Jackfruit adds moisture and a pull-apart texture to these incredible seitan-based vegan ribs. No one will believe they are fat-free!
I wish I had an interesting story behind this recipe, but the truth is, I saw a photo by Lacey, the blogger at Avocados and Ales, of seitan-jackfruit ribs in the very popular Facebook group “What Fat Vegans Eat” and just had to have some.
The texture looked so realistically “meaty” that almost as many of the group members were turned off by it as were tempted. You know vegans–we’re all different, and for every one disgusted by anything with the texture of meat there’s an equal number of us salivating over it. I have no problem with a meaty texture as long as no animal had to suffer for it, so I was immediately intrigued.
The idea of jackfruit-infused ribs stuck with me even though I had forgotten which group I’d seen the photo in. (Thanks, Lacey, for reminding me!) So I had to make up my own recipe, using my much-loved Barbecued Seitan Ribz as a base.
It took two attempts to get the texture just right, so my family has eaten a lot of barbecued ribs this week–and they are overjoyed! Homemade seitan is a rare treat in our house, and we devour even double batches of ribs as quickly as I can bake them.
Since adding jackfruit to my basic BBQ ribs recipe requires an additional cooking step, I saved a little time and bother by making them totally in the oven–no need to get out the grill. And because jackfruit adds so much tenderness, I was able to skip the nut butter, so there is no added fat in these ribs, yet they’re a little more filling than basic ribs.
Here’s how to make them:
Watch my quick video to see how easy they are to make.
Jacked-Up Vegan Ribs
Ingredients
- 10 ounces young green jackfruit packed in water or brine, (1 20-ounce can) rinsed and drained
- 1/4 cup barbecue sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten 150 grams
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon smoked Spanish paprika
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked salt
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 3/4 cup barbecue sauce approximately
Instructions
- Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add the rinsed jackfruit, 1/4 cup barbecue sauce, and 1/4 cup water. Lower heat, cover and simmer, stirring every few minutes and mashing jackfruit with a spatula or fork, until jackfruit is tender about 10 minutes. Remove cover and mash jackfruit, allowing water to evaporate. If any large or tough pieces of jackfruit remain, put them on a cutting board and chop with a knife. Allow the jackfruit to cool completely.
- Preheat oven to 375F. Oil a 8x8 or 9x9-inch Pyrex baking dish.
- Combine the vital wheat gluten and all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir well. Add the water, soy sauce, and cooled jackfruit. Stir or knead well until all ingredients are evenly distributed and all wheat gluten is absorbed. If there is not enough moisture, add one or two tablespoons of water, no more.
- Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Use a knife to loosen the seitan along the edges of the pan. Spread barbecue sauce evenly over the top and flip over in the pan. (It's easiest to do this if you divide the seitan in half first and flip one half at a time.) Coat the top with barbecue sauce and return to the oven. Bake for 15-20 more minutes, until ribs are firm and cooked in the middle but not hardening along the edges.
- Cut into 16 "ribs" and serve with additional barbecue sauce.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
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Matt
July 14, 2016 at 8:32 amThese look great. I was actually just looking for a nice jackfruit recipe. I’m in Thailand at the moment and there’s jackfruit everywhere. Definitely going to try this one out.
Rosanne
July 14, 2016 at 9:47 amThis looks great. Can I leave out the nutritional yeast?
Susan Voisin
July 14, 2016 at 10:10 amYes, it just adds flavor.
Paula
July 18, 2016 at 4:40 pmMade these this weekend and they are the best thing I’ve made in months! Thank you so much for such a clever, innovative and delicious recipe. Love all your recipes. Haven’t tried a bad one yet.
Pat
July 19, 2016 at 8:32 amI made these last weekend with my own bourbon bbq sauce. So good and even better as leftovers after a night in the fridge! Will definitely be making these again.
Anne Sofie
July 21, 2016 at 11:00 amYou make it look so easy!
I was not quite sure about the recipe as I have never made something like that before. Your video really helped.
I will def try the recipe now:-)
Serene
July 22, 2016 at 7:46 pmI bought 2 10-ounce cans of jackfruit to be safe, but is it a 10-ounce or 20-ounce can?
Susan Voisin
July 28, 2016 at 5:42 pmThe can I used was 20 ounces with a drained weight of 10 ounces. You can see it here: http://amzn.to/2ah5kbn. I would guess that 2 10-ounce cans might contain the correct amount.
ChicoVegan
July 24, 2016 at 12:29 amI made this recipe for my local vegan potluck today – they were a huge hit (as I knew they would be). Because we’re in the middle of a heatwave, I made a few changes in the procedure for this awesome recipe to avoid turning on my oven.
1. I broke up the jackfruit before sauteing it. I cut off the thick parts and then used the flat of my knife blade to spread out the fibers, rather than doing it in the pan on the stove. I cut up the dense parts into small pieces and added them in, too.
2. After mixing all the ingredients together, instead of baking in the oven, I broke up the raw dough into chunks, flattened them, and then wrapped them in foil. I cooked the packets in my electric pressure cooker for 30 minutes, NPR.
3. I unwrapped the packets and used a spoon to smear them with more BBQ sauce, then cooked them in my air fryer for 10 minutes at 370F. I just piled them on top of each other, spreading them out as much as I could. After 10 minutes, I flipped them over, put more BBQ sauce on and cooked them for another 7 minutes at 370F.
Holly
July 24, 2016 at 9:12 amHi, I’m excited to give this a go! Could I use fresh jack fruit? I recently found some and aside from the sticky latex like residue, it was fantastic. Even ate the seeds, though they were a bit dry and pasty after being cooked.
Jackfruit was quite sweet. I don’t have access to canned and usually canned is preserved with metabisulfite or sulfites of some kind and those make me quite sick.
Thanks.
Susan Voisin
July 24, 2016 at 5:37 pmIf you can find unripe, green jackfruit, you should be able to use it in this recipe, but if the jackfruit you have is sweet, then I wouldn’t use it. I think sweet jackfruit would have too strong a flavor.
Rob
July 24, 2016 at 12:57 pmI just wanted to comment that I have made these, and they are not too bad. I think that this could have been better without the jackfruit, but out of 5, I rate this a 3.5
Nita Ruggiero
July 27, 2016 at 9:05 amI made these last weekend and they were absolutely delicious!!! This one goes in my rotation. My husband loved them, too. We made a sandwich out of them for lunch on Monday and the sandwiches were awesome as well! Thanks Susan!
Margie
July 31, 2016 at 5:29 pmThese. Are. Fantastic.
Making a second time tonight. Using Stubb’s BBQ sauce, it’s nonfat.
Sonia
August 1, 2016 at 3:58 pmMade these yesterday and I am so happy I doubled the batch! Fantastic!
danahect
August 3, 2016 at 9:00 amLooks yummy!!!
EstherJ
August 4, 2016 at 1:39 pmThese were fantastic, Susan (as is usual with your recipes)!
I definitely prefer the texture of these to your other ribz. And like has been said, they seemed to taste even better the day after.
Thank you very much, ma’am!
Leigh
August 8, 2016 at 9:47 amI was so impressed with the jacked up ribs, that I experimented with Jack fruit in my Seiten cutlets (original recipe is way too chewy). They turned out really delicious. Next time I’ll chop jack fruit finer though. Love love love your site Susan.
max
August 8, 2016 at 12:08 pmI’m gonna make this just now. Already got print of this page. Thanks
Nita Ruggiero
August 9, 2016 at 1:55 pmI made these for dinner on Saturday. They were absolutely delicious!! My husband and granddaughter loved them.
Michelle
August 11, 2016 at 10:27 amI’m not a big blog-commenter, and this is my first comment on this site, and first one online in a while. But I just had to say that all the other comments are true and that these are amazing!! Even better the next day. So so yummy, can’t wait to make again, thank you!!!!
Judy
August 12, 2016 at 8:36 pmI’ve been wanting to try Jack fruit. I guess it has the same texture as meat. i was overjoyed when I found it to be a fat free food.
C
August 21, 2016 at 11:18 amPretty darn good! I made them in the morning and after smelling them fresh out of the oven, my DH and couldn’t wait until lunch, so we made a breakfast sandwich out of them…very tasty! I think that next time I would reduce the amount of jackfruit, or increase the amount of VWG just a bit to make them slightly more firm. Other than that…perfect! This seitan/jackfruit combo with be good for other dishes such as enchiladas, tacos, “corn beef” hash, BBQ char siu pork buns…just to name a few.
Thanks Susan!
~ C
Michael
August 30, 2016 at 3:00 pmI followed your recipe exactly and these were fantastic! My wife tried them and turned out to be one of those people who are disturbed by the texture – a little too “meaty” for her, but my daughter and I loved them!
After oven-baking them, I decided to transfer to our “grill pan” with some extra bbq sauce and they finished off with a nice “char. ” The recipe says this step isn’t necessary but I found it just gave that little bit of extra authenticity to the taste.
Thanks for sharing this brilliant and easy-to-follow recipe! It’s sure to become part of our regular rotation here at home.
Donna
September 6, 2016 at 11:05 pmNever been a big fan of nutritional yeast. Does it do something magical in the process ie act as a binder? If so, is there something I can replace it with? Will also try the GF suggestions listed.
Susan Voisin
September 7, 2016 at 7:29 amNo, the nutritional yeast is just a flavor enhancer. It’s the gluten that’s the main ingredient and binder. Anything gluten free will be a different texture entirely.
Marilyn Price
September 8, 2016 at 1:22 pmTurning vegan wasn’t hard in the beginning, but then I started running out of options…until I came across your blog. Wow, a brand new world of yummy was opened before my eyes (and mouth). Thank you and please keep up sharing your delicious recipes. 🙂
Brenda Gray
September 9, 2016 at 11:18 amSusan, I’m salivating over the chicken ribs! They look so delicious! This is one of the best vegan blogs on the internet. Thank you!
Laura Ellis
September 17, 2016 at 11:29 pmI made these tonight but switched a few things around. I still added tahini like your other recipe then added some liquid smoke too. I replaced the water with beefless broth. I baked for 10 minutes then I put on rice paper around the whole thing and then put bbq sauce over it. Baked for another 5-1o minutes and then grilled it. They were amazing. The rice paper adds a little crunch.
I know the jackfruit adds a little extra step but I think I will just do this when I’m already making bbq jackfruit in the crockpot and then pull it out of that. Then I could freeze either.
Thanks for the great tips. 🙂
Lydia
November 1, 2016 at 3:17 pmI made these last night. They were GREAT!!!
Jessica Huff
December 1, 2016 at 3:42 pmWow, this looks delicious!
Mick
December 9, 2016 at 10:36 pmI’m excited to find this marriage of seitan with something else to give it a different texture. Do you have a recipe that combines seitan with tofu? A local restaurant does a monthly vegan brunch, and their seitan is the best in town. They tell me it’s got a lighter texture because of tofu, but they’re not letting loose of that recipe. Whadya think, Susan?
Con
December 13, 2016 at 10:50 amThese were amazing!
Audrey
December 30, 2016 at 3:43 pmThis is an absolute favourite of mine. Delicious!!!
Robin Fetter
January 31, 2017 at 6:13 pmMade these a few days ago and they were a HUGE hit!!! Best vegan ribs recipe ever! My only problem was that my ribs stuck to the pan a tad when I was flipping them over. Next time I might use parchment paper. But other than that it was a slam dunk with my family and this will be my go-to ribs recipe from now on 🙂
Marie
February 1, 2017 at 12:04 pmI have made these several times and my family loves them. I’d like to make a double batch and have some for dinner tonight and some for the Super bowl… do you know if these ribs freeze and reheat well???
Susan Voisin
February 1, 2017 at 1:01 pmThey do reheat well, but I haven’t tried freezing them. I think it would work, but I wouldn’t want to mislead you.
Marie
February 1, 2017 at 3:41 pmOk…thanks…I’ll let you know 🙂
Susan
February 10, 2017 at 2:57 pmI’m actually thinking of trying to make vegan corned “beef” and I thought the mixture of seitan and jackfruit would give a good texture. Do you think if I used different spices this recipe would work?
Julie
February 23, 2017 at 9:55 amAfter all the good reviews I made these last night. They were easy and looked good. I would like more jack fruit in them and less VWG. The jack fruit tasted good but the VWG is rubbery and made it seem like I was eating a piece of fat.
Katja
March 1, 2017 at 1:00 amWhat a brilliant recipe! I finally made these last night and we both loved them so much.
Una
March 12, 2017 at 6:41 pmJust had this for dinner. The only change I would make would be to pulse the jackfruit in my blender to make it easier to mix into the seitan. Otherwise this is pretty perfect as written.
Denise
April 17, 2017 at 6:32 pmI cannot believe how good these are. Can you freeze a portion of them and save for later?
Susan Voisin
April 17, 2017 at 6:49 pmI haven’t done it, but I don’t see any reason not to. Glad you liked them!
Sandy Prager
April 24, 2017 at 9:44 pmThank you for the recipe. I’ve been making these regularly for a few months now, and it’s become a fav. And with 5 Jackfruit trees on our property, we’ll be making this for a long time to come! 🙂 I like it best with a spicy Korean style BBQ sauce. And a big thank you for your great site. Been coming here for years.
Dayna
May 12, 2017 at 4:46 pmMade these yesterday. I already love your barbecued ribs recipe, but these are the best! Thank you for a great recipe!
Katie
May 17, 2017 at 6:05 pmI didn’t have a can of jackfruit around… however I did have a 10 ounce package of pre-barbecued jack fruit in the fridge, one of those “ready in 5 minutes” packs. If you’re short on time, or can’t find normal jackfruit, those work, too. 🙂 Great recipe!
michel
May 24, 2017 at 10:16 pmWhat would you suggest to replace wheat gluten?
My better half is diabetic and has celiac disease. I would love to cook that for her but I need to replace The vital wheat gluten.
What would you suggest?