Which country is credited with inventing Hawaiian pizza?

Which country is credited with inventing Hawaiian pizza? The answer is Canada.

The pizza is credited to Sam Panopoulos, a Greek-born Canadian restaurateur who added canned pineapple to pizza at the Satellite Restaurant in Chatham, Ontario, in 1962. Panopoulos and his brothers were experimenting with toppings and paired the fruit’s sweetness with savory ingredients, especially ham.

Despite its name, Hawaiian pizza was not invented in Hawaii. Panopoulos reportedly named it after the brand of canned pineapple used in the experiment. The dish emerged in Southwestern Ontario when pizza was still a relatively new restaurant food in Canada, making the tropical-sounding name part of its novelty.

The attribution is generally phrased as “credited to” because food origins can be difficult to document with absolute certainty. Still, Panopoulos’s account and the long-standing historical record make Canada the canonical quiz answer. The topping remains famously divisive: supporters like the sweet-salty contrast, while critics object to fruit on pizza.