Fake Bacon or Alternative for bacon walnut apple salad. Suggestions?

June 14, 2023 1:08 PM

Hi Metafilter. I am a meat eater. I've been making myself a bacon walnut apple salad and I have a vegetarian friend I want to make it for. I'm wondering what is a good bacon substitute - either fake bacon or something that rings all the bells of bacon.

The salad I've been making consists of romaine and spinach, with apple slices, walnuts (plain), bacon pieces, goats cheese and topped with a honeycrisp apple vinegrette. It's such a perfect balance of sweet, salty, umami and I want to make one for a vegetarian friend. I've been racking my brain for a good bacon alternative that would hit the salty/smokey/umami flavor bacon has. When it occurred to me they make actual vegetarian bacon.

I once was a vegetarian, so I know that fake meats can be hit or miss. Any suggestions for a specific (and hopefully readily available in the US) vegetarian bacon? I live near a whole foods if that helps. (As well as a couple krogers).

I'm also open to a non-bacon suggestion that would have a similar flavor profile for this salad.

The intended recipient is a vegetarian, not a vegan, so hoping that leaves more options.

posted by [insert clever name here] to Food & Drink (28 answers total)

Have you tried it with smoked walnuts (or I’m guessing more common, smoked almonds?) or perhaps adding some liquid smoke to the dressing and subbing in something else for a bit of crunch?
posted by raccoon409 at 1:09 PM on June 14, 2023 [4 favorites]

most bacon bits are actually vegan...
posted by hollisimo at 1:14 PM on June 14, 2023 [18 favorites]

I used Sweet Earth Benevolent Bacon to substitute for bacon in my mom's Thanksgiving stuffing, and it was a decent though not perfect substitute.

Hooray Foods Hickory Plant Based Bacon tastes more like bacon, but it's impossible to cut it into pieces of any kind.
posted by FencingGal at 1:18 PM on June 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

This king oyster mushroom bacon is the best I've ever had, but it's pretty laborious to make: https://www.seriouseats.com/crispy-smoked-mushroom-bacon-bits-vegan-recipe
posted by skwm at 1:18 PM on June 14, 2023 [5 favorites]

Trader Joe's has candied and sweet & spicy pecans that might hit a similar note. In general, I'd probably go with some kind of smoked or roasted nut tossed in spices.
posted by yasaman at 1:20 PM on June 14, 2023 [2 favorites]

I would go with smoked nuts and this lazier mushroom bacon.

I think the smoked nuts would be sufficient flavor profile wise, but the mushrooms would make a tasty addition.
posted by the primroses were over at 1:22 PM on June 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

You could probably do a smoked cheese as well.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:31 PM on June 14, 2023 [5 favorites]

I'd recommend trying it with roasted Quorn filets, cut into small chunks. It won't look or taste the same as bacon, but it will add a chewy, proteiny, salty, umame element that will be quite good.
posted by amtho at 1:35 PM on June 14, 2023

I love a good fake meat as much as anyone, but for this one, I'd totally use crushed smoked almonds. You want the smoke to be in little bits, not diffuse through the salad like adding smoke to the dressing. Most bacon bits are small and hard, so they don't give the chew that some other solutions are getting at. If your perfect slad had cut up slices of bacon and you want that, I think the smoked mushroom would hit it.
posted by advicepig at 1:39 PM on June 14, 2023 [6 favorites]

We use smoky tempeh for things like this. It's not going to have the crunch of bacon, but the flavor is good.
posted by edencosmic at 1:43 PM on June 14, 2023

What about fried shallots? It'll hit the salty/fatty marks and has a nice bit of texture, you can chop 'em if you want them in smaller bits.

Crispy shallots is pretty close to the recipe I use, except I typically use vegetable oil or another neutral oil.
posted by punchtothehead at 1:47 PM on June 14, 2023 [3 favorites]

I sometimes use fried chopped onions for this purpose if I don't have bacon or if I just don't want it that day--chopped and fried until they get a bit brown and crispy and then salted. They are crunchy and they have a sweet/smokey flavor profile that doesn't struggle to be something it isn't but it fits in well with this kind of thing.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 1:49 PM on June 14, 2023

Agree that smoked gouda or crushed smoked almonds are the winner here, but you might like Bakon. I find it eerily close to real bacon and pleasantly smoky and salty. They ship nationwide.
posted by blnkfrnk at 2:01 PM on June 14, 2023

Coconut Bacon! Its got the right crunch and hit of fattiness. I'm not vegetarian and can't keep this stuff in the house because it's so good.
posted by Sweetchrysanthemum at 2:02 PM on June 14, 2023 [10 favorites]

Another vote for the smoked almonds. I also think it would work perfectly without the bacon, with no replacements.
posted by mumimor at 2:04 PM on June 14, 2023

came to say coconut bacon. it is a revelation.
posted by fingersandtoes at 2:18 PM on June 14, 2023

There's Beyond Bacon Crunchy Mung Beans.
posted by spamandkimchi at 2:32 PM on June 14, 2023

It's totally the junkiest of the fake bacons, but I like MorningStar brand bacon strips. They will work like Bacos but be able to be cut to your specifications. You can cook the strips longer for more crispiness, or keep them a little chewy. My second choice would be a smoked gouda.
posted by LKWorking at 2:43 PM on June 14, 2023 [4 favorites]

It really depends on how hard you typically cook the bacon in your salad. If it’s crispy, I would actually go with smoked pecans, which will offer the right kind of fatty, not–too–dense crunch.
posted by Jon_Evil at 3:01 PM on June 14, 2023

I’d use caramelized onions here, and swap the goats cheese for a mild blue cheese or Gorgonzola. Yes, it’s a different recipe, but we don’t need 1:1 substitutes when vegeterianizing things. The blue cheese will compensate for the salty/smoky flavour and the caramelized onions will give you a “brown” flavour.
posted by shock muppet at 3:58 PM on June 14, 2023 [4 favorites]

Another vote for coconut bacon! Delicious.
posted by somedaycatlady at 4:21 PM on June 14, 2023

Have you considered a tempeh bacon situation? I looked for an Isa Chandra recipe online, because hers is yumyumyum, and this version seems pretty close. I recommend.
posted by atomicstone at 4:40 PM on June 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

Mccormick bac'n pieces are soya flour and flavors and also vegan. As mentioned above, most imitation bacon bits are.
posted by fiercekitten at 5:02 PM on June 14, 2023

I have faked bacon in potato salad by dicing and roasting potatoes until they crisp up. They give the salad the salty crunch of bacon, and some of the umami.

Just dice and toss in olive oil and salt and pepper, spread across a parchment lined baking sheet and roast at 425 or so until deep golden brown, 30-45 minutes. Turn em over halfway.
posted by notyou at 5:20 PM on June 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

Twenty-four comments in, and I don't see anyone saying fried provolone. Very easy, too. Get sliced provolone. Put it on a non-stick frying pan, griddle, whatever. Apply heat. You want to wait till the pan side gets browned, then flip. I usually break up the slices into 1.5" pieces, keep them separated, and then flip, get the same browning on the other side, then you are done. You can break the fried provolone into smaller bits after cooking if that is better. Please make sure the provolone you purchase does not have animal rennet.
posted by kellyblah at 5:33 PM on June 14, 2023 [3 favorites]

I'll try the fried provolone, but I love rice paper 'bacon': recipe here . If I make it in the afternoon, it's gone before supper time.
posted by namret at 8:45 PM on June 14, 2023

We use smoky tempeh for things like this.

For recipes that ask for fried bacon, we do as follows: cut/slice a block of smoked tofu, heat them in a frying pan with an amount of vegetable broth that about covers them. Once the water from the broth has evaporated add a dash of cooking oil and fry the tofu until crisp.
posted by Stoneshop at 5:48 AM on June 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I may be too late to the game for you to see this, but what we do with any vegan bacon we get is to lay it out on a baking pan, douse it in maple syrup, add cracked black pepper and then cook until crisp. It turns even the most boring vegan bacon into something stellar.
posted by QuakerMel at 8:46 AM on June 19, 2023