For several years I read in the Pinching Your Pennies forums about people serving Hawaiian Haystacks.   I had never heard of these before.  I was thinking it was some kind of meatball with rice in it, but then I realized those were called porcupine meatballs.

After reading on PYP about Hawaiian Haystacks I thought they sounded disgusting!  I would occasionally say something to my friends like,”Can you believe people actually eat this Hawaiian Haystack crap?”  I was shocked to actually find that my friends and their families also loved these Hawaiian Haystacks.

Then my life changed a bit.  We went to our Cub Scout Pack’s Blue & Gold Banquet and guess what they were serving? Hawaiian Haystacks!  I decided to just go all in.  I actually ate them….

Are you wondering yet what they are?

So at our Blue & Gold Banquet I watched people fill their plates!

You start with rice.  They had white rice, but you can also use brown rice.  Then put some chicken on the rice, you could use shredded chicken or even canned chicken.  You want the chicken to be bite sized.  After the chicken you put some gravy on.  You can use a broth based gravy or maybe even a diluted cream of whatever soup.

Then comes the adventure!  Olives, pineapple, green onions, coconut, almonds, shredded cheese, chopped peppers, raisins or craisins, and tomatoes.  Then you top it with some crunchy chow mein noodles.

I have always had a hard time mixing sweet and savory and I think that is what my hang up was with trying this before.  Like I said I decided to go all in and try it all. OH MY GOSH it was so yummy!

I have actually served this to my family once since the Cub Scout banquet.  Everyone likes it, because they can put whatever toppings on they like.  This would be a great dish to serve at a party or family gathering.  It’s easy enough to just assign people to bring one or two of the toppings and they prep and clean up work is minimal.  A nice simple green salad is a great side to serve with this.

Now tell me, I am the only one who was hesitant to try Hawaiian Haystacks?