Vegan Bacon
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Vegan Bacon
This vegan bacon is smoky and deliciously textured and made from seitan! It's crispy, chewy, salty and sweet and packs a serious protein punch too!
Servings: 26 Strips
Ingredients
For the Vegan Bacon:
- 2 cup Vital Wheat Gluten (300g)
- ¼ cup Nutritional Yeast (15g)
- 2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- ½ tsp Onion Powder
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- ½ cup Vegetable Stock (120ml)
- ¼ cup Canola Oil (60ml)
- ¼ cup Tamari (60ml) (Gluten Free Soy Sauce)
- ¼ cup Maple Syrup (60ml)
- 2 Tbsp Liquid Smoke
- 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
For the Marinade:
- 2 Tbsp Tamari (Gluten Free Soy Sauce)
- 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- ¼ tsp Onion Powder
- ¼ tsp Garlic Powder
- ⅛ tsp Liquid Smoke
For Frying:
- Grapeseed Oil
Instructions
- Add the vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, smoked paprika, onion powder and garlic powder to a mixing bowl and mix together.
- Then, in a measuring jug, add vegetable stock, canola oil, tamari, maple syrup, liquid smoke, dijon mustard and tomato paste and whisk together.
- Add the wet ingredients in with the dry and mix in with a spoon until you have a thick dough.
- Move the dough to a wooden cutting board and knead it for 5-8 minutes until it is pretty stiff and firm. 5 minutes is sufficient if you have very strong hands, if you have weaker hands then up to 8 minutes may be needed. Watch for how the dough feels to know when it has been long enough. It should be firm and spring back when stretched. See the blog post for more notes about kneading.
- Form the dough into a square as much as you can, loosely wrap it in foil and steam it for 20 minutes. The water should be boiling before you add the steamer basket so that it steams properly for the full 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes of steaming unwrap it from the foil and allow to cool completely. When it's cool, use a sharp knife to cut it into even slices.
- Prepare your marinade sauce by adding tamari, maple syrup, smoked paprika, tomato paste, garlic powder, onion powder and liquid smoke to a measuring jug and whisk with a mini whisk until smooth.
- Heat up a frying pan with the grapeseed oil and then add the first batch of bacon slices (we did 5-6 slices at a time) and brush on the marinade sauce. Flip the slices and brush the marinade sauce onto the other side. Flip the bacon slices regularly until charred on each side.
- Keep leftovers in the fridge and enjoy within about a week. It's also freezer friendly if you want to freeze it, and then thaw overnight in the fridge.
Notes
Vital Wheat Gluten. For the best accuracy weigh your Vital Wheat Gluten. If using only the cup method, this is 2 packed cups.
Canola Oil. I have only made this with canola oil, but I imagine a different oil could also work. I would not use coconut oil though (too thick and flavored).
Liquid Smoke. It is a lot of liquid smoke but really works in creating that 'bacon' flavor.
Grapeseed Oil. This has a high smoke point so really assists in getting the bacon charred which also assists in the flavor. You can use a different oil for frying though. We used about 2 Tbsp during frying but you may need more or less depending on the pan you use.
Prep time includes the time spent steaming, but does not include cooling time for the seitan before slicing.
Gluten-Free. Unfortunately this vegan bacon cannot be made gluten-free as it relies on the vital wheat gluten for the structure and consistency and there are no substitutions that can be made for it.