Crispy Seitan Bacon
I was craving a simple avocado-”bacon” sandwich, but got too lazy to contemplate biking all the way to the natural food store to get my fix.
Worse? I didn’t even have tofu to whip up a batch of tofu bacon, the horror!
So I made do with what I had and here’s what I came up with, using Veganomicon’s chickpea cutlet idea of combining beans and gluten to make the base for it.
If you give them a few minutes to cool down once they’re out of the oven, they will crisp up even more.
Note: the dough will not be like the one for the Seitan O’Greatness, but rather paste-like
Crispy Seitan Bacon 1/2 cup (128 g) cooked cannellini beans
1 teaspoon canola oil
1/4 cup (36 g) vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup (20 g) whole-wheat panko or other bread crumbs
3 tablespoons (45 ml) soy sauce
2 tablespoons (16 g) nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons (30 ml) maple syrup
1 tablespoon (15 ml) liquid smoke
1 tablespoon (17 g) tomato paste
1 clove garlic, gratedBlend all ingredients in a food processor, until smooth and paste-like, scraping sides occasionally.
Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C, or gas mark 5). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat, such as Silpat.
Scoop up about 1 1/2 tablespoons of seitan paste, and pat down in the shape of bacon strips, spreading the paste as thinly as possible.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until brown and crispy, turning once halfway through baking time.
If you have leftovers, fry them in a pan for a few seconds to make them crispy again.Yield: 12 to 16 strips
Romina said,
June 3, 2008 at 1:59 pm
YUM!! I’m planning on making seitan today, this looks like something I must try!
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Liz² said,
June 3, 2008 at 2:52 pm
I… I think I’m in love. :OOOO
It’s *cupboard* bacon!
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ruby red vegan said,
June 3, 2008 at 3:01 pm
As soon as I read the title of your post, I got really excited… And your recipe and photo did not disappoint! I love that you added white beans into the seitan mix. And that this seitan does not take 10 million years to bake! I wanna try this as soon as I get some beans! :)
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shellyfish said,
June 3, 2008 at 3:08 pm
This sounds so wicked cool. I’ve been really into baking bread lately, must…make…sandwiches…
And, hey, I’m a little worried about you. Where are the cookies? :)
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Shirley said,
June 3, 2008 at 3:09 pm
These look yummy. Is it 1/2 cup or can or what of white beans? Would some other bean do? I don’t know if we have white beans here. Thanks
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Celine said,
June 3, 2008 at 3:12 pm
edited the recipe. can you tell I’m overworked and underpaid? yeah.
I haven’t tried it with other beans, but I’m sure it’d be just fine, Shirley.
I’m on cookie-strike, Shel! we have so many of them in the fridge that I just don’t have the heart to make more for now. pity. :)
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Corbet said,
June 3, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Oh yum! I think I may just have to try these today so I can have a BTL for brunch. Mmmmm, thanks!
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vegan addict said,
June 3, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Oh yummy! I just baked some rye bread, and this tasty recipe will surely make a naked slice of bread crazy happy. Now, if only I hadn’t spilled the liquid smoke all over the floor…
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Bianca- Vegan Crunk said,
June 3, 2008 at 4:17 pm
That sounds so great! I love faux bacon recipes! I have to try this!
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Vegan Dad said,
June 3, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Awesome. I tried making a seitan bacon and it was . . . interesting. More chewy than crispy. Can’t wait to gove this a try.
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Vegan Dad said,
June 3, 2008 at 4:26 pm
And by gove, I mean give, of course.
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Ricki said,
June 3, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Oh, my. This looks heavenly. Will you make bacon for me if I make pancakes for you?
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Eric said,
June 3, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Oh wow, that looks absolutely delicious!
I recently bought some tempeh “fakin’ bacon” and I found that to be awesome as well, from a ready-made perspective.
I have a bunch of seitan sitting in my fridge, I think I’m gonna try making your version of bacon :)
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Kimberlee said,
June 3, 2008 at 6:06 pm
This is impressive and simple. I could make this even at my laziest moments. Thanks so much. I’ll definitely be using the idea of beans in seitan for other things. Inspiring stuff here.
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ninaki said,
June 3, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Okay what can I say?? I am going to try this very soon! Because it looks FANTASTIC.genius.
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Smita said,
June 3, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Holy cow! This is almost like magic!
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Courtney said,
June 3, 2008 at 11:13 pm
You are a genius!
Courtney
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Ashley said,
June 4, 2008 at 1:24 am
I’ve never tried seitan bacon but yours looks amazing! I’ve never found a really good non meat bacon.
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Silvia said,
June 4, 2008 at 5:17 am
Celine darling I’m always late these days! Sorry but you know that I always read you as soon as I can and I adore every single recipe you donate to us! :-D
Kiss
Silvia
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Melisser said,
June 4, 2008 at 7:07 am
Wow, this sure sounds interesting!
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Vegetation said,
June 4, 2008 at 7:43 am
OMG!!!!! CELINE! You are my hero! Marry me!
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Celine said,
June 4, 2008 at 8:33 am
no need to apologize, Silvia: there’s no obligation to leave comments to any of my entries, ever.
Amy/Vegetation: YES!
Courtney: no. ;)
I’m happy to report someone already tested the recipe and gave it two thumbs up. woohoo!
Ricki: we have a deal.
Vegan Dad: you really meant gove, didn’t you?
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sheree said,
June 4, 2008 at 2:22 pm
This is just what the doctor ordered. I can’t wait to get home from work and make this! Yahoo!
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Sophie said,
June 4, 2008 at 8:54 pm
This is a really wonderful recipe! It sounds really delicious and healthy; my hubby is a huge fan of bacon, maybe I can make this one morning before he wakes up and see if he notices the difference :P??!!! And a ‘bacon’ and avocado sandwich sounds mighty tasty to me right now!
P.S. sheesh…haven’t gotten around to those blogger awards yet; I was feeling bad b/c I know I mentioned it to you but I haven’t posted them yet!!!! :D
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Jackie said,
June 5, 2008 at 3:33 am
Nice! I’ll bet this is far better than smart bacon or the other faux varieties.
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veganhomemade said,
June 5, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Cool! Mostly things I keep in my pantry. Very nice job.
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Johanna said,
June 10, 2008 at 12:18 pm
this looks great – I call it facon (as in fake bacon) because it amuses me – I was all excited to find a recipe for shamburgers recently but when I shared the name with a friend she thought I meant champagne burgers so not everyone shares my glee with a silly name
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B36Kitchen said,
June 13, 2008 at 1:33 pm
WOW! I really need to eat that on a sandwich with Avocado and mayo!!
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I Am Spam… « The Veggie Patch said,
September 5, 2008 at 2:17 am
[...] and pasta! Another night we had mixture on toast (which I’ve blogged about before). I used Celines crispy seitan bacon. I sadly burned it (my fault) but it was delicious all the same (even the bits of charcoal were [...]
Carolyn Blakeney said,
April 17, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Latecomer to the post, I’m wondering if a pastry tube thingy could eliminate some of the patting and spreading here- just tube out a line (say five or six inches) and spread from there? I’ve been looking for an excuse to get a pastry tube, this could be it…
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Celine Reply:
April 17th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
why not? but it works well without too. honest.
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Carolyn Blakeney said,
April 17, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Celine-
Nuff said, will try. We needs us some more bacon alternatives!
Bacon crumbles for ‘tater salads, perchance…
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Maija Haavisto said,
June 10, 2009 at 4:47 am
I had to add several tablespoons of water to get any kind of a “paste”. However, they still turned out very crispy (actually a bit too crispy for my tastes, but my strips were probably too thick, so maybe the crispness would have been just right had I got them spread out slightly thinner).
I added about a dozen drops of sesame oil, a little chipotle sauce and a sprinkle of black rice vinegar to the recipe, all of which I can recommend, as they add to a smoky flavour.
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Brenda Maye said,
July 2, 2009 at 6:20 am
This has a great flavor! I tried to bake it on a metal pan on waxed paper-not good- it stuck like crazy. Does the silicone mat really work? Has anybody tried using a baking stone? Help!
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Celine Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 6:43 am
waxed paper? not recommended. parchment paper is it. or grease a pan. and yes, silicone mats work.
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Brenda Maye said,
July 5, 2009 at 1:47 pm
yes! the silicone mat works great! Now, what is the best way to keep the bacon. Does it freeze well once it is prepared? I saw you suggested reheating it in a pan, would this work if I freeze the prepared bacon?
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Celine Reply:
July 5th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
you can definitely freeze it, I never had issues doing so. it would also work reheating it in the pan, even once frozen.
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Kimberlee said,
August 17, 2009 at 6:24 am
I am feeling two ways about these. The prep was a bit easy until I got to loading them on the parchment, which was annoying as heck. Then the texture is all wrong but I think the taste is yummy. I don’t know if I’ll make them again. I love the concept and I hate paying $5 for a pack of crappy less healthy fakun, but I just don’t know…
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Celine Reply:
August 17th, 2009 at 6:43 am
sorry to hear they didn’t hit the spot for you, Kimberlee.
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