SLOPPY BBQ JACKFRUIT SLIDERS with SLAW, SRIRACHA MAYO, and PICKLES

MAKES 8 TO 10 SLIDERS (SERVING 4 TO 6)

Get a roll of paper towels and dive in. Sticky, spicy BBQ sauce, creamy sriracha mayo, crunchy slaw, and sour pickles… this little sandwich has got it going on. And the jackfruit: If you haven’t tried it yet, get ready for one of the chewiest, most satisfying plant foods out there. It falls apart in shreds just like you want it to in a sloppy, saucy sandwich. See the headnote to the Jackfruit Carnitas Tacos recipe here for more info on green jackfruit. —CHAD

3½ cups green jackfruit (from a pouch), drained and rinsed

3 tablespoons everyday olive oil

1 small white onion, cut into narrow strips

2 cloves garlic, minced

Smoky BBQ Sauce (here), prepared through step 3 (i.e., not reduced; see Pro Tip)

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 cups finely shaved green cabbage

USE A MANDOLINE!

½ lime, juiced

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 to 10 soft, squishy, slider-size buns, toasted if you like

1 cup thin dill pickle rounds

½ cup Sriracha Mayo (here)

Cut the inner cores from the drained jackfruit, then slice the cores into strips. (The cores will not shred like the rest of the fruit so you need to slice them.)

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring now and then, until lightly browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the jackfruit and cook, stirring a few times, until lightly browned as well, 4 to 6 minutes. This browning process really deepens the flavor of the onions and jackfruit. Add the garlic near the end of the process and cook for just a couple of minutes, until everything is nicely browned.

Scrape the jackfruit mixture into the pot of BBQ sauce. Bring everything to a simmer over medium heat, then cut the heat to medium low and simmer gently until the liquid reduces in volume by about one-fourth, 8 minutes or so. Give it a stir now and then to make sure the jackfruit doesn’t stick to the pan bottom. You want to reduce the liquid enough so that the jackfruit mixture will sit on a sandwich bun but still be kinda wet and sloppy. When it reaches that consistency, stir in ¼ cup of the cilantro and remove the pot from the heat.

To make a quick slaw, toss together the cabbage, lime juice, remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, and remaining ¼ cup cilantro. Season with salt and pepper, then taste it, adding more seasoning as needed.

To assemble, spoon a generous pile of BBQ jackfruit onto each bun and top with pickles, slaw, and a drizzle of sriracha mayo. Sometimes we set everything out and let guests assemble the sammies themselves.

Pro Tip

You want to prepare the BBQ sauce up to the point of adding all the ingredients, but don’t reduce the liquid yet. This is so that when you add the jackfruit to the sauce and then reduce it, the jackfruit soaks up some of the flavor. You can also use bottled barbecue sauce in this recipe—see the Option.

OPTION

To use store-bought barbecue sauce instead of our Smoky BBQ Sauce, put 2 cups of sauce in a large pot and stir in 1 cup Vegetable Stock (here), or store-bought, to thin it out a bit. Then add the jackfruit mixture to the pot and simmer it until reduced in volume by one-fourth, proceeding with the recipe as directed.