If you are vegan (or just cutting back on meat), you might be looking for some alternative ways to make the dishes you love plant based.

You’ve probably heard of jackfruit by now – a fleshy fruit used to replicate pulled pork.

Well it seems like there is a new alternative that might be easier (and cheaper) to get hold of – banana peel. We promise this isn’t another April Fools’ Day joke.

It turns out it’s got so many more uses than the classic ‘slipping on a banana skin’ gag in a comedy sketch. The peel you usually throw away is completely edible but it does take a little bit of work to make it tasty. Melissa Copeland, also known as The Stingy Vegan, posted the recipe for banana peel pulled pork sandwich online last week.

Even she was a little sceptical to begin with. She said: ‘I was super sceptical about it but brave enough to try it. Turns out it works! ‘You are probably just as sceptical as I was about banana peels so let me put your mind at rest: no, they are not bitter and no it doesn’t taste like banana.

The trick is to choose bananas that are not quite ripe yet as the peels are firmer and thicker, and scrape out the white skin part from the inside.’ First, you need to find a banana and remove the peel, scrape the inside with a spoon to get rid of the white flesh inside and then shred it with a fork. Mix it with olive oil and spices before cooking with water and BBQ sauce.