IT’S TACO TUESDAY AMIGOS! Jackfruit tacos that it 🙂 Does that not look like pulled pork?!
P.S. It’s not. BOOM.
First off, can I get a round of applause for posting a holiday appropriate recipe before the ACTUAL HOLIDAY? Cinco de Mayo is Friday and today is Tuesday. GO ME.
Second off, I have a funny story for you. So I’ve recently been doing the grocery service pickup at my supermarket. You know, the service where you select all the things you want online, pick a time slot, show up and they charge your credit card then pack the groceries in your trunk. It’s super convenient if I do say so myself. I was skeptical at first because I was like “well how do they know what ripeness of avocados I want” etc? But you can add notes, like 1 ripe avocado 2 not ripe avocados, and I have to say my grocery store has done a pretty damn good job. Way to be, Meijer. Okay, back to the funny story. SO, I usually plan my meals for the following week on Wednedsay then schedule my grocery pickup for Friday. I knew I wanted to make jackfruit tacos so I added a REAL LIVE JACKFRUIT to my grocery cart. But then on Thursday I did some research and discovered that buying canned jackfruit at the Asian grocery store is like WAY EASIER. So I went back to my online grocery cart and took off the giant jackfruit… or so I thought. Enter Friday… I roll up to the grocery pickup window, the 18 year old cashier comes out with my cart and I see a jackfruit on top of the cart that is EASILY THREE TIMES THE SIZE OF MY HEAD. Seriously. I chuckled then told the kid that I actually removed that from my cart on Thursday. He’s super cool about it and removes the 30 DOLLAR JACKFRUIT from my bill then proceeds to tell me how he and his coworkers have been cracking up at this thing ALL DAY and most of them we’re convinced it was dragon egg. I died and wished I had real dragon eggs like Daenerys Targaryen. So you’re welcome little Meijer cashier boy! I’m glad I made you and your coworkers’ day better.
P.S. I’m the worst speller… so I kinda wish you could have seen how I spelled Daenerys’ name BEFORE I Googled it… IT WAS BAD Y’ALL.
Let’s discuss the elephant in the room… and by elephant I mean the 30lb jackfruit. Have y’all ever had jackfruit?! I feel like it’s from another world. Like the world of Crash Bandicoot or something. Anybody? I was OBSESSED with the game as young’un. Back to jackfruit. Apparently, it’s in the fig family, which kind of makes sense to me because the flesh of a jackfruit seems like the result of a pineapple and fig making a fruit baby. Basically, it’s fibrous, starchy, and kind gooey? Can you visualize that? Weird I KNOW. When ripe, jackfruit taste slightly citrusy/banana-y and subtly sweet. The younger green jackfruit, like the kind I got in a can, is more like artichoke hearts though but still slightly citrusy, in my opinion. According to wiki, it’s native to Southeast Asia which makes total sense why it’s a staple at Asian grocery stores (love you Tsai Grocery) and is the LARGEST tree-borne fruit reaching up to 100lbs OMG. Y’all that COULD KILL YOU if it fell on your head. Please don’t walk under jack trees if you visit Southeast Asia or BRING A HELMET.
You’re welcome.
Now let’s talk about these jackfruit TACOS. Vegans have been using jackfruit to make “pulled pork” for a while now. So clearly I did NOT make this up but I’m putting my own twist on it, as I do!
Because the young jackfruit is super starchy, it soaks up whatever flavor you want and I wanted CHIPOTLE because it’s tangy and spicy and all things right plus I knew I could cool it down with some SIMPLE (four ingredient) guac and lemon orange crema.
First, we have to drain, rinse, and shred the jackfruit. I attempted shredding it with two forks and found that SUPER time-consuming so I ended up throwing them in my mixer with the paddle attachment and BOOM… shredded in like 30 seconds. FAVORITE HACK EVER. I do this for chicken ALL THE TIME. Once the jackfruit is shredded, we coat it with chipotle puree and all the spices then add a little coconut oil to a large skillet over medium heat and sauté it for 8-10 minutes. SO EASY AND SO FAST.
While the jackfruit pulled pork is cooking, we make our guac that, like I said before, only has FOUR ingredients (not including salt and pepper because those don’t count): avocados (duh), lime juice, minced shallots, and cilantro. No tomatoes? NO. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for CRAZY guacamoles like roasted corn goat cheese guac, peach guac, bacon guac, tropical mango guac, etc but I’m not a huge fan of tomatoes in my guac because they kind of water it down AND you already get tomatoes in salsa. Simple four ingredient guacamole it is! Especially for these jackfruit tacos because we already have a lot of flavor going on.
Lastly, we top these tacos with lemon orange crema, which adds a touch of tangy sweetness to the spicy jackfruit and creamy guac. Are y’all ready for some jackfruit tacos?! YOU BETTAH BE.
Ingredients
- 2 (20 oz) cans young green jackfruit in brine; drained, rinsed, and shredded
- one lime, zested then juiced
- 1/2 cup canned chipotles in adobo sauce, pureed in a food processor
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 8 (6 inch) corn tortillas
- minced cilantro, garnish
- 2 ripe avocados, seeded and flesh scooped out
- juice of one lime
- 2 shallots, minced
- 1/4 cup minced cilantro
- healthy pinch of sea salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup sour cream (sub coconut yogurt if dairy free or vegan)
- zest of one lemon
- juice of half a large navel orange
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Make jackfruit "pulled pork": Add drained, rinsed, and shredded jackfruit to a large bowl with the lime zest, lime juice, chipotle puree, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix to coat the jackfruit completely. Heat coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add jackfruit and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring often.
- Make the simple guac: Add avocado flesh to a medium bowl, mash up slightly using a fork. Add lime juice, minced shallots, and minced cilantro to the bowl then stir to combine. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper.
- Make the lemon orange crema: Add sour cream, lemon zest, orange juice, and sea salt to a small bowl. Whisk with a fork until all ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Prep and plate your tacos: Warm corn tortillas in the oven preheated to 350F for a couple minutes. Top with tortilla with a spoonful of chipotle jackfruit, a dollop of guac, a drizzle of lemon orange cream, and a sprinkle of minced cilantro. Devour amigos. I mean devour, amigos. Don't devour your amigos!
Notes
Specialty diets: Dairy free*, Egg free, Gluten free, Vegan*, Vegetarian [*only dairy free and vegan if you substitute the sour cream for coconut yogurt or another dairy free yogurt alternative]
I was supposed to post about fajita empanadas yesterday but ended up binging on MadMen Sunday evening… so that post should be up tomorrow! Then on Friday I have a post about GUAVA MARGARITAS.
OMG SO EXCITED. Are you excited?! I am. Three holiday/seasonal approprite recipes in a row. WHO AM I? Ok bye.
Have a wonderful Tuesday! See you back here tomorrow amigos.
If you try this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment or tag a photo #appetitesanonymous on instagram!! I’d love to see your jackfruit tacos in action. Peace, friends!
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