The BEST Vegan Bacon Recipe (With Rice Paper)

Chewy yet crispy vegan bacon! This Vegan Bacon Recipe is ready within 15 minutes and goes perfectly with your morning breakfast or a lunchtime BLT sandwich.

vegan bacon recipe

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If you haven't heard of vegan bacon, you need to jump on this train. I originally learned of this from Tabitha Brown's carrot bacon, but now even Gordon Ramsay has tried his hand at it!

Give this vegan bacon with rice paper a chance as a substitute for the regular pork bacon. Or if you're vegan, it's honestly way better than the ever-so-popular carrot bacon recipes (but we have that recipe too). Plus, it makes for a perfect vegan BLT sandwich!

vegan bacon being held with orange juice on the side

Why You Need To Try This Vegan Bacon

  • Much healthier than regular pork bacon, with way less saturated fat and cholesterol
  • Delicious on its own, in a vegan BLT sandwich, as vegan bacon bits in a caesar salad, and so much more!
  • Mimicks the exact taste and texture of bacon
  • A chewy yet crispy texture
  • Surprisingly easy to make
  • Simple, affordable ingredients
  • Completely vegan and plant-based!
  • Pair with a tofu scramble, and you have a complete breakfast
Vegan Rice Paper Recipe

Health Benefits Of Rice Paper Bacon

Although there are not tremendous benefits to this vegan bacon, the benefit of substituting pork bacon with rice paper bacon is notable. Pork bacon has little nutritional value and great health risks when consumed often. Try this tasty substitute instead!

Pork Bacon Vs. Rice Paper Bacon 

Bacon is about 40% saturated fat and a whole lot of cholesterol. One slice of bacon provides 3-4 grams of fat and 9 mg of cholesterol. It also has about 140 mg of sodium. In contrast, this rice paper bacon has much less fat, cholesterol, and sodium. All of its fat content is monounsaturated fat (a healthier kind). 

Processed meat also contains additives like nitrates and nitrites. The problem with these additives is that high-heat cooking causes them to form compounds called nitrosamines, which are known carcinogens. Processed meat has been associated with colon, breast, liver, and lung cancers, as well as others. Processed meat is also linked with a higher risk of heart disease. 

Whether you're fully vegan or just want to lower your meat intake, you've got to try out this Rice Paper Bacon or carrot bacon!

Vegan Bacon Recipe

What You’ll Need For This Rice Paper Bacon Recipe

ingredients for vegan rice paper bacon
  • Rice paper: This is our star ingredient. Rice paper is normally used in asian dishes to make dumplings and rolls. It absorbs a lot of flavor since it's mainly just rice and can be transformed into almost anything! If you can find square rice paper, that would be ideal to cut perfect bacon strips.
  • Tahini: This recipe used to use olive oil but I've since replaced the oil with tahini. It ups the flavor, texture, and makes it a more nutrient dense recipe.
  • Nutritional yeast: Packed with b vitamins, nutritional yeast has to be in every vegan's pantry and is included in a lot of vegan food.
  • Garlic powder: I'm pretty sure garlic powder is included in every one of my recipes (iykyk).
  • Maple syrup: This keeps more moisture in the bacon, and contributes a sweeter taste and chewier texture.
  • Soy sauce: You can sub tamari or coconut aminos as well (it just may affect the sodium level).
  • Ground black pepper: Just a bit of black pepper goes a long way in this vegan bacon recipe.
  • Smoked paprika: You can use regular paprika, but this might give it a sweeter taste rather than smoky taste.
  • Liquid smoke or BBQ sauce: Liquid smoke is great to give this recipe the classic bacon, smoky flavor.

Vegan Bacon Recipe Video

How To Make This Rice Paper Bacon Recipe

Preheat your oven to 400F and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper (or a reusable mat like I have). 

bacon marinade

In a bowl, whisk together all the marinade ingredients (all except the rice paper). This will be your bacon marinade. 

bacon marinade mixed

Place one sheet of rice paper over another (2ply), and dip the rice paper into a bowl of water until soft. Cut the rice paper into thin strips, about 1 inch thick, with a pair of sharp scissors.

dipping rice paper into water
cutting the rice paper into bacon shapes

Now dip the strips of rice paper into the marinade. Both sides should now have marinade on them.

marinating each bacon strip

Place the vegan rice paper bacon strips on your baking sheet, leaving space for each strip so they aren't overlapping.

vegan bacon on baking sheet

Repeat the technique with remaining rice paper strips until the baking sheet is filled, whisking the marinade every so often to prevent separation.

Bake for 8-9 minutes, until the vegan bacon becomes a darker brown. You might want to do a test run with only 1-2 strips of bacon to see how long they should cook as each oven varies.

vegan bacon recipe cooked

The strips burn easily, so keep an eye on the bacon during the last 1-2 minutes. 

vegan bacon recipe close up
vegan rice paper recipe

Rice Paper Bacon

Chewy yet crispy Vegan Bacon! This vegan bacon recipe is ready within 15 minutes and goes perfectly with your morning breakfast or a lunchtime BLT sandwich.
Prep Time 6 minutes
Cook Time 9 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Servings 6

Equipment

  • Baking Tray
  • Parchment Paper or Baking Mat
  • Mixing bowl
  • Whisk

Ingredients
  

  • 8 whole pieces of rice paper
  • 6 Tbsp soy sauce or tamari or coconut aminos
  • 2 Tbsp tahini
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup
  • ½ tsp liquid smoke*
  • 4 Tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 Tbsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp of smoked paprika
  • tsp ground black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 400F and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper (or a reusable mat like I have).
  • In a bowl, whisk together all the ingredients except the rice paper. This will be your bacon marinade.
  • Place one sheet of rice paper over another (2ply), and dip the rice paper into a bowl of water until soft. Cut the rice paper into strips about 1 inch thick with a pair of sharp scissors.
  • Now dip the doubled-up pieces of rice paper into the marinate or use a basting brush. Both sides should have marinade on them. Place each piece on your baking sheet.
  • Repeat the technique with remaining rice paper strips until the baking sheet is filled, whisking the marinade every so often to prevent separation.
  • Bake for 8-9 minutes, until the bacon becomes dark brown.
  • The strips burn easily, so keep an eye on the bacon during the last 1-2 minutes.

Video

Notes

*You can sub 1 tbsp bbq sauce if you do not have access to liquid smoke.
Keyword Bacon, Vegan

How To Store Rice Paper Bacon

You can store leftover rice paper bacon in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the fridge for 5-7 days. Sometimes it loses its texture, so I like to bake or air fry it for 1-2 minutes at 400F to crisp the bacon back up.

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Other Plant-Based Bacon Recipes

Carrot Bacon Recipe 

carrot bacon recipe

Healthy yet delicious CARROT BACON to pair with your morning coffee and a tofu scramble or potato skillet!

Best Vegan Bacon Recipes

best vegan bacon recipes

This blog post contains other delicious vegan bacon recipes, including 5 of the best vegan bacon recipes I have yet to find! Tofu bacon, tempeh bacon, and coconut bacon are some of the recipes included. Guess you can make anything into bacon nowadays. Give it a shot!

Share Your Thoughts!

Did you enjoy this recipe? I'd so appreciate it if you could take a minute to post a review or comment below!

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[…] chewy yet crispy Vegan Rice Paper Bacon is made completely out of rice paper and seasonings! Can you believe it? Even your family will […]

[…] chewy yet crispy Vegan Rice Paper Bacon is made completely out of rice paper and seasonings! Can you believe it? Even your family will […]