A spicy, sweet, sour vegan Jackfruit "Lamb" Tagine made with tender, young jackfruit, onions, apricots, raisins, and Moroccan spices. The recipe is soy-free, gluten-free and nut-free.
Jackfruit is a superfood, with so many nutrients, it needs to be part of any diet, vegan or not. Ripe jackfruit is delicious, but the raw fruit can be a great meat substitute in dishes like vegan haleem, jackfruit burger and vegan massaman curry. I also love it in this, my jackfruit "lamb" tagine recipe.
This is a rather luxuriously prepared dish, but your hands-on time is minimal, so don't worry you'll be stuck over a hot stove for an hour or more. Most of the cooking happens inside the oven. But the slow cooking adds amazing flavor, giving the spices -- and the apricots and raisins -- plenty of time to marry each other and get really happy. Because jackfruit does lack one quality as a meat substitute -- protein -- I added some chickpeas, also a very Moroccan ingredient, to the tagine.
I am in love with this tagine. It's rich and delicious and served on a bed of couscous, it makes for a rich, satisfying, and hearty meal. The jackfruit cooks up tender and delicious and absorbs the spices beautifully. Serve it with this Moroccan bread, which goes from scratch to done in just over 90 minutes, or with rice or couscous.
Recipe card
Vegan Jackfruit "Lamb" Tagine
Ingredients
- 16 oz jackfruit (I used canned jackfruit)
- 1 large onion (thinly sliced)
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or any neutral oil
- 1 teaspoon ginger (grated)
- 1 tablespoon garlic (grated)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon cayenne
- 4 cups vegetable stock or water
- 1 inch stick cinnamon
- ½ cup dried apricots
- ¼ cup golden raisins
- 2 cups canned or cooked chickpeas (drained)
- 2 tablespoon parsley (chopped)
- 1 teaspoon ras el hanout
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Mix the garlic, ginger, turmeric, paprika, salt and cumin powder. Dredge the jackfruit slices in it and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a wide, oven-safe saucepan. Add the onions with some salt and saute until they soften.
- Add the tomato paste and stir. Cook for a couple of minutes.
- Add the jackfruit slices with all the spices they were marinated in, and let the jackfruit cook with the onions over medium-high heat, about 10 minutes, until it starts to brown. Stir frequently.
- Add 3 cups of stock or water. You should have enough to almost cover the jackfruit. Add the apricots, raisins, and cayenne or red pepper flakes. Add the cinnamon stick and the chickpeas. Stir well and bring to a boil.
- Cover the saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, and place in the oven for 25 minutes.
- After 25 minutes, lower the heat to 350 degrees and cook for another 30 minutes. Check while baking and add the remaining stock or water if the stew looks too dry.
- Remove from the oven and carefully open. Stir in the ras el hanout. Check the tagine for salt and add more if needed.
- Garnish with parsley, and serve with couscous.
Notes
- To make this recipe fat-free and in a slow cooker, mix all the ingredients in a crockpot and cook for three to four hours on high, checking the water level occasionally, and adding more if it dries up. Leave out the oil.
Nutrition Information
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AJ Gest says
I made and enjoyed your recipe this evening. What a delicious meal loved the spices and sweet and savory meld of flavors. We served it over brown basmati rice, this gave it a subtle nutty flavor.
Looking forward to trying some of your other dishes.
Florence Alderson says
Tried recipe in Instant Pot as another lady did. I took her advice to use half amount of water/stock and used "Soup" programme for 5 mins. I used large frying pan to make it all up then used IP for last cooking period. Really lovely. Been meaning to make your recipe for ages.
Vaishali says
Awesome! So happy you made it.
juliebennett says
love;y meal
Vaishali says
So happy to hear!
Rebecca Hyland says
I only have access to frozen green jackfruit. Could this work in this recipe? I am unsure if the jackfruit is meant to be ripe or under-ripe. Thank you
Vaishali says
That would work perfectly!
Ian says
Looks amazing. Does this really serve 10? It doesn't seem like enough ingredients to me. Is this the type of recipe that can be easily doubled?
thanks!
Vaishali says
Yes, you can easily double it!
Nicolle says
Made this tonight in the instant pot and it turned out great. I ran out of tumeric and could barely scratch out half of what was called for, but aside from that, it was great. In the IP, I pressure cooked it for 10 minutes, I think I would cut that back to maybe 5 minutes to keep some of the texture of the apricots and jackfruit. It comes out of the IP watery, but with couscous it is perfect. If you want it thicker and are using an instant pot, I'd reduce the water to 2 cups.
Great recipe, I'll definitely make it again.
Vaishali says
Sounds awesome. Thanks for sharing your Instant Pot tips.
Amelia says
V, just had this for dinner, and can I say -- AWESOME! I miss lamb and other meats since I went vegan, and although I have no intention of going back, recipes like these keep me from cheating. Thank you!!
Vaishali says
Awesome, so happy you made it!
Casey Markee says
I love jackfruit. This was incredibly easy to make and delicious. Thanks so much!
Aarti says
Thanks Vaishali. Any suggestions to recreate this in slow cooker...
Vaishali says
Yes, you can absolutely make this in the slow cooker. No need to even brown the ingredients first-- just mix everything in the slow cooker and cook on high for three to four hours. I would check the water level occasionally to make sure it isn't all dry. If you use the slow cooker method, you can also leave out the oil. I will add this to the recipe notes too.