Caramelized pink grapefruit (grapefruit brulee) is a really simple and delicious breakfast or dessert that takes no time to make. For this grapefruit recipe, the grapefruit gets some sugar added to the top and then quickly placed under the broiler to form a delicious sugar crust. This recipe proves that you can make a special dish with just a few ingredients.

Caramelized Grapefruit
Caramelized grapefruit or grapefruit brulee is so easy to make and requires only two ingredients. My favorite time to eat this caramelized pink grapefruit is for breakfast! That is what I grew up doing and I guess it just stuck.
Growing up, we had many citrus trees in our yard and grapefruits were one of those trees. We only had the yellow grapefruit, not this fancier pink variety that you find everywhere in the stores.
We would refrigerate the grapefruits and when we wanted a snack or a quick breakfast, we would just cut them in half, sprinkle some granulated sugar (sometimes a lot of the sugar) and eat away. The best part was the juice that was left in the empty grapefruit rinds that would get all sugary and delicious and that we would drink!
I do have to say that I prefer the pink grapefruit to the yellow because it is much less tart. It is also more beautiful to look at. I will take any type of grapefruit though and won't complain.
We love making this caramelized grapefruit for just ourselves and for guests. It is a really easy entertaining dish that you can make for your guests either for breakfast or dessert.
How to make Caramelized grapefruit:
- Cut your grapefruit in half
- Sprinkle on brown sugar
- Place grapefruit on baking sheet
- Place grapefruit under the broiler
- Broil grapefruit for about 5 minutes until sugar is bubbling and hot
How to eat grapefruit brulee (caramelized grapefruit )
Now it may seem obvious how to eat a caramelized grapefruit but for those who have never made it before there are a few steps to really maximize the experience.
- Use a knife a cut the outer ring of flesh from the rind of the grapefruit.
- With the same knife, cut between the individual sections of the grapefruit.
- With a small spoon, scoop up the individual grapefruit sections and eat.
- Once all the grapefruit sections have been eaten, use your spoon to scoop out remaining grapefruit juice and enjoy. This leftover grapefruit juice is the best part of this recipe. It has all of the juice and sugars and is so delicious.
Variations for this recipe
As I mentioned above, if you prefer to just add sugar to the top of the grapefruit and not caramelize the sugar, the grapefruit brulee will still taste amazing. Plain sugar over grapefruit halves tastes amazing anytime!
I also love using regular granulated sugar for this recipe. The brown sugar topping adds a special touch but regular sugar will work just fine.
More Grapefruit Ideas:
If you love grapefruit as much as I do, you might want to check out my grapefruit basil popsicles and my St Germain Gina and Tonic, a grapefruit cocktail.
More breakfast ideas you may like
- Baked French Toast with Condensed Milk
- Herb Baked Eggs with Crostini
- Olive Oil Fried Egg
- Easy Vanilla Scones
- Ricotta Pancakes
- Brioche French Toast
More easy entertaining ideas
If you love this grapefruit brulee, you may also like these simple entertaining ideas:
This dish is great any time of day and it is quite addictive. I hope you give it a try.
Caramelized Grapefruit
Tried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!
Ingredients
- 1 large pink grapefruit cut in half
- 2 tablespoon of course brown sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat your broiler to high heat.
- With a sharp knife, cut your grapefruit in half and then cut all along the outer edge of the flesh of your grapefruit, loosening it from the skin.
- Now take your knife and cut along each section of the grapefruit as to release it from the inner membrane of the fruit. Now sprinkle 1 tablespoon of brown sugar on each half of your grapefruit.
- Place your 2 grapefruit halves on to a baking sheet and place under the broiler for about 3-5 minutes until you see the edges of the grapefruit start to brown and the sugar bubbling.
- Remove from oven and let sit for a minute as it will be hot.
- To serve: This is great just on it's own or you can add a dollop of fresh whipped cream on top.
Nutrition
Nutrition Values are estimates only.
See full nutrition disclaimer here
Dana says
This was seriously delicious! I see lots of grapefruit brûlée making happening in my house:)
Melissa says
ha ha! Glad to hear that 🙂
Meg says
I love the addition of the brown sugar. Can't wait to try it.