Vegan jackfruit chilli recipe
19 Dec 2022
This Vegan Jackfruit Chilli is a delicious, hearty dish that will easily feed a crowd. It tastes great served over a crisp, jacket potato or fluffy white rice. It’s a real winter warmer and perfect as the cold nights draw in.
This chilli is sweet and smoky though you can also turn up the heat by adding more chilli flakes or using a hot paprika if you wish. Liquid smoke is a fantastic way of adding real depth of flavour, particularly in vegan dishes. If you can’t get hold of liquid smoke then do not worry, the smoky chipotle chilli will still add some of that mellow, savoury flavour.
But, it’s not just about the heat, there are also a range of spices including cumin and coriander, as well as mixed herbs and bay leaves in this recipe which give it a more earthy, savoury flavour.
The main star of this dish however is the jackfruit. Jackfruit is actually a tropical fruit grown in Asia, Africa and South America. In this recipe jackfruit is used in this chilli to mimic meat. When shredded jackfruit is not dissimilar to pulled pork. This soft, shredded meat texture works really well with the earthy beans and the soft, sweet peppers.
Ingredients
1 large red onion, diced
2 peppers, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 chipotle chilli
2x 400g tins of jackfruit, drained
2 tablespoons tomato puree
2x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
2 x 400g tins kidney beans, drained
1 tsp liquid smoke (optional)
2 tsp mixed herbs
4 bay leaves
125 ml vegetable stock
Fresh coriander
Method
1
Place a frying pan on a medium heat and add the onion and peppers to the pan with a little oil.
2
Cook the onions and peppers for 5 - 8 minutes or until they begin to soften.
3
Add the garlic and spices to the pan and cook for 2 minutes to release their aromas.
4
Add the jackfruit to the pan along with the tomato puree, chopped tomatoes and kidney beans followed by the dried mixed herbs, bay leaves and liquid smoke
5
Bring to a gentle simmer, and cook on a low/medium heat for 20 minutes.
6
Add the stock as needed to get the sauce to the desired consistency.
7
Once they are cooked, shred the jackfruit pieces using two forks.
8
Serve over fluffy white rice or a jacket potato and a scattering of fresh coriander leaves.
Top tips
You could use any beans in this recipe but the classic bean is the kidney bean. Pinto beans would also work well if you were looking to add some variety to the dish.
You can also use any type of pepper you wish. Yellow and red peppers tend to be sweeter and green peppers a bit more bitter. You can decide how sweet you’d like the final chilli by selecting your peppers carefully.
To serve we keep things simple, just a scattering of coriander leaves adds some colour as well as a hit of freshness to the final dish.
