How to Make Vegan Bacon

There are more and more vegan bacon products for sale in stores, and some of

them taste remarkably good. But many of them are highly processed foods. Plus, they tend to be high in saturated fat (from coconut or palm oil), very high in sodium, and they can get more than a little expensive. With a little know-how (see below!) you can make your own vegan bacon – saving money and doing a good turn for your health at the same time.

Since vegan bacon is such a winner for animals, the environment, and human health and wellbeing, it’s really important that it tastes good. That way, more people will be willing to switch, and not be seduced by the “but… bacon!” lure as they consider shifting away from an animal-centric diet.

The Essence of Vegan Bacon Taste

So now let’s think like foodies. Vegan bacon should retain the salty, sweet, fatty, and smoky notes, and soft chewy texture, typically associated with bacon. Because it is a smoked meat, it’s important to highlight the smokiness in whatever you’re making. Luckily, that smoke flavor is a function of smoke, not meat, so you can achieve it in a couple of ways.

First, there’s liquid smoke — just a couple of drops can pack a punch, so you don’t need to use a lot. Second, smoked paprika is a spice that you can add to the seasoning. Third, you can grill your vegan bacon the same way animal-based bacon is grilled, with wood smoke permeating the “meat.”

When you’re making vegan bacon, if you want to compete with the traditional bacon on the flavor front – this probably isn’t the time to go low-fat. Because traditional bacon comes from some of the fattiest parts of a pig, plant-based foods that contain some fat will produce the best bacon-like flavors. Higher-fat plant foods can also ensure a texture that’s relatively crispy without getting burnt, and that also allows for a little bit of chewiness and flexibility. And having some fat allows for the vegan bacon to be baked or air-fried, as well as (if it’s your thing) fried in a pan with oil.

Putting Together the Basics of Vegan Bacon

You’ll find some of our favorite vegan bacon recipes later in this article. But before we get out the shopping lists and the measuring spoons, let’s talk about the principles and steps that will set you up for success.

1. Determine what texture you desire. For crispy, select thinly sliced carrot, coconut flakes, eggplant, banana peel (yes, seriously – more on that below) or strips of rice paper. For chewy, select thinly sliced tofu, tempeh, or seitan. If you have a mandoline on hand, you can use it to thinly slice carrots and eggplant, which helps create a crispy texture.
2. Make your marinade: To make a bacon-flavored marinade you’ll definitely want to include either smoked paprika or liquid smoke for that smoky flavor (unless you plan to grill it using wood smoke). We love a blend of reduced-sodium organic tamari with a touch of maple syrup and liquid smoke plus some seasoning like onion powder, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. See the recipes below for several marinade options.
3. Soak your plant “bacon” of choice in its marinade for at least 20 minutes. If you plan ahead, marinating any of the plant-based options above overnight helps to concentrate the flavors.
4. Bake, grill, or air-fry. The cooking time can vary depending on the selected item and mode of cooking. For example, carrot bacon takes only five minutes to cook in the Air Fryer, but 20 minutes in the oven, while mushrooms can take up to 30 minutes in the oven.

Foods You Can Make Vegan Bacon With

This is a rapidly growing list, thanks to energetic experimenters, vegan bloggers, and cookbook authors.

Coconut

When we think of high-fat vegan ingredients, coconuts come to mind, and they make an excellent bacon substrate. While there’s a huge debate about whether coconut is good or bad for you, that debate centers largely around coconut oil, which is not a whole food. Fresh or dried coconut flesh is a whole different thing — and many healthy cultures include these foods as dietary staples.

And remember, we’re talking about vegan bacon here. No matter how you make it, this should not become one of your new food groups. With the salt, sweetness, and fat required to make your bacon taste good, these will always be “treat” foods rather than central parts of your diet.

Tempeh

These blocks are made of fermented whole soybeans and are one of the healthiest ways to enjoy this very healthy legume. You can turn tempeh into bacon by slicing it thin and marinating it in a sweet and salty marinade. See our recipe below for easy and delicious tempeh bacon.

Carrots

They don’t have much fat, but they do have a lovely sweetness and a surprisingly accommodating texture. You can get long strips of the right dimensions with a vegetable peeler and a little practice. And carrots are right up there with the world’s healthiest veggies! In our recipe below, the fat comes from the tahini in the marinade.

Rice paper

Popular in Vietnamese cooking, these round discs are dampened to make them flexible, and often form the exterior of veggie rolls. The trick to making them into bacon is to cut them into strips while still dry and brittle, then wetting the strips so they stick together. Add marinade, air-fry, and voila.

Rice paper may not be the best option from a health perspective, as they are a processed food made from rice flour. Also, rice from many parts of the world tends to be high in arsenic, so you likely don’t want to overdo this bacon ingredient.

Seitan

This plant-based meat alternative is made from wheat gluten, the protein that, like its name suggests, glues wheat flour together when mixed with liquid. Once mixed and cooked, seitan has a texture very much like cooked chicken or pork and can be sliced thinly to approximate bacon. It also can absorb flavors very well, so a good marinade goes a long way here.

If you’re allergic or sensitive to gluten, it makes sense to avoid seitan. But for many of us, the gluten found in whole grains may actually provide a net nutritional benefit. So despite what you may have heard, most people have little reason to fear foods containing gluten.

Tofu

Like its cousin tempeh, tofu comes from soybeans. In this case, they’re processed, and no longer a whole food. Still, compared with the meat that it replaces, tofu is very healthy. The best tofu for bacon will have a low water content, which generally means you want firm or extra firm tofu. You can squeeze water out by wrapping the tofu block in a towel and placing a weight on top of it.

Pro tip: To create a remarkably spongy base that’s ready to absorb delicious flavors: drain, freeze, then thaw firm tofu in the refrigerator before squeezing out excess water and preparing it for your dish.

Mushrooms

Technically not plants, mushrooms can nevertheless be incredibly good for you. And mushrooms have an advantage in the bacon department because of their natural chewiness and umami flavor profile. Check out the mushroom bacon “topper” recipe below.

Banana Peel

Yes, you read that right. It turns out that banana peels themselves are highly nutritious. They’re rich in nutrients like potassium, fiber, essential amino acids, polyunsaturated fats, and antioxidants. And they can make a mean vegan bacon, with the added benefit of having a bunch of bananas to eat as well. Just make sure to get organic bananas if you’re planning on eating the peels because otherwise, you could be facing a nasty dose of pesticides.

Eggplant

Another chewy veggie, eggplant can slice thin and accepts the flavor of whatever marinade it meets. You can bake or air fry eggplant into flexible and crunchy bacon-like strips.

How to Use Vegan Bacon

Now that you’re familiar with the ways to make vegan bacon, let’s talk about how to enjoy it. Here are a few suggestions. They aren’t meant to be exhaustive but are intended to stir your own creativity. After all, if people out there are putting pork bacon into cupcakes, you should be able to think of some “out-there” uses of your own for vegan bacon!

• Bacon bits – as a topping on salads or over chili or baked potatoes (or sweet potatoes)
• With breakfast (in a chickpea omelet)
• In sandwiches and wraps
• Mixed into a veggie side dish (for example, roasted Brussels sprouts or green beans)
• As a plant-based pizza topping
• In a pasta dish
• In stuffed vegetables like peppers or cabbage
• In savory pies or hand pies

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