Rice Paper Vegan Bacon Recipe

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Looking for a healthier alternative to traditional bacon? This Rice Paper Vegan Bacon is crispy, chewy, sweet, salty, smoky, and just as tasty as the original. 

I finally decided to try a Rice Paper Vegan Bacon Recipe and I'm totally in love! I saw it circulating on the internet for a while, but I thought of it more as a novelty, rather than something I would make and eat often.

I made it on a whim the other day and tried it out with the family. We were pleasantly surprised!

Nick and I loved it of course, but our son was literally doing a bacon song and dance. Grant has been vegan his whole 5 ½ years of life (and in the womb) so he has no idea what pig bacon tastes like.

So, I found it very interesting that he was acting like it was "real" bacon. That made me realize there is something about bacon that makes people crazy about it.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard "but bacon, though" as a solid reason why someone can never go vegan. This really puzzles me because I ate pig bacon in the past, but I was never THAT crazy about it.

There seems to be an obsession with it these days and bacon is in everything and advertised everywhere. I've seen recipes with it wrapped around a turkey, around taco shells, in ice cream, and even in chocolate bars. That is just way over the top.

Why is bacon so addictive?

Is it because it's from pig flesh, or is it because it's cured, seasoned, smoked, and cooked into a crispy, chewy and salty strip? I'm going to choose the latter and say it's because it hits all the flavor profiles and then some, which makes it rich in umami flavor.

So, what if you can have all that addictive flavor but without the animal flesh (and the heart attack)? Sounds good to me!

Now, I can't lie and say the rice paper bacon has the same texture as pig bacon because it's missing the fattiness. However, it's crispy and slightly chewy with all the sweet, smoky, salty, and umami flavors that we're addicted too.

I cannot take credit for this genius idea, it was originally published on a site called Veganer and I adapted the recipe to suit my own taste.

They developed this Vegan Bacon Recipe to help lower the demand for pig bacon in Denmark. Over 40 million pigs are produced each year there, and most of them will suffer a horrible and senseless death.

How to make Rice Paper Bacon

Before starting the process, preheat your oven to 375° F (190° C) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. You may need to adjust the temp if the bacon isn't cooking properly. A test run can help you gauge this.

Start by putting two sheets of rice paper together with smooth sides facing each other. Now quickly run under water to make them pliable and stick together. Be careful not to trap too much water in between sheets (a little is ok).

You don't have to soak the rice paper sheets, just wet them enough so they adhere together. Gently brush off excess water with your fingers. *Alternatively, you can brush on water and stick them together that way.

Marinade for vegan bacon

In a small bowl, add grapeseed oil, tamari, maple syrup, molasses, liquid smoke, nutritional yeast, smoked paprika, granulated garlic, onion powder, and salt. Whisk to combine well and set aside.

Lay adhered rice sheets on a flat surface and lightly brush marinade on each side. Don't put too much or this will cause soggy and really chewy bacon. You should have just enough marinade for all 8 sheets of rice paper.

If the marinade separates a little, just whisk it again until combined before coating the next set of rice paper sheets.

Now, using clean kitchen scissors, (this is a bit messy) cut the rice paper into thick strips (see above photo). I snip off and discard the rounded edges to keep the strips a similar shape. Alternatively, you can use a pizza cutter.

Bake

Place the pan in your preheated oven. You'll need to keep a close eye on the strips because they can burn really easily. My oven tends to get hot, so I rotate the pan at the halfway mark.

The bacon should take anywhere from 5-7 minutes to finish (maybe more for some ovens). It should become crispy and perfectly browned.

If you take out the strips too soon, they will be too chewy to eat, and taking them out too late will cause an awful burnt taste. If you aren't sure how it will work in your oven, you can do a test run with 5-6 strips.

Remove pan from oven and place bacon strips on paper towels to absorb excess oil. The bacon will crisp up even more over the next few minutes.

There are other ways to make Vegan Bacon!

The fun never ends! Besides rice paper, you can make bacon with carrots, eggplant, tempeh, tofu, coconut, seitan, and mushrooms. You just can't get bored with all that smoky goodness!

Next on my list to make is this Smoky Mushroom Bacon by Sina at Vegan Heaven. Doesn't it look mouthwatering good?

Recipe