So you have a can/jar of jackfruit in the cupboard and you have no idea what to do with it. I’m here to help 🙂 What you don’t want to do with jackfruit is just eat it like it is – you have to spice and flavour that baby up, just like it’s a block of tofu, because it really is pretty tasteless on its own.
If you wanna keep your looks (who doesn’t…) apparently jackfruit is high in antioxidants, so get ON this stuff! Although it’s a fruit, and you can eat it as a fruit, most of us vegans use it as a meat substitute because of the texture, and it’s ability to take on savoury flavours. Have to admit, I tried raw jackfruit a year or so back, and I can’t say I enjoyed it… savoury cooked jackfruit though – GIMME.
BBQ jackfruit is probably the easiest and tastiest thing to do with a tin of jackfruit, and you can then use it in whatever dinner/lunch (or breafast?!) you like. I use mine in burgers, but you can also use as a baked potato topping, in tacos, on a pizza or as part of a warm buddah bowl. The choice is yours.
I like my jackfruit pretty spicy, but feel free to omit the chili powder if that’s not your bag. Jackfruit is much more soft and juicy if you cook it for a long time (and keep adding water as you go), but if you’re in a hurry you don’t need to cook the jackfruit for more than about ten minutes in the sauce. I’d suggest going for the long haul though, you won’t regret it.
Ingredients
1 x can/jar of jackfruit in water (approx 400g)
1 tsp oil for frying (e.g. sunflower oil)
1/2 small brown onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed or chopped finely
1 Tbsp hot smoked paprika (use less if you prefer non-spicy)
1 Tbsp agave (or sub with brown sugar or maple syrup)
1/2 tsp chili powder (omit if you don’t like spicy)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup premade BBQ sauce (check if vegan – a fair few of them include honey)
Instructions
Drain the jackfruit and separate into smaller parts. Chop up the hard ends if they aren’t coming apart easily.
Add the oil to a frypan/skillet and heat on medium. Add the onions and cook until translucent, around 8 minutes (be careful not to burn – turn down if they start to brown).
While the onions are cooking, combine the paprika, agave, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder and salt and pepper into a small bowl.
Add the minced garlic to the onions and stir, cooking for a minute or so, and ensure the garlic does not burn.
Add the jackfruit and the spices, and stir to thoroughly combine. Cook on medium for around a minute, stirring every so often so the bottom doesn’t stick.
Turn the heat to low and add the BBQ sauce and 1/2 cup of water. Stir to combine thoroughly. Leave to cook for around 30 minutes (up to an hour if you can stand the delicious smell!), stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Add more water if it starts to dry up. You want the sauce to be sloppy, but still sticking to the jackfruit when you serve it up.
Serve in buttered, toasted buns with lettuce, cheese and pickles and you have yourself a delicious pulled jackfruit burger!
Time to make: 10 minutes to prep the ingredients, 30 minutes to cook the jackfruit = 40 minutes
On a scale of easy (1) to pull your hair out difficult (5) = 1.5, Pretty darn easy once you have all your spices mixed and jackfruit shredded.
#nowplaying : Idles – Mr Motivator
