Hi there, sweet friends! One word of advice: please don’t go and get yourselves addicted to coffee. Don’t be like me. I’ve spent the last 14 hours curled up in bed suffering alllll effects of caffeine withdrawal: headaches, nausea, stomach aches.. ugh. But then I comforted myself with these sweet potato jackfruit enchiladas. So I guess my road to recovery isn’t all that rough since enchiladas are involved. Part of my three week Sakara Re:Program involves a gentle reco to take a break from caffeine so I’m trying to play by the rules. Although it’s a real struggle, I hope that the hydrated skin and hormonal balance promised to me by the internet is really on the other side of this. We shall see in three weeks!
In the meantime, I’m turning to my other secret for glowing skin: plants! This veggie-heavy recipe packs a ton of functional skin and beauty supporting benefits into one comforting, spicy, smoky and cheesy plant-based bite. So let’s get into it!
The Functional Benefits Inside
Layers of sweet potato, jackfruit, black beans, vegan cashew cheese and enchilada sauce await you in every bite. But so do tons of healing benefits, so let’s focus on a few!
The layers of sweet potatoes are packed with antioxidants that support your skin as it ages. It also has magnesium to keep you relaxed and calm. Fiber is also a huge component here. Fiber is kinda the queen of gut health which and a hot topic in functional wellness rn.
Plus Jackfruit! Jackfruit is kind of a big deal when it comes to glowing skin and beauty. The Vitamin C found within this tropical, savory fruit slows the skin’s aging process. The Vitamin A inside keeps hair strong. I’m sure there’s more benefits but I’m feeling very into natural skincare and beauty these days. Does life get any better than strong hair, glowing skin and layers and layers of vegan cheese?
A little more on Jackfruit
Jackfruit is the thing that looks like chicken in this dish. I almost fooled my hubby into thinking we were getting a vegan-cation. But nope! Still staying on track here with this popular vegan meat substitute.
When jackfruit is ripe, it’s becomes bright yellow, soft and deliciously sweet. I once ate an entire plate of deep-fried ripened jackfruit upon discovering it while traveling solo in Indonesia, but that’s a gluttonous story for another day.
The jackfruit here is young, which means its still a whiteish brown color, firm and flaky, like the texture of pulled pork. Jackfruit is pretty flavorless on its own, so sauces like queso and enchilada sauce give a lot of flavor.
There’s a lot of layers that come together to make these sweet potato jackfruit enchiladas magical. It’s a simple dish perfect for a busy weeknights and could even last for several days depending on your family size. You could even double all the layers and fit them in the same 9×13 baking dish. I only didn’t do that because there’s only two of us in this house and we didn’t want to eat the same thing for 8 days in a row. But your house, your rules. You’ve got options.
Making the Sweet Potato Jackfruit Enchilada Bake
First bake your sweet potato slices until tender. Then, sautee your jackfruit with onion, cumin, lime and a few other spices. While it cooks, blend together cashews and other ingredients to make the vegan cheese. Then assemble all the layers of baked sweet potato slices, black beans, jackfruit, sauce and cheese. Finally, bake the dish with foil on, then taking your foil off to continue cooking until browned.
Please enjoy and if you make this, it would mean the world to me if you could leave a review in the comments.
Have a lovely week and see you back here next week for a sweet and healthy fall treat!
Sweet Potato Pulled Jackfruit Enchilada Bake
Layers of sweet potato, vegan cheese, pulled jackfruit and enchilada sauce make this the perfect cozy, cold-weather vegan dish.
Ingredients
- 3 sweet potatoes
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 10 oz enchilada sauce jar
- 12 oz black beans canned
For the Jackfruit layer
- 1 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1/2 yellow onion, medium
- 20 oz young jackfruit canned
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp cumin
- 1 tsp worcestershire
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- 1 tsp liquid aminos
For the Cashew Cheese
- 1 1/4 cup cashews
- 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/3 tsp himalayan salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
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Soak your cashews in warm water for one hour or overnight. If short on time, you can boil them for about 20 minutes or until soft.
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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line two baking sheets with aluminum foil.
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Peel sweet potatoes and slice into 1/4-1/2 inch thick slices lengthwise. Brush each side with coconut oil and arrange on a baking sheet in an even layer.
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Bake for 30 minutes, or until tender, rotating sweet potatoes about halfway through. They should have a light crispy texture on each side when done.
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Meanwhile, prepare the jackfruit. Heat a skillet on medium and add tbsp of olive oil. Sautee onion in oil until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add drained can of jackfruit and gently toss. Add remaining jackfruit seasonings and continue to cook until browned with crispy pieces, about 10 minutes. You can break up the jackfruit into smaller pieces with a spoon or spatula as you go to get a "pulled" texture.
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Prepare the cheese: add all cashew cheese ingredients (besides water) to food processor and process into a thick spread, scraping sides down as necessary. Add water to aid in blending as you go. Feel free to add an additional 1/4 cup of water for a more spreadable texture.
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To assemble your enchilada bake, spread a thin layer of enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Then add a layer of sweet potatoes. Then a half of drained can of black beans. Then half of jackfruit. Then a layer of cheese. Repeat this layering sequence once more. Then add last layer of sweet potatoes, top with remaining enchilada sauce and remaining cheese. You can optionally top with jalapenos.
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Cover with foil and bake for 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Then uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes until browned.
Looking for more sweet potato recipes? Check out my Sweet Potato Glow Bowl or my Sweet Potato protein pancakes. Both very healthy and very good.