We realize that this title – Jackfruit Seed Hummus – probably raises more questions that it answers. And that’s OK, because we’re going to get to all of those questions. Right now we’re in the middle of a weeklong project with a giant whole jackfruit, and we’re only just becoming aware of all of the ten million things you can do with all of the parts of the jackfruit – including the seeds.
Deconstructing the Jackfruit
Here’s a whole jackfruit. It’s about the size of a watermelon.
Here’s a cross-section of a jackfruit. See those seeds? You can use them, too.
The seeds? That’s right. When you pull them out of the golden yellow jackfruit pod, a jackfruit seed is really quite pretty – it looks like a smooth river rock.
These are the jackfruit seeds, cleaned of all of the surrounding pith. Don’t they look like river rocks?
But these seeds are also edible, and quite high in protein and fiber. What you need to do to eat them is boil them down (or roast them) so that they soften up and you can remove the clear white outer shell.
Peeling off the thin outer skin of a cooked jackfruit seed
And once that’s done, they’re kind of like roasted chestnuts… or potatoes… or beans. In fact, when we made this hummus, we had to say to ourselves, “What food group are we eating at this point? Fruit? Vegetable? Protein? Who knows?”
Jackfruit Seed Hummus Recipe
Jackfruit Seed Hummus
A light and flavorful hummus made roasted seeds from a whole fresh jackfruit.
Ingredients
- 2 cups jackfruit seeds
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 3 cloves garlic peeled
- 1/4 cup garlic spread (made from garlic, oil, lemon juice, and salt)
- 1 lemon, juiced
- Olive oil and herbs for serving
Instructions
-
Clean the jackfruit seeds of any excess membranes from the fruit. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with water until there is at least one inch of water above the seeds. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes, or until seeds can be easily pricked with a fork.
-
Remove seeds from heat and cool. Carefully peel off the outer layer of the shell (hard, clear) - some of which will have started to pop off during the cooking. Any remaining brown coating on the shell is fine to eat. Add the seeds and all other ingredients to a food processor and puree until smooth. Serve with olive oil drizzled over the top and with herbs of your choice to decorate.
One Surprise Addition
One thing we did with this hummus recipe is something that we’ve never done before – added a garlic spread to the hummus. The main rationale was that the seeds themselves were kind of heavy, and we needed something light and airy to kind of fluff it up. Note that the garlic spread should be the kind that looks white and fluffy and its only ingredients are garlic, oil, lemon juice, and/or salt (we’ve found good versions of garlic spread at both Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods).
And that’s all – you’ll end up with perfect, light, fluffy hummus that has a faintly nutty flavor. Serve it with fresh veggies or pita bread, or spread it on your favorite sandwich. No one will ever know – or guess, for that matter – that it actually came from a jackfruit.
Like it? Pin it!
Jackfruit Seed Hummus – made from the seeds of a jackfruit!
Jackfruit seed hummus – made from the seeds of a jackfruit!
Blogger disclosure: Melissa’s Produce gifted me with a whole jackfruit. I did not receive compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are my own. This post contains affiliate links to my Amazon affiliate account.
Hi! I'm Jeanne Fratello - a writer, reporter, and food enthusiast who is on a mission to write great stories about food and where your food comes from.
We tried the recipe and loved it! I love the fact that practically nothing is wasted in this giant fruit.
Yay! So glad to hear it! Yes, I like that about this recipe too. Thanks for stopping by!
Great Hummus❣️Thank you for the recipe. It is wonderful, easy and delicious. Perfect texture.
Thank you so much, Josie! This is one of my favorites too!
Amazing recipe! I am not one to leave comments, but this recipe is truly simple and delicious. I just got turned on to jackfruit and enjoy the jackfruit seed hummus the most of the entire fruit.
Thank you so much for letting me know, Dante! I love the hummus too! Cheers, Jeanne
What a brilliant idea! Thank you..going to be making this asap!:)
Thank you! It’s really tasty – I hope you like it! : )
Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy it! It is really such a unique and delicious flavor. Thanks for stopping by!
I persevered peeling each (boiled and softened) seed (from two medium-sized jackfruit) one by one for 40 minutes while I thought about any faster possibilities.
I started with 5½ cups of raw seeds.
I tried squishing them with a spoon or a knife, like you do to peel garlic quickly, but these seeds are too hard to be partly squished.
I ended up cutting each seed in half, and then you just pinch and squeeze the seed flesh out quickly out of each half. It was AT LEAST twice as fast.
I’m afraid I used a bit too much liquid in total, so it’s a tiny bit runnier than would be ideal, but yum yum it’s pretty tasty.
Thanks for the recipe!
Wow – thanks for trying it out, and thanks for persevering! I appreciate the feedback, and I’m glad you got to try it! Best, Jeanne
Hey Old Gregg,
You should allow the seeds to boil longer. I let them boil for an hour. With this amount of time, all the seeds split and the shells started falling off, this gives me easy access to peel them off.
Great tip! Thanks, Verona! : )
Thanks for your suggestion, Verona. I’m reluctant to boil them any longer than necessary, in case I risk boiling the nutrients out of them.
I’ve just finished shelling a batch of seeds ready to make a batch of hummus. I now have 3 cups of boiled, shelled seeds from one medium-sized jackfruit. To shell them, I poured boiling water over the seeds in a bowl to cover them, then put the bowl in the microwave oven for 40 minutes on 30% power level (not boiling, but simmering). Then I drained and rinsed them, and let them cool for a couple of hours.
Then I chopped each seed in half across the seed. You can use a paper towel to grip and squeeze each half, and the shell comes away in one piece from the edible bit. It takes less than 10 seconds for each half seed to end up with the shell in one bowl and the edible bit in the other bowl.
(Thanks for posting this, Jeanne. This year is turning out to be jackfruit-tastic, and I’m about to make another batch of this yum hummus. I’ll use vinegar instead of kaffir lime juice this time, which I substituted for lemon juice a couple of weeks ago. Me lemon tree has finished for the year, and the kaffir lime tree seems to be just pumping out the fruit this year.).
I’m so glad to hear this is a jackfruit-tastic year, Old Gregg! Thanks for stopping by! : )
The hummus is totally scrumptious. However, it is a pain to peel the seeds and you absolutely need to peel the seeds for this recipe to work. Two cups took almost an hour and a half, which I did while watching a couple episodes of Dark Mirror. Unless someone can educate on an efficient way to peel jackfruit seeds, I’ll probably stick with my garbanzo beans for now with the occasional exotic bean thrown in for variety (as long as they don’t need to be peeled).
Hahaha – Yes, peeling the seeds can be a pain. Maybe make it a group activity? Anyway, thanks for giving it a try and letting me know! Cheers, Jeanne
Steam them for an hour, then cool them and cut them in half. Gran half a seed and squeeze the flesh out of the shell. Two cups would take about 20 minutes.
Great tip! Thank you for sharing!
Steam them for an hour, then cool them in cold tap water and cut them in half. Grab half a seed and squeeze the flesh out of the shell. Two cups would take about 20 minutes.
Such a delicious hummus recipe!! We love it!!
Terrific! Thanks so much for checking in and letting me know! Cheers, Jeanne