Vegan BBQ Jackfruit Tacos w/ Mango Avocado Salsa

It is almost fall. This is great for so many reasons, including pumpkins, scarves, blankets, and cardamom everything. It felt kind of like fall this weekend, and I milked it out as much as I could. I baked a pumpkin and made ravioli (recipe coming soon – just a few more tests!) and a spice cake with cardamom cream cheese frosting (also coming soon – everyone ate it before I could photograph it). But, I know that many of you will be trying to savour every last day of summer you can get. If that’s you, then you have to make this recipe for Vegan BBQ Jackfruit Tacos.

Because, really, what says summer more than bright and fresh tacos? These ones are filled with BBQ jackfruit, a mango avocado salsa, and super creamy chili lime sauce. Adding shredded red cabbage gives the tacos some well-needed crunch and a garnish of cilantro is just, well, necessary.

I’ve had this recipe sitting in my drafts for a while now, mostly because I thought I posted it! I was gathering my top 5 recipes of the blog’s second year (see my previous blog post for the list) and I was shocked these hadn’t made the cut, mostly because I think the photos are beautiful and might be the best ones I have ever taken.

But, the recipe hadn’t been posted, so I thought I better get to it!

How to prepare BBQ Jackfruit

For seasoned vegans, this probably all looks pretty normal. One little note: I prepare my jackfruit a little differently than most vegan blogs. I absolutely cannot stand the brine-y taste of the jackfruit straight from the can, so I put the jackfruit through a long (but valuable) process to get it tasting right. I highly recommend it, but if you have success making BBQ jackfruit without that process – do you!

This weekend marked the end of a three-week period. Yes, you read that right, three weeks — a wonderful complication of the meds I take for my mental health. It was horrible. I was so exhausted, hormonal, and hating myself – it was hard to do much of anything. I was too exhausted to really cook much of anything. When my period finally ended on Friday, all I could think about what cooking. I just wanted to be in the kitchen.

It’s really amazing how cooking has become something my body and mind actually begins to crave. It’s my ultimate, number one form of self-care (if we’re not including getting out of bed, showering, and sleeping). Nothing brings me more peace right now.

On Friday night, my partner and I made eggplant parmesan – we even made the tomato sauce from scratch. Then on Saturday morning, I was finally feeling calm enough to just be. We walked, got coffee and breakfast at a cute little spot in our neighborhood, I then bought some (100% cotton) yarn and some vegan goodies from the cute co-op grocery store. I was so calm and peaceful that I was close to tears.

Then I cooked.

I made homemade pumpkin ravioli, I made vegan cheese, I baked a spice cake and a cardamom orange pound cake. My entire being felt better.

That was a little side note and not relevant to this recipe at all, but I wanted to share it because the few views this blog does get means a lot to me (and helps to keep the dream of cooking for a living somewhat in view). Thanks for coming here, for taking a peak. It feels so nice to have made a little tiny space for myself online.

Looking at these pictures is making me drool, so I better get started on making some supper. I hope you’ll let me know if you try these! Share your versions on Instagram and tag me if you’d like (at)theveganharvest. I’d love to hear from you!

Want more vegan and gluten-free dinner recipes?

• Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpeas with candied pecans and a cumin vinaigrette 
• Tofu Breakfast Tacos (great for brunch or dinner!)
• Creamy Thai Curry Ramen

I hope you enjoy these Vegan BBQ Jackfruit Tacos!

Print

BBQ Jackfruit Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa and Creamy Chili Lime Sauce

Jackfruit is simmered, then pan-fried with spices and coated in BBQ sauce. This pulled-pork-eque filling is then topped with a fresh mango and avocado salsa and a creamy chili lime sauce made with cashews. This bright and delicious dish makes a perfect summer meal.

Keyword: Gluten Free, Vegan

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

For the BBQ Jackfruit

• 2 cans young green jackfruit (in brine, not syrup!)
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp tamari
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup BBQ sauce (make sure it is vegan and gf)

For the Mango Avocado Salsa

• 1 mango
• 1 avocado
• 1/3 cup red onion
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• pinch of salt and pepper

For the Creamy Chili Lime Sauce

• 1 cup cashews, soaked*
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/2 tsp vegan lactic acid, optional
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

For serving

• 12 corn tortillas
• 1 cup shredded cabbage
• cilantro, for garnish

Instructions

For the BBQ Jackfruit

1. First things first, you want to prepare your jackfruit. Rinse the jackfruit well, then you need to de-core it. You'll be able to tell what you need to cut out--the jackfruit is normally cut into triangles, and you will cut off one of the hard ends (kind of like how you would core a pineapple). 

2. Now, you have to de-seed the jackfruit. You only really want to get the big seeds out, don't worry about the little ones. I do this by squishing the jackfruit pieces in my fingers, they pop out pretty easily. 

3. Rinse the jackfruit well, again. Then place it in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the nutritional yeast and tamari then cover the jackfruit with water.

4. Ober medium-high heat, bring the jackfruit to a boil. When it boils, turn the temperature down and let the jackfruit simmer for a minimum of 20 minutes. *This is a great time to make the salsa and lime sauce, recipes below!

5. Drain the jackfruit and rinse very well (again)! Squeeze out as much moisture as you can.

6. In a frying pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Once heated, add the jackfruit. Fry for 5 - 10 minutes, until the jackfruit starts to look like it's getting crispy in parts. Add the spices and coat the jackfruit well.

7. Fry for another 5 - 10 minutes, just make sure not to burn the jackfruit.

8. Turn the heat down to low. Add in 1/2 cup of the BBQ sauce and stir. Taste, and add the other 1/4 cup if desired. (I love BBQ sauce so I normally add lots!)

9. Keep warm on low heat until ready to use. 

For the Mango Avocado Salsa

1. Dice your mango and avocado and finely dice the red onion.

2. Toss the mango, avocado, and red onion with lime juice and season with salt and pepper.

For the Creamy Chili Lime Sauce

1. Combine the cashews, water, vegan lactic acid (if using), lime juice, chili powder, and salt in a blender. Blend until totally smooth and creamy!

2. Mix in the cilantro. Add more if you want, because, cilantro - duh. 

3. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To assemble!

1. Warm the tortillas in foil in the oven. I normally just preheat my oven to 350 and throw them in right away. When my oven has preheated, I turn it off and leave the tortillas in there until I am ready to use them (obviously don't let them cool, you want to use them in the next 15 minutes-ish). You can also warm them in the microwave, but I find they dry out faster and get crunchy when they cool.

2. Put some jackfruit, salsa, red cabbage, and creamy chili lime sauce on a tortilla. Garnish with cilantro. Dig in! 

Recipe Notes

*Soak the cashews preferable for 4 hours. However, if don't have soaked cashews and want to make this - fear not! Pour boiling water over the cashews and let them sit in the water for 15 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water, and use. You might need to let the sauce sit in the fridge to cool off before serving, if you don't rinse the cashews with very cold water. 

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