Although I wasn’t the biggest bacon fan before going vegan, I did love a good BLT. I always remember these for family dinners where we all got to make them however we’d like, and so finding a good bacon sub that the entire fam could enjoy, meat-eater or vegan, was VERY important! This tofu bacon recipe has got the family’s approval, is incredible on its own or on a sandwich, and is perfectly crispy. We like that!

The Recipe

Finding the perfect combination of flavor to create the best “bacon” was really important. We needed to create that smoky flavor, but not overpower the other flavors. We needed to find that slight sweetness it has, but definitely didn’t want it sweet! After trying a few different combinations we found the balance we needed.

In this recipe we use one of my FAVORITE ingredients I’ve ever worked with. Liquid smoke! They actually have smoke in liquid form that you can add to recipes to bring that extra level of flavor. This is especially great when making things like vegan bacon! Wright’s Hickory Liquid Smoke is our favorite brand so far and if you haven’t tried it you really need to!

To add the sweetness we needed in this recipe we use maple syrup. If you don’t have maple syrup on hand agave will also work, however we find the maple makes it better! This little bit of sweetness adds a ton to the flavor components of the bacon. It complements the smoke and salty flavors extremely well.

Now, making bacon we KNEW we needed to bring the salty! We decided to go with gluten-free soy sauce and/or liquid aminos. The added flavors these ingredients add, on top of the saltiness, brings another layer to this recipe, helping meld the overall flavors together.

Tofu Bacon

Recipe by The Heartfelt WayCourse: Breakfast, LunchCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Total time

40

minutes

Vegan bacon has COMPLETELY upped my breakfast and sandwich game. This recipe is made with tofu, and the smoky “meaty” flavor is made using liquid smoke. Get ready to wow yourself and the whole fam.

Ingredients

• 1 package extra firm tofu

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

• 2 tbsp gluten-free soy sauce or liquid aminos

• 1 tbsp maple syrup or agave

• 1 – 1 1/2 tsp liquid smoke

• sprinkle of onion powder; ~ 1/2 tsp

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375′.
• Drain, press, and thinly slice tofu.
• In a large bowl, mix soy sauce, maple syrup, liquid smoke, oil and onion powder.
• Coat tofu in marinade and place on greased baking sheet.
• Bake for ~15 minutes until nicely browned, then flip and bake for another 12-15 mins. (Other oven temps may vary, so bake until desired brown and crunch is achieved)⁣⁣
• Eat alone, on a sandwich, with your scramble, or however you’d like!