First thing’s first: we’re going vegan. For the entire month of March. It’s a meatless party!
Second thing: before you continue on, you’re going to want to buy this or go out and buy a fresh jackfruit.
To launch this vegan month, I wanted to start off with a bang! And there’s nothing more incredible in the vegan world than this pulled “pork” made from jackfruit.
Honestly, I was freaking out as I was Snapchatting through this recipe (username Inspiralized.) I couldn’t believe how the jackfruit was turning into pulled pork before my eyes!
Okay, okay. Let’s go back. What’s a jackfruit? It’s a fruit that grows on a tree and is in the fig and mulberry family. It mainly comes from Southeast Asia, so if you don’t have jackfruit in your local grocery store (I didn’t!), get the next best thing: canned jackfruit.
Jackfruit has the exact consistency of pulled pork when cooked long enough and has a mild taste that takes well to seasonings.
Yes, I’m talking vegan pulled pork – you can serve this over salads, in tacos, stuffed into a baked sweet potato, as a pulled pork slider, or just in a bowl with some veggies and avocado! And the best part: it saves well in the freezer and refrigerator, so make a bunch and enjoy it foreverrr! Well, not forever.
And this is what it looks like, fresh out of the can and drained:
So how do we get it to look and taste like pulled pork? I promise you, this method is SO easy and simple. It doesn’t take any fancy cooking skills. I did it in about 30 minutes, so it’s quick too!
First, start by spiralizing a full red onion, preferably with the Inspiralizer, of course:
Then, you’re going to cook the onions along with garlic, paprika, salt and pepper until they’re wilted. Then, you add the jackfruit:
Once the jackfruit is added, you’ll add a bit of vegetable broth (all the exact measurements are in the recipe below, of course!), cover the pot and let it cook for 10 minutes or until the jackfruit softens enough so that it can be mashed and “pulled” like you would with pork. Then, you just mash it until it’s pulled pork!
After that, you’ll add the barbecue sauce and the jackfruit absorbs the flavors of the BBQ. I used Tessemae’s Matty’s BBQ sauce in this recipe, which is my favorite healthy BBQ sauce. Seriously, it’s ingredients are literally only date puree (Water, Organic dates, Lemon juice), Tomato puree (Tomatoes, Salt), Organic balsamic vinegar, Filtered water, Organic mustard (Organic vinegar, Water, Organic mustard seed, Salt, Organic turmeric, Organic spices), Sea salt, Organic coconut aminos (Organic Coconut sap [Tree nut], Sea salt), Spices, Onion powder, Garlic powder.
Once you’ve added the barbecue sauce in, you stir, let heat for a few minutes and there you have it: VEGAN PULLED PORK. I feel like Thug Kitchen right now, yo. 🙂
See! I told you: crazy. I have to say, since I was a vegan back in 2008, times have changed! All I knew how to make were veggie and tofu stir fries. With recipes like this, veganism is easy to maintain.
I hope you try this recipe – don’t be intimidated by jackfruit. It’s literally like any other canned veggie – it may even be in your local grocery store. Check the Asian specialty food aisle!
Now if you excuse me, I’m going to go turn these into carnitas by broiling them a bit and stuffing them into tacos.
Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Tessemae’s. However, all opinions are my own. I used Tessemae’s products regularly, they just happened to sponsor this post!
Now you can watch a cooking video of this recipe:
Nutritional Information & Recipe
Weight Watchers SmartPoints*: 7 points
*These points were calculated using the official Weight Watchers SmartPoints calculator. We are in no way affiliated with Weight Watchers, we are providing this information based on popular demand.
Vegan BBQ Pulled Pork (Jackfruit) with Spiralized Caramelized Onions
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 red onion peeled, Blade A, noodles trimmed
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 2 20oz jack fruit in water, drained
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth or water
- 3/4 cup barbecue sauce I used Tessemae’s
- optional: 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
Instructions
- Place a large skillet over medium heat and add in the oil. Once oil is shimmering, add in the onion noodles and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 7 minutes or until onions are mostly wilted and add in the garlic and paprika and stir to coat the onion in the spice. Then, add in the jack fruit, broth and season again with salt and pepper.
- Cover and let cook for 10 minutes or until jack fruit softens and can be pulled apart like pulled meat. At that point, mash with a potato masher or pull apart carefully with two forks.
- Once the jack fruit is pulled into shreds, pour over the barbecue sauce and stir to combine. Add the liquid smoke here if you want a smokier, meat-like flavor (if you're a meat eater.) If you don't eat meat, leave it out - I like the taste by itself! Let cook for another 2-3 minutes or until heated through.
- Serve the vegan pulled pork on a salad, in a sweet potato, on a bun, with rice, or however you’d like.
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