Vegan Barbacoa With Mushrooms

3 Ingredient Pressure Cooker Vegan Barbacoa Recipe made with veggies is a hearty jackfruit barbacoa recipe that vegans will love. Serve it with rice, as lettuce cups or in an enchilada recipe.

This is my first attempt at making a vegan barbacoa recipe and I have to say that it turned out to be so delicious!

I always thought that it would be a very involved process to make a barbacoa recipe, but, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

First, the barbacoa sauce is so very easy to make because I only used 3 simple ingredients.

The rest of the recipe includes fresh veggies that are available all year round and cook quickly in the pressure cooker.

What is barbacoa?

Barbacoa is a cooking method that has its roots in Caribbean cooking.  Specifically, it comes from the Tainos Indians who cooked meat using the earth as a cooking pan.

They would create a hole in the ground referred to as “barabicu” which loosely translates as “sacred fire pit”.  They line the hole with fire-resistant fig leaves which also helped preserve food.

There are some instances where the meat was cooked in a hole dug in the ground.  The heat was applied from above and using the earth to conduct the heat to the meat.

“Barbacoa” evolved to modern day “Barbecue” and we have earth cooking to thank for that.

Cooking in earth is a very common way of cooking in the Caribbean and India.  In fact, one of my favorite Indian recipes is a an intricate meal that uses an upside down pot over a pit in the ground.

Earth cooking is one of my biggest wishes to try someday.  Not sure how I am going to go about creating a pit in the ground and start cooking, but, it has been on my bucket list for the longest time.

If anyone has legit ideas, please feel free to contact me…..

Source: Wikipedia, Aqui Es Texcoco, and some of my personal experiences.

Ingredients for vegan barbacoa

– Portobello Mushrooms

– Mini Sweet Peppers

– Jackfruit

– Red Onions

– Garlic

– Barbacao sauce

This recipe was also a chance for me to use jackfruit again.  Its one of those popular vegan ingredients that I haven’t fully embraced.  Check out my jackfruit corn chowder recipe where I use it for the first time on my blog.  Its was really a hearty soup and gave me an appreciation for its potential.

You can add more jackfruit to this vegan barbacoa, if you are have developed a taste for it.  I will also not blame you if you want to skip it all together.

Portobello mushrooms add a nice “meaty” texture to this barbacoa recipe.  They have a dense texture which makes them perfect substitute for meat.  Whenever I have any left over portobellow mushrooms, I like to stuff them or even grill them

Related: 4 Amazing Mushroom Recipes For Dinner

Tips for making this recipe

– Make this vegan barbacoa in the instant pot or pressure cooker for those nights when you are going to be too busy.  Adjust the cooking time according to the device you are using.  My recipe is made using this Bestek pressure cooker and the cook times work perfectly for it.

– You can also dump all the ingredients into a slow cooker and let it cook for about 6 hours

– Use jackfruit from a can because it has been put in a brine solution, making it easier to cook.  I used (affiliate link) Arroy-D’s Jackfruit in a brine can.  Its very easy to work with and cooks perfectly. Leftover jackfruit can be turned into easy jackfruit curry bowls.

– In the barbacoa sauce recipe, I make liberal use of chipotle in adobo sauce.  They are spicy and tangy which may not be for everyone.  Adjust it to your taste.

– This vegan barbacoa recipe is more on the saucy side because I loved it over rice.  If you want to use it in taco or burrito recipes, use less coconut water in the barbacoa sauce.

– My favorite ingredient in this recipe has to be the mini sweet peppers.  So, don’t even think of omitting them when you make my recipe!  P/S: If you have left over mini sweet peppers, stuff them with rice.

– Put the barbacoa in (affiliate link) glass meal prep containers and use it up within 2 weeks.

🌶 Substitution tip: Don’t have Chipotle Adobo sauce? Sub with tomato paste and cayenne pepper (or jalapeno) mixture. 

How to eat it

Serve it with rice

I have to admit that this was my favorite way of eating barbacoa.  I know I am not supposed to pick favorites because all 3 serving methods are delicious!

But, I have a love for basmati rice and it was the perfect compliment to vegan barbacoa. Rice

So, serve it with basmati, any long grain rice or even brown rice recipe.

🥫 Handy Tip: Make your barbacoa with more sauce, if you are serving it with rice. This will make the meal so moist and delicious.

Serve it in lettuce cups

If you are looking for a light lunch idea which is also healthy, you will love eating it in lettuce cups.

I served it with romaine lettuce and it was so delicious.  The romaine does a great job of evening out some of the spice from the barbacoa’s flavors.

🥬 Substitution tip: You can use any green leafy vegetable, not just romaine. Try lola rosa or butterhead lettuces.

Put it into vegan enchiladas

This image really doesn’t do the recipe any justice.  After taking this photo, I have come to realize that I need to practice taking more casserole dish recipes because I am not very good at it.

But, ignore my not-so-good image and make these beyond delicious vegan barbacoa enchilada.

P/s: I have a very old recipe for vegetarian enchiladas that is quick, easy and hearty.

So, how are you going to eat this vegan barbacoa?

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