Welcome to the latest addition into my collection of vegan bacon recipes! Crispy + flavorful + smoky + meatless! This recipe for Vegan Tempeh Bacon Bits is super easy to make + you can toss them into a salad, soup, sprinkle onto a baked potato or pasta. Sometimes you just need some bacon bits without the bacon!
Why Eat Tempeh?
Tempeh is a great source of protein + calcium + iron + magnesium + prebiotics. Tempeh is on regular rotation in the MVF kitchen as one of our main sources of clean, plant-based protein. As a blank canvas, tempeh can be used in so many different ways! Still curious? Read this: Reasons to Eat Tempeh.
Tara’s Tips for Perfect Tempeh Bacon Bits:
- Boil your tempeh first!!!!! One of the biggest reasons people think they do not like tempeh is because it has a slightly bitter taste if you don’t boil it before using it in your recipe. After boiling, the bitter taste is gone. Boiling also softens it up so it soaks up all of the flavors you add.
- Extra time? Marinate it longer! First, boil the tempeh. Second, allow to marinate for 10 minutes up to 8 hours. 10 minutes is great, longer is awesome.
- No oil! Yep, you heard me correctly. With the proper pan, these little vegan bacon bits caramelize and brown just perfectly without oil + without sticking to the pan. In addition, you can add a tablespoon of water or even an extra spoon of liquid aminos if you do get some that want stick to the pan.
- OPTIONAL but awesome: Make an entire second batch of marinade and pour over the tempeh in the pan when cooking begins. This intensifies the flavor + caramelization but is completely up to you if you want an extra flavor punch. DOUBLE of all of the ingredients of the tempeh marinade if you choose to do it this way.
How to Use Vegan Tempeh Bacon Bits
- Crumble in a salad
- Add into JUST Egg Muffin Breakfast Bites
- Wrap it up with veggies + dressing
- Make an Air Fryer Baked Potato and crumble it on top!
- I love these bacon bits sprinkled on top of Dairy-Free One Pot Creamy Mushroom Pasta or Dairy Free Creamy Pumpkin Pasta.
Love Tempeh? Me Too!
Try my other tempeh recipes:
Teriyaki Tempeh With Vegetables
Vegan Tempeh Bacon Bits
This recipe for Vegan Tempeh Bacon Bits is super easy to make + you can toss them into a salad, soup, sprinkle onto a baked potato or your favorite pasta!
Ingredients
- 8 ounce package of tempeh
- 3 cups water
- 2 tbsp liquid aminos (sub soy sauce or tamari)
- 1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
- OPTIONAL but awesome - Make a full second batch of the marinade for cooking the tempeh
Directions
- Step 1 Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a medium pot.
- Step 2 Remove tempeh from packaging, and add tempeh to boiling water and boil for 10 minutes.
- Step 3 While tempeh is boiling, prepare the marinade by whisking together the liquid aminos, maple syrup, and liquid smoke, set aside.
- Step 4 After 10 minutes of boiling, pour tempeh into a colander and fully drain water from tempeh.
- Step 5 Once cool enough to handle, crumble or cut into tiny bits, transfer tempeh to a glass dish or bowl, pour the marinade over the tempeh.
- Step 6 Allow to marinade for 10 minutes up to 8 hours in the refrigerator.
- Step 7 Heat a medium non-stick pan or skillet over medium-low heat.
- Step 8 Add marinated tempeh bits to the pan with all of the remaining marinade in the bowl. OPTIONAL but awesome – add a full second batch of marinade ingredients to the pan, pouring evenly over all tempeh pieces.
- Step 9 Cook the tempeh over medium-low for 10 minutes. Stir the tempeh frequently to ensure every piece is getting browned.
- Step 10 Add a tablespoon of water at a time if your tempeh begins to stick to the pan.
- Step 11 Tempeh is done cooking when all sides have a caramelized layer.
- Step 12 Remove from heat, sprinkle on your favorite dish or eat as is! Enjoy!
❤Did you make these Vegan Tempeh Bacon Bits? Love them? Leave a rating + a comment below!
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