The easiest and most delicious Pulled BBQ Jackfruit Sandwiches, made in the Instant Pot! A perfect meal for the middle of summer when it’s too hot to turn on the oven.
Have you guys tried jackfruit yet? I was hesitant for so long, and I don’t know why now! This stuff is pretty incredible and totally drool worthy. When you cook it up a little bit, it shreds really well and resembles pulled “meat”. It’s actually a fruit with little calories, and takes on whatever flavor you mix with it or cook it in. Perfect for BBQ sauce.
I decided to give it a try in the Instant Pot, and what do you know, it turned out pretty great. (Recently I started making it with my homemade Quick and Easy Vegan Barbecue Sauce, but you can use store bought it you want).
My kids give this a big thumbs up, though they’ve never had pulled pork before, so they don’t really get what it’s mimicking! It’s kind of funny with kids who have never really eaten meat, they don’t crave the kind of things some other people do (like bacon, pulled pork, whatever it may be) that have been eating animal products for a long time. So if you are transitioning your family to plant based living, I recommend giving this pulled jackfruit a try!
Here’s how to make Instant Pot Pulled BBQ Jackfruit. First, drain and rinse the canned jackfruit.
Chop off the center “core” portion and discard. (You don’t HAVE to do this, but I don’t like the texture of the harder parts, so I cut most of it off). Place it in the Instant Pot with a cup of water and cook on high for 5 minutes. Then mash it with a potato masher until it looks like this:
Add the barbecue sauce and saute for a few minutes until warmed through. Serve on buns with shredded cabbage.
If you make this recipe, let me know how it goes! Rate it, leave a comment and tag a photo @noracooksvegan on Instagram. Enjoy!
Instant Pot Pulled BBQ Jackfruit
Ingredients
- (2) 20 ounce cans young green jackfruit in brine (or water)
- 18 ounces barbecue sauce (See instructions for recipe link)
- 6 hamburger buns (gluten free if needed)
- shredded cabbage
Instructions
- Prepare your jackfruit: Drain and rinse the canned jackfruit, then chop off the "core" portions and discard.
- Add the jackfruit to the Instant Pot along with 1 cup of water. Put on the lid, seal, and set to high pressure for 5 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally, or if you are in a hurry you can manually release the pressure (carefully).
- Drain the jackfruit, and then add it back to the Instant Pot. Mash with a potato masher until it resembles pulled meat (see photo above).
- Make the barbecue sauce following these instructions (unless you are using store bought sauce).
- Add the barbecue sauce to the pulled jackfruit, and turn on the saute feature. Cook for 2-5 minutes until warmed through. Serve on buns with shredded cabbage.
Sharon
I live alone but would like to make this. Can I simply halve all the ingredients?
Nora
Yes you can, it shouldn’t be a problem. Thanks!
Cheryl
Have you ever tried to freeze this recipe? In freezer bags. As a single, I end up freezing a lot of my cooking and baking so I don’t pit out all at once? Either that or I better be committed to eating that same meal for lunch and dinner for the next 2 or 3 days!
Nora
I haven’t personally tried freezing bbq jackfruit, but I do think it would work just fine if frozen in freezer bags or containers. Simply warm up when you are ready to eat it. I hear you, eating the same thing for days gets a bit boring! Thank you.
Cheryl
Just following up. I had one can of jackfruit in the house so I halved the recipe. Ate one bunwich the same night and divided the rest. I had already divided it into 3 portions before eating the one, but it was a lot. I ended up dividing the remainder into 3 portions. I ate another one the following night seeing as how I’d bought 2 buns! The other two portions I put in separate freezer bags, pushed the jackfruit BBQ to make it flat, and froze them. It’s been nearly a month. I pulled one freezer bag out, defrosted in the microwave and reheated. All is good. Freezing it doesn’t affect the recipe.
Nora
Thank you for following up! I’m so glad freezing worked well for the jackfruit.
Larry
I have a jackfruit tree (FL) that has lots of extra fruits once a year. I slice and cook enough of the immature fruit to use later and freeze them in recipe sized bags. BBQ or curry are great.
ricky wessel
just a shout out, thank you for your recipes and karma.
Tami
Thinking of making this for a backyard graduation party! I would probably make a day ahead and warm back up in the instant pot…have you done this or any advice for making ahead?
Nora
They would be perfect for a graduation party! I haven’t tried it myself, but I think it would be totally fine to warm it back up in the Instant Pot, on the saute method. Saute for a few minutes, until warm, then you could pop the lid on and keep warm until you serve. Thank you!
Nicole
I only have one 20 oz can on hand at the moment and a trip to Trader Joe’s is not on the horizon anytime soon. If I wanted to halve this recipe do I just cut the liquid in half but keep the pressure cooking time the same?
Nora
Yes that should work just fine! Thank you.
Heidi
I had to try this Jackfruit pulled pork gag on my kids. I tried hard to hide the cans so they wouldn’t know the difference. I had the table spread with tater tots, ketchup, and the pulled pork looking sandwiches infused with their favorite BBQ sauce. My 18 year old boy took one look and said, “Are there beans in this?” I honestly answered no. “Is this even MEAT?” I asked him to try it and tell me. He squinted his eyes and took a large bite. “It’s not meat, but it’s pretty good!” He ate the whole thing and so did the whole carnivorous family! Ha Ha! Thanks for such a fun meal! I just discovered your blog and I am so excited. Every recipe I’ve tried of yours has been wonderful.
Nora
I love it!! That is so hilarious. 🙂 I’m so glad everyone enjoyed, I hope you find many more fun family recipes to try! Thanks so much.
Joanne
Have you ever done this with frozen jackfruit? I got some from Whole Foods frozen. Have been using it in smoothies.
Nora
I’ve never tried frozen jackfruit, but I imagine it would work. I’ll have to look out for it at Whole Foods. 🙂
Karla Strauss
Made this for dinner tonight with your BBQ sauce recipe it tasted very good. Even my non vegan husband went back for seconds. The only thing I wish I hadn’t ‘used quite as much of the sauce in it. But very good, it was the first time I used jackfruit, got it from Trader Joe’s
Nora
Glad you enjoyed it, and your husband did, too!
Mumbi
So after a couple of tries I finally ended up doubling the pressure cooker time to 8-10 minutes. I also put less water and doubled the sauté time.
TP
Thanks for the recipe. I noticed that the recipe calls from jack fruit in water, however the image on the website is of Trader Joe’s jack fruit, which is in brine. Which should we use? Will it make a difference? Most of the recipes that I have seen either use fresh jack fruit or say to use water, not brine or syrup based varieties.
Nora
Sorry about the confusion! Actually, I will update the recipe to say “brine” or “water”. Brine is really just salt and water, I believe, so when I read the ingredients on the can it says “jackfruit, water, salt….”. But technically it is brine, so I will update the recipe. I always use the Trader Joe’s brand of jackfruit you are talking about. Thanks!
Alan
So good! Love jackfruit.
Lynda Breitung
Hi Nora- Anxious to try this, but I don’t have an Instapot yet. Do you know alternative cooking instructions- maybe on the stove or even in a crockpot?
Thanks!
Nora
Hi Lynda! Yes, you could definitely make this on the stove, and I’m sure in the crockpot as well. On the stove, I would simply steam/boil the jackfruit until it’s tender, maybe 15 minutes or so. Then drain the water if necessary, and add in the barbecue sauce. I hope that helps!
Amy
Very Good.
tanmayi
Hi Nora, thanks for the great recipe! Have you tried putting sauce in the instant pot while it’s pressure cooking? Would that potentially enhance the flavor?
Nora
I haven’t tried that yet, but I think it’s a great idea! I would probably still cook it with the 1 cup of water, mash and then add the sauce and turn it on for maybe just a minute or two. When I try it I will report back! 🙂
Kadi
Hi! I’m also in Portland and I agree, it has been too dang hot!
I want to make a giant batch of this for my 2 year old’s birthday party this weekend and I’m wondering if you can tell me how many hamburger bun sized sandwiches can be made from this recipe.
Thanks!
Nora
It has been hot, I’m SO ready for Fall! 🙂
So for this recipe, I would say you could probably get 8-10 medium sized hamburger sandwiches, depending on how much of the BBQ jackfruit you put in each one. If you are serving it to adults and want to really fill the burgers, maybe only 6. I hope everyone enjoys, and happy birthday little one! My little guy will be 2 in October. 🙂
Lisa Irene Kaneck
Where do you find canned jackfruit? is labeled as Jackfruit?? new to this
Nora
Oh yeah, it took me awhile to figure out jackfruit! I get mine at Trader Joes, it comes in 20 oz cans. I’ve also heard you can find the cans at asian stores. It is labeled as Jackfruit.