This strange, green, spiky and yet very interesting looking fruit gets really huge. Sometimes it’s bland and sometimes it’s sweet and it’s becoming more and more popular. Are you curious yet? 😉  I’m talking about the jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) which grows on a jackfruit tree.  It is native to southwest India, but can be found in many tropical, low-lying areas of Asia. The trees are also grown in some hot and humid areas of Africa and Brazil. Additionally, there are a few in California (in the Asian exhibit at the San Diego Zoo) and Florida. But, the young trees won’t survive if temperatures drop below freezing.

We saw jackfruit growing on our visit to Vietnam a few years ago. I snapped this photo while wandering around near the Mekong Delta area, near Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon).

The jackfruit tree is the largest fruit tree in the world, sometimes reaching as tall as 33-65 feet (10 to 20 meters). The fruit can grow as large as 120 pounds (55 kg) each and can be almost a yard or meter long!  That’s one crazy, huge fruit!  They often harvest them early to avoid having the large fruit fall on someone’s head!

What the heck do you do with it?

You can prepare this weird looking fruit in many different ways.  Young, green jackfruit is used for more savory dishes. It can be substituted for meat in recipes. It actually looks and feels like pulled-pork after it’s cooked. At this stage, when it’s still green, it doesn’t have a lot of flavor on its own, but it takes on the flavors of the sauce or spices in the recipe. It can be used in pulled-meat recipes, stir-fries, curries, stews, soups, and more! However, once the fruit becomes ripe, it is sweeter and tastes much like pineapple or banana. Ripened jackfruit can be used in desserts and smoothies. 

You can boil or roast the Jackfruit seeds. They are full of vitamins, potassium, and protein. 

Where can I buy jackfruit?

The first place I saw jackfruit for sale was the big Pacific Ocean Asian Marketplace in a city near where we live. But, as it becomes more and more popular, these crazy looking fruits are starting to show up in regular grocery stores too.  If you buy a fresh, whole jackfruit, you’d better be ready to serve a large group because it won’t keep for very long.  Luckily, you can also purchase prepared and canned jackfruit! I’ve found it in cans in Asian markets, Trader Joe’s, Sprouts and Whole Foods. Some stores offer pre-cut, fresh jackfruit.  If you buy it that way, be sure to avoid the pieces that have lots of dark spots on them. If you can’t find jackfruit near you, it can also be purchased online.

Just the other day I saw commercially prepared BBQ Jackfruit, Jackfruit for Tacos and other varieties at King Soopers.  I’m not advocating for already processed foods because they often contain too much sodium.  But, if you try them – let me know what you think!

Interesting side-note

Indigenous to India, jackfruit is the official fruit of two of their states (Kerala and Tamil Nadu). However, the people there consider it to be a “poor man’s fruit” and it’s often left on the tree to rot. This is really unfortunate because other Asian countries are using jackfruit as one of their staple foods. Countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, are also selling it and making money.

According to Business Insider, the people of India could be making a good income from selling the trees. Jackfruit trees can produce a variety of products using its bark, fruit and latex. It grows all over the place and is easy to maintain. One jackfruit tree can produce around 150 fruits per year. Therefore, this huge fruit could help to feed undernourished people throughout India and other countries.

How about some tasty jackfruit recipes! 

Have you tried Jackfruit? 

Let me know what you think about this strange and wonderful fruit. Please share any recipes you have cooked, I’d love to try them! 

Thank you for sharing! 💚