I want to give you this vegan rice paper bacon recipe today because it is one of the coolest things I have come across in a while and it’s absolutely DELICIOUS.
Bafflingly realistic in appearance, the rice paper bacon is made with a straightforward but ingenious process. After learning about this technique, I got around to making it with my personal favorite ‘bacon-inspired’ marinade and it did not last very long in my kitchen. So I made it a couple more times, even attempting to make a video, and took some nice photographs so that I could share it with you.
What’s the catch? There is no catch! This 100% vegan rice paper bacon is made totally from scratch, and totally from plants. So for anyone who enjoyed the crispy texture and smoky, super umami flavor of the ‘real thing’, but doesn’t want to eat meat anymore, I hope you will give this a try. No, this vegan bacon is not *exactly like bacon*. But out of all of the substitutes I’ve tried so far, this one does the best job of capturing the characteristics of the ‘real thing’ that I personally enjoyed the most. Go in without too many expectations, play around with it, and make it your own. 🙂
There are 3 easy steps to making your own rice paper bacon:
- Whisk up an easy smoky-sweet marinade
- Cut sheets of rice paper into strips, dip them quickly in water to soften and stick them together, and then generously coat them in the marinade
- Bake, fry, or microwave (yes, microwave!) them into crispy vegan bacon deliciousness
Set aside an hour next weekend and whip up a big batch. The rice paper bacon strips will stay crispy for a couple of days if stored correctly (see the recipe notes). I myself made avocado-vegan mayo-rice paper bacon sandwiches and they were incredibly moreish.
P.S. if this recipe sets your heart a-flutter and you want to branch out into even more cruelty-free recipes inspired by the flavor and texture of bacon, you’ll want to stay tuned. Next month I will be sharing a review and giveaway of a new all-vegan, bacony cookbook: Baconish , by Leinana Two Moons.
I’m experimenting with filming some live-action footage to include with future recipes! Unfortunately I was an idiot and positioned the camera behind my back, so I was blocking the lens with my arms for most of the film. What can I say, I am new to the studio life. I have a few snapshots of the process, though.
UPDATE 4/20/16: A reader suggested hydrating two sheets of rice paper all at once, then using scissors to cut it into strips. I will be trying that method next time – I think it’s an even easier way to make the recipe come together.
Cutting the rice paper into strips. Notice my work station is getting messy already. This is partially because I tried to use a different strategy for marinating my first few strips (it did not work well and made everything a mess..) Don’t work somewhere that gets stained easily.
Stacking together two strips of paper of similar size. These get quickly dipped into the water while you hold them together, and then after that, given a good dunk into the marinade. The marinated strips are accumulating on a plate in the back. Because of the oil in the marinade, they won’t stick together. Next time I would move them directly to the baking sheet, though, to eliminate the middle man.
Placing the strips onto a metal rack that’s been covered with parchment paper. This is the best way to get light, crispy rice paper bacon.
Optional. If you’re like me and find it amusing to give the rice paper bacon some realistic marbling, whisk together a quick balsamic vinegar mixture and use a brush to spread it onto parts of the vegan bacon strips. Then they’re ready to bake.
What is rice paper? I’m referring to the rice paper used for wrapping spring rolls, not the kind for calligraphy. You can find it in the Asian section of most grocery stores.
Vegan Rice Paper Bacon
Ingredients
- rice paper (there should be enough marinade to make 8 sheets of rice paper's worth of rice paper bacon, possibly more)
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free)
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup (this only gives a slight sweetness to round out the flavors, but you can feel free to omit or reduce it)
- generous pinch of ground black pepper
- pinch of paprika (I used hot Spanish paprika)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. (See notes for microwave instructions)
- Whisk together all of the ingredients for the marinade in a wide bowl until the nutritional yeast is incorporated well; prepare a second wide bowl filled partway with water.
- Prepare a metal, oven-safe rack with a sheet of parchment paper. (Skip this if microwaving).
- Cut rice paper into thick strips, or to the size that you want. Note that the strips will shrink in size a little bit when cooking. Some brands of rice paper will crack a little bit when you cut them; Use a large, very sharp knife to minimize this.
- Take two strips and stack them. Holding them together, dip them very quickly into the water. (UPDATE: if you have kitchen scissors, try dipping 2 whole rice paper sheets stacked together into the water, then cutting them into strips instead. I don't recommend cutting wet rice paper with a knife, it's not as easy as it seems). They should then start to stick together on their own. Gently squeeze excess water from the fused pair of rice paper strips.
- Dip the fused pair of rice paper strips into the marinade and coat it fairly generously; place it onto the parchment paper.
- Repeat with additional rice paper/rice paper strips until the rack is filled. NB: Periodically stop to whisk the marinade again and re-emulsify it; the oil will start to separate over time.
- Bake for about 7 to 9 minutes, or until crisp. If your oven has hot spots, rotate the tray partway through. The strips can burn easily, so keep an eye on it and take them out as soon as they're done. The end result will be mostly crispy with some slightly chewy parts. 🙂
- Once fully cooled, store leftover rice paper bacon in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. It will stay pretty crispy. But it probably won't survive 3 days without being eaten 🙂
Notes
Nutrition
Enjoy plant-based, cruelty-free meat analogues? Then you might also want to try my BBQ Pulled Sweet Potato Sandwiches, or my Jackfruit “Carnitas”!
Rice paper bacon recipe adapted from the Danish blog, Veganer.
I'm Shannon, the writer and photographer of Yup, it's Vegan! I'm a morning person based in Baltimore, USA. My mission is to create healthy plant-based recipes that anyone would enjoy, using seasonal produce with inspiration from global flavors.
Gail says
Hi didn’t have liquid smoke but used smokey paprika.
Turned out great
Ann says
I can’t wait to try this! What a clever idea and pretty easy. Thanks for sharing!
Deb Rankine says
Hi Shannon,
Thanks for the head’s up. I will try the “direct dip” oil-free marinate method and coat the sheet pan and strips with a little olive oil before baking. I’ll let you know if it worked. Cheers, Deb.
Chef Deb says
Haven’t read all the comments so if this suggestion proves “groundhog day,” apologies in advance.
What about coating 2 rice papers directly in the marinade and sticking together, foregoing the water bath altogether?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Deb, this strategy did not work well for me because the oil in the marinade made it more difficult for the sheets to stick together. However, there was at least one person who made the marinade oil-free by using aquafaba instead, and did have success sticking the rice papers together directly in the marinade. I haven’t tried that myself, though!
Jo says
Mind.Blown. This was spectacular. My carnivore husband devoured the lot and asked for more. Seriously great recipe – your marinade just nailed the flavour for me. My only tiny changes were to use smoked paprika and rice malt syrup instead of maple. Thanks so, so much, This is life changing!
Kaila @ Healthy Helper Blog says
THIS IS SO EPIC!!!! Cannot wait to give it a try!!!
Adeline Hanna says
How much does rice paper cost?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Adeline, usually a pack of rice paper at my local grocery store is around 3 or 4 dollars for 12+ sheets. If you have to buy it online or at a specialty store the price might be different.
Adeline Hanna says
Thanks. Hopefully kroger or Wal-Mart has it. Can’t wait to make some. Love your site!
Carrie says
I just made this and it s amazingly easy and so darn tasty! Thank you
Ivee says
Thanks so much for sharing! Do yoi think it would work if I left out the oil? I’m also kind of wondering if I could just dip the paper directly into the marinade and skip the water???
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Ivee,
I’m a little afraid that leaving out the oil would cause it to get hard but not crispy, but I haven’t tried. So I wouldn’t stand behind that change to the recipe but if you try it please do share how it goes! Maybe start by just reducing the oil? What’s interesting is that I did try dipping the paper directly into the marinade, skipping the water, but I found that it didn’t adhere well unless I wetted the paper first. However, maybe that’s actually because of the oil making the marinade too slippery on the dry rice paper. I only have my hypotheses but I”m interested in hearing how it goes for you!
Ivee says
I happened to see someone suggest aquafaba in place of oil right before I started. I cooked pinto beans last night in the pressure cooker and made them a bit soupy. I used their juice in place of the oil. I tried some with dipping in the water first and some with just the marinade and kind of lifting the edge of the top one to allow the marinade to get in between the strips. My husband I both agreed that the straight marinade version was the most flavorful.
Thank you so much for sharing and encouraging mods! Yay for our first Facon Lettuce and Tomato sandwiches as Vegans!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Cool! Thank you for reporting back! I’ll give the aquafaba/straight up marinade version a try soon. I do tend to avoid cooking with oil when I can manage it so I’m pretty excited to give this option a shot.
adrienne says
Hi there! Thanks a lot for this recipe!!! sounds great. But I don’t know where to buy this liquid smoke. I’m not in America nor in England… but at least in Europe. I asked a few people in Asia markets but nobody knows about it – or they didn’t understand me… Could you help me please, maye be you can give me a brand? I wanna try this!!! thanks a lot!!!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Adrienne, I’m not too sure about the best places to find liquid smoke outside of England or the US.. the brand that i use is Colgin. You might be able to buy some online? Another option would be to omit the liquid smoke and use smoked paprika, or a bit of chipotle powder, if either of those is available to you. I think you could also make the rice paper bacon wtihout the smoke and it would still be tasty, but definitely add smoky flavor if you can somehow!
Val says
I read somewhere that one could also use soy bean curd skins, used in Asian cooking, to make bacon. Have you tried it?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Val, that’s a very interesting idea! I have seen vegan “ribs” made from bean curd skins, but not bacon. I actually have some in my pantry so maybe I ought to experiment!
Alessandra says
A fantastic recipe!
Thanks.
Tawni says
This is insanely delicious; as good as bacon. Brilliant idea to use rice paper—the stretchiness/chewiness is what no bacon substitute has ever gotten right. SO EXCITED about having RPBLTs!!!
Caitlin says
I tried this tonight & it’s absolutely genius, thank you!
Per Fogsgaard says
Great stuff !!! Thanks to Kasper and Veganer for the inspiration 🙂
Lisa says
Made this last night and loved it – forgot to add the paprika and found it a bit salty for my taste. Would the paprika have helped? Suggestions for cutting the saltiness?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I don’t think the paprika would have helped with the saltiness. I’d recommend trying low sodium soy sauce next time, or reduce the soy sauce by 1 tablespoon, and add a teaspoon of tomato paste and a splash of water. (The tomato paste will help make up for the umami lost from the soy sauce)
Christy says
Just made this for lunch. Yum, yum, double yum!! Thanks for the recipe!!
deb taylor says
made it…LOVE IT.
I “glued” the two papers whole, then coated and cut with scissors…PERFECT!
Francesca says
Gosh how did you even come up with such an idea?! This sounds so ingenious…. I’m so happy I have all the ingredients at hand, I will try this ASAP 🙂 thank you!
Jess @ Nourished by Nutrition says
Wow! This is by far the best version of vegan bacon that I’ve seen! I have rice paper in my fridge right now so it’s perfect that i happened to stumble upon this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing!
Tommy J. F. says
Yo, I just made this. Took a few liberties and used smoked paprika in place of liquid smoke and a dash of agave nectar instead of the maple syrup.
It worked out super good.
Like I don’t wanna admit how good it turned out. I ate a bit of one piece and went “Oh that’s goo…” before stuffing my face with the rest of it.
Jessica says
This is an awesome recipe – very delicious and easy! I will be making it often. I think it will work really well for one of my favorite appetizers: bacon wrapped water chestnuts. I have tried it with processed, fake bacon and it’s not good, but I think this bacon it will be perfect! Thank you!
Joki says
This is as close as I have ever gotten to real bacon, thank you so much!
Chris P Ⓥ says
Just made this, wow, amazing flavour and very crunchy.
Although it doesn’t have the meaty texture, even if stacking multiple sheets (it just gets chewier IMO). I think I’ll make a block of seitan, cut it into very thin slices and then wrap it in two strips of this bacon.
Aimer says
Hi. Newish vegan here. Rice paper? Like for ink? Thanks.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Good question. I should have been more clear – I’ll update the post to mention this. You want the type of rice paper that is used as wrappers for spring rolls. Most grocery stores will have these in the Asian section. Like this: http://amzn.com/B00437EN2C
Laura says
CUT IT AFTER DIPPING AND GLUEING 2 pieces together. I cut with scissors as it was rehydrating. SO MUCH EASIER. AND WOW!!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Thank you so much for sharing, this is an amazing idea! I didn’t even think to use scissors, but that definitely sounds like the best way.
alessa says
I just wet 3 sheets together and cut with scissors!!! worked like charm (I tried the knife way a few days ago) and eye got thicker yummier “bacon”!! yay!
Kari @ bite-sized thoughts says
What a clever idea! I’ve never seen this before; thanks for sharing.
Sophia says
Oh my goodness, this is genuis! Thank you so much! How do you think this would fare in a pasta dish? I was hoping to veganize Jamie Oliver’s parsnip and pancetta pasta recipe, and I’m hoping this “bacon” will soften slightly in the cooking process, but what do you think?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Sophia, I’m not certain, but I think if you crumbled this and folded it in at the end it would soften somewhat without losing its texture completely. I’d be interested to hear how it goes.
Marquetta says
Great idea! Definitely trying this on Saturday! I’ve tried other vegan “bacon” and have not been satisfied yet
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hope you enjoy this version! 🙂
Kimberly says
This looks great! I’m a huge fan of coconut bacon, but you can’t get nice long strips like you do here. Could you dip the 2 rice papers in water first, stack them, and then slice? This might cut down on breakage when cutting them dry. Thanks for such a creative recipe!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Thanks, Kimberly! I actually did try doing it that way, but I found it was more difficult for me to cut. I imagine this would depend on the brand of rice paper and the knife used, though. Most rice paper packs come with more sheets than this recipe needs, so there is room to experiment!
susan says
I am going to try this recipe. I’ve made 2 other rice paper bacon recipes and this is how I cut the rice paper sheets. I held 2 sheets together and quickly ran them under the tap and shook out the excess water. They stuck together, as needed, so I placed them on a cutting board and used a pizza cutter wheel to cut them into strips.
Louise says
So did I! The pizza cutter technique worked perfectly!
Antoinette says
The pizza cutter technique worked AWESOME!!!
I have a question. Why do you put the strips on the metal rack? At what point do you remove from the metal rack and put the strips onto the baking sheet?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Antoinette, I do not use a baking sheet at all. The parchment paper is placed on top of the metal rack (see Step 3 of the recipe), and the vegan bacon strips are cooked on that. This technique is to make sure that they get crispy. (air flow coming from both sides, not just from above).
Barbara says
Use a pizza wheel to cut the strips – makes this step very easy.
Sharyn says
Hi
Where do you buy this in the UK or London?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
One person located in the UK that I spoke to about this said he didn’t find rice paper at Tesco or Sainsbury’s but that he found it at his local Asian market, so if at’s not at your regular store I’d give that a shot!
If any other UK readers see this and have suggestions please feel free to weigh in.
Keely says
I just found a ‘kit’ in Sainsburys
Keely says
I’m My thanks so much very yummy. Used one less tablespoon of soy and aGarve …delicious
Catherine Vade Bon Coeur says
I make this all the time using your recipe, but I have found the easiest way is to wet the two rice papers, then cut them right over, into the dish with the goop in it. Then pick them out and lay right onto the parchment. This cuts way down on the time involved and the handling of the rice paper as it gets gummier. I also keep a large batch of goop in the fridge so I don’t have to take the time to mix it each time. Thank you so much for this recipe!!!
Teresa says
Do you reuse the marinade if you haven’t used it all, by putting that in the fridge for the next batch?
Laura says
How do you think this recipe would do on with bacon wrapped items? King oysters mushrooms as “scallops” for example?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
That’s a good question. I think it would work but might get more chewy rather than completely crispy. You also might need to time when you wrap the item with the vegan bacon, since these rice paper strips can burn easily once they’re fully cooked. Do let me know if you try it out!
Darryl says
Yes it does get more chewy. I just tried this with jalapenos stuffed with vegan cream cheese. I wrapped the jalapenos in the rice bacon but it stayed chewy. I will say though it still turned out good as the flavour was still there. Awesome recipe tha ks for sharing.
Denise Williams says
Perhaps cook in a convection oven or air fryer
Stephanie Bosch says
I used kitchen shears, and they worked perfectly.
MICHELLE C LAMERE says
How would a pizza cutter work on the rice paper, after getting them wet?
Paul says
As I write this I’m warming the oven for my first batch. I did take two full sheets and hold them together while submerging them in warm water. Then place them together flat on a cutting board. Let them set about a minute until soft and glued together. Then I use a pizza cutter to cut my strips before dipping in the marinade.
I tried a knife and scissors on dry sheets, just doesn’t work.
Looking forward to the finished product.
Thanks
MICHELLE C LAMERE says
Duh, I just posted a question about using a pizza cutter instead. I guess I could have just scrolled down further before commenting! Great idea!
Lynda Montgomery says
i wet then marinaded rice paper whole and used a pizza cutter to slice. Worked perfectly. Awesome recipe.