Not sure what to think of jackfruit, huh? Well, no need to search for any more jackfruit recipes, because this one’ll change your mind in jackfruit’s favor. Shredded young jackfruit, combined with hearty wild rice, a creamy coconut base and verdant broccoli florets congregate together to create a lavish jackfruit casserole that’s honestly hard to resist digging into. And when topped with panko breadcrumbs and Follow Your Heart vegan parm, baked and broiled to become a golden brown and crispy casserole stratosphere, the multitude tastes and textures – creamy, rich, crunchy, soft – truly make eating this casserole a joy, an experience and a bookmark-able, repeatable eat that really must not go unmade!
“I don’t use the word gourmet. The word doesn’t mean anything anymore. ‘Gourmet’ makes it sound like someone is putting sherry wine in the corn-flake casserole.”
– Julia Child
Demystifying Jackfruit
For the first few years of making and eating plant-based food, I rarely gave jackfruit recipes a second thought. The name alone was enough to scared me away. I remember thinking that I didn’t want anything remotely “fruit-like” to be a stand in for a shredded meaty thing; I imagined something akin to pears or strawberries, sweet and juicy and mushy.
But jackfruit is actually a spectacular ingredient, and its potential truly limitless. A plethora possibilities for delicious jackfruit recipes popped into my head once I learned how to harness and appreciate this versatile ingredient more.
Easily shredded, easily imbibed with big flavors, and easily able to stand in for any shredded meat, jackfruits an ingredient that you must explore if you want to expand your plant-based culinary horizons.
It’s also much like tofu or tempeh in its ability to become whatever you want it to be, if given the proper time and attention, as well as how it tastes pretty much like nothing in particular.. Well, maybe a little sweet and a little citrus-y, but not in any way an obvious, obtrusive flavor.
However, unlike tofu and tempeh, which both boast an impressive nutritional profile, namely hearty amounts of protein, jackfruit is, to put it mildly, pretty sparse in that regard. It’s basically fiber…and not too much else. Ironically, in many jackfruit recipes, it serves as this incredibly shreddable, hearty filling, while the protein content of the ingredient itself simply isn’t reflective of its meatiness. You’ll have to impart protein with the other elements of jackfruit recipes instead.
So I hope this will be the first of many jackfruit recipes for you, and a culinary gateway through which you can leave any fear or trepidation of it behind. Let this casserole help you to gain confidence in your preparation of jackfruit, and delight you in your consumption of it, too!
For more information about jackfruit, check out these recipes, too: Jackfruit & Lentil Tamales & BBQ Jackfruit Sliders.
“Sleep? What’s that? A new type of casserole?”
– Maria V. Snyder
How To Build Flavors: Jackfruit Casserole Style
Most jackfruit recipes are going to require big flavors, since the ingredient is really quite neutral all on its own. Therefore, in this jackfruit casserole, you’ve got a whole host of delicious flavors, all of which work harmoniously together to create a veritable panorama of tastes that bring this dish to life.
Onions & Garlic: Sauté ’em up for a hearty baseline of flavor.
Coconut Milk: Full-fat for the most unctuous, velvety texture and a light and floral creaminess.
Wild Rice: Much better than a plain white rice; it has an earthy, grainy flavor, and more too texture. Simply use pre-made microwaveable rice – casseroles don’t need to be overly fancy or too time-consuming to make.
Broccoli: Ah yes, the king of the cruciforms. Slightly sweet, a lil’ crunchy, and a wonderful contrasting color, too.
Apple Cider Vinegar: A splash of A.C.V. (my nickname for it) makes all the difference, sometimes. In plant-based cooking, a little vinegar can be used similarly to salt: accentuating and highlighting the flavors of everything else, the acid an elevating outline for the other ingredients. Be sure to go for the unfiltered (with “the Mother”) and organic apple cider vinegar.
Panko Breadcrumbs & Follow Your Heart Parm: The salty, olive oil-y crispy topping for this jackfruit casserole, and an element that must not be left off for maximum enjoyment.
Nutritional Yeast: (a.k.a. nooch..) a classic vegan staple. Toasted yeast cultures. It doesn’t sound appetizing, I know, but it gives the jackfruit casserole that extra cheesy kick on the inside, mirroring the cheesy parm-panko crust on the outside.
“The existence of broccoli does not in any way affect the taste of chocolate.”
– John Green
Vegan Parmasean – Yeah, it’s a thing!
Vegan cheeses are no longer the plastic-y, synthetic mockups they used to be.. okay, well some still are, but most companies have innovated and improved upon their products to the point where dairy and non-dairy are distinct only in ingredients alone, but not taste, texture or that oh so holy meltability.
With that said, I’m not going to claim that Follow Your Heart Parm is exactly like parmasean, because it isn’t. But it’s kind of got its own thing going on, and I’m all here for it. Sprinkle these cheesy tendrils over the top of your jackfruit casserole, and you’ll not only have a crispy, bubbly parm topping, but a good kind of salty, cheesy kick that’ll compliment the casserole perfectly.
Back in my day (2016 when I first started this vegan thing..am I old enough to start saying that?), vegan cheeses had yet to really convince me. Now I can say with increasing certainty that Follow Your Heart has a winner here, and I’m excited to see what they make in the future, and how they can improve upon existing products, too.
Sidenote: if you’re looking for a grate-able block of vegan parm, Violife Parmesan is actually the most insane vegan parm I’ve ever had. It grates, melts, and tastes exactly like a finely aged parmesan, and I’m wholeheartedly recommending it to anyone and everyone who loves parm. You might even be able to use it in this jackfruit casserole – I haven’t tried it yet, so I’m not sure!
“A good marriage is like a casserole, only those responsible for it really know what goes in it.”
– Unknown
Jackfruit Recipes: Wild Rice & Broccoli Jackfruit Casserole
Okay, okay – let me mention one thing about this casserole that perhaps didn’t turn out exactly as I wanted it to: it didn’t hold together completely as a nice, gooey section, but rather splayed out in all directions as this mass of deliciousness.
Personally, this is a bit of a nitpick on my part, as my vision for what I want it to be often contrasts with what it is, in this case once the laws of physics takes a hold. But really, it didn’t detract at all from the flavor or edibility. In fact, I still assert that this jackfruit casserole is one of those jackfruit recipes that is a must-try, since it’s quite tasty, easy to make and even easier to eat.
So if you’re looking for new jackfruit recipes or an interesting way to use jackfruit, then let this one be your guide – for you and your tastebuds – to a land of creamy, hearty and comfortingly casserole-y jackfruit goodness.
“Listen to your broccoli and it will tell you how to eat it.”
– Anne Lamott
I hope that you enjoyed this jackfruit casserole, and that you can file it away as a favorite in your top jackfruit recipes! If you did enjoy it, consider leaving me a comment and recipe rating before you go!
Wild Rice Jackfruit Casserole with Vegan Parmesan-Panko Topping
Equipment
- 9×13 Casserole Dish
- Aluminium Foil
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ yellow onion, finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 (14-ounce) can young jackfruit, shredded, rinsed and drained
- 1 (13.66-ounce) can regular fat coconut milk, lite works, too
- 1 ½ cups cooked wild rice, pre-made microwaveable is easiest
- 1 ½ cups broccoli florets
- 1 ½ tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut yogurt
- ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt
Vegan Parm-Panko Topping
- ⅓ cup Panko breadcrumbs
- ½ tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ cup Follow Your Heart Shredded Parmesan, (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Then, in a skillet over medium heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil, sauté the yellow onion and garlic for 3 – 5 minutes, until fragrant and beginning to soften.
- Next, drain, rinse, and shred the canned young jackfruit well (emphasis on the young – you don't want old jackfruit in syrup – it's sweet). Discard any bits that are overly hard and don't shred easily by hand (such as the seeds and end bits). Once that's done, in a large mixing bowl, combine the shredded jackfruit with the coconut milk, cooked wild rice, broccoli florets, nutritional yeast, coconut yogurt, apple cider vinegar and salt, as well as the sautéed onion and garlic. Mix the ingredients together well.
- Spread the mixture evenly in a 9×13 casserole dish, and cover it with aluminum foil. Bake the casserole covered for 35 – 45 minutes, or until the broccoli florets begin to turn a softer green and are more tender (poke 'em with a fork to test).
- While the casserole is baking, in a small bowl combine the panko breadcrumbs with the olive oil, dried thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Mix it together with your fingers until the breadcrumbs begin to clump together. Remove the casserole from the oven once the broccoli florets are becoming tender (35 – 45 minutes), take off the foil, and sprinkle the breadcrumbs evenly over the top, and then the ½ cup Follow Your Heart Parmesan in a similar fashion. Bake for another 10 – 15 minutes uncovered, until the broccoli florets are truly tender when poked with a fork.
- Lastly, remove the casserole from the oven one last time, set your oven rack to a higher rung (about 6 – 8 inches from the top), and then return the casserole to the oven on broil, but only for about 1 – 2 minutes, until the breadcrumbs brown and the parmesan bubbles. After that, it's ready to eat.
Nutrition
May you have good food in good company,
That Vegan Nephew
I love the ingredients and the way it looks toasty and golden brown out of the oven so it’s on my to do list. Remind me of casseroles of my childhood. Have you thought about adding chickpeas to the dish?