Salty, smoky, crispy. Do I really need to say any more? What a delicious combo!
I was never a big bacon fan and I rarely ate it but I do like it’s salty, smokey flavour. It has taken me over two years on a vegan diet to try and make meatless bacon because bacon wasn’t high on my list of foods I miss. I also was a little skeptical about how much mushrooms or coconut or tempeh etc.. could really taste like bacon. My skepticism was very misplaced because it really does taste like bacon but without the extra meaty flavour that I didn’t ever like. Even my bacon eating husband thinks it tastes like bacon and thinks we could fool a few of our friends at brunch!
As I mentioned, vegan bacon can be made using all types of bases but for the moment, I am so happy with mushrooms as a base, that I haven’t moved on to trying other foods. I have experimented with shiitake, portobello and field mushrooms and they are all pretty good. I think that portobello might be my favourite but then I think maybe shiitake is and then last weekend I used field mushrooms and now I really can’t decide.
I like to use the biggest mushrooms I can get because they really shrink down in the oven. I haven’t put a quantity of mushrooms in the recipe because it really depends on the size of the mushrooms and the amount of people you want to feed. I recently used 3 huge field mushrooms and made 4 BLT’s from them.
- shiitake, portobello or field mushrooms (large ones because they shrink when cooked)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
- large pinch sea salt
- Slice mushrooms thinly and separate slices as much as you can on a large plate.
- Mix remaining ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Pour marinade over mushrooms and gently rub into mushrooms making sure every slice is covered.
- Marinate for a couple of hours or more if possible or if you don't have time, about 20 minutes.
- Pre-heat oven to 160
- Spread out on a baking tray
- Cook for 20 minutes and then turn over
- Cook for 10 minutes and check
- For the next 10 minutes, check every couple of minutes because they can burn quickly
- Remove from oven and transfer onto paper towel for a couple of minutes then serve
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