This one is a total game-changer.
Even I (the meat-eater in our home) might 98% give up traditional pork bacon with this in my fridge. I love bacon, but I'm not a fan of eating all the fat that comes with bacon, and of course, I would prefer to not eat meat whenever possible.
Whether you're checking out this recipe because you're vegan or maybe you're just curious, I am super confident you'll be wow-ed by it. My husband has been eating store-bought vegan bacon for years, and he said this was his favorite (ok, he actually said it's the best he's ever had, but you might think he's biased 😉 and I don't blame you). So I also tried this vegan bacon on dedicated meatatarians and they were floored.
It's easy. It's customizable. It's gluten-free. And it's the best fake ever.
VEGAN BACON AKA FAKE BACON AKA FACON
🥓 Vietnamese Rice Paper (approximately 8-10 large sheets)
MARINADE
🥓 4 tbsp Olive oil
🥓 6 tbsp Tamari
🥓 4 tbsp Nutritional yeast
🥓 1 tbsp Maple syrup
🥓 1 tsp Adobo sauce (from a can of adobo peppers) OR if you have it, liquid smoke
🥓 1 tsp Smoked paprika
TO FINISH
🥓 Freshly ground pepper (suggestion)
You might want to play with less tamari, or less maple syrup, etc. but I wouldn't lessen the amount of oil. You do need the fat. It's supposed to be bacon!
First, whisk all the marinade ingredients together.
Preheat the oven to 400°F
Stack two pieces of Vietnamese paper together. Dampen just slightly, focusing on the edges. It shouldn't be wet like when you make Vietnamese spring rolls. This is just to help the two pieces adhere, and help you cut the paper without shattering it. See below: barely wet.
Cut the two-stack into bacon sized strips. Scissors are best here. Work quickly and with confidence. The longer you take, the wetter and stickier the rice paper will be, and the more difficult it will be to cut. Rice paper loves to stick to itself...and to surfaces!
You should be able to get 5-6 strips of bacon with each round of Vietnamese paper.
Take your strips and dip them into the marinade. Dip them longer if you like your "bacon" a little chewy. Don't dip them as long if you prefer your "bacon" crispy.
Again, work quickly and with confidence. Fortunately, with the marinade on, the rice paper doesn't stick to itself so easily.
When you're done with a strip, lay it on a silicone mat on a cookie sheet. Space them out so that they won't stick together.
Approximately 9 minutes in that hot oven and you're done! My oven tends to be on the cool side, so I need 9 minutes. You may find that yours is done at 7-8 minutes. Keep an eye on the first batch and make sure they don't burn, which they easily could with all that oil and maple syrup! Then you'll know how much time your next batches need.
And that's it! With 8 sheets of rice paper, you'll probably end up with around 30 strips of bacon, plenty to last a while. The ones on the end with the round edges don't look so much like bacon, so I just cut them into bacon bits.
The vegan bacon stores well in the fridge, and Nik says they reheat great. I can't stop eating it straight out of the fridge!
Enjoy!
Vegan Bacon with Vegan Cheese in Potato Skins!