BBQ jackfruit + sweet potato + avocado = a very happy mouth! This delicious new creation is an example of what happens when I combine some of my most favorite flavors. Sweet potato skins are filled with pulled jackfruit and topped with avocado coleslaw.
I got this idea last month. I’d love to share with you what helped me come up with it, but I honestly can’t remember. I think I was just brainstorming about yummy flavors and had a moment where things came together, and I thought, “What if…” So that night I created the what if, and it turned out tasty enough to create it again so I could share it with you.
My first time making these, I did do a bit of a trial. I couldn’t decide what to use to top the jackfruit. My first thought was melted cheese. I wanted to use my Fresh Almond Mozzarella. My husband thought more of a sauce would be better. When trying to think of a sauce, I kept going back to avocado-based flavors.
I didn’t end up making a sauce at all, but I, my husband, and my son, all did a taste test trying ones with melted cheese (I ended up only using store-bought slices because I had some in the fridge), a second with an avocado cole slaw I created, and a third with fresh avocado slices and non-dairy sour cream. It was a hard choice. My husband told me to post all three. You are welcome to try one of the alternatives, but for us, in the end, it was the avocado cole slaw which won our vote!
I used to be confused about the difference between twice baked potatoes and potato skins. I used to think of them as basically the same thing, and though they are similar, they really aren’t the same.
With twice baked, the cooked potatoes are scooped out of the skins, mashed with other fillings, then added back into the skins and rebaked. With potato skins, a good portion of the potato is scooped out once baked but that doesn’t get restuffed. You can instead save it for another recipe.
The potatoes cook briefly after having their insides removed, then they get filled with what you’re adding (so, in this case, BBQ pulled jackfruit), and then they pop back in the oven for a time — less potato and more of the additions.
What to do with the saved sweet potato? I’ve done a few things. Mashed sweet potatoes are one way to use them. I’ve also made some tots in the air fryer. To do these, I mixed in some salt and pepper, then rolled them in a mixture of almond flour, seasonings, and nutritional yeast. I then air fried them at 370°F for 20 minutes, flipping after 10.
My favorite way to use the leftover sweet potato filling was the simplest of all which I have tried. I used it as a sandwich filling with tomato, avocado, sprouts, spinach, salt, pepper, and vegan ranch dressing. I did this two days in a row. The first time I did it as a wrap inside a large leaf of rainbow chard, and the second time I filled it all into a B-Free Pita Bread. The latter was my favorite!
To cook the jackfruit, I give instructions to do it in a skillet. This is not difficult; the jackfruit basically simmers until it’s soft enough to be easily shredded. Though, if you’re able to start the jackfruit ahead of time, the easiest way is to throw it all into a slow cooker. I’ll include instructions for that in the notes at the end of the recipe.
The slaw is easy to make, as well. The avocado needs to be mixed up with a few other ingredients in your food processor. Then the slaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots) get mixed in. Easy peasy!
I hope you love these potatoes skins as we do. So far we’ve only had them for our main dinner course, served with a green salad on the side. However, I think they’d be great to serve at a party! Let me know what you think. Please leave a comment below, or tag me in a picture of yours on Instagram, @veggiesattiffanis.
BBQ Jackfruit Stuffed Sweet Potato Skins
Ingredients
For the sweet potatoes…
- 4 small sweet potatoes (I use yams), together weighing appoximately 2 1/2 lbs rinsed clean and patted dry
- 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil melted
For the jackfruit…
- 2 *17 oz cans green/young jackfruit in water or brine (not syrup) drained, rinsed, and seeds removed
- 1/2 cup yellow onion diced
- BBQ Spice Blend recipe included
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1 cup Tiff's BBQ Sauce, or barbecue sauce of choice plus more for serving (about another 1/4 cup)
- 1/2 cup water
BBQ Spice Blend…
- 3/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 3/4 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp coconut sugar
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
Avocado Cole Slaw…
- 1 large avocado
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp 100% pure maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 3 cups coleslaw mix shredded cabbage and carrot blend (you can buy it in a bag premixed or do your own using mostly green cabbage with added purple cabbage and carrots)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Use a fork to pierce the potatoes on each side. Place the potatoes directly on the middle rack of the oven, do NOT wrap in foil. Place a baking sheet on the bottom oven rack, under the potatoes, to collect any drippings. Bake until soft, about 30 – 50 minutes.
- While the potatoes cook, prepare the jackfruit. Cut off the solid triangular chunks from the bottom of the jackfruit pieces. Chop up the solid triangular chunks into small, thin pieces.
- Add the jackfruit pieces, including the parts you chopped, the onion, and the BBQ spice blend to a large mixing bowl and toss.
- Melt 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add the jackfruit/onion mixture and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the barbecue sauce and water to the skillet. Cover the skillet with a lid, turn the heat down to medium-low, and let simmer 25 to 35 minutes (until the jackfruit is very soft and can be easily shredded).
- Remove the lid from the skillet and using two forks, shred the jackfruit pieces. If any pieces are still firm or in chunks, use the back of a fork to smash them. Return the lid to the skillet and simmer another 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn off the heat.
- When the potatoes are done, slice each one in half, lengthwise. When cool enough to handle, use a spoon to carefully scoop out the middle of each half, leaving about a quarter of an inch thick layer of potato along the skin. Take the scooped out potato and set it aside for another recipe (I share ideas in the article above).
- Turn oven heat up to 450°F.
- Brush both sides of the potato halves with coconut oil and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake potato halves 5 minutes on each side.
- While the potatoes are back in the oven, make your coleslaw. Add the first five coleslaw ingredients to a food processor, fitted with the s-blade, and mix on high until smooth (alternatively you can use a blender or smash with a fork). Transfer to a bowl and stir in the cabbage and carrot mix.
- Fill each potato half heaping with the BBQ jackfruit. Place potato halves back on the parchment-lined baking sheet and bake another 8 – 10 minutes.
- Before serving, scoop some of the coleslaw on top of each potato skin and drizzle with more barbecue sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
If you have time earlier in the day, you can instead make the jackfruit in your slow cooker (this is my favorite way to do it). To do this you will omit the coconut oil and the water and increase the barbecue sauce by a half a cup. Add the jackfruit-onion-spice blend mixture to your slow cooker and pour the barbecue sauce over it. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8, pausing to shred the jackfruit in the last half hour.*Sometimes the jackfruit comes in 20 oz cans rather than 17, that is OK too.