This is a grilled ground pork burger seasoned with five spice, loaded with crushed pineapple, basted in a teriyaki-marinade glaze, and finished with a fried egg, sausage slices, grilled pineapple rings, and melted provolone. It takes 40 minutes start to finish, but the patties hold up well in the fridge for days — which makes it a genuinely useful recipe to have in rotation. If you like sweet-savory combinations and don’t mind a stacked burger, this one delivers.
Before you start
Two things matter here more than anything else. First, squeeze the crushed pineapple dry before mixing it into the pork. Excess juice in the meat mixture makes patties that fall apart on the grill — the juice belongs in your reduction sauce, not the patty. Second, ground pork must reach an internal temperature of 160°F (71°C) before it’s safe to eat; use an instant-read thermometer and don’t guess by color alone, because pork can look done before it is. These aren’t optional steps — they’re the difference between a burger that holds together and one that doesn’t, and between a safe meal and a risky one.
What can go wrong
- Patties shrink and dome on the grill: Ground pork has enough fat to contract significantly over high heat. Press a shallow thumbprint into the center of each patty before grilling to keep them flat.
- Reduction sauce burns or turns too thick: Once the marinade and pineapple juice mixture starts simmering, watch it closely — the natural sugars in pineapple juice scorch fast. Pull it off the heat as soon as it coats a spoon; it thickens more as it cools.
- Grilled pineapple sticks to the grates: Fresh pineapple is high in sugar and will glue itself to a dirty or dry grill. Make sure your grates are clean and well-oiled before the pineapple goes on.
- Five spice overwhelms everything: Three tablespoons is the recipe amount for three pounds of pork, which works out fine across the whole batch — but if you’re scaling down, go lighter. Five spice is potent and the anise note gets sharp fast if the ratio tips.
- Sausage slices dry out while waiting: If you fry the sausage too early, it toughens up by the time the burgers come off the grill. Fry it during the second flip of the burgers so everything finishes at roughly the same time.
Storage and reheating
Raw formed patties keep in the fridge for up to 24 hours and in the freezer for up to 3 months — stack them with parchment between each one and seal tightly. Cooked patties last 3–4 days in the fridge in an airtight container; store the reduction sauce separately so it doesn’t make the patties soggy. To reheat, put the patties in a covered skillet over medium-low heat with a splash of water and warm until the center hits 165°F — this keeps them from drying out. The reduction sauce reheats in 60 seconds in a small saucepan over low heat; thin it with a few drops of water if it’s seized up. Grilled pineapple is best fresh, but it reheats fine in a dry skillet for about 90 seconds per side.
Tongan Luau Burger
Ingredients
- 3 pounds ground pork
- 1 can pineapple crushed
- 1 bottle ‘islands’ marinade or any marinade
- 3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
- 3 tablespoons five spice seasoning
- 1 whole pineapple fresh
- 8 slice provolone cheese
- 8 medium Buns
- 1 medium egg
- 8 slices sausage
Instructions
- First, break up ground pork and mix in the Five Spice seasoning. Pour in 120 ml of the marinade.
- Open the can of crushed pineapple. Using the lid as a press, squeeze out the juice and reserve it for a reduction sauce later. Fold in the entire contents (minus the juice).
- Once all the ingredients are in the bowl, you’ll want to mix thoroughly. Again, don’t be afraid to get your hands messy.
- Once you are satisfied that your ingredients are mixed well enough, pat out the mixture in the bowl and let it rest for about 30 minutes. At this point, you can go ahead and mix together 3 tablespoons of a teriyaki glaze and 3 tablespoons of the marinade and set them aside for basting.
- You want to start your sauce reduction now. Using the remaining bottled marinade and the pineapple juice you reserved earlier, at a 2-to-1 ratio, pour the two liquids into a small saucepan. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer until it reduces by half. Remove from heat and cover.
- Weigh 135 grams of meat mixture for each pattie. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and place your patties on the sheet. It’s best to make them a couple of hours to a day ahead of time and let them rest in the refrigerator. If you are making them for immediate use, you can place your tray in a freezer for about 5 to 10 minutes. The outside should firm up quick.
- With the grill heated to high, spray your burgers with your grilling spray and place your burgers directly on the grill and reduce the heat to medium. Once the burgers are on the grill, do not flip them for at least 6 minutes. Because you placed the burgers on a very high-temperature grill, the outside is getting seared while the inside is beginning to cook.
- Fry the sausage and egg. Then set aside.
- With the burgers on the grill, you’ll want to slice your pineapple. Cut off both ends, and you’ll peel it with a knife. Slice it into 8 even slices (about a 1/4 inch thick, depending on the fruit itself). Be sure not to core the centre out just yet. Leaving the core in allows the fruit to grill easier. You can core it out later before you eat it.
- It’s finally time to flip your burgers. Flip each burger carefully and arrange them according to the heat pattern of your grill as to not over or under cook each of them. Take your teriyaki marinade mixture you made earlier and baste each burger. If you have extra, spread it evenly over the burgers. You’ll now add the pineapple slices directly to the heat.
- After another 6 minutes, flip the pineapple slices and the burgers. By flipping only a few times, you create very lovely grill marks. Now it’s just a matter of personal preference. The more charred you want, the fruit and burgers is entirely up to you at this point.
- Place the provolone cheese on the burgers and allow the cheese to melt. Once completely melted, remove the burgers and pineapple from the grill.
- Coat one side of the bun with your reduction. Place your cheese pork/pineapple burger on the reduction. Using a knife, cut a slice of pineapple in half and core the centre. Set your cored pineapple slice on your burger and top with the fried egg, sausage, greens, and bun.
Nutrition
FAQ
Can I make the patties ahead and freeze them before grilling?
Yes — freezing raw patties is actually the best way to prep this recipe in advance. Form them, layer with parchment, freeze on a sheet tray until solid, then transfer to a zip bag; they’ll keep for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before grilling, and make sure they reach 160°F internal before serving.
What marinade should I use if I can’t find an ‘islands’ style bottle?
Any marinade with a sweet-savory profile works — look for ones built around soy sauce, ginger, and citrus or pineapple. A basic soy-ginger marinade from the Asian foods aisle is a reliable substitute and won’t fight the five spice seasoning.
Can I cook these patties on a stovetop grill pan instead of an outdoor grill?
Yes, a cast-iron grill pan over medium-high heat works well. You won’t get the same smoke, but you’ll get good searing and grill marks; just make sure your kitchen is ventilated because the marinade baste will smoke at high heat.
Do I have to use provolone, or can I swap the cheese?
Provolone is a mild choice that melts cleanly without competing with the pineapple and five spice — it’s a reasonable pick. That said, a low-moisture mozzarella or a mild Swiss will behave similarly if provolone isn’t available.