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Smokey, salty, and slightly sweet, this tempeh bacon is a fantastic replacement! Take your breakfast sandwiches to another level with this easy recipe!
I was never much of a bacon person, to be fair. While I did eat it sometimes, I wasn't crazy over it. So this is just a nice little treat for when I'm really wanting something like a BLT, a breakfast sandwich, or for adding a yummy element to a salad.
This meatless bacon would also go great on any sandwich! Try it on my vegan chicken salad, or eggless tofu salad!
🍲Ingredients
Use any sugars in place of maple syrup, but I can't recommend artifical sugars like stevia as the taste may completely change.
For gluten-free use tamari or coconut amnio's in place of soy sauce.
🔪Instructions
Step Two - Marinate the tempeh for at least 30 minutes, but you can leave this overnight or even for a couple of days.
Step Three - Drain the liquid from the tempeh. My tempeh may be a little darker, because I let it sit a couple days in the fridge, yours does not have to look like this.
Step Three - Slice the tempeh into little strips.
Step Four - Cook tempeh on medium high heat and for just a few minutes on each side. Tempeh doesn't *technically* need to be cooked, just warmed up, maybe get a little char on there for some crispy tones.
Expert Tip
You can also crumble the tempeh and cook it to simulate bacon bits or as a topping to just about anything that you would want bacon pieces on.
💡Suggestions
- Allowing the tempeh to marinate over night will obviously give more flavors!
- You can freeze tempeh to keep it fresh until you're ready to use it, including after you've cooked it!
- Feel free to add other seasonings to your marinade, you can use any flavorings you want. Some like to add garlic and onion powder or nutritional yeast.
- You can use this vegan bacon in anything you would use regular bacon for: sandwiches like a BLT or wrap, toppings regular salads, soups, or baked potatoes!
- Store for up to 5 days in the fridge, or 2 months in the freezer.
To make this recipe soy-free, you will most-likely need to make your own soy-free tempeh using things like lentils, chickpeas, or black beans. It is an easy process, but it does take a couple of days.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
If the tempeh was bought in store, yes. Tempeh prepackaged from the store has been pasteurized and is safe to eat in raw form. However, if you make your own tempeh, be sure to cook it throughout!
Vegan bacon can be made out of many different plants! Including but not limited to: Tempeh, mushrooms, tofu, eggplant, rice paper, and sometimes carrots.
Short answer: No. However, actual bacon's flavor mostly comes from seasoning, and while vegan bacon may never taste like actual bacon, it is still incredibly delicious and gives you the salty, smokey and crispy flavors you are looking for!
Check out my other delicious toppings and condiments!
📖 Recipe
Equipment
- medium glass dish
- frying pan
Ingredients
- 1 block tempeh
- ½ cup soy sauce - tamari for gluten free
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar - optional
Instructions
- In a medium glass dish, place all ingredients except the tempeh and mix until well combined.½ cup soy sauce,¼ cup maple syrup,2 teaspoons liquid smoke,1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- Open up your package of tempeh and either place into the glass dish or cut in half to fit if needed.1 block tempeh
- If your tempeh is sumbmerged, you can place it, covered, in the fridge for no less than 4 hours and up to 3 days.
- If your tempeh is half submerged, cover and place in the fridge, flipping halfway through the marinating period.
- Once marinated, you may cook your tempeh how you wish. Enjoy!
Notes
- For the best results, allow tempeh to marinate overnight.
- This recipe is easily made gluten free by using tamari or coconut aminos in place of soy sauce.
- you can substitute the maple syrup for agave or cane sugar, or you can completely eliminate it, however, I have not tried that so let me know if you do!
- You can store this vegan bacon in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months!
Nutrition
This recipe was originally uploaded October 25th 2021 and has been updated as of August 24, 2022
Asher
I have pancreatitis, so this really helps me stay away from the meats that can hurt me!
Bree
Love this! Thank you so much girl!!