Tofu Bacon Bits Recipe | Smoky + Salty Vegan Bacon Crumbles (2024)

FAQs

Is vegan bacon salty? ›

Many vegan bacon products are lower in salt than pork back bacon, and some have less than 10% of the fat. Two slices of one particular brand average 310 kilojoules (75 kilocalories) of food energy.

They tend to be high in sodium, but are generally healthier than animal-derived meat when eaten in moderation, as part of a balanced diet. In other words, don't base all of your meals around vegan bacon, but do enjoy it on a breakfast sandwich.

One great recipe for a vegan bacon marinade combines maple syrup with vegetable oil, soy sauce, liquid smoke and our very own Maple Bacon and Black Pepper seasoning. Simply coat your meat-free bacon substitute in this sauce and marinade overnight for the best results.

So what are these bits actually made from? They're basically just flavored soy protein chunks. The texturized soy flour gives that same meaty texture you get from tofu or textured vegetable protein. This is an easy (and most likely affordable) way to make a shelf-stable version of our favorite cured meat.

Salt is added to plant-based meat during processing, making it inherently more salty than regular ground beef. So if you're swapping Impossible meat for ground beef in your tried-and-true meatloaf recipe, hold off on your heavy-handed salt pour.

How much salt is in meat-free products? There has been a recent surge of various meat-free products available in supermarkets these days. These products are often marketed as 'plant-based' and 'organic' however many are highly processed and can hide high levels of salt. Salt is made up of sodium and chloride.

Vegan bacon could therefore be seen as a better alternative to pig bacon, but that's not to say it's a healthy food product. Plant-based meats are ultra processed foods, and they also tend to be high in salt.

And where can you find it? Here's everything you need to know about this surprisingly realistic-tasting vegan bacon. Hooray Foods' plant-based bacon has less sodium and fat than real bacon but tastes a whole lot like the real stuff.

Coconut bacon is quick and easy to make – just toss unsweetened coconut flakes with tamari, maple syrup, and smoked paprika, and pop them in the oven until they're golden brown and slightly crispy (they'll crisp up more as they cool). It's totally delicious, but it's also totally addictive.

What is a vegan substitute for bacon flavor? ›

Slice your block of tempeh into thin strips, or crumble it into chunks if you'd like an effect more like bacon bits. Fry the tempeh strips or pieces in a skillet with a few spoonfuls of oil until they are golden brown, then sprinkle with soy sauce and smoked paprika to taste.

The Best Meat-Free Bacon Alternative: Morningstar Farms Veggie Bacon Strips. The bacon-eaters who participated in the taste test with me concurred: This brand was the most delicious, and also most resembled the real thing.

While neither brands are especially sinister, both types of bacon bits are highly processed—which definitely isn't good to shovel into your body. So if you're craving bacon bits, it's probably best to crumble nitrate-free strips of the real deal, or try making coconut bacon bits if you don't eat meat.

Smoky Flavor

The blog Vegan American Princess tested fake bacon recipes with coconut, shiitake mushrooms, red bean, tempeh, and tofu, and found that all of them called for Colgin Liquid Smoke. It's a vegan and gluten-free flavoring that has that smoky flavor that people usually associate with bacon.

For that crunchy bacon-y topping, look no further than fried shallots. Roughly diced and mixed with salt, butter, and some olive oil, they're perfect alternatives for your usual bacon bits on salads or casseroles. If you fry them to their golden-brown texture, they'll be almost indistinguishable from the real thing!

Plant-based meat is often high in sodium due to the use of sodium-rich ingredients, such as sodium-based preservatives, salt, and other flavors. These ingredients are often used to improve the taste and texture of the plant-based meat.

Dry cured ~ mild ~ Suffolk pork

This bacon has a wonderful light flavour, and not too salty.

The sodium or salt content of food is very variable, but in general these foods can contain high levels: olives, pickles, soya sauce, stock cubes, yeast extract, pasta sauces, crisps, pizza, ready meals, soup, sandwiches, veggie sausages, tomato ketchup, mayonnaise and other sauces.