A little smoky, and a little spicy, these vegan bacon bits are an easy and healthy fix for your ‘bacon’ flavor cravings! Super yummy topping for baked potatoes, soups, salads, and more!
Bacon bits that you find at the grocery store on the shelf are often accidentally vegan, but why buy them when you can make ’em even better? These homemade bits of pleasure are crunchy or soft as you please, and have all the imitation ‘bacon’ flavor without any additives, artificial color etc! Total win!
How to make vegan bacon bits:
Start by mixing together V8 vegetable juice, water, a bit of olive oil and seasonings in a small mixing bowl (Photo # 1). Stir the dried TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) into the seasoning mixture and let it rest for 5 minutes (Photo # 2). At the end of that time check to see if most of the liquid has been absorbed by the TVP (Photo 3). Let it rest a moment or two more if necessary.
For soft-style bacon bits, you’re done! No baking needed. Just use or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator!
For chewy or crunchy style bacon bits: Spread vegan bacon bits out on a non-stick cookie sheet and bake in the oven for:
- 25 minutes for ‘chewy’-style
- 55 minutes (be sure and stir it a time or two!) for ‘crunchy’ style
Storage Tips for Vegan Bacon Bits:
If you’re going for the crunchy style vegan bacon bits, let them cool completely (3-4 hours) before storing! (They will become more crunchy as they cool and you will avoid trapping any heat in a container that could cause them to spoil!) Store your cooled and dry crunchy vegan bacon bits in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to a few weeks.
If you love the softer/chewy style bits, just let them cool a bit and then place in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. You can also freeze them for up to two months!
What is TVP?
If Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) is new to you, I’m excited to introduce it to you! Made from defatted soy flour that is pressure cooked and then dried, it is a healthy (gluten-free!) and versatile chewy protein! All by itself, it has very little flavor, but it is great at taking on added flavors – in this case, making imitation bacon bits! It’s also quite inexpensive and can be found in the health food section of many grocery stores or at Amazon here – please note the link here is for four bags for around $10 total, so just over $2 a bag and each bag makes four recipes of these!
Unusual Ingredient:
Probably the most unusual ingredient in the seasoning mix for this recipe is the Vegan Worcestershire Sauce. It’s totally optional, but it is so yummy and useful in many recipes such as my popular Epic Vegan Jerky, homemade Vegan Chex Mix, and Ultra Creamy Vegan Stroganoff. Find this yummy seasoning at your local health food store or here on Amazon.
Recipes that I love to use Vegan Bacon bits in:
- Baked Potato Wedges
- Creamy Vegan Potato Soup
- Vegan Mac and Cheese -Bacon and Green Onion
- Vegan Caesar Salad
If you’ve tried this Vegan Bacon Bits recipe or any other recipe on my blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I LOVE hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what this blueberry farm girl is keepin’ busy doing!!!
Vegan Bacon Bits
Ingredients
Seasoning Mixture
- 1/3 cup V8 vegetable juice
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce optional
- 1 Tbsp bragg's liquid aminos or soy sauce
- 1 tsp nutritional yeast flakes
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp wrights hickory flavor liquid smoke
- 1/4 tsp seasoned salt
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
Then Add:
- 1 cup TVP textured vegetable protein
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees if desiring to bake baco bits! (see info below)
- Whisk together V8 juice, water, olive oil, and seasonings in a small mixing bowl.
- Add TVP and stir until well coated. Let rest for 5 minutes.
- For soft-style bacon bits, you're done! No baking needed. Just use or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator!For chewy or crunchy style bacon bits: Spread vegan bacon bits out on a non-stick cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 250 degrees for 25 minutes (for chewy-style) or up to 55 minutes (be sure and stir it a time or two!) for crunchy style.
Connie Sawatzky
February 1, 2020 at 5:21 pmreally good but would leave out the chilli powder as it makes it taste too mexican. I also doubled the liquid smoke, but that’s just my personal preference.
Cooked for the full 55 min. but it still wasn’t crispy. It was probably because I did a double batch! haha. Which was good because now, I have a ton of bacon bits which are yum!
So good with Cesar salad. and vegan parm. Just love!
Thank you for this easy recipe.
Rebecca
February 1, 2020 at 8:33 pmThx for the comment! Yeah, a double batch probably would take bit longer, but now you’re set for awhile! So glad you like the recipe!