Slow Cooker Jackfruit Carnitas Tacos with Mango Salsa

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★★★★★ 5 from 6 reviews

These jackfruit carnitas tacos are extra juicy, extra savory, and a little spicy. They’re cooked in the slow cooker over 8 hours and are seriously so easy! Plus, the mango salsa is a must. The sweetness compliments the spiced jackfruit so well. Definitely one of my favorite tacos and the perfect recipe to serve to meat eaters!

I am surprised this is the first time I am sharing a taco recipe with you. Tacos are basically their own food group for me. I regularly make batches of my Instant Pot Black Beans and eat them for breakfast in corn tortillas with a little hot sauce and avocado. It’s pretty boring but to me, it is SO GOOD. I never get sick of it.

vegan style carnitas

These slow cooker jackfruit tacos are meant to be a vegan style carnitas. And honestly? I really don’t think you’ll miss the meat here. Shredding the jackfruit before cooking it over 8 hours allows it to absorb all the flavor and makes it super soft and tender. The texture and flavor really replicate real carnitas here!

To shred the jackfruit, I used my KitchenAid stand mixer with the paddle attachment! I learned this tip from Jordan Page from Fun, Cheap or Free. She is a mom of eight (yes EIGHT) and she blogs about lifestyle, budgeting, and parenting things. One of her tips in the kitchen is using the KitchenAid stand mixer to shred chicken breasts. I don’t eat chicken, but I immediately thought I wanted to try this trick with jackfruit. And it worked!

After a minute or two, I had perfectly shredded jackfruit! SO easy and hands free.

Of course, if you don’t have a stand mixer you can absolutely do this by hand. Just chop and shred the jackfruit until you achieve a similar texture. 🙂

Next, all you’ll need to do is transfer the jackfruit to the Instant pot or Crockpot, add all of the marinade, stir, and add the lid. Slow cook over 8 hours.

Even though waiting 8 hours for these jackfruit carnitas tacos meat to cook feels like a long time and a lot of work, it’s really easy! Just put this on in the morning and you’ll have dinner ready in the evening with no effort. It’s the perfect recipe to put on before you leave for work or when you know you’re going to have a busy day and won’t have time to cook something before everyone is hungry!

the mango salsa

This salsa is super simple but I think it makes the dish. Seriously, don’t skip it! All you need is mango, anaheim peppers, lime juice, and raw onion. It’s the perfect summer salsa and it goes so well with super savory tacos.

how to cut a mango

Now for a little trick to cutting your mangos! Once you’ve cut the cheeks off as close to the pits as possible, get out a drinking glass. Match the wider portion of the mango up with the top of the glass and push the mango flesh into the glass and slide downwards. It will remove all of the flesh of the inside of the mango as close to the skin as possible with no cutting needed! Cutting mango can be really frustrating but this is the best way, I promise. It sounds weird, but it honestly works so well.

building your tacos

Once the jackfruit has cooked for 8 hours, it’s taco time. Besides the mango salsa, I recommend serving these with guacamole, extra lime juice and cilantro. And if you want your taco “meat” to be extra crispy you can always crisp it up a bit in a large cast iron skillet after it’s cooked for 8 hours but I find I can never wait for that! It’s delicious straight from the Instant Pot on it’s own.

You could also do Instant Pot Refried beans or Instant Pot black beans on the side! And may I suggest an Orange Hibiscus Margarita? YUM.

I hope you guys try these and love them! Cheers to delicious tacos and many more taco recipes to come.

slow cooker jackfruit carnitas tacos with mango salsa

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★★★★★

5 from 6 reviews

• Author: Nicolette
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 8 hours
• Total Time: 8 hours 10 minutes
• Yield: 5–6 tacos 1x
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

These jackfruit carnitas tacos are extra juicy, extra savory, and a little spicy. They’re cooked in the slow cooker over 8 hours and are seriously so easy! Plus, the mango salsa is a must. The sweetness compliments the spiced jackfruit so well. Definitely one of my favorite tacos and the perfect recipe to serve to meat eaters!

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

JACKFRUIT CARNITAS MARINADE

• 2 cans jackfruit (this is the brand I used) 
• 1 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 
• 2 tablespoons avocado oil
• 3 teaspoons vegetable bullion paste (this is the brand I used) 
• 2 teaspoons paprika 
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 
• 1 teaspoon cumin 
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander 
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne

MANGO SALSA 

• 2–3 mangos 
• 1 large Anaheim pepper or 2 smaller peppers
• 1/4 cup raw, white onion, diced
• Juice of 1 lime 

FOR SERVING 

• Small tortillas (I used corn but flour would also be great) 
• Guacamole 
• Limes
• Cilantro

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Instructions

1. Drain and rinse the jackfruit thoroughly. 
2. In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or by hand, shred the jackfruit. See pictures in post for reference on how you want the texture to look. In the stand mixer, this will only take 1-2 minutes. 
3. Add the shredded jackfruit to an Instant Pot or a Crockpot. Add all of the marinade ingredients in the ingredient list and stir to combine (see post photos for reference). Slow cook on low for 8 hours. 
4. After 8 hours, you can crisp up the jackfruit in a large cast iron skillet before serving but I usually just serve right out of the Instant Pot or Crockpot.
5. Serve the jackfruit carnitas tacos with mango salsa, guacamole, lime juice, and cilantro. Enjoy! 

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Notes

• Be sure to buy the type of jackfruit that is in brine, not syrup. This is the one I used.
• You can cook this on the slow cooker setting in either an Instant Pot or Crockpot. 

• Category: Main Dishes
• Method: Slow Cooker
• Cuisine: Mexican

Keywords: slow cooker carnitas, slow cooker jackfruit tacos, jackfruit carnitas tacos, mango salsa, easy vegan tacos, vegan carnitas, instant pot recipe, crockpot recipe

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