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I’m often trying to find ways to replicate non-vegan recipes into something I can enjoy and may I present to you my Vegan Barbacoa Jackfruit Street Tacos Recipe! But before we get to the recipe…
What is Barbacoa?
Actually, the term “barbecue” (or “barbeque” depending on how you choose to spell it), is derived from the word Barbacoa – a form of cooking that originated in the Caribbean. Slowly cooked (meat) with seasonings, typically shredded and used as a filling in tacos, burritos, etc.
also…
What is jackfruit?
If you follow either this blog, or my sister blog Living-Vegan.com, you have seen me work with this stuff many times before. Jackfruit is a very large, edible fruit grown on trees. Yes, the jackfruit tree 🙂 The fruit is used for both savory (packed in water or brine) and sweet (packed in syrup) recipes. The fruit is incredibly challenging to cut on your own. If you’d like to see how it’s done, I found this linkreally helpful!
I’m using the canned version. I love this brand{affiliate link} because it’s packed in WATER and not a salty brine. You’ll want to both drain it and, using paper towels, press it dry. Some of the pieces may contain a small round seed which you will want to remove and discard.
Those seeds are super easy to detect because you’ll be using your fingers to shred up the jackfruit.
Making the Barbacoa Jackfruit Recipe…
Add it to diced onions and minced garlic.
Give it a squeeze of fresh lime juice…
I don’t often give you so many product photos and I am not necessarily recommending specific brands, but I get lots of questions and want to be sure you know what to look for. I’ll also link to some Amazon affiliate links in the recipe card. I will say, many of these are much cheaper at your grocery store, but if you simply can’t find them, Amazon is the way to go!
First, Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce and MILD Diced Green Chiles, both found canned in the Mexican foods aisle of any grocery store. I recommend adding these to your own personal taste. Things can get really spicy, really fast! Notice how little I used? It was still pretty spicy for my palette.
I also purchased oregano and cumin. I don’t tend to use either of these spices a lot, so I love these little packets in the Mexican section of my supermarket. Again, please season to your own personal taste.
Since jackfruit does not have any real flavor of its own, it’s important to build our own flavor base. This is Better Than Bouillon NO BEEF Base. It’s super concentrated and I love using it for dishes like this one.
The other element to our dish is the addition of a browning & seasoning sauce such as this one. It also gives us more of that authentic deep brown Barbacoa color. You don’t need much.
Lastly, vegetable broth. Continue to cook until…
It looks like this!
I’m using these little street tacos. They are just miniature versions of regular corn tortillas. Either work just fine.
I kept it simple and more towards the original with shredded purple cabbage, diced white onion, chopped parsley and a bit more lime.
Another option that would be really nice are on of my many coleslaw recipes (I love coleslaw):
Vegan Coleslaw
Confetti Coleslaw
Carrot Slaw
Since I am using the small street tacos, I serve three per person and double up on the tacos, so two per taco. Aren’t they pretty convincing?
Really delicious!
Did you make myVegan Barbacoa Jackfruit Street Tacos Recipe? Leave me a comment below and let me know what you thought. You can also tag me on Instagram with a pic @theveglife1 or post in the Facebook group (you can join here). I love seeing what you guys come up with!
And if you enjoyed the recipe, why not PIN IT FOR LATER! 🙂
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5 from 2 votes
Vegan Barbacoa Jackfruit Street Tacos Recipe
Vegan Barbacoa Jackfruit Street Tacos Recipe
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Mexican, Vegan
Keyword barbacoa, jackfruit, taco, vegan
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Calories 162kcal
Author Veg Life Staff
Ingredients
- 2 15 oz. Cans Jackfruit in Water drained and patted dry, pull apart with fingers & remove any seeds
- 1-2 cloves Garlic finely minced
- 1 Chipotles in Adobo Sauce chopped (add more if you like things spicy)
- 1 4 oz. Can MILD Green Chiles chopped
- 1 small White Onion diced, reserve some for serving
- 2 tbsp Lime Juice save the extra wedges for serving
- 1-2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1-2 tbsp Better Than Bouillon NO BEEF Base
- 1-2 tsp Browning Sauce
- 1/2 c Vegetable Broth
- 1-2 tsp Cumin or more to taste
- 1-2 tsp Oregano or more to taste
- 1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
- 1 Bay Leaf optional, remove before serving
- 1-2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
FOR SERVING:
- White Onion diced
- Parsley (or Cilantro) chopped
- Purple Cabbage shredded finely
- Lime Wedges
Instructions
Drain two cans of jackfruit in water and using paper towels, remove as much moisture as you can.
Using your fingers, begin to pull apart and press the pieces to shred taking care to remove any of the hard seeds. If any part of the jackfruit does not shred easily, you can press with a fork. I tend to discard some of the tougher pieces.
Place into a large saute pan with diced onions (reserve some for serving), garlic and spices along with the lime juice. Cook for a few minutes before proceeding.
Next add the green chiles, chipotles and vinegar. Add the vegetable stock, browning sauce and beef base, cooking to reduce.
While the jackfruit is cooking, prepare purple cabbage into fine shreds, chop the parsley (or cilantro if you prefer) and more lime for serving. You should still have some of the diced white onion left over.
Place the barbacoa jackfruit over the cabbage in corn tortillas. I used the small street tacos for mine. Top with the diced onion and parsley.
Serve warm.
Video
Notes
PLEASE NOTE: Nutrition is based on the Barbacoa filling ONLY. Please add your own condiments and size of the tortillas used into consideration when making this recipe.
