For a long time, I didn’t rate jackfruit. Sure, it looks like shredded meat but the texture is more akin to pulled mush than pulled pork. Jackfruit straight from the tin has been sitting in water for god knows how long and we need to get that water out if we want it to resemble the texture of meat in any way.
The trick is to salt the jackfruit and dry it out in the oven before using it! Once most of the moisture is gone, the texture of jackfruit is infinitely better and is perfect for this vegan ‘tuna’ melt!
This recipe makes two EPIC vegan tuna melts packed with dill, capers, melty cheese, creamy mayo and jackfruit like you’ve never had it before! There are lots of ways to customise this sandwich so head to the notes for suggestions. We also have some great options for gluten-free bread on the blog, try the gluten-free sandwich bread or go all out and make our everything bagels.
FYI I like to keep things short and sweet here on the bb blog! I put all the notes at the end so you don’t have to scroll through copious amounts of text to get to the recipe. If you found this useful, I’d love your support on Instagram, click here to follow.
ingredients
1 x 400ml tin jackfruit in water (not syrup)
⅛ tsp. fine sea salt
100g vegan cheese, grated or sliced
4 slices of your favourite bread
65g vegan mayonnaise
½ tsp. maple syrup
¼ tsp. fine sea salt
pinch ground black pepper
½ tsp. aonori or dulse seaweed, optional
1 Tbsp. fresh dill, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. capers
½ red onion thinly sliced
process
Turn the oven to 200C.
Drain and rinse the jackfruit well and transfer to a baking tray. Sprinkle the jackfruit with ⅛ teaspoon salt and use your fingers to shred the jackfruit up.
Place the jackfruit in the oven to dry out for 20 minutes, tossing the jackfruit halfway through.
Lightly toast your bread and place the slices on a baking tray. Cover one side of each piece of bread with cheese. Place in the oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted (you can do this under the grill too but since the oven is on I melted my cheese in the oven).
Transfer the jackfruit from the tray to a bowl, add the mayo, lemon juice, maple syrup, dill, salt, pepper, capers and seaweed. Mix well to combine.
Divide the jackfruit evenly between 2 slices of bread, top each sandwich with sliced onion and the remaining slice of bread. Or make 4 open sandwiches and divide the jackfruit between the four slices of bread.
NOTES
Want to Customize this Sandwich? Here are a few suggestions!
Chicken Salad
Leave out the capers, dill and seaweed and instead mix in ¼ – ½ tsp of vegan chicken seasoning or garlic powder and serve the sandwich with tomato and lettuce.
Don’t like capers?
Finely chop a couple of gherkins and add those instead or go with a classic and add a few tablespoons of sweet corn.
Don’t like dill?
Try parsley instead or leave out the herbs completely.
Don’t have any jackfruit?
Use chickpeas instead. Don’t worry about drying them out in the oven just chuck them into a bowl and with the ⅛ tsp of salt and roughly mash them with a fork before adding the remaining ingredients.
Want to make your own mayo?
We’ve got a great recipe for vegan mayo and lots of recommendations for how to flavour your homemade mayo! This sandwich would be great with aioli or add a little kick and try the gochujang mayo!
Want to make your own bread?
It’s not always easy finding a decent gluten-free bread that’s also vegan! Head to the yeasted section of the site to explore all our bread options from bagels to sourdough.
