Vegan BBQ Pulled Pork (Jackfruit) with Spiralized Onions

First thing’s first: we’re going vegan. For the entire month of March. It’s a meatless...

Vegan BBQ Pulled Pork (Jackfruit) with Spiralized Caramelized Onions

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.

Vegan BBQ Pulled Pork (Jackfruit) with Spiralized Caramelized Onions

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.

Vegan BBQ Pulled Pork (Jackfruit) with Spiralized Caramelized Onions

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:

Vegan BBQ Pulled Pork (Jackfruit) with Spiralized Caramelized Onions

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:

Vegan BBQ Pulled Pork (Jackfruit) with Spiralized Caramelized Onions

Then, you’re going to cook the onions along with garlic, paprika, salt and pepper until they’re wilted. Then, you add the jackfruit:

Vegan BBQ Pulled Pork (Jackfruit) with Spiralized Caramelized Onions

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!

Vegan BBQ Pulled Pork (Jackfruit) with Spiralized Caramelized Onions

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. 🙂

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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.

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Vegan BBQ Pulled Pork (Jackfruit) with Spiralized Caramelized Onions

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 4

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.

Vegan BBQ Pulled Pork (Jackfruit) with Spiralized Caramelized Onions

with love, Ali

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Recipe Rating




comments

  • I'm so curious about this recipe and jackfruit. I want to hear what other readers that may have tried it think about it. Thank you! (I love to discover new foods.)
    • I tried this last night for a dinner party for six. It was a huge hit. I sent half a crock pot of the vegan pulled pork home with my daughter last night. She tells me the leftovers were gone by noon today. I used four cans of jackfruit. Cider vinegar for acidity and added some dried apricots. It was so good. I will be doing this again. I did add some textures vegetable protein to boost the protein value
  • Very excited! I am Vegan and look forward to what you create in the month of March!
  • Haven't tried the recipe yet but I have seen Jackfruit in my local Kroger Store - IT'S HUGE!!!! From the tip of your middle finger to your elbow long and a good watermelon size around. Not sure of the price as I didn't see one listed but if I were to make this recipe (and I'm seriouly thinking about it) and what I know of Kroger produce prices, I would go with the canned Jackfruit if you're on a budget.
  • I'm legit intrigued by jackfruit now! And that truly looks like pork, wow. Did you buy the canned jackfruit at your local grocery store or order it online? I might have to scour my Fine Fare this week to look for a can. I'm often surprised what I can find at my grocery store. Haaa. :-)
      • The link says that it is out but there are others you can order. I'm actually hoping to it in my local store this morning so I can make this tonight. If not, I'll be placing an order because this looks amazing! My daughter is vegetarian and I love experimenting with her. btw - Love your Inspiralizer and your awesome variety of recipes!
  • This looks so good! I've seen vegan pulled pork recipes with jackfruit floating around, but I'd never seen a jackfruit until I went to Hawaii this summer - they're huge! I didn't know you could buy it canned, which is great.
  • What makes the sodium content in this recipe so high? 46 %. Is this level of sodium healthy?
    • It comes from the barbecue sauce! Just make sure you're eating enough potassium in the day and yes, it's a healthy level! It's important to counteract high sodium levels with potassium, it's a balancing act!
  • This is seriously blowing my mind lol I thought the coconut bacon you made was on another level, but this is cray cray (in a good way). I've never heard of jackfruit - so interesting!
  • I have not tried this; however 12 grams of sugar? Yikes; if none would be better. I am not diabetic; however I am working on weight loss;and avoiding sugar has been a major plus.allan
  • As a new vegan, I love that you have such a creative recipe and are supplying vegan recipes all month. I also have found countless recipes and inspiration from your blog for spiralized recipes over the past year, many of which I've shared via social media with your hashtag. However, I have to say (and I hope this is taken constructively) I really dislike the font used on your site - for the body of the posts. It is EXTREMELY difficult to read, the lettering does not show up well and there are parts of each letter that literally disappears so its like reading pencil that has been slightly erased. The photos are phenomenal, the instructions are clear, I just wish I didn't have to hurt my eyes to read the content of each post. Thanks so much for taking my opinion into consideration.
  • You have to use young, green jackfruit in water (not brine). This is a very neutral stage of the jackfruit where a ripe jackfruit is sweet and bright yellow in color and a whole different texture. I've only bought the cans as I've read that using a fresh jackfruit is ALOT of work! Love BBQ jackfruit but am definitely following this recipe next time - love the inspiralized red onions added in! Thanks Ali - love that your going vegan for 30 days!
  • I made this today and it was fantastic! I used canned young green jackfruit in brine and rinsed it after draining it. I ate the finished product over a baked sweet potato and LOVED it. This recipe was perfectly timed because I'd bought the can a few weeks ago after a friend raved about faux-pork-jackfruit, but all the recipes I found were complicated or had a lot of extra ingredients, so I kept putting off using it. This was SO easy - starting with spiralizing the onion and on from there! (Sidenote: I used blade D when I spiralized the onion because I spiralize almost everything on blade D. But I quickly realized why it really truly was supposed to be blade A - lesson learned, trust Ali!)
  • This looks just amazing. We no longer eat any pork so this will be a winner for hubs the farmboy. You are beyond creative. Keep wowowing us!!
  • Just made this and it was fantastic!! Easy recipe to follow and it turned out exactly as described. The flavour was so tasty, served mine as tacos with guacamole, cheese and sour cream. Can not rate this highly enough and it went down very well in our house. Will be making it again!
  • What is in the picture does not look like the pods. Is it the pods, the core or what surrounds the pods?
  • This recipe is seriously amazing!! thank you for putting this together. I made this and my boyfriend loved it! I took a picture and our friends HAD to come over over to try it as well the same night. I've printed this and shared with friends. At least 3 groups have made it for their families or for parties and have fallen in love too! it's a super easy, delicious, feast of a treat!
  • This looks wonderful, thank you so much for sharing! I have been looking for new ideas, I get in a rut and eat the same thing every day if I am in a hurry :0) Do make sure that if you are vegan, or are making a vegan dish, that there is no white sugar in your BBQ sauce and something we have found at my house that has been frustrating, when I was sick not long ago my Dad brought home Campbell's vegetable soup - which contains chicken! We were so surprised and bummed out. And if you add cheese or sour cream, please use the vegan versions! So yummy and made from so many different things (almond, rice, soy, hemp, etc), if you are allergic to one there is always another option! :) Not trying to be bossy, just hopefully helping anyone who is new to eating differently and wants to stick to plant-based! Bon appetit! :)
  • What is the masher tool used called?
  • What jackfruit product to you use?
    • You can use canned or fresh! We used canned!