Have you heard of jackfruit? It’s a tropical fruit that can grow quite large. The flesh and seeds are edible. It’s a sweet fruit when it matures but when it’s green, jackfruit can be used in savory dishes where its fibrous texture makes it a good meat substitute. Rick and I gave it a try when we made jackfruit quesadillas.
It’s Pinterest Challenge time again. This is when a group of bloggers all pick a pin we’ve curated and actually make it. I’ve been having lots of fun with the challenge, featuring some of my blogging friends as well as trying new meat free recipes.
Since I’ve been curious to try jackfruit and I knew my local Asian store carried it, I bought a 20 ounce can of young jackfruit packed in brine. This is important if you’re buying jackfruit as a meat substitute. The mature fruit is sweet with a flavor similar to juicy fruit gum (or so I’m told. I’ve never had it. But the folks at NPR tried it.)
Jackfruit is available in the US where plant forward eaters use it to make BBQ sandwiches, tacos, soups…all kinds of things (see this collection from Good Housekeeping that claims you’ll forget all about meat). In the end I decided to go with quesadillas and thanks to a pin from Spoon and Shovel and another from It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken, I had a good idea how to move forward.
A 20 ounce can will serve four people. Out of the can, the jackfruit is slightly pink and mine was cut into wedge shaped pieces. Turns out, young jackfruit from the can is very mild tasting. It did have a “can” taste but it wasn’t too noticeable after adding the seasoning. Once I rinsed the jackfruit and cut the wedges into smaller pieces I treated it as if I was making standard tacos. Except for the mashing part, of course.
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion peeled and diced
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 20 ounce can young jackfruit in brine drained, rinsed and cut into smaller pieces
- 1 package taco, burrito or fajita seasoning
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth or water
- 1 package flour tortillas standard taco size
- butter oil or vegan spread for tortillas
- 1 cup shredded cheese use a vegan cheese if preferred
- your favorite toppings: sliced jalapenos, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, limes, etc
Instructions
- Heat the oil and red pepper flakes in a large skillet. Saute the onions until they change color.
- Reduce the heat and add the sliced jackfruit and as much of the fajita seasoning as desired (I used about 1/2 the package). Stir in the vegetable broth and simmer for five minutes or so.
- At this point take a potato masher and break up the jackfruit into smaller pieces.
- Reduce the heat to very low and cook for another 10 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed. The mix should be wet but not runny. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Spread one side of a tortilla with a small amount of butter, oil or vegan spread.
- Warm a large skillet over medium heat and toast the tortilla, butter side down, for one or two minutes or until it takes on a golden brown color.
- Spread one half of the tortilla with 3 or 4 tablespoons of jackfruit and some shredded cheese. Fold the other half of the tortilla over top. Continue to toast until the cheese has melted.
- Alternately, you could spread jackfruit over the entire tortilla, add cheese, then top with another buttered tortilla. Flip the quesadilla and allow the second side to brown while the cheese melts.
- Repeat with the remaining tortillas, jackfruit and cheese.
- To serve, slice the quesadillas into wedges and serve your favorite toppings.
So how were they? Rick noticed right away that it wasn’t meat, but he didn’t complain except to say he’d just as soon have mushrooms, onions and peppers in his quesadilla. I thought the jackfruit was interesting enough to try again. If you’re having difficulty finding it in your local market, try looking in the Caribbean section, pay a visit to an Asian store or your local health food shop. I’ve also seen vacuum packs sold online. Maybe that would help with the can taste.
Learn more about Jackfruit:
NPR – Here’s the scoop on jackfruit a ginormous fruit to feed the world.
The Independent (UK) – What is jackfruit? The vegan meat alternative you need to try.
Dr Weil – Why eat jackfruit?
Good Housekeeping – 18 jackfruit recipes that will make you forget all about meat.
As mentioned, this post is part of a challenge so in the link up below you’ll find recipes, crafts and DIYs. I hope you enjoy browsing!
To join next month’s #pinterestchallenge, click here to sign-up ⇒ March Pinterest Challenge
Now let’s see what other things Pinterest inspired! Head over and visit the other hosts to see what they crafted, cooked, built, or tried!
Erlene – My Pinterventures • Jenny – Cookies Coffee and Crafts
Debbee – Debbee’s Buzz • Bri – Halfpint Design • Julie – Sum of their Stories
T’onna – Sew Crafty Crochet • Beverly – Across the Boulevard • Debra – Shoppe No. 5
Roseann – This Autoimmune Life • Cherryl – Farm Girl Reformed
Leslie – Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After • Kelley – Simply Inspired Meals
Lydia – Lydia’s Flexitarian Kitchen •Joanne – Our Unschooling Journey
Kristie – Teadoddles • Gail – Purple Hues and Me • Ashley – Emory Farm
Kristie – Love My Little Cottage • Crissy – First Day of Home
Habiba – Craftify My Love • Marie – The Inspiration Vault • Emily – Domestic Deadline
Lauren – Mom Home Guide • Maria – Simple Nature Decor
Alexandra – Eye Love Knots • Lynne – My Family Thyme
Marci – Stone Cottage Adventures • Terrie – Decorate & More with Tip
Susan – SuzerSpace • Kim – Kimspired DIY • Pili – My Sweet Things
Kelli – K’s Olympic Nest • Erin – The DIY Nuts • Shirley – Intelligent Domestications
Pinterest Inspired Projects
Uhhhhh – I like quesadillas. Only had them once, though, in a restaurant. Jackfruit is a whole nother thing…never tried it before. Thank you for this recipe, it’s a good idea to try out something new.
I have wanted to try jackfruit but haven’t found it in stores by me. This sounds delicious.
You can order it online if you want to try it. That will give you the opportunity to see if at least you like it and if you want to add it to your regular meal rotation. I’m sure it will hit the mainstream eventually.
I have never tried jackfruit before, but this looks delicious! Thanks for the inspiration!
My son is vegetarian and eats a lot of jack fruit. Here in the UK it has become very popular recently as a pulled pork substitute.
I’ll pin this and try it next time he is home from Uni. Thanks.
I’ve heard of jackfruit on cooking programs, but never tried it. Now I am curious. It sounds like a really nice addition for veggie quesadillas. -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
I have never heard of jackfruit so was glad you included a picture. Interesting recipe. What was the texture like?
You can tell it’s not meat, but it has some bite.
I’ve also read about using jack fruit as a meat substitute, but haven’t had the courage to try it yet. Maybe I’ll surprise the family 🙂 when we have vegetarian day. Pinned.
These sound very intriguing. I will need to check into this. Thanks for the suggestion to use the jackfruit like this.
We just saw Jackfruit in our produce department this week for the first time and had to go examine it. I made a mental note to look it up because I had never heard of it. This is very interesting and I appreciate your explanation about using it for sweet or savory. Now I just need to try it. Your recipe will be perfect.
As a vegetarian Pinterest user, jackfruit recipes show up in my feed all the time. I’ve never been brave enough to try it, so thanks for taking one for the team!
A friend at work eats the ripened sweet jackfruit. I didn’t know you could eat the young fruit! Looks delicious!
Your recipe is quite interesting and does look delicious! I guess it’s a good way to use it in quesadillas, especially if you’re vegetarian! Someone had a jackfruit tree near my old home. The fruit was all over the street when the tree shed. When we first moved there we were curious as to what it was, so my dad stopped and picked up a few and decided to try it. He had a time trying to open it up but finally succeeded. It wasn’t very tasty to him and I scolded him for even trying it. It could have been poisonous – not knowing what it was. I found out years later that it was quite popular among vegetarians as a meat substitute.
There’s a similar looking fruit called a durian that is supposed to smell quite foul. I can’t imagine the brave soul who first tried eating it. I expect they were hungry, like the first person to eat raw eggplant hahaha.
I would have never thought to use jackfruit like this. It looks wonderful!
It turned out better than I thought. Thanks!
They sell jackfruit at our local produce market, but have never tried it. The fresh product we have may turn out differently, so I need to read more on it. Currently in India, but want to check it out on our return home. Thanks for the inspiration.
I wonder if the fresh jackfruit would be too sweet? I honestly don’t know. Everything I’ve read suggests the green/young jackfruit for savory and the mature fruit for sweets. I hope you get a chance to try it fresh at any rate! Thanks 🙂
I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever tried jackfruit, even after traveling to places that might serve it. Very interesting! My curiosity is piqued!
I’ve come across some good looking recipes. I think it’s worth the effort to give jackfruit a try, especially if you’re trying to cut down on meat overall. Thanks!
I’ve seen jackfruit in the store, but never knew what to make with them. Thanks for the recipe!
I’ve only been able to find it in cans, but Amazon has it in a variety of forms. Good luck!
Looks delicious! I’ll have to give jackfruit a try!
I had never heard of jackfruit before but it sounds interesting! We do love quesadillas. Pinned.
I have never heard of jackfruit before, but that is very intriguing. The quesadillas look delicious.