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Jackfruit, when shredded and marinaded in a tangy, sweet and spiced pickled beet juice, becomes a meaty, magenta miracle to bring your vegan reuben sandwich dreams to life. All you gotta’ do is make some pickled beets, marinate some jackfruit in the juice (which is further seasoned with dijon and ground clove – reminiscent of the classic ‘corned beef’ flavors) and bake it in the oven until relatively crispy. It’s a surprisingly satiating sandwich that’ll leave you wondering – just what can’t be ‘veganized’?

Vegan Reuben Ingredients

1 can young jackfruit
Pickled beet juice
Dijon mustard
Ground cloves
Ground black pepper
Whole wheat bread
Sauerkraut, preferably live culture
Follow Your Heart Guda
Sweet pickles
Pickled beets

How To Make A Vegan Reuben

This vegan sandwich does take a bit of preparatory work (a.k.a. making the pickled beets), but it’s totally worth it!

Firtly, for this vegan reuben, you’re going to need to make pickled beets, and let them steep in the pickling liquid for at least 4 hours.
Open and drain a can of young jackfruit in a colander, then rinse with water. Next, break apart the chunks of jackfruit with your fingers or a fork, until it becomes a finely shredded texture (this includes breaking down the little seeds and hard parts, too). Return the shredded jackfruit to the colander and rinse one last time. Set out to dry.
Now, combine ½ cup of the pickled beet juice with the dijon mustard, ground cloves and ground black pepper. Whisk well to incorporate all the ingredients, then add your shredded jackfruit. Mix the jackfruit into the marinade, and then let marinate for at least 4 hours, up to overnight.
When your jackfruit has marinaded for a sufficient amount of time, set the oven to 375°F. Then, spread the shredded jackfruit out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil across it. Distribute the oil and jackfruit evenly across the baking sheet, then bake for around 27 – 28 minutes, until it starts to get moderately crispy looking, turning the jackfruit with a fork about halfway through.
Once your jackfruit is done baking, begin assembling your reuben by toasting some whole wheat bread, and heat up some sauerkraut. On the toasted bread, slather on some dijon, followed by some vegan guda, sweet pickles, jackfruit ‘corned beef’, and then some pickled beets, along with other condiments like Veganise or thousand island dressing.

Tips & Tricks for Jackfruit

Make sure to buy YOUNG jackfruit – old jackfruit is more ripe and submersed in a syrup, and so will be sweet. Not the flavor profile you’re looking for in a vegan reuben.
Thoroughly shred the jackfruit chunks with your fingers or fork. The more you shred it, the more realistically meaty the texture will be for this vegan reuben, and the better it’ll cook and crisp up in the oven as well.
Know the nutritional properties of jackfruit! It’s basically all fiber – not much protein. This isn’t really the highest protein sandwich, so best to find a better supplement of protein in your diet than this vegan reuben (talking to you primary, vegans).

How To Make Pickled Beets

Ingredients

3 – 4 medium beets
1 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
¼ – ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, (¼ – ½ depending on your personal preference)
Dash of ground black pepper
+ Water (if needed, to dilute the vinegar)

Instructions

Remove the beet greens, but keep the stem on about ½-inch from the top of the beet. Cover the beets with water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a steady simmer (about medium-high heat). Boil the beets for about 30 minutes, until a fork can be inserted into them without too much hassle.
Remove the beets from the pot. Under cold running water, remove the outside layer of skin to reveal the fleshy, soft magenta skin underneath.
Cut off the tail and upper stem from the beet, and then cut the beets in half. Cut each half cross-wise into half moons.
Marinade the beets in the pickling liquid of rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, cinnamon and a little bit of pepper. Also, note that you can dilute the pickling liquid with a couple tablespoons of water for a less concentrated version if the vinegar is too strong a taste for you.Store the pickled beets in a closed container in the fridge – good for about two to three weeks.