Easy Spicy Garlic Chipotle Jackfruit Tacos. Shredded Jackfruit tacos with garlic chipotle sauce. Top w/ avocado, salsa, vegan sour cream. Vegan Gluten-free Soy-free Recipe
Jackfruit is the thing these days and starting to appear in stores that we visit. I got a bunch of cans from the Indian store this past weekend. When I told Mom, she said, you guys will never learn the the intricacies of how to peel a real Jackfruit (kathal in hindi) from scratch, remove the seeds and so on, everything you get is always packaged. I know Mom, I try to reduce all the packaging, but then I have only so much energy to spend in the kitchen, so the packaged stuff makes it convenient some days. Also, Jackfruit can become a sticky mess!
Use other shreddable things like squash, soy curls, meat subs, or use beans of choice. See this Easy Jackfruit Curry Post for availability details.
Boil the jackfruit, then cook in spicy garlicky chipotle sauce until it picks up the flavors. Serve in tacos or sandwiches, dressed with avocado or guacamole and hot sauce.
More shredded things recipes from the blog.
- Easy Jackfruit Curry
- Vegan Tinga bowl with Hearts of Palm, Chickpeas, Spanish…
- Pulled Butternut Squash Tacos. Vegan Glutenfree Recipe
- Jackfruit Meatballs Tacos
Happy videos for the day. This wonderful video by MFA of farm animals experiencing freedom. Finally free.
And this video with more animals, dogs, chimps, tigers, experiencing freedom!
Steps:
Boil the jackfruit for 10 minutes. Shred and keep aside. Make the chipotle garlic black pepper sauce. When the sauce smells roasted, add shredded jackfruit, salt and water. Cook until the sauce reduces.
Serve in warm tortillas with avocado, lettuce, salsa and hot sauce.
Recipe Card
Spicy Garlic Chipotle Jackfruit Tacos
Ingredients
For the Spicy Jackfruit:
- 1 20 oz (566 g) can of young green Jackfruit in brine not ripe jackfruit in sugar syrup
- 1 small onion thinly sliced or chopped
- 1 or 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 1 tbsp adobo sauce use less or more to heat preference
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 2 Tbsp ketchup
- 1/2 tsp ancho chili powder
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1 1/4 cup (294 ml) water divided
- salt to taste
To serve
- Soft Tacos or tortillas vegan
- Avocado or guacamole
- shredded lettuce
- vegan sour cream or salsa
Instructions
- Drain the Jackfruit. Add to a saucepan with 3 cups of water, bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 10 to 11 minutes. Drain, shred with a fork and keep aside. *You can skip this step and simmer the jackfruit in the sauce longer, Shred the jackfruit pieces midway during simmering when softened at Step 6.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and a pinch of salt and cook until translucent. Stir occasionally. About 4 minutes.
- Blend chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, garlic cloves, ketchup, ancho chili, black pepper, cumin, coriander, oregano, a with 1/4 cup of water until smooth.
- Add the blended sauce to the onions and cook until the sauce thickens and smells roasted. Stir occasionally. About 6 to 8 minutes.
- Add the shredded jackfruit, 1 cup water and salt. Mix well. cover and cook for 10 minutes.
- Stir, reduce heat to medium,low and continue to cook until the sauce reduces and the jackfruit picks up the sauce flavor. 15 minutes or more. Taste and adjust salt, heat and sweet.
- Prep the toppings.
- Heat tortillas on a skillet or grill, add jackfruit. add lettuce or sprouts or greens of choice. Add avocado or guacamole, salsa or vegan sour cream and serve,
Notes
Nutrition
Tina
I cannot do spicy beyond medium. What should I omit as I see a few comments that this was way too spicy. I wouldn’t be able to eat it. I want to try this so bad. Any suggestions? Thank you.
Richa
Use a combination of mild chili powder and the chipotle chilis. Also remove the seeds from the chipotle chili before using
Shane
Hero! Thanks. Your recipes have become staples in our house.
Richa
thanks!!
Shane
Want to finally get the 5* rating on this. We used No Evil Chik’n the first time, and tonite had a soy curl vs jackfruit showdown. This sauce is so good, every protein tastes amazing. Thanks again!
Richa
yay!!
Shane
If using other vegan meat instead of jackfruit, should one still use a cup of water for the sauce in step 5?
Richa
yes, you wont need that much water. Just 1/4 cup should be enough
Amanda
These were delicious! It was my first time cooking jackfruit and it turned out great. The avocado and cilantro added the perfect balance. I’ll definitely make these again. Thanks!
Richa
yay!
Maneesha
Hi Richa! This jackfruit recipe is awesome! Perfect for taco night! This was my first time cooking with jackfruit, and I’m looking forward to trying out more of your jackfruit recipes on the blog!
Richa
awesome!
Jess N
Do you have to cut the core off or remove the seeds from the jackfruit prior to boiling? or is this done during the shredding process?
Thanks, this looks delicious and plan to make this weekend.
Richa
not really, the core usually is edible. if it is too hard like a stem, remove it. Some brands dont remove enough of the core when canning.
VA
I’ve made this countless times now. This is one of my favorite jackfruit recipes. Last night I added chopped creminis right before adding the jackfruit, mostly because I really need to use my mushrooms; they added a really nice texture to the taco.
Richa
Awesome!! Mushrooms are a great addition.
Tiffany
This looks amazing (as do all of the recipes on your site)! Can this be made in the Instant Pot? If so, how long would you recommend cooking under pressure?
Richa
Yes, cook on saute till step 4, then add a few tbsp of water and jackfruit and salt and cook on manual for 4 mins. Natural release
AlexA
Loved these! Used only one chipotle and 6 garlic cloves and still found spicy. Added more ketchup and that helped. Served with cut up Boston lettuce, avocado, cilantro and light sour cream in whole wheat tortillas. Husband loved these too.
Richa
Awesome! I think i mentioned above the chipoptles vary in heat. If you are lucky, most end up being mild, otherwise they end up too hot. Remove all of the seeds before using. You can also lightly taste the pepper mixed with ketchup or vegan sour cream before blending to ensure that it is mild. If too hot use much less.
Lisa Ellis
These were killer spicy for us. I scraped out the seeds and used less of all spice that this recipe called for, but it was still way too hot. Lol, where do you come from that you could handle this much heat? I added about 1/3 of a bottle of ketchup to tone down the heat, so I didn’t have to throw it out. It is tasty now, but more like BBQ. I would jackfruit again, but not with this sauce.
Richa
oops. Maybe you got a hot batch. Chipotle chilies are hot but sometimes 1 chile in a batch ends up ultra hot. It happens with other hot chilies like green serrano, thai or bird’s eye as well. I ended up with a sauce once in which i used just 1 serrano and it was too hot to eat. Added some cashew cream and it worked out. I do eat a good level of hot from Indian food, but sometimes the limits get tested by unknown forces 🙂
elziv
looks so yummy,
Emily
OMG These were so Ahmazing! Removed the seeds from the peppers and it was the right heat for us. Added to the rotation!
Kit Haynes
I was reluctant to try this because I’ve not had good luck with jackfruit recipes but I still had 2 cans left of the stuff and wanted to make a quick lunch over the weekend. Let me tell you – these were some tasty tacos! And I had to omit coriander and chili powder because I was out. I did have more jackfruit than sauce but that’s all right – the sauce is pretty quick to make. And now I know my last can of jackfruit will not go to waste.
Thanks Richa!
Richa
Awesome! you can whip up another batch of the sauce and simmer the jackfruit for a bit.
Linda
I made these lastnight and the flavour is amazing but I too had the problem of it being out of the ballpark spicy! 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce was way too much, next time I think I’ll use less than 1. Tasty though! I ended up mixing it in the taco with a little plain refried beans to tone it down and added a touch of mango puree on top.
Richa
chipotle peppers can be moderate to really hot. You can remove the seeds from the peppers to reduce the heat. Do that carefully (with gloves). I usually keep some dried chipotle pepper powder handy, so that if i get mild or moderate heat chipotle peppers, i use the powder to add more of the heat and flavor later while simmering.
Nicole Klepper
Hello!
Just sending along a compliment! We got the new Canned Jackfruit from Trader Joes and were looking for an easy spicy dish to make! This one is a WINNER!
Thank you so much, Richa!
Richa
Awesome!
rachele
HI, We have a ripe fresh jackfruit and would love to make a savory recipe work. Is it possible? It is sweat but maybe with all the spices it would offset? thanks for your help!
Richa
ripe jackfruit is very sweet. so you will get a sweet and spicy result. Make a small portion to see how you like it
Bkmom3
LOL. Sorry for the confusion. The first bbq recipe I tried used Annie’s bbq sauce and nutritional yeast (just before serving). I sampled it with just the bbq sauce and thought it was great. When I served it up……..yuck. To be fair, that was my first recipe with nutritional yeast and it may have been in the pantry for a while. Does it go bad or just always taste so strong?
Bkmom3
Not sure. The first time I made it, it was great. Until I added the nutritional yeast (sorry, folks, I’m not a big fan). The 2nd time I made it, it just tasted weird. Like the can, perhaps? Not sure. I rinsed it well. Should I have boiled it?
Richa
Yes either boil it or wring it really well using paper napkins. the brine sometimes has a salty and strong flavor. Also there is no nutritional yeast in this recipe. was the right kind of jackfruit? young green.
Bkmom3
Do you think it’s possible to rehydrate dried jackfruit for bbq? Last can I got tasted icky so I thought dried might have less of a punky flavor.
Richa
Whats the punky flavor? Maybe you need to just squeeze out all the brine and then cook it in the sauce?
suzi
just wondering, have you ever made a double batch and tried freezing half? does jackfruit freeze well?
Bruce lee
OMG how good those look .
Zo
Yum, made it tonight, friend put the pic up on instagram. Forgot to double up the recipe for 4 people. Gotta make it again I guess. Put the leftover chipotle in adobo sauce in the freezer for the next time. Didn’t have ancho chili powder, put cayenne instead, would put less next time for a lil less heat. Weird how the jackfruit looks so much like meat. Friend says it looks like pulled pork.
Thanks for another great recipe, Richa! Can’t wait to make the jackfruit curry.
Richa
Thats awesome! yes ancho isnt as spicy and adds more flavor, while cayenne is hot!
Dan Hooley
I tried making this but found it way too spicy. What size of a chipotle pepper did you use? I’m thinking maybe mine was too big. Should I up the ketchup? Any ideas?
Richa
some peppers end up spicier than the usual. I used 2 average 2 to 2.5 inch peppers. you can add more jackfruit and cook, or add a chopped potato and water and let it sit overnight. you can also cook it with the potato for a bit. the potato should absorb some heat. remove the potato to use elsewhere. serve with cooling toppings like vegan sour cream.
Elena
Hi! I love your blog and your recipies.
I was glad surprised about the jackfruit because i learned about it with the indonisian cuisine . I liked it very much!
So i bought a can of it but it is with sugar. Can i wash it to get the sugar off before coocking it?
Love from The Netherlands! Elena
Richa
Hi Elena, that is ripe jackfruit. Ripe jackfruit is sweet like mango and is canned in sugar syrup. Use young green jackfruit packed in brine for savory recipes like this.
Erni
You can buy it in cans in syrup (for a sweet treat) or in brine (for something more savory).
Samantha @ The Planted Vegan
All these jackfruit recipes are making me want to try jackfruit more and more! Thanks for all the awesome recipes (and photos)!
masala girl
i’ve been wanting to make jackfruit for about a year! these look so good. love chipotle in anything though haha. i’ve never heard of my mom making jackfruit though, so ill have to ask if she or her mom ever made it (shes from Delhi )
Richa
my mom used to make a kathal subzi. maybe there is a different name she used?