and has a deliciously powerful aroma. Adding just a few drops will already make an impact on your dish or beverage, either adding or enhancing the pineapple flavor in your recipes with its sweet and slightly tart taste. So, start by adding a drop or two – a little goes a long way here!
How to use pineapple extract in recipes
Pineapple extract is perfect for adding the delicious pineapple flavor in anything, or for enhancing the taste in recipes that use pineapples!
So, you can use it for baking and cooking, or for making cocktails like pina coladas! You can also use it for brewing beers, wines, rums, ciders, and spirits!
As you can see, it’s super versatile, and it’s great because pineapple extract won’t change the texture of whatever you add it to like regular pineapples would! I like to add it to my smoothies, for example, but I’ve seen it used in sauces and marinades as well, and it pairs really well with meats!
I recommend starting with a couple drops in most cases, and OliveNation, which is a brand we’ll talk more about later, recommends using 1 teaspoon of pineapple extract in batter when you’re making things like pineapple upside-down cake, pina colada fudge, pancakes, or fruit smoothies! For general baking, they recommend using 1 teaspoon for every 3 cups of baking mix.
Generally speaking, most juices are a fair bit weaker than extracts, so we’ll follow the general guidelines that recommend 1 teaspoon of pineapple extract equaling 2 tablespoons of pineapple juice.
It might take some experimenting, but soon enough you’ll be able to take advantage of this delicious flavor!
3 great recipes to use your pineapple extract
Pineapple extract will add its delicious flavor into anything, but it can also be used to enhance recipes that call for pineapples or pineapple juice:
- Pineapple coconut juice: Get ready for a delicious refreshment that’ll become your staple summer drink! This delicious pineapple coconut juice is the perfect thirst-quencher, and a great place to use your pineapple extract. Now, I recommend you keep the pineapple juice this recipe calls for, but you can enhance the flavor with a couple drops of pineapple extract to really make it pineapple-y!
- Starbucks matcha pineapple drink: No need to drive to Starbucks – you can get this delicious drink right at home! This recipe also calls for pineapple juice, and you could replace it with pineapple extract to make the syrup. However, I recommend adding a few drops of pineapple extract in the syrup concoction or to the finished drink to add a pop of flavor!
- Pina colada smoothie: Smoothies and pina coladas are two of my favorite things – and this recipe is the perfect combination of the two! Drop ½ a teaspoon or so of pineapple extract into it for a beautiful flavor boost!
How to choose the best pineapple extract
You’d usually have to do a bit of research to find the best pineapple extract…except we already did that for you! We’ve also created this list of criteria that helped us determine which pineapple extracts were good and which ones were bad:
- Ingredients: We value natural ingredients, as those provide the best flavors! However, a lot of pineapple extracts contain some artificial ingredients, so we try to limit them as much as possible.
- Consumer feedback: What people who’ve used a product say is very important to us as it gives us better real-life information on what’s good or bad about each pineapple extract from unique perspectives.
- Track record: A company’s track record says a lot about their products, as we can’t expect brands with poor customer service, sketchy ingredient lists, and unethical practices to produce the best pineapple extracts!
- Price: Everything from budget-friendly options to pricier choices, we have something for everyone!
With that said, let’s check out the rankings!
#1 Best Overall: OliveNation
Being no strangers to the top spot in our “bests” lists, OliveNation has the best overall pineapple extract!
The way they’ve balanced the flavors to provide a powerful pineapple taste with only natural flavors is amazing! OliveNation pineapple extract really hits the mark when it comes to quality and effectiveness, proving once again why they’re held in such high regard!
On top of that, you get this delicious pineapple extract for the amazing price of $1.77 per fluid ounce, which is a steal of a deal for a product of this caliber!
Definitely check this one out!
Ingredients: Alcohol, Water, and Natural Flavors.
#2 Runner-Up: Vanilla Bean Kings
Hailing out of the USA, Vanilla Bean Kings pineapple extract is our runner-up!
These guys consistently make amazing flavoring agents, and their pineapple extract is no exception! It has a wonderful taste, with only natural ingredients – that’s not super common in pineapple extracts! It’s also kosher-certified, non-GMO, and gluten-free, making this a wonderful choice for basically anyone.
It is a little pricier than the number 1 spot, coming in at $3.75 per fluid ounce – however, you would not regret it!
Ingredients: Alcohol, Water, and Natural Flavors.
#3 Great Value: Native Vanilla
We’re big fans of Native Vanilla, as they emphasize using ethically sourced and naturally grown ingredients by working directly with micro-farmers – that’s a great practice to support!
They also have amazing flavoring agents, prioritizing a natural taste that will level up your dishes! Their pineapple extract is very good and highly-rated, with over 5000 positive reviews! In fact, we think you’ll love their extract so much that you’ll want to leave a positive review yourself!
Give Native Vanilla pineapple extract a try!
Ingredients: Alcohol, water, and natural flavors.
#4 Best Keto: Dolce Foglia
Dolce Foglia is consistently our choice for “best keto” in many of our extract reviews.
Their pineapple extract will definitely fit your special diet needs – and that with a delicious flavor! They’ve created a great extract that’s powerful and well balanced, and an absolute joy to bake with.
However, there is artificial flavoring in it, which is the unfortunate truth for many pineapple extracts. It’s also a little more expensive than some of the other extracts on this list, coming in at $7.48 per fluid ounce.
Regardless, you won’t find a keto pineapple extract better than this one!
Ingredients: MCT oil, natural & artificial flavoring.
#5 Baker’s Choice: LorAnn
Rounding out our top 5 is LorAnn!
LorAnn has some solid flavoring agents, and is extremely popular in the flavoring world. Their pineapple product has nearly 4000 reviews while boasting a 4.6 out of 5 stars – that’s pretty great!
However, this isn’t exactly a pineapple extract, but actually a “super strong” flavoring agent. LorAnn states that this is 3 to 4 times stronger than regular pineapple extracts, so you need to use a lot less of it to get the same effect – that makes its high price tag of $8.49 per fluid ounce a bit easier to swallow, as you won’t need to use a lot of this to get a ton of flavor.
This is good or bad depending on your preferences, but we generally recommend natural extracts for baking as it’s a lot easier to balance their flavors in your dishes, and we’re not fans of artificial ingredients.
The people love this one, however, and it’s definitely a baker’s favorite – so give it a try and see how you like it!
Ingredients: Propylene glycol, alcohol, artificial flavors, water, triacetin.
#6 Best Imitation: Happy Home
If you’re wanting a pineapple imitation flavoring agent, look no further than Happy Home.
It provides an awesome and accurate flavor similar to pineapple extracts, but uses a lot of artificial ingredients to get there – we don’t like imitations due to that, and we’d rather use the real deal instead of a fake…
That being said, Happy Home pineapple imitation flavoring is the best choice for you if that’s what you specifically want!
Ingredients: Water, propylene glycol, artificial flavors, benzyl alcohol, FD&C Yellow #5, and FD&C Yellow #6.
#7 Honorable Mention: Hanna’s Gourmet
A special shoutout goes to Hanna’s Gourmet pineapple extract.
This is a small business located in New York, and has been around since 1994! They have over 400 products, with their pineapple extract being a great one!
It’s very well received, and many people compliment their excellent customer service – so you can be sure that you’ll be well taken care of by them! The pineapple extract has a solid flavor, but has some artificial ingredients – which, again, we’re not fans of but is unfortunately normal with pineapple extracts.
Support a small business, and enjoy their great pineapple extract for just $1.75 per fluid ounce!
Ingredients: Propylene Glycol, Water, Artificial Flavors, Vanillin, Citric Acid, Sodium Bonzoate<10%, FD&C Red #40, and FD&C Yellow #6.
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