You know when you always try to make your food from scratch, then some days you’re tired, you’ve had a long day, and you just want dinner in front of you like an hour ago?

Jack.Fruit.

The answer to your problems.  Er…my problems.

Upton’s

I got to visit Upton’s Breakroom back in October for dinner.  I ordered:

• the korean tacos
• the fried bacon mac and cheese (as amazing as it sounds)
• spicy pumpkin soup
• and I ate some of husband’s “Chicago Style” Italian sandwich

Holy cow, it was delicious.  Everything on the menu: vegan.  It was a dream come true.

As we were leaving, I noticed they had a display of the other products they have available in stores.

Upton’s has a whole line of seitan products, all on display.  (You probably recognize the mustache guy.  Also, I used their Chick Seitan in the Thanksgiving Casserole this year.)

ANNNNND, they had their new Jackfruit products on display.  Whatttt??

I thought it sounded weird, and I promised myself I would research jackfruit and check it out later.

Soon after, I found the BBQ Jackfruit at my local Whole Foods, and grabbed a few boxes on sale.  Wheee!

What the heck is jackfruit?

I’m glad you asked.

Turns out jackfruit trees are in the mulberry family…but one fruit can reach up to 100 pounds?!  If you want to read more about them, NPR had this quick article with some jackfruit information.

You can buy jackfruit flavored and packaged like Upton’s.

You can get canned jackfruit at asian grocery stores and mix up your own BBQ Jackfruit using your favorite BBQ sauce, like Dana at Minimalist Baker does it here.

You can get jackfruit plain, organic, and dried in your next Thrive Market order.  (Great snack.)

In short, it’s a delicious, fleshy fruit that absorbs the flavors you cook it with.

I’ve made Upton’s BBQ Jackfruit a few different ways, but my hands-down favorite is on a toasted pretzel roll.

And with toppings.

Lots of delicious, sloppy toppings.

Pretzel Buns

Pretzilla!  Pretzel. Burger. Buns.

Stop everything.

Pretzilla makes VEGAN pretzel buns in different shapes: burger buns, mini burger buns (great for appetizer-sized sandwiches), and sausage buns.

And they are a perfect toasted and stuffed with BBQ Jackfruit.  I found Pretzillas at Whole Foods.

Make sweet potato fries

If you have energy for putting a little more effort into this meal, a side of home-made sweet potato fries really makes this the best.

Cutting up some sweet potatoes, tossing them in some oil & spices, and baking them = worth it.

Garlic Aioli Dipping & Pouring Sauce

Apparently, mayonnaise and aioli are very similar.

So after reading some definitions of aioli, I mixed up some garlic aioli to dip the fries in.

I started with the vegan mayo I made the other week and went by taste slowly adding more garlic powder, lemon juice, and olive oil  until it seemed perfect to me.

To pour on on the sandwich, I just added a splash of water to give it a little more movement, so it would drizzle down the sides and get all sloppy-good.

I sautéed up some onions and mushrooms for the bottom layer, tossed the jackfruit in a pan to heat, and finally, piled the sandwich high with sautéed homemade sauerkraut.

Load it up with garlic aioli and you’ve got a drool-worthy dinner in 10 minutes.

This sandwich is the proud recipient of the Carnivore-Stamp-of-Approval.

All carnivores I’ve fed it to rave about the amazing flavors, textures, and belly-feel (how it sits after you mow it down, of course).

Not a sponsored post

Also, I’d like to mention that this isn’t a sponsored post.  No one paid me to write this post, compensated me for my time, or gave me free products.

I just find myself making this sandwich over and over for guests, for husbands, for probably Super Bowls, and for those days I’m just so tired and can’t even.  And I thought it was a good one to share because you would probably really enjoy it too.

I’m grateful that companies like Upton’s and Pretzilla keep coming up with awesome, delicious products that make our collective vegan hearts sing.