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Pulled Jackfruit Enchiladas Verdes

Jackfruit! I can’t believe this is my first ever journey into the crazy world of jackfruit. If you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, jackfruit is a weird green tropical fruit that can weigh as much as 100 pounds (!) and has a white flesh that kind of tastes like… nothing. So what’s all the fuss about? The texture. It has a firm, meaty texture that pulls apart into little shreds, and once the vegan crowd heard about this, they started using it to make bbq pulled “pork” sandwiches… and more bbq sandwiches… and more bbq sandwiches. Literally, every vegan blog on the planet has a pulled bbq jackfruit sandwich. But, there is so much more you can do with jackfruit, people!

That’s what I want to show you today. What we’re doing here is stuffing it into enchiladas to make a vegan version of the popular pulled pork enchiladas verdes and, wow, they are delicious! By sautéing the jackfruit in a little soy sauce and some spices, the shreds soften and develop this amazing meaty flavor. Stuff it into some corn tortillas, top with homemade green enchilada sauce, and bake until golden for one incredible dinner.

Makes about 3 entree servings

Enchilada Ingredients:

  • 2 cups green enchilada sauce (below)
  • 2 cups jackfruit
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 2/3 cup black beans
  • 2/3 cup corn (optional)
  • 1/4 cup cilantro
  • 8-10 corn tortillas (6-inch)
  • ground cashews (optional)

Part One – The Green Enchilada Sauce

  • 1 cup canned diced green chilis
  • 6 oz water
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 tablespoon whole wheat (or GF) flour

You can use canned enchilada sauce if you need to, but it has a ton of ingredients, preservatives, and other things. I prefer to make my own and it’s really easy:

Simply combine all the above ingredients (minus the whole wheat flour) into a small saucepan and allow to simmer for about 5-7 minutes. Then, you’ll want to blend the sauce into a more smooth puree. It’s easy to do this with a stick blender if you have one, or you can transfer to a blender for a few seconds. Also add about a tablespoon of flour (to thicken) while blending. Finally, return to the saucepan and simmer for another 5 minutes until slightly thicker and adjust any spices/seasonings to taste. Done! This will save in a mason jar for up to a week.

Part Two – The Jackfruit Filling

If using canned jackfruit (I’ve never seen it fresh before) drain and rinse thoroughly, then pull the junks apart until it looks like pulled pork. Add to a saucepan with the garlic, soy sauce, black pepper, and chili powder. Then, simply let it marinate over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly to coat the jackfruit evenly. After 10 minutes, it will be darker and more tender. Basically, what would take 10 hours with meat takes 10 minutes with jackfruit. Amazing.

Also at this point, grab some fresh or frozen corn, some cooked or canned black beans, and a few sprigs of fresh cilantro. Then, preheat the oven to 350º F.

Part Three – The Enchilada

The first step of making the enchiladas is softening the tortillas. If the corn tortillas are hard and brittle, they’ll be a nightmare to roll. My favorite way to do this is to moisten two paper towels, sandwich two tortillas between them, and microwave for 10 seconds. Then, while rolling those enchiladas, repeat the process with two more.

To make the enchiladas, grab a deep 9×13 baking dish (or something similar) and lay out a thin layer of the enchilada sauce. Then take one of the warm tortillas and line with the jackfruit, the corn, the beans, and the cilantro. Roll lengthwise around the filling, then place seam-side down in the pan. Repeat about 7 more times until the pan is full, then pour most of the remaining sauce over top (but reserve a few tablespoons for after cooking). Cover with foil and pop in the oven for about 25 minutes until the edges just start to turn golden. Note: You may have enough extra ingredients to make another smaller pan as well; just repeat the same process.

At this point, you can use your blender to pulverize some raw cashews into powder, which can be sprinkled on top for a cheesy garnish. Or, you can skip that and just add a few more tablespoons of the green sauce. Then return to the oven, uncovered, for just a few minutes to further crispify the tortillas. Finally, use a spatula to plate the enchiladas and garnish with a sprig of cilantro.

21 Comments

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  1. I made jackfruit enchiladas for the first time on Monday! I am posting my recipe on my blog in two weeks. I reinvented a recipe my mom used to make with chicken. The jackfruit worked out great!

    • Oh, that’s awesome! It’s funny we both made Jackfruit enchiladas at the same time :p The jackfruit does work out great here, I was really happy with the results.

  2. I was just at the store looking at canned jackfruit but I was unsure which one to buy. There are “young” jackfruits as well as canned in juice or brine. What do you recommend?

    • I don’t know what the difference is between “young” and regular jackfruit (does anyone else?) but if you’d buying canned, I’d definitely go for the one that is in the simplest brine, preferably just water – the extra sugar wouldn’t be healthy and wouldn’t taste as good in savory dishes like this.

    • Young jackfruit is not sweet – the longer the jackfruit stays on the vine the sweeter it gets. Also, to make savory dishes you can choose brine or water. If you have the option choose jackfruit packed in water. Hope that helps!

    • Young jackfruit in water (or brine) is what you want for vegan main dishes. The ripe version is dessert (also suitable for vegans 😉

  3. I have fresh jackfruit (yum!) – how do you use the fresh ‘shreds’? (I think they are called rags)
    I’m eating the fruit fresh, cooking the pips – being able to use the rest would be awesome!

    • I really don’t know that much about the whole fruit, unfortunately. I have only ever used the canned variety. Maybe someone else has ideas? Or you can always search Google to get some ideas as well.

      • Thank you! Not much info out there about using fresh shreds, but I just pulled apart a 13kg jackfruit this afternoon and have a big bowl of them – so I’m going to try your delicious recipe this weekend!
        I’ll let you know how it goes 🙂

  4. Well, BRAVO, Andrew! You really outdid yourself on this one! I’ve officially been vegan 5 years, and this is, hands down, the best batch of enchiladas I’ve made!! So simple and I love making jackfruit tacos. Naturally, the texture for enchiladas is just perfect!! Thank you!

  5. Andrew you have such a great story I have been a vegan now myself and sometimes it is not easy but oh boy did you nail it

  6. This recipe is amazing! A+++ I made it for a small gathering. and everyone enjoyed it. Please keep coming up with amazing recipes, they are simple and being a vegan, your website has made it easier.

    • Nice! I’m glad to hear that, Brad. Thanks for reporting back and letting me know – I’ll keep working on new stuff 😉

  7. I made these tonight, minus the cilantro because my husband will not eat cilantro. It’s one of those genetic taste inclinations, which I thought was interesting.
    Tha k you so much for creating and sharing this delicious and crowd pleasing recipe!
    I was going to upload a picture but I can’t figure out how.

    • Very cool, I’m glad you all liked it! 🙂

      I don’t have any way to upload photos in the comments, but that’s a really good idea. I’ll look into that.

  8. Any suggestion for an alternative to a tin a green chillie , can’t find that where we live , going to make this for Sunday dinner

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