Have you tried jackfruit? Or have you even heard of it? It’s a fruit that originates from Southeast Asia—and it’s getting a lot of buzz lately because it has a miraculously similar consistency to pulled pork. You might recognize the whole jackfruit as the large green-yellow fruit that looks a little spiky on the outside. It’s actually the largest tree-borne fruit in the world and can weigh up to 100lbs. Here in Canada, it’s sold either canned or pre-chopped and packaged.

Jackfruit is high in fiber and relatively tasteless, so it tends to take on the flavour of whatever seasoning you add to it. I love giving it a Mexican twist. I’ve tested these three jackfruit recipes out with meat lovers and they agree that jackfruit will truly make you forget you’re having a meatless meal.

Enjoy these three Mexican-inspired jackfruit recipes—and don’t forget to let me know what you think!

Jackfruit ‘Pulled Pork’ Nachos

Serves 4

Jackfruit Nachos

Ingredients

For The Nachos:

• 1 small bag corn chips
• 2 cups guacamole (recipe here, or buy it to save time)
• 2 cups salsa (recipe here, or buy it to save time)
• 600g Upton’s Naturals Jackfruit Bar-B-Que (or Upton’s Naturals Original Jackfruit or Cha’s Organics Young Jackfruit with BBQ or chili lime sauce added to it for the flavour)
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1/2 cup finely diced red onions
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro

Optional and recommended: 1 cup Nacho Cheez (recipe below)

Optional: sliced jalapeños

Nacho Cheez Recipe:

• 3/4 cup raw cashews
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp hot water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/2-1 tsp sea salt
• Freshly ground pepper

 *Nacho Cheez recipe modified from Minimalist Baker

Instructions

For The Nachos:

1. Preheat oven 375F
2. Make the Nacho Cheez (directions below)
3. Spread layer of corn chips on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet
4. Add layer of salsa, jackfruit, red onions (& optional jalapeños) and bake for about 10 minutes
5. Remove from oven and top with guacamole, lime juice, cilantro and Nacho Cheez
6. Enjoy!

For The Nacho Cheez:

1. Add the cashews, nutritional yeast and olive oil to a food processor and blend until it’s a thick buttery consistency (this may take a while)
2. Add the hot sauce and all of the spices and blend again.
3. Finally, add the hot water – a little bit at a time – until the desired consistency is achieved. If it’s too thick, add more water.

Jackfruit Burrito Bowl

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 packages Upton’s Naturals Original Jackfruit
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 4 cups spinach
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1/2 sweet onion, sliced
• Handful cilantro
• 1 cup guacamole or 1 avocado, sliced
• 1 cup homemade queso (recipe here)

Instructions

1. Start by making the queso (recipe is linked in ingredient list!)
2. Warm a pan over medium heat with coconut oil
3. Place the pepper and onion in the pan and sauté for about 5 minutes
4. Then, add the jackfruit and the spices
5. Sauté everything for about 10 minutes—if necessary, break up some of the pieces with a fork
6. While everything is cooking, divide the spinach into two bowls for serving
7. Add the jackfruit, peppers and onions to the bowls when it’s all done cooking
8. Scoop queso onto the jackfruit, peppers and onions
9. Top with cilantro, and sliced avocado or guacamole
10. Drizzle with additional queso as desired

Jackfruit & Black Bean Tacos

Serves 4

Jackfruit & Black Bean Tacos

Ingredients

For the jackfruit:

• 2 packages Upton’s Naturals Original Jackfruit
• 1 tbsp avocado oil
• 1/2 yellow onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp salt

For the tacos:

• 6-8 corn tortillas
• 1 cup guacamole, or sliced avocado
• 2 cups salsa
• 1/4 red onion , thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup cilantro , roughly chopped
• lime wedges

Instructions

1. Chop the jackfruit more so it’s in thin slices
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat—when hot, add the onions and garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes until the onions have softened and are close to translucent
3. Add the chopped jackfruit, black beans, water, maple syrup, lime juice and all the spices to the pan and cover
4. Reduce heat and let it simmer until everything is heated through and about 1/2 of the liquid is absorbed (about 5 minutes)
5. Meanwhile, heat the tacos in the oven at 250F for just 5 minutes or so
6. When warmed, add a scoop of the jackfruit and black bean combo, and top with guacamole, salsa, a couple red onion slices, some cilantro, and a squeeze of lime juice

Do you have any jackfruit recipes of your own? Share them in the comments so everyone can try them out!