What Is Jackfruit? The Tropical Fruit Explained
Jackfruit is a very large tropical fruit, sweet when ripe and meat-like when green and cooked. Here is what it is and how it is used.
African Stores Editorial Team
The short answer
Jackfruit is a very large tropical fruit with sweet, fragrant yellow bulbs when it is ripe, eaten fresh as a fruit. When it is unripe and green, the same fruit is cooked as a savoury, meat-like ingredient that shreds and takes on the flavours it is cooked with. Grown across the tropics, jackfruit is used in Caribbean, African and Asian cooking, from sweet snacking to hearty savoury dishes. In the UK fresh, tinned and frozen jackfruit is sold by African and Caribbean food shops, which you can find near you on African Stores.
What to remember
- Jackfruit is a very large tropical fruit with sweet yellow bulbs when ripe.
- Ripe jackfruit is eaten fresh; its flavour is sweet and fragrant.
- Unripe green jackfruit is cooked as a savoury, meat-like ingredient.
- It is grown across the tropics and used in Caribbean, African and Asian cooking.
- It is sold fresh, tinned in brine for savoury use, or tinned in syrup when ripe.
Cutting into a ripe jackfruit, its sweet, heady scent filling the kitchen, is pure comfort for many people from the tropics living in Britain. It is the taste of home, of golden bulbs eaten fresh on a warm day, or of green jackfruit stewed down into a hearty, savoury dish that feeds the whole family. Reaching for a jackfruit, fresh or tinned, far from home is reaching for that familiar tropical flavour that always meant plenty.
There is quiet heritage in it, in the tropical gardens and markets where jackfruit has long been a generous, everyday fruit, sweet in one hand and a savoury meal in the other. To cook with jackfruit in Britain is to keep that tradition going, and to share a first taste of the sweet fruit or a green jackfruit curry is to pass it on. That versatile, tropical taste of home is the quiet gift of jackfruit.
What Jackfruit Actually Is
Jackfruit is one of the largest fruits in the world, a heavy, green-skinned tropical fruit with a bumpy rind that can grow to a considerable size. Inside, when it is ripe, it holds clusters of golden-yellow bulbs that are sweet, soft and fragrant, eaten fresh as a fruit in their own right. The same fruit, picked young and green before it ripens, is firm and neutral in taste, which is what makes it so useful as a savoury ingredient.
That double life is what sets jackfruit apart. Ripe, it is a sweet tropical fruit; unripe and green, it cooks down into tender, stringy pieces that pull apart much like cooked meat and soak up whatever seasoning they are given. Grown across the tropics and long used in Caribbean, African and Asian kitchens, jackfruit is a familiar ingredient in Caribbean food and beyond, valued for both its sweetness and its remarkable savoury versatility.
How Jackfruit Is Used in Cooking
How you use jackfruit depends entirely on whether it is ripe or green. Ripe jackfruit is enjoyed as a fresh fruit, the sweet yellow bulbs eaten on their own, added to fruit salads or used in sweet dishes and drinks, prized for their honeyed, tropical flavour. Preparing a whole ripe jackfruit takes a little effort, as the bulbs are removed from the fibrous interior and their seeds, which can also be cooked, set aside.
Green, unripe jackfruit is the savoury star. Simmered or stewed, it softens and shreds into meat-like pieces that carry sauces and spices beautifully, which is why it is popular in curries, stews and as a plant-based filling. It is widely sold tinned in brine or water for this purpose, ready to drain and cook, while ripe jackfruit is sold tinned in syrup. Both forms, along with fresh and frozen jackfruit, make the fruit easy to use whichever way you want it.
Why Jackfruit Matters Across the Tropics
Jackfruit has fed communities across the tropics for a very long time, an abundant, generous fruit that offers both a sweet treat and a substantial savoury food from a single tree. In the Caribbean, Africa and Asia it has a long history in home cooking, used ripe for its sweetness and green for its filling, meat-like texture, making it a genuinely versatile part of the diet. Its sheer size means one fruit goes a long way.
In recent years green jackfruit has become well known further afield as a plant-based ingredient, valued for the way it mimics the texture of pulled meat in vegetarian and vegan cooking. That popularity has made it easier than ever to find, but it has been cherished in tropical kitchens for generations. To cook with jackfruit is to use an ingredient with deep roots across the tropics, at home in both sweet and savoury dishes.
Where to Buy Jackfruit in the UK
Jackfruit is easy to find in Britain from African and Caribbean food shops, which stock it in the forms that suit different dishes. For savoury cooking, look for green jackfruit tinned in brine or water, ready to drain and cook; for eating as a fruit, look for ripe jackfruit tinned in syrup, or fresh and frozen jackfruit where available. Shops serving Caribbean, African and Asian customers are the natural place to find good quality jackfruit and often more than one form of it.
Whether you want the sweet ripe fruit or green jackfruit for a savoury, meat-like dish, an African or Caribbean food shop is the best place to find what you need, and often a helpful suggestion on preparing it. You can find African food stores near you or look up Caribbean food stores near you to see what is nearby. Sweet and fresh or cooked down into tender savoury pieces, jackfruit brings a versatile taste of the tropics to your kitchen.
Frequently asked questions
What is jackfruit?
Jackfruit is a very large tropical fruit with sweet, fragrant yellow bulbs when it is ripe, eaten fresh as a fruit. When it is unripe and green, the same fruit is cooked as a savoury, meat-like ingredient that shreds and takes on the flavours it is cooked with. Grown across the tropics, it is used in Caribbean, African and Asian cooking.
What does jackfruit taste like?
Ripe jackfruit is sweet, soft and fragrant, with a honeyed, tropical flavour, eaten fresh as a fruit. Green, unripe jackfruit is firm and fairly neutral in taste, which is why it works so well cooked in savoury dishes, soaking up the sauces and spices it is cooked with. In that form it has a tender, stringy, meat-like texture rather than a strong flavour of its own.
How is jackfruit used in cooking?
Ripe jackfruit is eaten as a fresh fruit, on its own, in fruit salads or in sweet dishes and drinks. Green, unripe jackfruit is simmered or stewed until it softens and shreds into meat-like pieces, popular in curries, stews and as a plant-based filling. It is widely sold tinned in brine for savoury use and tinned in syrup when ripe.
Is jackfruit used as a meat substitute?
Green, unripe jackfruit is often used as a plant-based, meat-like ingredient, because when it is cooked it shreds into tender pieces that resemble pulled meat and readily take on sauces and spices. It is popular in vegetarian and vegan cooking for this reason, though it has long been used as a savoury ingredient in tropical kitchens too. Ripe jackfruit, by contrast, is eaten as a sweet fruit.
Where can I buy jackfruit in the UK?
African and Caribbean food shops are the place to buy jackfruit: green jackfruit tinned in brine for savoury cooking, ripe jackfruit tinned in syrup, and fresh or frozen jackfruit where available. Shops serving Caribbean, African and Asian customers often stock more than one form. African Stores lists African and Caribbean food shops across the UK, so you can find one near you that stocks it.
