Vegan Bacon Recipe | No Meat Athlete (2024)

Oh, unabashedly miss bacon. Will have to try this!

Wow, I can’t wait to give this a try. I’ve only had tempeh bacon twice and I’m not a fan. I hope this is as tasty as you say it is 🙂

This is outstanding! I cannot convey my excitement enough, for real.

You advertise this recipe as gluten-free, which would be great, except Braggs and most other soy-sauces contain wheat. Of course, most people sensitive to gluten will realize this and opt for gluten-free soy sauce or tamari. I wanted to call that out, just in case!

this looks sooooooo good!

Why, why, why must I be allergic to buckwheat? So bummed…

Yeah, I have been missing blts with avocado! We use to eat the Morningstar bacon, but I read the ingredients.

i am SOOOO intrigued by this – it sounds like the PERFECT weekend activity!!!

I actually like tempeh bacon, but THIS be given a try. So clever! And soy free!! Buckwheat is one of my favorite ingredients, too. I would have never thought to do this. Yum!

This is actually GF! Yay, thank you so much, Matt for finally posting a GF recipe. 😉 I will be trying this out, and my husband will be doing the taste testing since he is the bacon expert!

I was so excited to try this until I saw the nutritional yeast in the ingredients (allergic). Are there any substitions for the yeast, and if not do you think this recipe might work without it?
I’ve been a vegetarian for over 16 years but have never gotten over my craving for bacon…

Another brilliantly creative recipe Christine, thank you! I hope you don’t mind, but I really wanted to flag up that kidney beans can be toxic if not prepared properly- the phytohaemagglutanin levels being so high that an initial rolling boil for at least 10 minutes is needed to degrade it sufficiently- which is why you can’t prepare them from scratch in a slow cooker… I’m sure you already know this, just wanted to check you did!
Maybe cranberry/borlotti or even pinto beans could be used if there are no adzukis to be found?

Thank you SO much for this! I can’t wait to try it. I would really love to have a good BLT sandwich one of these days!

Thanks Christine! Soy bacon is so intensely disgusting I’m really looking forward to it. And how did you find that talking bacon! That’s disturbing and funny all at the same time.

Sounds good! I’ll try it! Thanks!

If you haven’t already seen it, I recommend Googling in The Bacon Flowchart…
With best regards.
Stephen

Wow! I made this today and it is AMAZING! Even before going vegan (and I’m still new), I didn’t eat beef or pork and the smell of bacon drove me mad. This hits the spot!!

This is fabulous, I can’t wait to try it! Also, I wanted to let you know that I added this to my favorite recipes from last week. This would be so cool to try! Thanks!

OMG, this looks delicious! I am always trying new fakin bacons and they are never very healthy nor very tasty. They either taste too salty or don’t have enough taste at all….I am definitely trying this. Thanks Matt!

Wow, wow, wow. This really IS perfect. I made it the other day, and proceeded to eat half the pan before even getting to the frying part. Yeah, not much self-control, but whatever, it was worth it!
With the remainder, I marinated it in additional paprika, sugar, Bragg’s, and a little barbecue sauce because I didn’t have liquid smoke.
I also used red lentils, because it is what I had on-hand. Ahhhh, enough cannot be said for this! Perfect on the side, on sandwiches, it is superb! Thank you for posting!! A new favorite!
To conclude this novel, would it be okay to post this photo/link on my new site, GlutenFreeFeed.com? Thanks 🙂

Made this last week and loved it. We’re having BLT’s for dinner on Wednesday and cannot wait for the rest of the family to try it…they’re gonna love it as much as I do.

I am so intrigued by this recipe! I don’t have a lot of the ingredients on hand, but I’ll definitely be bookmarking it to make later.

Hi Christine!
Great blog! I’m trying this recipe and I have buckwheat groats. Is that what I’m supposed to be using?

You Rock Hard!!
This is awesome stuff! I’m sitting here taste testing my first batch, and all I can say is that this will become a staple around our house. The omni-hubby even likes it! I’ve never cared for any of the fake pre-packed stuff, even some of the homemade recipes that I tried were….ehhh?!
Having been raised in Mississippi, bacon is just a staple of life. You know meat and grease in everything. Thank goodness those days are over. I’ve been vegetarian for twenty plus years, and vegan now for four. I see Yummy BLTs are on the horizon, and who knows what else! 🙂
I did have to sub the buckwheat with Kamut, and used Molasses with a few drops of agave instead of the maple syrup.
Thanks again for the recipe, you’ve made this Southern Girl VERY Happy!

Delicious.
Made a lovely “B”LT.
Thank you for the recipe!

Would it ruin the recipe to boil the beans 10-15 minutes and then drain and cool them before processing to eliminate any concerns about toxins? I don’t think they would cook much in that time.
I can’t eat soy so I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. Thanks Christine!

I made this today, it turned out to be very tasty. I left out the liquid smoke simply because I don’t like smoke flavor. Now I’m going to try and use the bacon in a family recipe which calls for bacon. I’m always trying to veganise my favorite childhood recipes.

Hi Christine,
I’ve been making your vegan facon bacon since you posted it last year – almost every 6 weeks would you believe it as my husband a vegetarian by association absolutely enjoys it. He has wondered why I have never posted it on my blog. I tell him because its on your blog and other bloggers have made variations of it. He still insists it should be on my blog too for my readers to enjoy. So if its okay with you, I’ll be posting and sharing your recipe on my blog in the next week or so, and please be assured I will link back to your original recipe. Once again, thank you so much for this super duper recipe.

Matt,
Thank you so much and absolutely no problem with the link back – its always courteous to acknowledge the original source of the recipe.

How important is the coconut oil? I’d hate to buy a whole bottle just for 1 tsp. Can I sub another oil? Can I mix 1tsp of canola with a drop of coconut extract?

I thought Bragg’s aminos were made from soy beans, so this isn’t totally soy-free, right?
If someone were allergic to soy, what could they substitute for that? More liquid smoke and/or paprika?

Any particular reason for the kosher salt vs. whatever I have a large box of right now? 🙂 Trying to prioritize my purchases and buy one new thing from this ingredient list at a time!

Just posting again since I’m not sure if you saw it as a response.
Is the whole-grain buckwheat supposed to be toasted or not? They only had toasted.

Wow, this looks great. And thanks for the tip about the soy-free aminos!

Can the coconut oil be substituted? (allergy)

I found this uncomfortably crunchy despite soaking the beans & buckwheat for 14 hours. I’m wondering if the aduki beans were supposed to be cooked first?

This is fantastic! I’ve been eating Morningstar Farms forever, and now have a less expensive and tastier way to eat my bacon. Thanks so much, five stars!

Can adzuki beans be replace with another bean?

Just so you’re aware, soy sauce and braggs have soy in them. It’s probably a good idea to have a soy-free alternative in a recipe you advertise as being soy-free. Thanks!

is there a substitute for beans..i can’t digest beans

That looks really good, but just so you know…that’s not soy-free. Braggs contains soy. I have a severe soy allergy – I’ve checked.

I just made these faux bacon slices and they are delicious! I was skeptical at first, the beans may be soaked but they are raw. I chopped 1/2 an onion very fine and browned on a low heat. Added the onion. Doubled the smokey paprika (left out the ole hickory smoke).
We will see how they digest in a few hours!
Thank you for your efforts.

Hi, I want to try your recipe for vegan bacon but where I live they don’t sell Buckwheat or aduki beans. I guess I could use red kidney beans, which are plentiful here in Colombia, as a replacement for the aduki beans but what would be a good replacement for the buckwheat?

I know this sounds ridiculous, but is there something I can substitute for tomato paste? I am allergic to tomatoes. It’s so awful.

This was delicious! So glad I doubled the recipe! Thanks so much!!

OMG! I made this this morning. I am in Southern Girl Heaven. Now if you can just come up with a recipe for scrambed eggs that does not include tofu!

I made this and it tastes good. although I have never tried to make veggie bacon before so i really have nothing to compare it to. I wouldn’t quite call it “bacon”. lol. but it is still very good.
i actually cooked the adzuki beans because they were just too hard still after soaking overnight. Also, i don’t have a food processor so i had to get clever and i devised a makeshift “mortar pestle” which was A LOT more work.
i used a little less sugar and salt and regular (rather than smoke) paprika. because that was what I had on hand. but i did add the smoke flavor and all the other ingredients.
Next time I will try to get the mixture even thinner before baking. Especially in the center.
I feel excited to have made this!(I am a new cook just starting to learn) thank you for sharing the recipe!!!!

Just made a triple batch, based on positve reviews, above. Fresh out of the oven my dog, Mancha, went wild for it, and she is usually not much on vegetables. Can’t wait to try it on a thick avocado and BLT with Vegenaise spread. I will let you know how it goes.

What started out as a church sponsored 40 day fast has now morphed into my fully delving into a vegan diet. Oh, and I’ve lost 15Lbs already, WOW. During my constant search for good eats I came across this recipe for vegan bacon and I just finished my second BLT this morning. Definitely a keeper. Thanks.

Oh boy I can’t wait to make this! Yum’,,

Just made my first ever batch today – lovely lovely lovely. I’m not a vegan but I’ve tried the store bought ‘substitutes’ and they’ve all left a little to be desired. Don’t think I managed to get this quite thin enough but they were still de-lic-ious. Off to make a huge batch now for freezing purposes. Thanks for this recipe.

I’ve made 6 batches of this bacon and have learned a few tricks.
I use silicone baking sheets that fit a standard sheet pan, sprayed with canola, as the top layer, which allows me to roll out the mixture evenly and to the desired thickness, using a 1″ dowel, cut to the width of the sheet pan. A standard rolling pin is too wide. The silicone peels off of the mixture quite easily, preventing holes.
I triple the recipe, which makes two standard sheet pans of the desired thickness. I freeze the strips between layers of parchment in gallon zip locks–easy to grab a few strips and head for BLT-land.

fantastic! I served it at our vegan waffle party with tomatoes and extra maple syrup!

This is amazing stuff! Very good and very easy. I think I will probably be making this every week – we have been making lots of vegan BLTs (with vegenaise).

Hi,
I am a raw foodist. Can this recipe be dehydrated
instead of baked and fried?
Also, if you are interested in a quick, cooked,
flavorful fake bacon, go to the supermarket and
buy some Kraft sliced provolone cheese, fry it
gently in a non-stick pan on both sides. It is a
crisp and flavorful substitute for you BLT sandwich.
Oh, one more thing: Don’t forget to spray the pan
with a non-stick spray.

dear Christine
I am an Italian vegblogger, I found your interesting recipe googling for fake bakon, I tried it and liked it a lot! I needed it for my vegan Matriciana! Thank you!
Here is my version, published today:
http://www.cucinaecozoica.it/cucina-ecozoica/guanciale-sogni-doro.php
oxoxoxoxoxox
MaVi

Just wondering whether this can be frozen before frying to keep fresh. I live alone and want to keep some for another meal

I bought some buckwheat that’s been roasted, and cracked into smaller pieces. I read a comment that it probably won’t ruin it.. I also bought small red beans, should I cook them or will they be small enough to use raw? I am also going to put in some artificial ham flavoring to add the ‘ham’ flavor as well as using Parmesan cheese in place of the yeast (I’m not a vegan, but a vegetarian. What about the kosher salt, can I use table salt? Will let you know how it comes out if I don’t hear from you! Wish me luck!

That bugler comment you made to the allergy person. Do the mean whole grain or bugler flour?

OMG OMG OMG! I just found this recipie yesterday and cooked up my first batch. Yummy yummy yummy, even my dogs were begging for them. Shamefully I must admit that between me and my 2 bichon frises, we polished off the whole batch in one sitting. You know how in the “beggin strips” commercial the dog goes crazy for bacon? That was us this morning, myself included! 🙂
I added some hickory flavor bacon salt (www.baconsalt.com I order it online) which is vegan (the other flavors are not) for an extra flavor boost as well. Definitely going to be making a triple recipie tomorrow, YUM!! Thanks for the recipie!!!

This sounds good. But what’s the texture of this? I like bacon that is still sort of flexible, not super crunchy, which is why I ask.

Wow! This is really, really amazing. After a homemade vegan sausage disaster, I was very skeptical. I made this yesterday and it was a complete success! When I make it again, I’ll take more care to spread it out thinner (I’ll probably put it on a cookie sheet instead of a 9 x 13 pan).
I made 1/2 sandwich for breakfast (crispy fakon and avacado) and am wishing now that I made a whole one instead. Mmmmmm… facon!

Is it possible to cook this in the oven for the last step instead of frying it? I am looking to cook a lot of this at once and I don’t have the frying space.

Has anyone tried this with out the frying? Like, just keeping them in the oven for an extra 5-10 minutes?

I’ve made three matches of this and it’s soooo good. I make BLTs with them, but they’re nomnom on their own (especially if you have a nice, thin, crispy piece). My sister and step-dad liked them, too 🙂

This recipe is mouthwateringly AMAZING!!! I just shared the link on The30DayVeganChallenge.com community message boards.
I love that I can enjoy BLTs again. Thank you!

I am looking forward to trying your vegan bacon recipe, but I have one question. Do you want toasted or non toasted buckwheat groats for this recipe. When I went to the store there were both and I wasn’t sure.
Thank-you,
Suzie

This made awesome BLT sandwiches!! I couldnt find the buckwheat so I used bulgur and it worked great. thanks for sharing, SO delicious and easy

In your Homemade Vegan Bacon recipe you say to only soak them and then add to your recipe.What I want to know is: baking for 10 minutes and then pan frying enough time to consider the beans cooked (I would consider them half raw) in order for me not to have negative repercussions from the beans.
I do admit that I’m not familiar with the bean but have never used a bean that has not been previously cooked.

As soon as I get back home this will be the first recipe I try. From the feedback it sounds like we can save a lot of pigs and satisfy the world’s crazy craving for bacon.
Marty
Marty’s Flying Vegan Review

Wow, I have been going through serious bacon withdrawal since becoming vegan a month ago. I have to try this recipe asap. Thanks so much for sharing!

For those who have to use “Soy Sauce” because they don’t have Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, I would recommend getting Bragg’s in the house. Bragg’s has an intense flavour that other Soy Sauce does not have. Also, they have less salt. Taking your Soy Sauce, and boiling it down some might work if you use low sodium Soy Sauce. In this case I would try 4 TB Soy sauce, boiled down to 1 TB.
I can’t use Buckwheat, but will substitute the less then favorable Tofu. LOL Buckwheat will definitely give it the better texture. (Coeliac who reacts to some cross-reactors including Buckwheat, Quinoa, Amaranth, Hemp).

Can I skip the oil? I don’t cook with any kind of oil.
Thanks!

Oh.My.Bacon.
I made this last night and fried some up this morning. I am so glad that I’m at work today otherwise the entire double batch would be gone already! I’m addicted to nutritional yeast, so any chance I get to put it in a recipe makes me super happy. With the liquid smoke and all the other goodies…….. this simply can’t be beat. I see an entire week of Avocado “B”LT’s in my immediate future.
THANKS for the incredible recipe!!

Ello! I’m super excited to try this out! I just need some clarification before I dive into it. Do I cook the buckwheat and Aduki beans before putting them in the food processor? Or do they go in raw? Thanks love!
-Luni

Christine, I just want to thank you for creating this recipe and to tell you that this is the best vegetarian bacon I’ve ever had! I’m making my second batch right now! Also, carnivores love it too!

Awesome recipe! I made it once as suggested and then a second time a couple of days later – because I couldn’t stop thinking about it! The second time though, I formed patties out of the mix and baked them in the oven, flipping them once at about 8 or 10 minutes (with total cooking time of maybe 12-15 minutes – I didn’t really look at the clock.) Once they were cooked I spread some olive oil on the outsides of the patties and put them on the grill for a little extra flavor. The end result was one of the best veggie burgers I’ve ever eaten! Had a great meaty flavor and consistency – really exciting recipe to find. This increasingly vegetarian reader thanks you a ton.

Morningstar Farm Bacon is pretty good. Finding veggie bacon is hard. At 11 I saw cows getting slaughtered. Not nice.

If you have a Vitamix blender with a grain attachment, I recommend breaking down the beans separately, then adding them to the food processor with the rest of the recipe. The beans didn’t soften very much by soaking and they don’t break down at all in the food processor.

This is NOT a Soy-Free Recipe… Braggs HAS Amino proteins made from SOY. Important for readers to know. Please update your article & photo descriptions for accuracy & allergy safety.

This has been a standby for our family for years now. Thanks so much. My variations includes adding some sauteed mushrooms and/or caramelized onions to the mix. I think it might it a slightly woodsier flavor and helps with binding.

I’ve made this recipe so many times now, that I make triple-quantity batches!
A couple substitution experiments that I’ve performed that have worked very well, to pass along follow:
– Sundried tomatoes (organic) in oil substitute for tomato paste
– black strap molasses substitute for maple syrup – adds kind of a nice mineral flavor, but super subtle
– Teriyaki sauce (organic) substitute for the organic soy sauce – makes it slightly sweeter
Just thought i’d throw that out there for anyone who has the occasional grocery store brain fart!

Just made this exactly as written. I’m so glad I trippled the recipe because it’s the best bacon substitute ever.

Do you think reg whole grain oats could sub for the oat groats?

I used brown rice instead of buckwheat as that is what I had on hand and it was delicious and did have a bacon like flavor and texture!

So delicious and easy. This is now a staple for me

The nutritionl yeast seems hard to get for me and I wondered if Marmite or Vegemite would work as well?

Gonna try this recipe

An update for any who have asked or wondered (I added this to the recipe within the post, too):
Several people have asked if it’s okay to bake the beans and buckwheat, as the recipe suggests, even without having boiled them, as boiling is the usual cooking method for beans and is known to remove most of the toxins in uncooked beans. While we’ve never had any problems with the soaking-and-baking (not boiling) method, and have seen the same method used for black-eyed peas in Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet, you can pre-cook the beans and buckwheat by boiling if you’d prefer to do so.

I will have to try this for sure! How long will these keep after you make them? And do you just store them in the fridge?

hey there!
so stoked about finding this recipe. I just got the first sheet in the oven. I kind of wondered how crispy it has to come out? any tips and tricks on that?
all the best from austria
betty

Liquid smoke has a lot of chemicals in it. When I used it, I had migraine headaches. Other than that, it sounds good.

Looks amazing! Any suggestions for substituting the liquid smoke? Can’t buy it here.

So you can grind up the beans and buckwheat without boiling them first then in the oven for 10 minutes. will the beans be hard, and how do I grind up the adzuki beans fine. When I first made this I pre boil the beans then let sit for an hour. love to here from you.
Thanks

Not bad. I had to sub a few items because I didn’t have them on-hand. I used farro instead of buckwheat, soy sauce instead of Bragg’s and omitted the liquid smoke altogether. The texture was a bit “crackery”. Not sure if it’s the same texture using buckwheat. It was also on the dry side- next time I will add more oil.
All in all, it’s a good recipe. Sure beats eating actual bacon… and beats eating that fake bacon on the market which is filled with ingredients I can’t pronounce.

I have used the same ingredients to marinate thinly sliced tofu, then fried. Crispy goodness!. Maple syrup is the way to go!

I tend to have stomach pains and nausea when I eat things with coconut oil or coconut meat in them… Are there any non-coconut substitutes I could try?

Is it possible to make salt free tempeh or very low salt?.

Can I use a glass casserole dish? does it have to be metal?

I must have done something badly wrong. All I can taste is buckwheat 🙁 The flavour mix is what I would call kindly ‘subtle’, and seems to disappear – and comparing the proportions to, say, Chef Conroy’s seitan bacon, there seems to be very little of it. like, one quarter of most of the same components in proportion, if you do a rough back of envelope calculation.
I might crumble it up and try to hide it in a ‘meatloaf’ type thing with a lot of other stuff, because no one in my house will eat this 🙁 The basic idea seems pretty neat, and the texture is great, though, so I might give it one more shot but go with my instincts on flavouring!

I made this a few days ago, and it is superb. I need to improve it though, I only have a hand blender which was awkward and didn’t really blend the buckwheat at all. So with the buckwheat mostly intact the texture is all wrong, it crumbles too easily in the frying pan.
Any tips for helping it to gel better, aside from buying a food processor to blend it effectively? (I’ll be doing that anyway). I suspect I didn’t use enough coconut oil as. Feedback would be great.
I’m sure the next batch will be much better, thanks very much for this great recipe.

[…] Homemade Vegan Bacon by No Meat Athlete (Surprisingly, using beans and grains!) […]

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Is there anything special about the buckwheat? I don’t have any, and I’m wondering if other whole grains would work? I think someone mentioned in the comments they used rice. I have lots of red wheat berries and I’m wondering if they would work (I don’t care if it’s gluten free). If it really has to be buckwheat to work, I’ll buy some.

Cook before freezing. Otherwise, they fall apart.

Hello, this is the best tasting vegan bacon by far, however my bacon crumbled. Did I do something wrong? I did just as the recipe stated but when I fried it, that’s when it crumbled which is fine but if I ever wanted this on a vegan BLT it won’t really work.

After soaking the beans and buckwheat should the beans be soft? Mine are still kind of hard but break apart when I squeeze them. Is that OK or should they be soft?

Hi! i was wondering if all your recipes on this fantastic website are in US cup measurements or Au? This would be super helpful, thanks 🙂

I would like to use canned kidney beans. How much of those would I use to replace the 1/2 cup of dry beans?

I just made this today and can tell I would really like it but it all fell apart after cooking. I wonder if I did not puree well enough as the wheat and the red beans were kind of hard after I mixed in food processor. I could not find where anyone else had this issue. Maybe if I cooked the beans first, it would have a better texture for staying together? Not sure if anyone would see this so many years later but really hoping I can figure this recipe out.

I’ve tried this recipe several times now. First with canned aduki beans (on Christmas Day!). Which was utterly amazing. Then I tried with just soaked beans, and then soaked and boiled beans (aduki again). They didn’t work. And other friends who tried with soaked beans too had disappointing experiences. So I’m back to canned beans again which is reliable. I don’t know if it is something we have in the UK (perhaps the water you soak them in has some effect? we have very hard water here) but doesn’t seem like it works with dried for us.
Total staple now, I keep it in the freezer! Lifechanging!

I’m drooling for salami, does anyone have a vegan salami recipe they are willing to share?!

I have been using this recipe years….and I have 2 say THANK U 4 sharing it! I do have 2 say also that while it’s GREAT and offers a great source of protein with my awesome vegan pancakes or french toast…. I don’t call it vegan bacon as it doesnt taste or behave like bacon. The taste and texture IS however more like scrapple, if any vegans missed or liked this…. def use this recipe as a substitute. 4 those in need of the closest thing I have found 2 a bacon taste/texture/crisp… try a recipe 4 RICE PAPER bacon….THAT does taste like it and is really simple and quick 2 pop in the microwave 2 cook. Not as nutritionally viable but still.
Again love this recipe and still making it after sooo many years!

Have made this vegan bacon many times, it is delicious. I keep it in the freezer as suggested. It’s perfect.

As everyone suggested, I’ve prepped a triple batch (a chore in itself.) I was hesitant but, many have posted to go for it!
I’m really nervous…
MY first batch is just out of the oven. It looks horrific, and I went 13 mins. Waiting for it to cool before slicing. I may have put it in a bit too thick (hence the longer baking time.) But I’ll reserve judgement until it’s fried and tasted.
Perhaps I’m jumping the gun.
Patience…

I have made this many, many times and keep coming back to it! Thanks so much No-Meat Athlete!!

Can you use a blender? I don’t have a food processor and don’t have any interest in buying one.
Thanks!

Can I dry can this Vegan Bacon after fryin g it?

I have made this three times and cant get this to hold together when i make it i have alll the ingredients and i use parchment paper and i make sure i dont pulse it too long, any ideas why it keeps falling apart after i bake it.

Best bacon substitute I have tasted. I won’t pretend that it tastes like bacon because it doesn’t but it does provide that salty smoky hit that you get from bacon. I used honey instead of maple syrup (I am not vegan and I am a beekeeper). I also added more smoke than the recipe because l love anything smoked.

Have not tried it yet sounds good

thank you ! Going to try this recipe!!

Could you cook the bacon in an air fryer instead of in oil in a skillet. I don’t do added oil. Thanks.