The Spruce Eats: What Is Jackfruit? Jackfruit is an enormous tropical fruit similar in taste to mango or pineapple. It is eaten green or ripe and used as a vegan meat substitute. Darlene Schmidt is a cookbook author and culinary teacher who jackfruit tacos in Thai cuisine.

Jackfruit is enormous and prickly on the outside. Jackfruit is not the easiest fruit to prepare. Ripe jackfruit can be eaten fresh or added to desserts such as ice cream. It’s the unripe, green jackfruit that’s the most interesting and useful. Preparing a green jackfruit takes a little doing, but it yields a lot of food. The extras can be frozen for future use, just like you would with extra fresh meat. Jackfruit contains natural latex, so if you have a latex allergy, wear gloves.

A common way to prepare jackfruit is by boiling or using a pressure cooker. It’s best to lay down newspaper over a wide working surface, then slice the jackfruit into two halves. When the jackfruit is cooked, peel off the skin to reveal the seeds and pods surrounding the seeds. The seed pods can be eaten, as well as the stringy fleshy sections between the pods and skin. Dig all of this out, separating the seeds. Cook with the “flesh” or bag and freeze it. Many people choose to discard jackfruit seeds but they are edible as long as they’re cooked.

The raw seeds pose a potential risk to people who take certain medications, including common over-the-counter pain relievers and prescription blood thinners. Roasting, much like roasted pumpkin seeds, is a popular way to finish cooking the seeds. Ripe jackfruit has a tropical fruit sweetness often likened to mango or pineapple. When still green, jackfruit has a more neutral flavor, similar to a potato, and will absorb the flavor of other foods it’s cooked with. The seeds are similar to chestnuts after boiling or roasting.