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.
Try These Vegan Mexican Inspired Recipes
- Fajita Veggies (Chipotle Copycat!)
- Crispy Vegan Potato Tacos
- Vegan Chilaquiles with Silken Tofu ScrambleBeer Braised Jackfruit Enchiladas
- Savory Stuffed Sweet Potato Skins
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Slow Cooker Jackfruit Carnitas Tacos with Mango Salsa
Ingredients
Jackfruit Carnitas Marinade
- 2 (14 ounce) cans jackfruit in brine
- 1 cup orange juice freshly squeezed
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 tablespoon Better than Bouillon Organic Vegetable Base
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
Mango Salsa
- 2-3 Ataulfo mangos diced
- 1-2 Anaheim peppers diced
- ¼ cup white onion raw and diced
- ½ lime juiced
For Serving
- 6 corn tortillas can substitute flour
- guacamole
- Lime Wedges
- Cilantro
Instructions
Slow Cooker Instructions
- Drain and rinse the jackfruit thoroughly.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Serve the jackfruit carnitas tacos with mango salsa, guacamole, lime juice, and cilantro. Enjoy!
Quick Instant Pot Cooking Option
- Drain and rinse the jackfruit thoroughly.
- 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.
- Add the shredded jackfruit to the Instant Pot. Add all of the marinade ingredients in the ingredient list and stir to combine (see post photos for reference). Cook on high manual pressure for 35 minutes and allow for full natural release. Make sure Instant Pot valve is set to seal.
- Serve the jackfruit carnitas tacos with mango salsa, guacamole, lime juice, and cilantro. Enjoy!
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.
- Make sure to use freshly squeezed orange juice - makes a huge difference! I juice citrus at home with this very affordable juicer.
- This recipe is easily doubled or tripled. Adjust to your servings needs!
Note about salt
Please pay attention to the type of salt called for in the recipe (if applicable). Not all salts are made equal and cannot be substituted 1 for 1. If you are substituting table salt for kosher salt, you will need to cut the amount called for in the recipe by at least half.
Disclaimer: The Nutritional Information provided for this recipe is only an estimate. The accuracy of the facts listed is not and cannot be guaranteed.
What a stunning dish…and it’s vegan!!! Jackfruit is one of those meat substitutes I simply don’t mind using. Thanks for this beautiful recipe 🙂
Hi, Traci. Jackfruit is definitely one of my favorites. It really works well here. Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks sounds SENSATIONAL. I love all the sweet and savouriness you’ve got going on in this dish. It’s fantastic to enjoy!
Thank you, Jeannette!
These jackfruit carnitas tacos are so delicious! I never knew jackfruit could taste THIS GOOD!
Yay, I am so glad to hear that!
The flavor of the jackfruit is sooo delicious! I love the mango salsa on top! This recipe came out perfect!
Hi Capri – so glad! The mango salsa is one of my favorites too!
That is simply delicious! I am drooling just looking at this!
Thank you! 🙂
This was my first time eating jackfruit and it was so delicious. The flavors all go together so well, especially with the mango salsa. I already restocked on ingredients to make this again!
Yay! So happy to be your first introduction to jackfruit! I think I’m going to have to make this one again soon too.
I understand what you are trying to do here, but you are confusing people. This are not carnitas, ir even authentic Mexican food. This is why many people believe Taco Bell is authentic Mexican food when is not, and this is why it was considered the best Mexican restaurant in 2018.
Hi, Dave! I completely understand your point and apologize this caused confusion. You are right – this is not traditional or authentic Mexican food. I did call this recipe “Jackfruit Carnitas” and labeled the recipe as Vegan as all the recipes are on my site. It’s simply called carnitas because most people are familiar with that texture and taste and it helps readers understand what this vegan version is meant to emulate. Thanks again for your opinion! I will consider it with future recipes.
The texture was awesome. I may only add 1 tsp of bouillon next time. It came out a bit too salty in my opinion. The mango salsa was delicious. Will definitely make a version of this recipe again!
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Molly! We really love Jackfruit.
Hi! This will be my first time using this recipe.
I was just wondering how many tacos would this make to a serving/per person?
I am planning to take this to a pot luck lunch, as there aren’t often many options for vegetarians (even though I prefer meat, it’s easy for me to have whatever but not so much for people who are vegetarian or vegan, and I want them to have something amazing)
Since I would be making this for a shared lunch, I wasn’t sure if I should increase the quantity if people are have several different items on their plate. I plan to double the recipe, and am currently planning it around ‘3x taco pp for a normal meal = 1 or 2 pp for shared lunch’….
Hi! This recipe written as is makes about 3 tacos per person so about 9 tacos. I just doubled this recipe recently for Mother’s day and it made 18-20 tacos, depending of course how much your coworkers stuffed them! 🙂
We love tacos! This is a great recipe to add to our rotation. Not only is it an easy-to-make, delicious recipe, but the slow cooker and instant pot recipes also help to keep my kitchen cool in summer. The mango salsa is amazing and adds so much flavor to this recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the review.