This method comes from Christie Vanover, competitive pitmaster and founder of Girls Can Grill — see her Smoked BBQ Jackfruit recipe on girlscangrill.com. Unlike the skillet and oven versions that circulate online, this one actually goes into the smoker, so the fruit picks up real wood smoke rather than relying on liquid smoke or paprika to fake it.
Why Canned Jackfruit Shreds Like Pulled Pork
The trick is buying young jackfruit canned in water or brine, not the ripe fruit canned in syrup used for desserts. Young jackfruit is picked before it sweetens up, so the flesh stays firm and mild rather than fruity. Vanover describes it as having “a completely neutral flavor,” which is exactly why it takes on a BBQ rub and sauce so readily — there’s no competing taste to work around, just a fibrous texture that pulls apart in strands the way cooked pork shoulder does.
Ingredients
- 4 cans (14 oz each) young jackfruit in brine
- 2 tablespoons BBQ pork rub
- 1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce, divided
Vanover is upfront that her own rub blend contains honey granules, and that many bottled barbecue sauces contain honey too — so if you want this dish to actually be vegan rather than just meat-free, check the label on whatever rub and sauce you use, or build your own from salt, pepper, granulated garlic, chili powder and brown sugar instead.
Smoking the Jackfruit, Step by Step
- Drain the jackfruit and discard the canning liquid. Pull the chunks apart into strips by hand while they’re still cool — this is easier now than after cooking, and it means every strand gets seasoned and smoked rather than just the outside of a chunk.
- Spread the pulled fruit in a 13-by-9-inch pan and toss it with the BBQ rub.
- Heat a smoker or pellet grill to 250°F (121°C) using apple wood, and set up an indirect heat zone.
- Place the pan on the smoker and cook for 30 minutes. Toss the fruit so the smoke reaches every piece, then smoke for another 30 minutes.
- Remove the pan, stir in 1 cup of the barbecue sauce, and return it to the smoker for a final 15-20 minutes to let the sauce set.
Total time runs about 1 hour 35 minutes, and the recipe makes roughly 10 servings — plenty for a crowd, with the leftover 1/2 cup of sauce held back for serving on the side.
Serving It as Tacos or Sandwiches
Once it’s smoked and sauced, the jackfruit behaves like any other pulled barbecue filling. Pile it onto a bun with pickles for a sandwich, or wrap it in warm tortillas for soft tacos — the same batch also works as a pizza topping or over nachos if you’d rather skip the bread altogether. If you’re serving vegan guests, double-check the buns too, since some enriched doughs use dairy or egg.
Where to Find It and What It Actually Tastes Like
Vanover notes that canned jackfruit shows up in most Asian grocery stores, since it’s a common ingredient there beyond its newer role as a meat substitute, and it’s also increasingly stocked at natural grocers and larger supermarkets. As for texture once it’s cooked and shredded, she compares it to pulled chicken or pork, but firmer, with an underlying quality closer to mushroom than to fruit. She also flags that the canning brine leaves the dish a little higher in sodium than a from-scratch version would be, so rinsing the fruit before cooking is worth doing if that matters to you — though she personally skips the rinse because she likes what the brine adds to the flavor.
A Note on the Fruit Itself
Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is an evergreen tree native to tropical Asia, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, which also notes it’s considered a staple food crop in Bangladesh and other parts of South and Southeast Asia. Britannica records it as the largest tree-borne fruit in the world, reaching up to about 2 feet long and 40 pounds on the tree — though the canned young fruit used in this recipe is a much more manageable size to work with than a whole one from the market.
Keep reading
- Malcom Reed’s Killer Hogs Ribs: A Step-by-Step Smoked Spare Rib Method
- Alton Brown’s Grilled Brussels Sprouts, Skewered
- Grilled Portobello Sandwiches with Balsamic Aioli
- How Much Meat Per Person for a BBQ (With Calculator)