This Pulled Jackfruit w/ Beet BBQ Sauce is as tasty as it is beautiful! Delicious filled inside a toasted bun or when eaten alongside some Jalepeño Cornbread Muffins!
I originally had the idea for a beet-based barbecue sauce around Halloween time. I was making some recipes for Altro Food and thought the red color of the beets would be festive. I made some ghost and bat shaped “chicken” nuggets using their Plant Based Cutlets & Nuggets Mix and served them with the Beet BBQ Sauce as a dip. I really loved this sauce and started using it for many other recipes.
One of the dishes I used it in, was this pulled jackfruit recipe and I thought it would be a good one to share with you here. I love it topped with some avocado slaw, like I use on my BBQ Jackfruit Stuffed Sweet Potato Skins, not only do the flavors compliment each other well, but the colors of the two really pop when put side-by-side.
If you try and enjoy this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below, or share a picture of yours and tag me on Instagram. Aaaaand… if you do make this and want to make something with the beet greens you’d normally toss, check out my Basil & Beet Greens Pesto Hummus recipe!
Pulled Jackfruit w/ Beet BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
Beet BBQ Sauce
- 1 lb red beets, steamed weight taken after trimming but before steaming and peeling
- 6 Tbsp agave syrup
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp liquid smoke ensure soy-free, if necessary
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp mustard powder
- 1/8 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 2 Tbsp filtered water
Everything Else…
- 2 17 oz cans green/young jackfruit, packed in water *green/young jackfruit packed in brine will also work (comes in 20 oz cans), but do NOT purchase fresh jackfruit packed in syrup
- drizzle oil of choice for cooking
- 1/4 cup filtered water or more as needed
Instructions
- If you haven’t steamed your beets, do so now. Add the beets to a steamer basket inserted to the top of a pot with boiling water and cover with a lid. Steam for about 25 minutes, or until tender. Larger-sized beets will take more time. The beets are finished steaming when they can be easily pierced with a fork.
- While the beets are steaming, prep your jackfruit. Add the jackfruit to a strainer and rinse well. If using jackfruit packed in brine, you may want to run them under water for several minutes. After rinsing, inspect the jackfruit pieces and *remove any found seeds. Gently squeeze excess water from each piece.
- Transfer the jackfruit to a cutting board and cut off the hard, bottom triangle of each piece (the part that doesn’t look “shredded”), but be sure to leave a little bit of the solid piece along the bottom of the shredded-like pieces (to keep them held together). Now slice the cut off triangle pieces into thin slices.
- Once the beets are done steaming, add them plus all remaining sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust amounts, if desired. For a sweeter sauce, add more agave, for more of a smoky taste add more liquid smoke or smoked paprika, for more tang add more vinegar, and for more spice, add more cayenne.
- Drizzle a medium-sized skillet with oil and heat over medium-high heat. Once hot, add all of the jackfruit and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes, until browned.
- Lower the temperature to medium-low and add 1 cup of barbecue sauce plus 1/4 cup water. Stir well and bring to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for 25 minutes (longer if using jackfruit in brine, *see notes), checking periodically and adding a bit more water, if needed.
- Next, using a two forks, shred the jackfruit pieces, and any larger, unshredable pieces can be smashed with the back of a fork. If using jackfruit in brine, and the jackfruit isn’t shredding well, cover and let simmer longer.
- After shredding, stir well, then taste and add more barbecue sauce, if desired, alternatively, you can top each individual serving with a drizzle of sauce. If more sauce was added, keep simmering a little longer until heated through, otherwise serve jackfruit on toasted buns or on plates as a main course, and if desired, drizzle with more sauce. I highly suggest enjoying with my Avocado Slaw which can be found in step 12 of this recipe.