July 12, 2018
The Best Vegan ‘Pulled Pork’ Sandwich
Move over, jackfruit…there’s a new vegan shredded ‘pork’ substitute in town and it is better than ever!
Recently, a new magazine launched in Fresno and I was given the honor of creating recipes for the first four issues! Given that there are SO many talented chefs and food bloggers in our area, I bet you can imagine how excited I was when You Are Fresno Magazine asked ME, the vegan, to contribute alongisde the other amazing creatives of Fresno! I truly love this city!
Anyway, for the first recipe, I chose to create a vegan version of one of my all-time favorite meals…
The Vegan Pulled Pork Sandwich!!!
If you’re not able to pic up a copy of the magazine, don’t worry, because I’m going to share the recipe with you guys any way (although I highly recommend snagging a copy).
If you loved Pulled Pork Sandwiches as much as I did before going vegan, then this recipe is for you!
Grab a beer and let’s get to cooking the best vegan pulled ‘pork’ sandwich!
Instead of using jackfruit for the ‘pulled pork’, I decided to go with one of my favorite ingredients…MUSHROOMS!
The stems of ing oyster mushrooms provide a special meatiness, and because mushrooms are neutral in flavor, they can really take on any flavor you marinate them with!
We promise, our vegan pulled ‘pork’ sandwiches are NEXT LEVEL tasty!
We topped our sadwiches with homemade colesslaw and crispy seasoned onion strings, because both are so essential for the best vegan pulled ‘pork’ sandwich!
We hope you guys love this recipe for our vegan pulled ‘pork’ sandwich as much as we do! If you give it a try, make sure to snap a photo and tag us on Instgram at @eat_figs_not_pigs and use the hashtag #EatFigsNotPigs. We love seeing your recreations of our recipes!
Til next time, friends!!!
XOXO!
- 2 pounds king oyster mushrooms, stems removed
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon each - smoked paprika, garlic powder, liquid smoke
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 4 sesame seed buns
- ½ cup BBQ sauce of your choice, plus more for serving
- 5 cups loosely packed coleslaw, mixed
- ½ cup red onion, finely diced
- ¾ cup vegan mayonnaise, such as the brand JUST
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
- ½ teaspoon celery seed
- 1 medium size white onion, sliced very thin - if you have a mandolin, slice it on the thinnest setting
- 1 cup all purpose flour, such as Bob's Red Mill
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- ¾ cup original, unsweetened non-dairy milk, such as Almond Breeze Almond Milk
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1-2 quarts vegetable oil, for frying
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit
- Use a fork to shred the stems of the king oyster mushrooms (save the caps for veggie stir fry or veggie broth) until they resemble shredded meat
- In an 8x11 baking dish, toss the shredded mushroom with 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, spices, and liquid smoke. Using your hands, toss to combine mushrooms and seasonings, making sure everything is evenly coated. Place mushrooms in the middle rack of the oven for 40 minutes, tossing every 10-15 minutes.
- While your mushrooms are baking, prepare coleslaw and onion strings
- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix throughly. Cover and set aside in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble your sandwiches
- In a larg ziploc bag (big enough to shake the onion strings around), add flour and ½ teaspoon sea salt and flour. Set aside. In a shallow bowl, add non-dairy milk. Set aside.
- Place onion strings in the bag of flour and shake well, until all the onions are coated with flour. Remove onions from the bad and set aside.
- In the same bad that you tossed the onions and flour in, add panko bread crumbs and remaining sea salt. It's ok if there's still a bit of flour in the bag.
- Using tongs, place the flour coated onion strings into the non-dairy milk, making sure they are fully submerged and coated. Remove onions from the bowl, gently shaking off excess liquidd, then place back into to the ziploc bag with panko bread crumbs and give the bag a good shake to ensure the onions are fully coated. Repeat this process until all the onions are coated.
- In a pot on medium high heat, add oil. Once it reaches 365 degrees, add onion strings and fry until golden brown and crispy, about 5-7 minutes.
- Set on a cooling rackor paper-towel lined plate. Repeat until all the onions are fried.
- Once mushrooms are done baking, transfer them to a non-stick pan on medium heat and cook with BBQ sauce until the BBQ sauce starts to caramelize, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and serve on toasted sesame buns with coleslaw, crispy onion strings, and additional BBQ sauce. ENJOY!
I look forward to making these! I have made bbq sandwiches with the jackfruit many times and everytime I’ve served them, people think it’s chicken or pork. My husband still can’t tell the difference. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
We made these and could not believe how delicious they were! My favorite part was the little crispy onions! They were approved by my non-vegan friends! Definitely a staple in my house! We make them at least once a month. Thank you so much!
These came out absolutely delicious !! Thank you for another amazing recipe !
These came out delicious !! I made it with jackfruit instead of mushrooms sure that’s what I had on hand. Thank you for another amazing recipe !