Jackfruit corned beef reuben sandwich (vegan)
This jackfruit reuben was inspired by a sandwich I loved at FUD restaurant in Kansas City before it closed. Filled with tangy jackfruit, crunchy sauerkraut, and a drizzling of vegan Thousand Island, it's the kind of flavor-packed sandwich that doesn't hold back.
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 287kcal
Ingredients
Vegan Thousand Island dressing
- 2 Tablespoons vegan mayonnaise I use Vegenaise
- 1 Tablespoon ketchup
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon finely chopped dill pickles
Corned jackfruit
- 2 Tablespoons cooked beets*
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon tamari
- 1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon no beef base
- 2 Tablespoons dill pickle juice
- 20 ounces young green jackfruit canned in water or brine, not syrup, drained and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon avocado oil or other neutral-flavored, high heat oil
- ½ teaspoon granulated onion
- ½ teaspoon dried dill
- 1 Tablespoon tahini
Jackfruit corned beef reuben sandwich
- 8 slices marbled rye bread
- non-dairy butter for toasting bread (optional)
- 1 cup sauerkraut drained
Instructions
To make vegan Thousand Island dressing
- In a small bowl, combine vegan mayonnaise, ketchup, lemon juice, and dill pickles. Set aside.
To make the corned jackfruit
- In a blender, combine cooked beets, water, tamari, Better Than Bouillon no beef base, and dill pickle juice. Blend until the beets are completely broken up and smooth. Set aside.
- Thoroughly rinse the jackfruit in a colander. The jackfruit will still hold a lot of brine flavor from the can. So rinse it well.
- Pour the jackfruit onto a clean kitchen towel. Over the sink, use the towel to twist and wring out the jackfruit, completely squeezing it dry to get out as much of the liquid from the can as possible. (If it's too wet, it won't brown as well. So use a second towel, if necessary, to get all of the liquid out.)
- Put the jackfruit into a food processor. Pulse it 5 or 6 times, stopping to scrape down the sides if necessary. It should be broken up into even, smaller pieces.(If you don't have a food processor, just chop the jackfruit up small on a cutting board.)
- Bring oil to a medium high heat in a large non-stick skillet. Evenly lay the shredded jackfruit across the skillet. Brown it really well on one side. You want it to get a some nice color and to dry out. (If you move it too often, it won't brown as well.) Once it has nicely browned on one side, flip the jackfruit with a spatula and brown the other side.
- Once it has browned all over and shrunken in the pan, it's time to infuse it with flavor. Add the liquid from the blender, as well as granulated onion & dried dill. Fully combine it with the jackfruit. You want the liquid to be at a simmer, so adjust your heat accordingly. Allow it to simmer in the liquid for ten to twelve minutes, until all of the liquid has cooked off.
- Once the liquid has cooked off, turn off the heat. Add tahini to the jackfruit mixture, and thoroughly combine. It will make the jackfruit sticky enough to stay on the sandwich, and it evens out the flavor.
To make jackfruit corned beef reuben sandwich
- Bring a large, non-stick skillet to a medium heat. If desired, lightly butter one side of the bread on all 8 slices of rye. Lay the slices buttered side down onto the skillet. (If you'd rather not butter the bread, you can skip that step. It just won't brown quite as nicely.) Allow the bread to toast for about 4 minutes, until it gets nutty brown on one side. Then turn off the heat, and remove the slices from the skillet.
- Now it's time to make the sandwiches. Put a few spoonfuls of jackfruit mixture onto four of the bread slices. Then top with sauerkraut (about ¼ cup of sauerkraut for each sandwich). Then drizzle Thousand Island on top of the sauerkraut (about a Tablespoon of dressing per sandwich). Top the sandwiches with the remaining slices of toasted bread and serve right away.
Notes
*The cooked beets are added for color alone. So if you don't want/don't care if your corned jackfruit is pink, feel free to leave them out.
If you do leave them out, then you don't need to get the blender involved. Simply add the water, tamari, bouillon, pickle juice, and spices to the pan with the jackfruit after it has been browned.
Options for cooking fresh or frozen beet:
- Air fry: Cut the top off of a small beet and peel it. Then cut it in half, and cut those halves into quarters. (Or cut the beet into roughly one inch pieces.) Cover the beet pieces in oil, and add them to an air fryer basket. Air fry at 390 degrees for 11 minutes or until fork tender. (You probably won't need all of the beet to reach 2 Tablespoons.)
- Microwave: Use frozen beets that are sold peeled & in chunks. Grab about 3 chunks, and pop them into the microwave for about 30 seconds.
- Steam: Put the fresh or frozen beet into a steamer basket, and steam until fork tender.
- Use beet juice instead: Simply pour in an equal amount of beet juice. (Again, if you're just using beet juice, you won't need to use the blender to blend the liquid corned jackfruit ingredients.)
Nutrition
Calories: 287kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1216mg | Potassium: 287mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 20IU | Vitamin C: 6.1mg | Calcium: 73mg | Iron: 2.8mg
