Sharing a delicious and healthy vegan lunch idea: jackfruit carnitas burrito bowl! You can make the jackfruit in advance to enjoy in bowls, burritos, or on sandwiches throughout the week. 

Hi friends! How’s the day going so far? I hope you’re having a lovely morning. I’m going to get in an upper body workout and I think we may hit up the outdoor shops this afternoon just to get out of the house. The kiddos haven’t been in a store since the beginning of March, so this is a pretty big deal.

Can we just talk about Down to Earth for a second? If you haven’t watched this gem on Netflix yet, I highly recommend it. The show is a docuseries that follows Zac Efron and his friend Darin Olien around the world as they learn about different sustainability practices, cuisine, tips for longevity, and health. It’s absolutely fascinating and I feel like each episode is better than the last! (I’m only on episode 5 right now.) Also, Zac and Darin are very nice to look at. 😉 I ordered Darin’s book and can’t wait to dive in when I finally finish City of Girls.

The show has given me a lot of things to ponder and scheme, especially with the current climate and everything going on in the world. It’s inspired me to make positive changes, focus more on sustainability (and save our sad little garden), and also eat more plants! In a recent episode, they were in Costa Rica and hacked into an enormous jackfruit. I’d been thinking about jackfruit ever since and couldn’t wait to make some jackfruit carnitas this weekend. This dish was everything I’d been dreaming about + more!

What is jackfruit?

If you’ve never cooked with jackfruit before, it’s an awesome vegan meat substitute. You can shred it like pulled chicken or pork and flavor it however you’d like. Unlike many other meat substitutes that were created in a lab with a bunch of sketchy ingredients, this one is plain and simple young green jackfruit. It has spiky skin and a sweet flesh, and conveniently, you can find the canned version at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s (or international grocery stores). It’s high in Vitamin C and has a decent amount of fiber. It’s nutrient dense and tastes delicious.

How do you cook jackfruit?

I recommend draining the can – make sure you get the ones in brine and not in the sweet syrup – and shredding with a couple of forks or your hands. From here, you can either sauté it on the stovetop or pop it in the oven on a lined cookie sheet to bake or broil. I prefer savory and aromatic seasonings on jackfruit, like garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, citrus, salsa, or BBQ sauce.

How to make jackfruit carnitas:

I recently used jackfruit carnitas as the star of an incredible lunch bowl. The bowl had jackfruit mixture, romaine, salsa, guacamole, cilantro-lime cauliflower rice, black beans, fajitas veggies, and lime wedges. It was EVERYTHING! To make the jackfruit carnitas, I followed the exact steps in this recipe.

Then, I transferred the jackfruit to a lined cookie sheet (lined with foil and sprayed with avocado oil) and broiled it for 10 minutes to get the crispy BBQ edges on the jackfruit.

Here’s the recipe for this awesome jackfruit carnitas burrito bowl!

Jackfruit Carnitas Burrito Bowl

 

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Feel free to add anything to this base recipe that you enjoy, too, like tomatoes, corn (not my fave lol), olives, fresh cilantro, etc.

Have you tried jackfruit before? Any recipes that you love??

Team Zac or Team Darin?

xo

Gina