Pulled Jackfruit w/ Beet BBQ Sauce
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 This Beet Barbecue Jackfruit is as tasty as it is beautiful! Delicious filled inside a toasted bun or when eaten alongside some Jalepeño Cornbread Muffins!!
Servings 4
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.
Notes
*If some seeds are missed it isn’t a big deal. The seeds will not hurt you if eaten and they have the same taste and firmness of the rest of the fruit.
*If using jackfruit packed in brine, you will need to simmer the jackfruit 10 - 20 minutes longer. It‘s ready when it can easily be shredded with a fork.