I’ve decided that this summer is going to be all about exploring and developing recipes that use fruits and veggies in innovative ways to create delicious and healthy dishes. The one I’ve got for you today is going to totally blow your mind.
The jackfruit is a fruit that is native to South and Southeast Asia and is apparently quite popular in the tropical locations where it grows. It has a really distinct flavor (kind of like a pineapple-pear combo), lots of health benefits like being rich in fiber, and earns some serious street cred for being the largest fruit to grow on a tree. These bad boys can grow to weigh as much as 80 pounds!
But the coolest thing about the jackfruit is that it makes the most perfect substitute for pulled pork. I sure do I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when some vegetarian out there came up with the idea to use this crazy fruit in place of pulled pork. I imagine that it must have been something like when Christopher Columbus first announced that the world was round or when Galileo first affirmed that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Laughter, disbelief, mockery, and then, finally, unanimous approval. Hip hip hooray, vegan pulled “pork” for everyone!
A quick google search will lead you to lots of jackfruit recipes, but I found particular inspiration from the lovely ladies of Blissful Basil, It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken, and Clean Green Simple. Once I had a good idea of what I wanted to do with the recipe, off I went to the International Supermarket where the sweetest store clerk helped me to find jackfruit of both the canned and fresh varieties. He also informed me that jackfruit is in season all summer, so if you go now, you have a pretty good chance of finding some.
I experimented with the recipe a couple times, first making it with the fresh jackfruit and then with the canned. After I got the recipes down, it was time for a vegan pulled pork challenge. Which would be the best – the fresh or the canned?
The final verdict, as determined by my meat-eating taste-testers, was that the canned jackfruit made the most authentic version, which is awesome because it is WAY easier and WAY faster. (Insert huge sigh of relief!) However, that isn’t to say that the fresh jackfruit didn’t still yield some awesome BBQ, cause it sure did. So I’ve included both recipes. That way in case your local Asian market only has the fresh kind or if you’re just feeling particularly adventurous, you can still make some killer vegan pulled “pork.”
Now before you get started it’s worth discussing the kind of jackfruit to buy in a little bit more detail. You basically have two options: to use fresh or canned jackfruit. Keep in mind that the canned jackfruit recipe is more authentic, lots faster, lots cleaner, and lots easier, but the fresh jackfruit is definitely the more bad-ass approach for the adventurous types out there.
If you’re going with the canned jackfruit method, be sure that you buy jackfruit in water or in brine, NOT in syrup. I never actually tried it with the syrup kind because all my research sent me a very clear message – if you use the canned jackfruit in syrup it will be way too sweet and pretty gross.
I have made it with the kind in water and the kind in brine and both worked great. I suggest calling ahead to your Asian market to be sure they have the right kind before you go to the store or just skip going altogether and buy it from Amazon!
If you’re curious/brave/crazy enough to want to make it with the fresh jackfruit be sure that you buy one that is not yet ripe. You can tell because it will be a pale yellow color. As the fruit ripens, it will turn orange and the stringy parts that you’ll want to use for the recipe will be all gone. Also, the flavor will be too strong. You want a very unripe jackfruit for the recipe. Also, please don’t buy a whole jackfruit since, as discussed earlier, they are HUGE! You need about 5 lbs. worth, which looked to me to be about a quarter or less of the jackfruit the store stocked.
Alright, without further ado, here are the recipes!
- 3-20 oz. cans jackfruit in water or brine
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- ½ onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. brown sugar
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1½ tsp. liquid smoke
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- ½ cup vegan BBQ sauce (your favorite store bought or homemade kind)
- Buns for pulled pork sandwiches or corn tortillas for gluten-free pulled jackfruit tacos
- Preheat the over to 400 degrees.
- Drain and rinse the jackfruit, remove the core and cut each piece in half. As you do this, remove the seeds.
- Saute the onion in olive oil over medium heat for about 7 minutes or until translucent, then add the garlic and saute a minute or so longer.
- Add the jackfruit, sugar, spices, and liquid smoke. Stir until the jackfruit is evenly covered.
- Add the vegetable broth, cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes until all liquid is absorbed.
- Use a spatula to mash and divide the jackfruit until it looks similar in appearance to pulled pork.
- Spread the jackfruit out on a baking sheet and cook for 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and cover with bbq sauce.
- Return the jackfruit to the oven and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the jackfruit is lightly browned.
- Serve and enjoy!
*The seeds of the canned jackfruit are soft and won't hurt anything if you leave them in, but they throw the texture off a bit.
*For gluten-free, the pulled jackfruit is delicious on corn tortillas with sliced avocado.
- 5 lbs. fresh unripe jackfruit
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- ½ onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. brown sugar
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1½ tsp. liquid smoke
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- ½ cup vegan BBQ sauce (your favorite store bought or homemade kind)
- Buns for pulled pork sandwiches or corn tortillas for gluten-free pulled jackfruit tacos
- Remove the skin and outer ¼-1/2 inch of the jackfruit. Pull and cut the jackfruit to remove the stringy parts that are between the fruit. This is the part of the fruit that you will use to make the BBQ. Discard the rest or use it for something else.
- Saute the onion in olive oil over medium heat for about 7 minutes or until translucent, then add the garlic and saute a minute or so longer.
- Add the jackfruit, sugar, spices, and liquid smoke. Stir until the jackfruit is evenly covered.
- Add the vegetable broth, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes or until liquid is mostly absorbed.
- Transfer the jackfruit out to a baking sheet and cook for 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and cover with bbq sauce.
- Return the jackfruit to the oven and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the jackfruit is lightly browned.
- Serve and enjoy!
*WARNING: The jackfruit is VERY sticky. You'll have to wash your hands a few times to get all the stickiness off.
*For gluten-free, the pulled jackfruit is delicious on corn tortillas with sliced avocado.
Hope you and your friends enjoy the recipe! Here’s a link to Wikipedia if you want to find out more about jackfruit!
I’ve been making BBQ Jackfruit for a long time. It’s one of our favorite staples….but I always use canned. I don’t really anticipate ever trying it with fresh Jackfruit, but I was just wondering if you noticed a big difference between fresh and canned, particularly in flavor and texture.
Thanks for commenting! The real jackfruit was a bit chewier and sweeter. I actually really liked it, but my family said that as far as authenticity the canned was more true to the real thing. 🙂
Hi Elizabeth, the stickiness of the Jackfruit can be overcome by first rubbing your hands with oil (used in kitchen such as cooking oil) before peeling the fruit. When finished peeling, just wash your hands with soap and voila. By the way, we also throw away the stringy part. Only the flesh around the seeds and the seeds are eaten.
Thanks for the recipe.
Just want to add to my comment, that the stringy part can be eaten if the fruit is young. In Suriname, the Jackfruit is also eaten as a vegetable. But it has to be a young fruit. The peeling and cutting part is where the oil rubbing comes in handy.
NOW I read this
I’ve made this with both fresh and canned. The consistency of the fresh version was too soft. I think I nay have overcooked it. I used the recipe from this site with a few alterations, using canned jackfruit and it was scrumptious. Topped it with homemade cole slaw and served it for Labor Day celebration.
Shana, you must know, this FRESH jackfruit recipe is delicious!
Finger licking good (secret, I added some of the fruit parts immediately around the seeds. The part the locals mostly consume or in some countries, like Jamaica, the only part that they consume. Anyway, together…delicious).
Hi
I am from Sri Lanka. The jak fruit is native to us. The very tender jak fruit is called “polos” over here and we use it to cook curry, vegan cutlets etc. As the fruit ripens, it gets larger. We still use it in “mallungs, white vegetables and even boil it and eat it with hot chili sambol. When the fruit is fully ripe, the fruit is pulled out and eaten on its on. The stringy part you have mentioned is never edible. It’s thrown away, only the fruit can be eaten, plus the seeds, when it’s cooked on its own or with the unripe fruit in a vegetable. The fruit of a tender jak has soft seeds, your canned fruit is the one which is correct, and it gets soft when cooked plus the fruit is easily shredded. The fresh fruit from the larger jak can never be shredded. When cooked it becomes pulpy. We never eat or cook the stringy part. It’s thrown away with the rough skins.
Thanks for the advice! Canned is the way to go!
Thanks, it’s good to know!
I just cooked the stringy part for only about 15 minutes and it was just fine as a substitute for pulled pork. I cooked it in BBQ sauce. The Jackfruit was not fully ripe. There was no smell before it was sliced open. The fruity bits around the seeds were sweet but not real sweet like when it is ripe.
When I used fresh jack fruit, the consistency was too soft. I may have overcooked it. Using this recipe with the canned green jackfruit, the result was scrumptious. I topped it with home made cole slaw and served for a Labor Day celebration.
Wow – this is really unique! It looks amazing, though I have never had jackfruit. I may need to try it 🙂
Thx for sharing. xx Bianca
http://thefriendlyfig.com/
I made this from your recipe with canned young jackfruit. It turned out great, and I loved it. Have you ever tried freezing some? I’m wondering if that would work.
Glad it worked out for you! I’m not sure about freezing it…never tried it.
Just tried this and oh my yummyness, it is AWESOME!!! Thank you so much for the recipe.
Thank you for this recipe! I’m not vegan but vegetarian so I added pickles and cheddar and it was amazing! There aren’t many things I miss about meat except for pulled pork sandwiches. Might I add that these tasted even better on the second day!
So glad the recipe worked out for you! Thanks for the feedback! 🙂
This looks amazing. Thank you for posting this recipe in such detail! Did you freeze any leftovers? I would love to know if this could be made in advance and frozen for later use?
Never tried freezing it, but I think it would work okay!
Although I am not a vegan I do try to eat as little meat as possible and my fiancée has been a vegetarian for 26 years. So I really want to make this. One of my favorite combos was BBQ pork with creamy coleslaw. Have you ever incorporated coleslaw to your sandwiches? Do you think this would this still taste good with coleslaw?
I think this would be wonderful with coleslaw. One of my other readers said they served it with coleslaw and reported that it was delicious. Enjoy!
Wow, this is INCREDIBLY cool!! I am excited beyond words to try this! Do I need to mention that I love pulled pork? Just hate to eat piggies!
I cannot WAIT to try this! I have never tried jackfruit but I’m thrilled about how yummy this recipe looks and the comments are very encouraging! Your blog looks lovely, thanks for posting!
Jackfruit is one of the most delicious things emanting from southeast Asia, whence a lot of delicious things flow – but preparing a fresh one is a fairly major process. I like this fruit recipes very much thanks for sharing this article definitely i will try it. And also jackfruit has many additional health benefits if you want to read follow our site.
Just made this last night for myself and my omnivorous boyfriend. We both loved it! Thank you.
Hooray! Glad it was a success. Thanks for giving the recipe a try!
I’ve actually cooked the stringy parts of an over ripened jackfruit. After I eat the pods, I cut out the strings (bit of a pain) and make stir fry it. It still turns out pretty good. The flavour is definitely different, but then I don’t use it to mimic “pulled pork”. It’s a bit tough and you do have to boil it for a little while first, but it ads a nice sweet flavour that’s definitely unique. Friends have tried it and really like it. Also, considering how expensive jackfruit is, it’s nice to actually use the whole fruit and not let any of it go to waste.
Thankyou , I have never cooked with Jackfruit before and this is just awesome !!!!! Not only did it actually work and look like your helpful photos , it smells and tastes incredible . So inspired to find and use more Jackfruit recipes now hahaha . Thanks again … Jenjen
Amazing work, both culinary and editorial! Thank you so much for sharing! I’m going to use your jackfruit technique to adapt a Yucatan pork BBQ for my vegan guests. So excited to find this option, and your blog.
Hi Elisabeth. I live in Tanzania East Africa -the land of Kilimanjaro. We grow jack-fruits here in Tanzania but we eat them ripen. We never cook them. But I will try this recipe and give feedback to you. Thank you for the recipe. Mariam-Dar es Salaam -Tanzania
I’m confused about whether the stringy part should be eaten or not? Some say it should never be eaten, others say they eat the entire jackfruit. Is it based on preference or is there something about the string part that creates problems / indigestion? Would appreciate some clarification if you have some. Thanks so much! This recipe looks absolutely delicious!
Any chance to modify this recipe for crockpot / slow cooker cooking to make it even eaiser?
I have tried the Jackfruit barbecue before using the canned in brine, but could never get rid of the brine flavor. No amount of rinsing seemed to matter- it tasted like barbecue sauce on artichokes! Does putting it in the oven get rid of that taste? I cooked mine on the stove top and have tried several times with the same results.
I agree – last time I made it, I couldn’t get over the briny/artichokey flavor. But…then I put the leftovers away in the fridge and ate them a couple of days later, and the briny taste had mostly gone away! I think making it a day or so in advance helps. I just made a batch tonight, following this recipe (the previous time I had followed a different recipe that didn’t involve baking in the oven) – for extra precaution I also boiled the jackfruit first to remove some brininess, rinsed it again and then squeezed it as dry as I could before proceeding with the recipe.
I used the kind in water and it was delicious
What temp should the oven be set to?
Hai Elizabeth,
appreciate your effort and the success you made in preparing the recipe. In Palakkad ,Kerala India we have established more easy and cooking friendly mature jack fruit packs after processing. It is 95% equalized with fresh mature bulbs on cooking. How can I give you one sample. Hope their will
Shaji Elanjimattam
Jackfruit Mission
I absolutely LOVED this recipe! It was delicious! I made this for some friends the other day and am making it again tonight for dinner. I make it with homemade copy cat hawaiian sweet rolls and coleslaw to serve as a slider. That seems to really balance the palate.
Also your blog is great, I enjoyed your writing. My only qualm is your referance to Christopher Columbus. Other then that you’re doing great! 🙂
Hey there,
I was looking for some information on Health benefits and nutritional facts of Jackfruit this morning and came across your article posted here.
Good stuff! I especially liked how you explained different benefits and nutritional facts.
Actually, I just put together an infographic on 5 Amazing Health Benefits of Jackfruit.
Let me know if you want to check it out.
Cheers,
Anoop Nair
i marinated my canned jackfruit all afternoon in bbq sauce, in my little slow cooker. think i will bake it a bit tomorrow on a sheet to warm it up and crisp it a bit and then make sandwiches. my question at this time (this is new to me) is how long does it stay fresh after we prepare it in sauce. how do we know if its gone bad? not that it will last after tomorrow, but… just curious if i made a big batch how long it would stay fresh.
Aghhhhhh I totally used the wrong part of the fresh jackfruit. I used the yellow fruity part and discarded all the rest as I was under the impression that the edible part is the fruit. Well I will definitely be using the canned stuff next time. Too much work. Well I guess I’ll be eating fruity bbq not-so-pulled-pork jackfruit. I wish I had come across this recipe before I bought one.
I bought some canned jackfruit yesterday and cooked it today. When I cracked open the can, I said, hey-this doesn’t look like the blog! Sure enough, I got the “in syrup” one. It looks like mango. So mad! I’ll go back the store tomorrow and get another can that isn’t in syrup. Good thing I didn’t waste my good bbq sauce!
Jackfruit has to be my favourite fruit. We don’t have much of it in Australia. Most of it, we get super expensively from Asia. Honestly, it is like natural candy but a million times tastier.
Just made this and tasted amazing! Never used jackfruit before so wasn’t sure what to expect but so glad I tried it. I cant believe how much it resembles pulled pork. Definitely a pulled pork substitute. Thank you for sharing this recipe. Ive been raving about this recipe to everyone.
I am about to try this recipe, with the canned version of course. I am not brave enough to try the fresh just yet.
I really wanted to say thank you for the recipe and for adding the little bits of info. It is really helpful. 🙂
Also, the comments here are great and so very useful!!
I will post my results, wish me luck! 🙂
I just made this tonight! It was really really really delicious. I added salt, but aside from that followed the recipe exactly and it turned out amazing thanks for posting
Hands down, a success! Just made this dish and will be letting it sit overnight so that the flavors can marinate. However, with a few bites already – WOW. I shared this dish with some of my carnivore eating family members and their comments were, “You could’ve had me fooled” and “I’m not kidding. This stuff sure does taste good”. Mission accomplished! Definitely keeping this receipe on hand! Thanks for sharing!
I”m in Hawaii and happen to have 3 ripening Jak fruit I want to try the BBQ with the youngest. And something?????? with the more ripe ones. What do you think makes the difference between the canned flesh and the fresh ? I am thinking of dehydrating the ripe fruit (Grandkids/smoothies etc) but would love to find a successful way to use the fresh in a Pulled Pork. Any ideas?
Sorry…not sure…I just know the fresh fruit is a lot sweeter and the texture is different, which makes it not work so well as “pulled pork”
Made this for the first time and it was very tasty. One problem though. Jack fruit has no protein. Zero. That’s not really an issue for sides and things but when it’s the main “meat” on your plate you’re going to need to make up for it and save room for something that does. My usual go-to protein additives don’t really work with the recipe.
I used the arroy-d brand canned. I found one can to be enough for one person and was not sticky .I cooked it in a pot on the stove.
Looks interesting and there are several Asian markets in my area. So, I’m tempted to try it. But how does it measure up in the protein department? I read the article once and then went back and speed-read it looking for into on nutritive value, but didn’t see any.
This recipe is impressive in its imitation of meat, but unfortunately not its nutritional value. Unlike a bean, tofu, tempeh or seitan meat substitute, there is little protein. Below is a link to nutrition info I found on the web.
http://www.ehealthzine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/jackfruit-nutrition-facts.png
This is delicious! My omni husband liked it, too.
Raw jackfruit is also good diabetes I got fresh jack fruit products raw jackfruit,jackfruit powder form natureloc. I used this for my mother. She likes very much. Those are also good. http://www.natureloc.com/collections/jackfruit-products this will help you if any didnt get jakcfruit from your place you can order online fresh products will reach your home
I bought a fresh jackfruit and spent all this time separating the fruit from the stringy part and, well….I clearly didn’t read the recipe as well as I thought! It’s currently in the oven waiting for the bbq sauce addition. Here’s hoping the stringy part turns out just as good 😉
I got a jackfruit that looked ripe, when i opened it it was just the strings and no fruit. do you think I can use this to make this recipe? I don’t want to trash it 🙂
This turned out fantastic!!! Loved the texture and spices. My first time having jack fruit. I will be looking for more recipes that use it. Thank you for sharing this recipe!!!!!
My wonderful omni husband made this for me and I caught him sneaking a couple bites =]
Oh I bought some frozen jackfruit- hope this recipe will work still, thanks Liz from New Zealand
Thanks for being a vegan
and for sharing your innovations.
I’m not even a vegetarian or vegan and I really want to make this and eat the lot
Couple thoughts, just FYI:
a) If you get fresh jackfruit (we have a local store here — SW Ohio — where it’s available by the slice), you can optionally save, sprout, and grow the seed(s), which are even easier to sprout than avocado seeds. Carefully peel all the outer layers/coatings off the seed(s), then sprout them in a jar like you would for alfalfa sprouts, etc. You’ll know if it’s working and they’re alive, because they’ll develop chlorophyll and turn green. When the root is a “reasonable” length, plant in potting soil.
b) Our local Whole Foods also stocks dried/dehydrated jackfruit, but it is the sweet/ripe kind.
I had a pulled “pork” jackfruit sandwich in New Orleans last year and have wanted to make it ever since. Finally made this today and it did not disappoint. I hope my post will answer some questions for others that I had before I made this.
I followed the recipe exactly except I only had 2 cans of jackfruit. I thought it would be plenty, but by the time you cut the core out, you lose almost half of the “meat”. I used Chaokoh young green jackfruit in brine. Other recipes I saw on line emphasized only using jackfruit in water. My Asian market only had it in brine or syrup and this recipe said brine is ok, so I used it. If the label hadn’t said “brine”, I wouldn’t have known. There was no vinegary or other strong flavor. In fact, it was so neutral I don’t think it is much different than one in water. In the 2 cans I used, I only found 2 seeds total.
I’m not a vegan and I used Stubbs smokey mesquite BBQ sauce. Between the spices and BBQ sauce, this has exactly the right flavor. The texture was a little too soft, so after I finished cooking it per the directions, I turned the oven down to 200 and cooked another 30 minutes, hoping it would dry it out a little bit. That didn’t make a difference, so I turned on the low broiler for about 5 minutes and that gave it a little more chew and some slightly charred pieces like pork often has. I rate this 4 instead of 5 stars because I still want just a little more texture.
I work in a teaching kitchen focused on nutrition, so I’ll take this in tomorrow and see what the staff thinks.
Thank you for the feedback and the tip about broiling at the end. 🙂
I went for the make-from-scratch option and picked a young jackfruit from my parents farm. I was skeptical about whether I’d manage to produce anything edible, but I have to say IT WAS RIDICULOUSLY DELICIOUS.
I’m not vegan, so I used pork broth instead of vegetable and used char siu BBQ as marinade.
Although the texture was definitely different from real pulled pork, it makes a pretty good facsimile & I would definitely make this again.
hi there! thank you so much for going through the trouble to make the recipe with both forms of jackfruit! i have been looking all morning for recipes (or even one, which i found right before i found you–ironic!) using fresh, green fruit, and it is not easy!
anyhoo–i saw that you discarded the unripe fruits, and i wanted to share that i read today that the unripe fruits taste quite a bit like artichoke hearts, and that a woman from Singapore whom was visiting the states a few years back substituted artichoke hearts in her favourite recipe, until she got home. (apparently, she was in a very culture-challenged area, poor dear.)
with that information in hand, i have no doubt that you will come up with some wonderful uses for those unripe fruits. i know i am already thinking!
Nice flavors and comes together really easily! We only had fresh jackfruit and unfortunately it was more ripe than ideal, so the final dish was quite sweet even though I only added about 1/3 tsp sugar. We didn’t have broth or BBQ sauce, so I substituted water for the former (no problem, just added some salt) and did use BBQ sauce, which we didn’t miss. I added a little more water than called for because I was concerned not all the jackfruit was covered. I think that was a mistake because it took longer to cook off, and the result was slightly mushy (though that was probably also impacted by the state of ripeness).
We ate with a green cabbage pico, sauted zucchini and red bell pepper, and turnip greens. The bitter greens were a nice counter to the sweet jackfruit. Thanks for sharing this recipe, we’ll probably make it again when we have less ripe jackfruit!
Good post, keep
Not sure what “cook” means for using the oven. Also doesn’t say what temperature to use. Can’t wait to try this. Will wait for a reply. Thanks.
400 degrees for 20 minutes. 🙂
i too am curious about what might happen if i do stuff that is no openly recommended.
with Jackfruit, it is difficult for many reasons: not all arils taste the same:
some taste like melon; some taste like banana and pineapple… Not all jackfruit are created equal.
Jackfruit is a miracle.
White sugar, and therefore brown sugar (since it usually is just white sugar with molasses) aren’t vegan half the time. There are only a select few producers of refined sugar that don’t use bone char in the processing of their product. Finding an alternative to those in the recipe would be a bonus.
(You might have mentioned this in the blog post part, but I don’t ever read that. Sorry)
Thanks for your comment! Maple syrup should work as a substitute. 🙂