Vegan Bacon Bits

Smoky and spicy with maple undertones, you’re going to love these vegan bacon bits sprinkled all over veggies, salads, and soups. Ready in under 60 seconds – this simple dump and mix recipe requires nothing more than a bowl and measuring spoons. Stir yourself up a batch today and enjoy these bacon-y tidbits for up to a month — they keep in the fridge really well!

TL:DR Summary of Making Vegan Bacon Bits

bacon bit ingredients in a mixing bowl. Text below image reads: Combine TVP, water, and seasonings in small bowl. You’re done. Image copyright notnotnutritious.com ” data-pin-description=”Smoky and spicy with maple undertones, these vegan bacon bits are perfect for appetizers, salads, and soups. Make this easy, gluten-free recipe in 60 seconds! #bacon #bits #vegan #easy #TVP #recipe #howtomake” data-pin-title=”Vegan Bacon Bits in 60 seconds!” height=”1500″ loading=”lazy” src=”https://i0.wp.com/notnotnutritious.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/TLDR-Vegan-Bacon-Bits_April172019-1.jpg?fit=683%2C1024&ssl=1″ width=”1000″>

About the Ingredients

These Vegan Bacon Bits are made with a meat substitute called TVP, which is short for textured vegetable protein. You’ll also see it labelled TSP (textured soy protein) or soy meat or soya chunks. TVP is high in protein and is fat-free. Typically, you buy it dry and then rehydrate it with boiling water. For this recipe, you don’t need to rehydrate it. Just use the dry TVP right from the package.

maple syrup, and smoked paprika. A red bowl contains TVP, aka textured vegetable protein. ” data-pin-description=”Smoky and spicy with maple undertones, these vegan bacon bits are perfect for appetizers, salads, and soups. Make this easy, gluten-free recipe in 60 seconds! #bacon #bits #vegan #easy #TVP #recipe #howtomake” data-pin-title=”Vegan Bacon Bits in 60 seconds!” height=”1537″ loading=”lazy” src=”https://i1.wp.com/notnotnutritious.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/vegan_bacon_bits_ingredients_IMG_1377.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1″ width=”1537″>

You should be able to find TVP/TSP in a well-stocked grocery, or in the bulk bins of natural food stores. It’s inexpensive. I paid about $4 Canadian for a 10 oz (283 gram) bag.

The other ingredients are liquid smoke, maple syrup, smoked paprika, salt, and water.

About Liquid Smoke

Liquid smoke is vegan – it’s essentially a distillation of the smoke and steam from burning wood. Be cautious when you use liquid smoke, a little bit goes a long way!

For this recipe, I used the hickory-smoked kind as I think it more closely emulates a real bacon flavour. Look for liquid smoke in the condiment section of your grocery store.

Making Vegan Bacon Bits

This is so easy – just assemble all the ingredients (TVP, salt, smoked paprika, liquid smoke, maple syrup and water) and mix them together. Unlike most recipes that use TVP you do not rehydrate it first. Just dump it in the mixing bowl. When you first make the vegan bacon bits, they will be damp, but not wet. You can eat the vegan bacon bits right away, or store them in the fridge for up to a month. They will get drier the longer you have them but the flavour will remain good.

gluten-free recipe in 60 seconds! #bacon #bits #vegan #easy #TVP #recipe #howtomake” data-pin-title=”Vegan Bacon Bits in 60 seconds!” data-recalc-dims=”1″ height=”1024″ loading=”lazy” src=”https://i1.wp.com/notnotnutritious.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/1080_Vegan_bacon_bits_plate_IMG_1387.jpg?resize=1024%2C1024&ssl=1″ width=”1024″>

Ideas for Using Vegan Bacon Bits

Bacon bits are a classic topper for soups, salads and vegetables, such as baked potatoes. I’ll be adding lots of ideas in future posts. Here’s a look ahead to an upcoming recipe, Roasted Yams with Sweet Onion Dressing and Vegan Bacon Bits.

gluten-free recipe in 60 seconds! #bacon #bits #vegan #easy #TVP #recipe #howtomake” data-pin-title=”Vegan Bacon Bits in 60 seconds!” height=”2049″ loading=”lazy” src=”https://i1.wp.com/notnotnutritious.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/pin2_test_IMG_1332.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&ssl=1″ width=”1537″>

Eating Together Made Easy

These Vegan Bacon Bits are 100% plant-based so they can be enjoyed by eaters of all types. Now for the truth in advertising part — if you blind taste-test these against actual bacon bits, I’m pretty sure it will be obvious which is which. That said, more than one non-vegan in my life has happily eaten them because they just taste good. That’s said, if you’re a group of mixed eaters, you can certainly serve the real stuff for the non-vegans. Or just serve these, but call them “smoky sprinkles”!

Pin Vegan Bacon Bits for Later

gluten-free recipe in 60 seconds! #bacon #bits #vegan #easy #TVP #recipe #howtomake” data-pin-title=”Vegan Bacon Bits in 60 seconds!” height=”1500″ loading=”lazy” src=”https://i1.wp.com/notnotnutritious.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/PIN_Vegan_Bacon-_Bits_plate_April16-2.png?fit=683%2C1024&ssl=1″ width=”1000″>

Looking for Other Vegan Seasoning Ideas?

• Garlicky Chimichurri
• Zatar Spice Blend
• Easy Vegan Brown Butter
• Pineapple Brown Butter Teriyaki Sauce

Say Hello!

I’d love to hear what you eat these with! Come back to the site and let me know.

Sylvia