Turn Coconut into Bacon

I posted this yesterday on my vegan food blog but it’s such a fun bit of kitchen magic that I had to share with you all. Enjoy!

Just the other day I posted about how I love to make vegan BLT’s whenever a meat-eater says, “WHAT ABOUT THE BACON?!”  In other words, I eat a lot of vegan BLTs. And when I posted about that, something wonderful happened! My friend Corinne on FB asked me if I ever made bacon out of coconut. I stared blankly at the screen. Then, she sent me a link to this recipe on the Chubby Vegetarian Blog.

Thank you Corinne for exposing me to the magic of coconut bacon!

That’s right my friends, you can out-do Jesus on the miracle front. Who needs to turn water into wine when you can turn coconut into crispy, crunchy BACON! Aside from this, if you also want to learn how to cook new recipes, then this site would do some much wonders for you.

Also? it was easy! I didn’t change anything from the recipe on the Chubby Vegetarian’s blog other than I added a few shakes of vegan bacon salt. Which if you haven’t tried yet, is a fun item to keep in the pantry!

All the salty bacon flavor with none of the pig-parts! Woohoo!

Here is a link to the original recipe I used. The original recipe says you can smoke the coconut but I did not have access to a smoker, so I used liquid smoke. I do plan on trying the smoking method in the future because coconut bacon is AMAZING and I bet that method will increase the authentic flavor even more!

Smoky Vegan Coconut Bacon
(makes 3 1/2 cups)

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups UNSWEETENED coconut flakes
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon fresh black pepper
• 1 teaspoon vegan bacon salt (or to taste)
• 1 tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon liquid smoke

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place coconut flakes into a large mixing bowl.

I use a lot of Bob’s Red Mill products and this unsweetened coconut is perfect. It’s really important that you use unsweetened coconut for this recipe and use the flakes not the shredded kind.

3. Combine wet ingredients and salt and pepper in a separate bowl. Mix well.

4. Add wet ingredient mixture to coconut in the bowl and toss to cover.

5. Spread coconut flakes on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 15-20 mins.

I have a very small oven so I did two batches. It will also cook faster and more evenly if you spread the coconut out thinner than I did. But this way totally worked just be sure to stir during baking!

TIP: You will want to stir the coconut and re-spread it on the baking sheet at least once during baking! I stirred mine around a few times because I had a thick layer. It will be dark and crispy when it is done.

Look at this! Coconut turned into bacon!

This fake bacon is definitely better than any store bought brand I have tried. What is really special about it compared to the packaged brands is that it actually looks like bacon and it stays crispy! You can keep it in a sealed container in the fridge for at least a few days and it’s still crunchy!

I have already used it to make a BLT (Ok two BLTs cuz it is SO good!) and as a topping for spicy black beans. I think this recipe will really shine as a topping to potato skins, chili, Mac-n-Cheese or any recipe that would normally call for bacon bits as a topping. It’s really impressive how much like bacon this seems.

My friend Ray also recommended we try it covered in chocolate and I am SO going to do that! I bet it will taste incredible!

This recipe is a fun and easy way to impress your vegan, vegetarian and even your omnivore friends. Especially those friends that think all you eat all day is twigs and berries! Seriously, give it a try.

This is a great example of vegan food that is fun to eat and it’s a delicious kitchen magic trick!

Enjoy!