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Have you tried jackfruit yet!? It’s quickly become one of my favorite NATURAL meat substitutes and these Jackfruit Carnitas Tacos are a truly delicious way to enjoy it! Can’t wait to hear what you think of this recipe!
I recently did a poll on Instagram asking what kinds of new recipes people wanted to see on the blog and one of the overwhelming responses was JACKFRUIT recipes. SO, today I’m delivering on the promise to share MANY more jackfruit recipes :D
I’m a huge fan of my Jackfruit BBQ recipe but honestly, this Jackfruit Carnitas might be my new favorite one on the blog and I love how easy it is to make. It’s truly delicious on it’s own but I almost always use it as an excuse to make tacos. Tacos are always a good idea.
First off, what is jackfruit?
As I mentioned, I’ve been on a big jackfruit kick lately. But, if you’re new to this fruit, I’ll give you a quick rundown.
Jackfruit is a large tropical fruit that’s relatively inexpensive to buy in its raw and whole form. And, tou 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 in brine/ water.
I won’t pretend to be an expert on jackfruit, but if you want to learn more, HERE is a more detailed description!
Besides just eating it on it’s own, there are a lot of different ways to enjoy these carnitas. My all time favorite way is Jackfruit Tacos– OMG SO GOOD! I like how quickly they come together and it’s also a great way to use up leftover jackfruit.
However, here are a few other ideas:
- Jackfruit Carnitas nachos (trying this one out ASAP!)
- Loaded carnitas fries
- Carnitas stuffed sweet potatoes
- Carnitas breakfast hash
- Burrito bowls
- or even a carnitas salad
SO many delicious MEAT-FREE options!
How to make Jackfruit Carnitas:
This recipe is simple to make but if you’ve never worked with canned jackfruit before, I’m going to walk you through it.
1️⃣ First up, drain and rinse the jackfruit. Squeeze is of excess water and lightly dry the pieces off.
2️⃣ Place it all on a cutting board and cut off the harder core pieces. The core pieces are the tips of the little triangles and while they are edible, they’re rather tough and not nearly an enjoyable to eat. See HERE for a more detailed video and photo or where to cut.
3️⃣ In a large skillet, saute the onion and garlic before adding in the jackfruit as well. Using the back of a spatula or wooden spoon, lightly press on the jackfruit to shred it into smaller pieces (more resembling shredded meat).
4️⃣ Add in the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer.
5️⃣ Simmer on low, uncovered, until all of the liquid has evaporated and been absorbed by the jackfruit.
6️⃣ After removing the bay leaves, spread the carnitas out on a lined baking tray and baking for 25 minutes, flipping halfway through.
That’s it for today! As usual, PLEASE let me know if you make this recipe and how you like it! You can come back here and leave a comment and/or tag me on instagram (@foodwithfeeling).
More delicious Jackfruit Recipes to try:
Jackfruit Carnitas
Ingredients
For the carnitas:
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- ½ of a sweet onion, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon of sea salt + black pepper to taste
- 2 20 oz. cans of jackfruit in brine or water seeds removed, drained, rinsed and squeezed of excess liquid
- 3 teaspoons of chili powder
- 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
- ½ cup of orange juice, from ~2 oranges
- 1 cup of vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons of lime juice
For the tacos:
- tortillas
- cilantro for serving
- avocado
- tomato
- jalapeno
- salsa
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.
- Preheat the oven to 425° F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add in the oil. Once hot, add in the onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add in the garlic, salt and pepper and cook for 1 additional minute.
- Add in the jackfruit, stir, and saute for 2 more minutes. Using the back of a wooden spoon or spatula, lightly mash the jackfruit to break it up. It’ll break apart a bit more as it cooks but feel free to shred it a bit in the pan as desired.
- Mix in the chili powder, oregano, bay leaves, brown sugar, orange juice, lime juice, and broth. Stir and bring mixture to a simmer. Reduce heat and let simmer gently, uncovered, for about 14-16 minutes. Stir often as the liquid continues to reduce.
- Once all of the liquid as evaporated (see photo above), remove the bay leaves and place the jackfruit onto the prepared baking sheet and evenly spread out.
- Bake for 25 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Enjoy as tacos or however you wish!
Jackfruit was still soft after baking. I used fresh jackfruit not from can. What step did I miss? I’d love to try this again as we are transitioning to more plant based meals.
It was delicious.!I couldn’t have meat for a month and decided to try these. The kids didn’t even notice it wasn’t meat! And it was delicious!!!!!
If we prepare this ahead of time for a family gathering, could it be cooked in a crockpot instead of baking it? Trying to figure out what would work? Would texture be affected?
Can I use fresh ripeJackfruit…yellow or orange……Thank you
Can’t wait to try these! Just wondering how many tortillas you need if you’re making 2 servings?
SO GOOD!!! This was my first time cooking with jackfruit, the recipe was easy to follow and absolutely delicious! We paired it with a fresh pineapple salsa and the combo had even my super picky husband sold! Will definitely be making again!
Thank you so much for sharing with us the way to make carnitas, I will have no idea how to make it vegan. I grew up in Mexico and I enjoy cooking. I will say that I added a lot of more things, including beer, salt, and pepper to make it my liking, get your idea, and now make it my way for my vegan daughter. I set up a lot of toppings, like cabbage, guacamole, onions with cilantro, pico de Gallo, radishes, fresh salsa, it was a fest and all the family enjoy it a lot!
Vegetable broth and lime, wow! Sounds like a great combination. I love jackfruit, so many possibilities depending on how you season it. When I first saw it, I was a little iffy, because it looked like dark chicken meat. But love it now, there’s different types, from a can and large bulk bags. Maybe the can keeps it soaked in water, I don’t know, to us it’s a tropical fruit.
Did the recipe today and it was really good!
I love your recipe! Make it all the time! 🙏