Chad and Derek Sarno
Get a roll of paper towels and dive in. Sticky, spicy BBQ sauce, creamy sriracha mayo, crunchy slaw, and sour pickles … this little sandwich has got it going on. And the jackfruit: If you haven’t tried it yet, get ready for one of the chewiest, most satisfying plant foods out there. It falls apart in shreds just like you want it to in a sloppy, saucy sandwich.
Pro Tip
If you're making the Smoky BBQ Sauce to use in the Sloppy Joe BBQ Jackfruit Sliders, make the sauce up to the point of adding all the ingredients. Don't reduce the sauce until you add the jackfruit to it; this way, the jackfruit soaks up some of the flavor.
Sloppy BBQ Jackfruit Sliders
Ingredients
- 1/2 cups green jackfruit (from pouch or can), drained and rinsed
- 3 Tbsp everyday olive oil, divided
- 1 small white onion, cut into narrow strips
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Smoky BBQ Sauce, prepared through Step 3 of this recipe (i.e., not reduced; see Pro tip)
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
- 3 cups finely shaved green cabbage (use a mandoline!)
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 8 to 10 soft, squishy, slider-size buns, toasted if you like 1/2 cup thin dill pickle rounds
- 1/2 cup sriracha mayo*
- *Sriracha mayo is just your favorite plant-based mayo plus a few squirts of sriracha to taste!
Nutrition
Per serving:
- calories245
- protein7g
- fat10g
- carbs36g
- sugar14g
- fiber6g
- sodium359mg
Directions
01
- Cut inner cores from drained jackfruit, then slice cores into strips. (The cores will not shred like the rest of the fruit, so you need to slice them.)
- In sauté pan over medium heat, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil. Add onion and cook, stirring now and then, until lightly browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Add jackfruit and cook, stirring a few times, until lightly browned as well, 4 to 6 minutes. This browning process really deepens the flavor of the onions and jackfruit. Add garlic near end of process and cook for 2 minutes, until everything is nicely browned.
- Scrape jackfruit mixture into pot of BBQ sauce. Bring everything to a simmer over medium heat, then cut heat to medium-low and simmer gently until liquid reduces in volume by about one-fourth, 8 minutes or so. Give it a stir now and then to make sure jackfruit doesn’t stick to pan bottom. You want to reduce the liquid enough so that the jackfruit mixture will sit on a sandwich bun but still be kinda wet and sloppy. When it reaches that consistency, stir in 1/4 cup cilantro and remove pot from heat.
- To make a quick slaw, toss together cabbage, lime juice, remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil, and remaining 1/4 cup cilantro. Season with salt and pepper, then taste it, adding more seasoning as needed
- To assemble, spoon a generous pile of BBQ jackfruit onto each bun and top with pickles, slaw, and a drizzle of sriracha mayo. Sometimes we set everything out and let guests assemble the sammies themselves.
