Over the past year or so jackfruit has made its mark on the vegan world. This South Indian fruit is meaty and it shreds nicely, which is why you’ll often see it used in dishes like “pulled pork” sandwiches. And this Vegan Jackfruit Carne Asada that I’m super excited for you to try.
The last time I had carne asada, a staple of South American cuisine, was at a Mexican wedding about twelve years ago. I obviously wasn’t vegan yet, and this meaty dish was intriguing. It was so simple but also super tasty. Since that day I’ve noticed it on a lot of menus and realized just how common it is. I never ordered it though, of course. But I was eager to try it again, which is why I decided to veganize it and hopefully do it justice in a plant-based fashion.
Like its meaty counterpart, the key to this Jackfruit Carne Asada is its marinade. So I researched and tested a handful of different mixtures before I came up with this one, which I really love. It tastes authentic and contains a pretty great balance of Mexican flavors like lime, cumin, chipotle and coriander. And when it’s all mixed together you have a versatile and can be used in soups, tacos—anywhere!
One thing to note: this is a spicy dish! If you’d like to turn down the heat a bit cut the chipotle in adobo down to half a can instead of a full one.
A few recipes this vegan jackfruit carne asada might work well in
- New Mexico Green Chile Stew
- Basic Mexican Tofu Scramble
- Spicy Sausage and Tofu Breakfast Burrito
- Tell Me What You Think
Tell Me What You Think
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this Jackfruit Carne Asada if you make it. So drop me a comment below, and be sure to tag @nutfreevegan on social media if you’re posting photos. Plus, it’s always super fun to see these dishes out in the wild!
Jackfruit Carne Asada
Ingredients
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1 7 oz. can chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (Try half a can instead for a little less spice)
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 tsp. liquid aminos
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 2 Tbsp. lime juice
- 2 tsp. ground coriander
- 2 lb. jackfruit pulled apart
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Add all ingredients except jackfruit to a medium mixing bowl and stir until thoroughly blended together. Add jackfruit and stir to coat. Place in refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Drain excess marinade and place jackfruit on medium-sized baking sheet.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Stir and place back in oven for 1 hour, checking frequently to avoid overcooking.
Notes
Nutrition
I love carne asada and this looks delicious!!
Oh my this looks right up my street! Yum 🙂
Hi could you tell if I should use a 7 oz can of chipotles in adobo? That’s the size I’m finding in my market. Can’t wait to try this!!! Looks so awesome
Hi Katherine! Yes, the 7oz. can is perfect. I’ll update the recipe to show that. Hope you love it!
The recipe was delish! I blended all the marinade ingredients together and left it in the frig for a few hours before baking. It came out a little salty but other than that it was perfect. This is going to be a weekly dish in my house. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it, Meirssa!
Hey! Is canned jack fruit ok? do you just drain and rinse? does it pull apart easily before its cooked?
Thanks!
Hi, Sierra. Canned jackfruit is totally OK! Just rinse it and throw it into the marinade and it should fall apart a bit on its own as it cooks. Good luck!
Hi there, if you are using fresh jackfruit, should it be unripe or ripe?
Hi, Suzy!
It’s best to cook with unripe if possible. A lot of prepackaged jackfruit—unless it’s in syrup—is unripe and should be good to use if you don’t have fresh.
Hope this helps!
I don’t understand how you get 2 lbs. of jackfruit it seems like there isn’t enough marinade for that amount of jackfruit. Can you elaborate please.
Hi, Chris. Thanks so much for your question.
The marinade is relatively light, but what’s in the recipe should be enough to thoroughly coat the jackfruit. If you want a little more, I’d suggest adding another teaspoon or two of the adobo sauce and/or oil and liquid aminos. It might change the flavor balance slightly, but I doubt it would throw it off too much.
Hope this helps!
This is our FAVORITE! I even took it to a party (for us vegans) that had a taco truck and people thought it was meat!
Do you dump the whole adobe peppers in with sauce or remove them? Or cut them up? I have done it every way so far but wondering what you intended?
Thank you for awesome recipes!
Thanks, so much, Trina! I’m so glad you love the recipe!
Depending on how spicy you like it, you can either put the peppers in (as opposed to just the adobo sauce) or leave them out. If you do add them, definitely chop them first. I need to update the steps to reflect that!
Holy mother this is good!! I used two larger cans of jackfruit not sure if that was 2lbs or not but it was SUPER spicy. I would be aware of using a whole can of Chipotle peppers if you don’t like to sweat. But with enough lime juice and shredded cabbage this dinner was amazing!! Thanks so much!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the dish, Sierra!
Did you use 20oz cans? If so how many cans did you use?
Hi, Mandy. Are you referring to the jackfruit? I used 16 oz. cans—not sure which brand. You can probably get away with the 20 oz. cans and maybe increase all the other ingredients just slightly. Or you can leave them as they are in the recipe and the sauce will just be a little lighter.
Hope this helps!
Thank you for this amazing recipe! This is a must try for me. 🙂
I also shared it on my blog. 😉
https://suzinspire.com/20-meal-ideas-make-you-go-vegan/
Thanks so much for sharing the recipe, Suzie! 😀
This was so so good!!! Even my meat eating husband loved it 🤩
I’m so happy to hear that, Cheryl!
Hello…
Your jackfruit carne asada looks terrific! Do you suggest serving with rice or in a burrito or how? Thank you! Cannot wait to try.
Hi Jul,
One of the great things about this carne asada is its versatility when it comes to serving. You can put it over rice, wrap it up in a burrito, top a big plate of nachos with it, even add it to a salad. I think the flavors work really well with just about anything, so I say serve it with whatever other ingredients you like the best to start off, and then maybe experiment with different ways in the future. Hopefully you’ll like it and make it again!
You can find unripe jackfruit in the freezer section of Indian grocery store. South Indian loves jackfruits.
Thanks for the tip, Reji! I’m actually going out to hunt some tonight for a recipe, so I’ll be sure to head to my nearby Indian grocer 🙂
Have you tried frozen red chile instead of canned chiles? I typically use frozen red chile for asado; however I’m not sure of the consistency as it’s typically a little watery.
This recipe is so delicious! Due to dietary restrictions, I do not add the salt and I use 2 tablespoons diced chipotle peppers from a jar (it’s less sodium than the can chipotle with adobo). I used it to make tacos last week and yesterday I made nachos. It’snow my go to recipe.
I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe, Robyn!
Can you use the dried jackfruit? I ordered some on Amazon and have no idea what to do with it so i’m hoping I could use this recipe? Any suggestions for the dried version or is it essentially the same as canned just needs re-hydrating?
Hi, Thisa! I’ve never tried this with dried jackfruit, but it might work in a slow cooker with a few cups of water. Or, if you don’t want to rehydrate, maybe some kind of jerky would be a good dish to try? I’m curious to know what you end up doing! Good luck.
So delicious! I’ve made this for my omnivore family and they loved it! I used the canned green jackfruit.
That’s fantastic, Carolyn! I’m so happy to hear it. 🙂
HI! Love this recipe. Very versatile. Wondering if I could use vegetable broth in place of the olive oil. Trying to be oil-free.
Absolutely, Deborah! I’d start with maybe a quarter cup to start based on the amount of jackfruit the recipe calls for.
As an aside, I’m really trying to eliminate oil from the recipes I make here on the site. So thanks for reminding me to keep heading in that direction going forward!
Thanks, Steven! I will definitely check out more of your recipes.
Holy MOLY this is delicious! I used half the salt – and glad I did that. I used Frontera Chipotle Pepper Adobo with roasted tomato – 8oz jar, I used almost half a jar, but not quite – something between a third and a half. Just depends upon how spicy hot you want it. I also used about 25% less oil, and my jackfruit was in 14 oz cans so I used 3 cans. So easy and quick to prepare, not a lot of cleanup either, and best of all – YUM YUM YUM!!! I plan to use it for tacos and in salad this week – and we’ll see what else from week to week cuz I’m definitely making it again and often!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Pamela! Thank you for the note on the salt; I might halve it in the ingredients to be safe.
I’ve never tried this in a salad, but I bet it’ll taste great!
So delicious! I don’t normally comment on recipes but I have to on this one. I made this for a California burrito I was making and this is so good! I added the whole can of adobo chipotle peppers and I also added some liquid smoke to give it an even more intense smokier flavour. Just a question I shredded the jackfruit before I tossed the marinade on but it was difficult am I able to shred after it’s done cooking?
Hi, Carlena. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! You can shred the jackfruit after you cook, but it won’t be as thoroughly coated in the sauce that way. It’ll still work though!