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This BBQ jackfruit is over-the-top flavorful and guaranteed to be a family favorite! It’s easy, delicious and just like real BBQ pulled pork! Jackfruit pulled pork is made with seasoned jackfruit that is sautéed in a skillet until tender and then tossed with BBQ sauce.
If you love this BBQ Jackfruit recipe, you’ve got to try Jackfruit Enchiladas and Jackfruit Pot Roast!
I’ve had jackfruit pulled pork at vegan restaurants a few times and was so excited to try making it at home. I found the cans of young jackfruit at Trader Joe’s, but if you don’t have one in your area and aren’t able to find it anywhere else, you can get it HERE on Amazon (Amazon for the win!).
I bought a ridiculous amount of jackfruit recently and have so many recipe ideas that I can’t wait to work on! So, be on the lookout for quite a few more jackfruit recipes in the near future.
What is Jackfruit
Jackfruit is a large tropical fruit that’s relatively inexpensive to buy whole. You can eat it raw, like other fruits. The jackfruit that we’re using in this particular recipe (and that is typically used in meat replacement recipes like this) is young GREEN jackfruit.
I won’t pretend to be an expert on jackfruit, but if you want to learn more, HERE is a more detailed description!
Ingredients Needed
- Canned jackfruit. Unripened jackfruit (which is what we’re using) has a neutral and a meat-like texture. This recipe calls for 40-ounces of jackfruit, which is about two large cans.
- Spices. A mix of garlic powder, chili powder, salt, and paprika is the perfect blend of delicious spices for jackfruit pulled pork.
- Liquid smoke. This will give our vegan pulled pork that classic smoky flavor that we love in real pulled pork. You can find this near spices and seasonings at the grocery store. It is an optional ingredient, so feel free to omit it if you don’t have it available.
- Brown sugar. For a touch of sweetness!
- Olive oil. A small amount of fat is needed to get the jackfruit sautéing.
- BBQ sauce. Use any favorite BBQ sauce.
How to make this BBQ Jackfruit Recipe:
The full written recipe is down in the recipe card but here’s a visual overview!
Prep the jackfruit and shred it in a large bowl. Mix in the flavoring.
Saute the jackfruit to get it warmed through and lightly crispy around the edges. Mix in bbq sauce.
Guys, even my mom liked this jackfruit recipe and she’s one of those people that is instantly turned off by any faux meat or any recipe with the word “vegan” in it. lol. So, what I’m saying is: you need it in your life!
I highly recommend serving this with the Homemade Vegan Coleslaw that I posted recently ;)
See how to make the BBQ Jackfruit:
Easy BBQ Jackfruit (vegan)
Ingredients
- 40 oz jackfruit, roughly 2 large cans, in water or brine
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke, optional
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup bbq sauce
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the jackfruit and then lightly pat it dry. Cut off the core so that you’re only left with the outer parts that are the ones easy to shred. The core is the part that comes to a point (see photo above).
- Place the jackfruit in a large bowl and lightly shred with 2 forks (we’ll shred it a bit more while it cooks). Mix in the garlic powder, chili powder, salt, liquid smoke, paprika, and brown sugar. Toss to fully coat the jackfruit.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and once hot, add in the jackfruit. Cook for about 5 minutes to heat through, stirring often. As it cooks, break up the jackfruit more with the back of a wooden spoon or using the same forks.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the bbq sauce.
- Serve and ENJOY!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These are Amazing. We make them often.
Can you freeze this dish?
Made this for a vegetarian friend at a party and it was such a hit that my pulled pork was being passed over.
Brought what little lefties there were home and my father-in-law ate it thinking it was pulled pork. I clued him in when he was done. He didn’t believe me until I showed him this recipe and the extra cans of jackfruit I bought.
Thank you so much for this amazing article. Keep up the good work. :)
This had great flavor! Jackfruit in brine was the only option at my local store. I rinsed it a couple if times and dried it well. I used all the entire jackfruit since I don’t like to waste food. I cut the core into smaller strips. It cooked on low in the crockpot with some bbq sauce for about 4.5 hours. Everything was tender, including the core. Extra sauce and cole slaw make it taste like a pulled pork sandwich.
I made this for my family and it was amazing!!! Everyone absolutely loved it! It was so flavorful but so easy to make. Thank you for sharing!
How many servings does this make?
Shelly, 1 can, using the core, yielded about 6 sandwiches for me.