Is Vegan Bacon Healthier? Plus, 17 Vegan Bacon Brands and 9 Recipes to Try Right Now

According to one survey, more than 20 percent of Americans would eat bacon every single day for the rest of their lives if they could. The reason that people just can’t get enough of this particular processed meat is because of its signature umami and salty taste, research suggests. But there’s a huge downside to bacon. It’s bad for our health (processed meat is a Group One carcinogen, according to the World Health Organization), and it’s bad for the environment, too (see: documentary, The Smell of Money). 

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But the delicious taste and texture of bacon isn’t exclusive to pork meat. If you’re looking for an almost identical replica, there are plenty of vegan bacon brands on the market to choose from, each offering a plant-based product that looks, cooks, and tastes just like the real thing. And if you’re in the mood for something a little more whole-food-based, and you’re down to spend a little more time in the kitchen, making your own is also a satisfying and delicious way to get your vegan bacon fix.

Want to learn more? Check out our favorite vegan bacon brands and recipes below. But first, how do you cook with vegan bacon?

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How to use vegan bacon

A good brunch plate is made up of some key components. You need a classic tofu scramble or something eggy, like a chickpea flour omelet. Some form of potato is also mandatory, such as hash browns, home fries, or tater tots. And then, the last component of your brunch is usually vegan bacon—perhaps with a side of broccoli or spinach if you’re craving something green.

MyForest Foods

But bacon isn’t limited to just breakfast or brunch. It can be wrapped around vegan cheese-stuffed dates, asparagus, or jalapeño poppers as an appetizer. You can add it to a veggie BLT sandwich, sprinkle it over a cobb salad, or bake it into an eggless quiche. If there’s a recipe out there that uses bacon in any way, shape, or form, there’s a vegan bacon that’ll be well-suited for the job. 

Which vegan bacon you choose depends on what you’re making. If you’re wrapping it around food, then you want something that’s pliable enough to not break when bent. Plant-based bacon made from seitan or wheat gluten is best for this because it has a slight stretch to it, all thanks to gluten. If you’re making a sandwich or a wrap, then you have a little more freedom—any kind of vegan bacon will do, such as tempeh bacon or homemade tofu bacon. Or, take TikTok star Tabitha Brown’s famous carrot bacon for a spin.

RELATED: 7 Ways to Replace Meat With Whole Food Ingredients

On a salad, you’ll want mushroom bacon, plant-based bacon bits, or strips that you’ve cut and crisped in the skillet into bite-sized pieces. Many “bacon bits” are actually vegan, so it’s worth it to check the label if you find a bottle in the grocery store. McCormick Bac’n Pieces, for example, are 100 percent vegan.

Is vegan bacon healthier?

From an ethical standpoint, plant-based bacon isn’t made from pigs and has a much lower carbon footprint compared to the factory-farmed version. But is veggie bacon better for your health? 

Traditional bacon is made from pork and is cut from the belly of a pig and to a lesser extent, it’s made from turkey meat. To make bacon, the meat is cured using salt and nitrates, a type of compound used in meats as a preservative. In most cases, it’s smoked afterward. 

Clare Winfield

Studies have associated processed meats such as bacon with a number of health conditions, including breast, lung, liver, and colon cancers. A number of studies have suggested that red and processed meat consumption is linked to a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes. Bacon is also high in salt, and too much salt can lead to high blood pressure. 

Plant-based meats tend to be lower in saturated fat and calories compared to their traditional counterparts. They tend to be high in sodium, but are generally healthier than animal-derived meat when eaten in moderation, as part of a balanced diet. In other words, don’t base all of your meals around vegan bacon, but do enjoy it on a breakfast sandwich.

The best vegan bacon brands

Bacon’s chewy texture and savory, salty flavors make it delicious. Luckily, there are a growing number of plant-based options on the market. 

Lightlife

1 Lightlife Smart Bacon

Amazing on sandwiches and bagels with avocado, Lightlife’s Smart Bacon (voted number one by VegNews readers in the 2024 Veggie Awards) is made from wheat gluten and soy protein, which help give it a chewy texture when fried up in the skillet. It’s also one of the easiest-to-find vegan bacons in grocery stores.
FIND IT HERE

2 Unreal Deli Bacon

The clue is in the name, but Unreal Deli specializes in plant-based deli meats. In 2023, however, it revealed it had spent two years working on vegan bacon slices with ingredients like butternut squash and fava beans. The bacon has the perfect sizzle, and it’s just as smoky and crispy as its animal-based counterpart.
Find it here

Umaro Foods

3Umaro Foods

The plant-based food industry is also figuring out new ways to use different foods as a protein source. Backed by serial investor Mark Cuban on Season 13 of ABC’s Shark Tank, Umaro Foods is making bacon with red algae. It’s currently available at select restaurants and California locations of Whole Foods Market.
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MyForest Foods

4My Forest Foods MyBacon

Named one of 2024’s best new products by VegNews editors, MyBacon owes its extra meaty bite to mycelium—the fast-growing root systems of mushrooms. Made with minimal ingredients (salt, coconut oil, beet juice, and sugar), this vegan bacon crisps up just like its animal-based counterpart. Watch it brown, sizzle, and stuff it into morning BLTs. 
FIND IT HERE

Meat The Mushroom

5Meat The Mushroom Shroomacon

Started by husband-wife team Marvin and Aleah Red, this vegan bacon company is a Shark Tank success story. Their clean-ingredient, hand-sliced bacon is made from king trumpet mushrooms along with just olive oil, liquid smoke, salt, and pepper. It also happens to be the bacon favorite of vegan personality Tabitha Brown!
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Thrilling Foods

6Thrilling Foods Bakon Strips

Thrilling Foods salt cures and smokes its vegan, tofu-based bacon the traditional way, giving it an authentic flavor. The thick slices are perfect for anyone in search of a heftier bacon strip.
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Prime Roots

7Prime Roots Hickory Koji-Bacon

Thick, meaty, and savory, this hickory bacon owes its texture and flavors to koji, a type of fungi. It’s currently available in select restaurants and small grocers, but trust us when we say it’s worth tracking down. 
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Upton’s Naturals

8 Upton’s Naturals Bacon Seitan

This meaty, chewy, versatile seitan bacon makes an excellent BLT loaded with heirloom tomatoes, vegan mayonnaise, arugula, and sprouted grain toast. Cook it long if you like your bacon super crisp or just slightly warm in a pan if you’re a chewy bacon fan. Available in many natural food stores and Whole Foods Markets, this bacon is ideal for a quick, on-the-go breakfast or a bountiful Sunday brunch.
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Lightlife Foods

9 Lightlife Tempeh Smoky Bacon Strips

As well as Smart Bacon, Lightlife’s tempeh bacon is excellent on the grill—just be sure not to drop it through the slats. Serve alongside grilled vegetables and corn for an excellent, satiating meal.
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10Yves Veggie Bacon

Lower in fat and cholesterol than animal bacon, Yves’ Veggie Bacon is great on sandwiches, breakfast plates, and right out of the package.
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Tofurky

11Tofurky Smoky Maple Bacon Marinated Tempeh

Tempeh bacon is no facsimile of pork-based bacon—but don’t let that deter you from trying it. This fermented soy-based protein, which food historians estimate originates from Indonesia anywhere from several centuries to thousands of years ago, marinates beautifully. Thanks to that, Tofurky’s tempeh bacon has all of the flavors of bacon: savory, smoky, and a little bit sweet and salty.
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BeLeaf

12Beleaf Plant-Based Bacon

Beleaf’s vegan bacon looks marbled, similar to a cut of extra-fatty bacon. It fries up nice and crunchy or with just a little bit of chew, all depending on your preference or what you’re making. Its realistic appearance makes for great presentation on a vegan breakfast platter, like a full English breakfast. 
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13All Vegetarian Vegan Bacon Strips 2.0

First created back in 2006, All Vegetarian’s vegan bacon is one of the brand’s most beloved exports. But in 2019, it was due for an upgrade, so All Vegetarian made Vegan Bacon 2.0, which is even crispier and more satisfying than the first.
Find it here

All Y’alls Foods

14All Y’alls Foods It’s Big Crunchy Bacony Bits Y’all

Beyond bacon strips for stuffing into BLTs or enjoying with tofu scramble, bacon is also a go-to topper for salads, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, and other sides. These crunchy vegan bacon bits by All Y’alls Foods pack a punch of bacon flavor and boast 22 grams of protein per bag, so do like we do and sprinkle away.
Find it here

The Herbivorous Butcher

15The Herbivorous Butcher Maple Glazed Bacon

Similar to all-things Herbivorous Butcher, this faux bacon is meaty (in all the right ways). Chewy and with the ability to crisp to perfection, this bacon is great stacked in sandwiches or alongside vegan flapjacks, waffles, and French toast. Even better? Eat them over the frying pan while they’re still hot. Don’t worry—we won’t judge. If you live in Minnesota, you can pick up these plant-based treats locally. Otherwise, they ship!
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This

16This Isn’t Bacon

British vegan meat brand This has two different types of bacon, and both are equally smoky and delicious. The only difference is the texture: Its Bacon Rashers, for example, are a little thicker and denser, while its Streaky Bacon is thinner and more crispy when cooked.
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La Vie

17La Vie Plant-Based Bacon

Made by French startup La Vie, this pig-free bacon is backed by vegan actress Natalie Portman and has even been featured on specialty menu items at Burger King France locations. While unavailable stateside, UK vegans can find La Vie at Whole Foods, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, and Planet Organic. 
FIND IT HERE

9 ways to make your own vegan bacon

If you prefer to make your own plant-based bacon using healthy, whole-food ingredients, we have just the recipes. Check out our recipes below for nine different ways to make your own bacon right at home.

Lauren Toyota

1Vegan Bacon With Tofu

Tofu is an incredibly versatile ingredient. It can take the form of virtually whatever food you’re craving, including bacon. Marinate it with a mix of tamari, maple syrup, liquid smoke, and paprika, and then bake until crispy for delicious vegan bacon crumbles—perfect on loaded fries, a salad, or a baked potato.
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2Vegan Bacon With Eggplant

Eggplant might not be the first ingredient you think of when you’re craving that bacon taste, but trust us—when mixed with ingredients like smoky paprika and salt, this vegetable offers a delicious, flavor-packed alternative to meat. And it’s nutrient-rich, too.
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HealthyGirl Kitchen

3Vegan Bacon With Coconut

Coconut is one of the more popular vegan bacon alternatives used in plant-based whole-food recipes, and for good reason. When mixed with soy sauce, liquid smoke, salt, and maple syrup, coconut flakes can give you that same salty, smoky, crispy taste and texture you’re craving. And the best part? It’s super easy to make.
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Lauren Toyota

4Vegan Bacon With Cassava

Cassava root is slightly sweet and nutty, but overall, the flavor is pretty mild. This means that it’s the perfect base for a bacon marinade of tamari, maple syrup, liquid, smoke, and smoked paprika. When sliced into strips, it even looks like the real deal, too.
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Desiree Nielsen

5Vegan Bacon With Mushrooms

A BLT is a classic brunch choice, and it’s easy to make vegan. In this recipe, crispy, smoky, succulent mushrooms take the place of bacon. Combine them with creamy vegan mayonnaise, juicy tomatoes, and crisp romaine lettuce for the ultimate sandwich.
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6Vegan Bacon With Tempeh

Another iconic sandwich has to be the New York-style Reuben. Traditionally, of course, it’s made with corned beef and Swiss cheese, but this recipe offers a delicious, plant-based take on the classic. It combines meaty tempeh bacon strips with non-dairy Swiss cheese, avocado, and sauerkraut with succulent, moist results. This is a sandwich you’ll want to make again and again—trust us.
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7Vegan Bacon With Seitan

Sometimes, eggplant and mushrooms just don’t cut it. And that’s okay because if you’re craving something really meaty, you can always choose seitan. Made with vital wheat gluten, seitan forms the base of many vegan meat products, and in the case of bacon, it can certainly give you that crispy, chewy, salty mouthfeel you’re craving. Give this recipe a try and see for yourself.
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8Vegan Bacon With Rice paper

For the perfect crispy bacon, many recipe developers use rice paper. In fact, even Gordon Ramsay makes vegan bacon this way. The British celebrity chef uses a marinade of granulated garlic, nutritional yeast, paprika, cayenne pepper, maple syrup, soy sauce, sriracha, and vegan butter and combines it with crumbled tofu and rice paper for truly mouthwatering results.
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Lauren Toyota

9Vegan Bacon With Almonds

Crispy, crumbled bacon bits are the ultimate salad topping. And while the types you find at a salad bar are often vegan (because they’re made with soy protein!), we think that this smoky almond recipe is a clear contender for the top spot. They’re crispy and delicious, and a great source of protein, too.
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