Coconut and Berries

Healthy, Vegan Recipes by Emma Potts

Spicy Jackfruit Fajitas

J is for…Jackfruit!DSC_0061

This one’s been making the rounds of the vegan blogosphere and I bought a can a while back from a great local ethnic store hoping to give it a try myself, only to forget about it in the back of a cupboard.

I didn’t actually know what it was, so turned to Wikipedia…

In case you’re in the dark too here’s some info:

The jackfruit is a species of tree in the Artocarpus genus of the mulberry family. It is native to parts of South and Southeast Asia and also widely cultivated in tropical regions of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

It can be used both ripe and unripe:

-  Ripe jackfruit is naturally sweet. It can be used to make a variety of dishes, including custards, cakes etc.

- Unripe fruit, or young green jackruit, like the kind I used, is typically prepared as a savoury dish, used in curries, salads etc. It has a mild flavour and distinctive meat-like texture which is often compared to chicken.

I didn’t give up animal products because I didn’t like the taste of meat so it’s pretty fun to find something with a meat-like texture which isn’t a processed product. My Mum, an omnivore, enjoyed this too.

Spicy Jackfruit Fajitas

I was in the mood for something a little spicy so chose to use it as a filling for fajitas (of sorts…) with Mexican spices, sweet potato fries and plenty of guacamole.

Spicy Jackfruit Fajitas

There are lots of recipes for this sort of thing online but if you’re interested in what I did, my recipe’s below.

Spicy Jackfruit Fajitas 

Spicy Jackfruit Fajitas:

1 Onion, diced
2 Cloves of garlic, minced
2t Ground cumin
1/2t Mild chili powder
1/4t Smoked paprika
1/4t Oregano
1/2t Salt
Dash of cinnamon + cayenne pepper
565g/ 20 oz can of Jackfruit in brine or water, drained
1t Tamari
Squeeze of lime
1T Maple syrup

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook for a few minutes until softened. Add garlic, spices and salt and cook for another minute to toast the spices. Add jackfruit and break it up a little with a spatula. It will soften up as it cooks so don’t worry if it’s in large pieces at the beginning. Add tamari, maple syrup and squeeze of lime and continue to cook for approx 30 minutes until brown with some crispy edges, stirring every now and again to break up the jackfruit. It should look like shredded chicken!

Serve with your favourite Mexican side-dishes- guacamole, cashew sour cream, sweet potato fries, salsa, salad, tortilla wraps etc.  (N.b. I made Angela’s Spelt Tortillas and rolled them a little thicker)

Guacamole with Spicy Jackfruit Fajitas

Other jackfruit recipes I like the look of are these Mu Shu Jackfruit Lettuce Wraps,  these Jackfruit Crab Cakes and this Spicy Jackfruit Salad. I’d love to try jackfruit in a curry as well, maybe a Thai Green Curry to use my green curry paste!

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Comments

  1. Fajitas are my absolute favourite dish in the whole world and I have never tried jackfruit! I didn’t even know you could find it in a can, so this post is super exciting! Thank you so much for the inspiration, Emma. :)

  3. How interesting! I’ve eaten fresh ripe Jackfruit, canned ripe Jackfruit, and even seen it growing. But I didn’t know that it can be eaten green. Once again you have chosen a very intriguing ingredient and have come up with an equally intriguing recipe for it.

  4. Your spicy jackfruit fajitas look fantastic especially with the creamy guacamole (I’m tad jealous b/c I miss avocados, they are so expensive here in Spain) I remembered having my BBQ jackfruit sandwich in Las Vegas for the first time, it was so good!!

  6. Wow how interesting! Ive never tried jackfruit before, after seeing your recipe looks like im gonna have to go out and find some!

  8. Fajita filling looks fab! Jackfruit has been on my ‘to try’ list for ages simply because i’m curious about the faux meat texture without it being a fake meat chemical replica. :-) Hadn’t yet come across any cans and they were expensive on Amazon when i previously checked…will keep an eye out!

  9. I had jackfruit for the first time last month and I really didn’t know what to expect. It turns out to be pretty amazing, especially when you work it/make shreds of it to make it look like meat. Who thought a fruit could do that!

  10. It also took me a while to get around to cooking with jackfruit. I veganized pulled ‘pork’ and pared it with apple sauce and a crunch salad. I’ve not tried it in tacos or fajitas yet. It will probably take me another few months to get around to using it again. So many ingredients so little time! 😉

  11. i’ve often wondered about jackfruit since I find seitan and other chicken-like products to be kind of repulsive…but maybe since it’s all natural I wouldn’t be as weirded out by it?

  12. The cooked jackfruit does really look a lot like meat! As an Asian jackfruit is no stranger to me and but I’ve always enjoyed it fresh. Looks like I should explore and try it cooked too. Thanks for sharing!

  14. your fajitas look so good - I have never been a big fan of jackfruit but I love this recipe so much that if I see a can I might just buy it. and that guacamole looks beautiful too

  15. I’ve seen cans of jackfruit in an ethnic shop before and was tempted to get one, but I never knew what to make with it! Looks like I know now :)
    Thanks!

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