Easy Tempeh Bacon

As always Minimalist Baker has what I want. Craving bacon and eggs, but not cooking meat, if others serve it to me I eat it, this is perfect. I still use your peanut sauce as my go to; I still have trouble not eating it all, sorry using too much while balancing flavours. Unfortunately, as always I get my one recipe then spend an hour looking at others. One thing I love here is taste is not left behind for simplicity and health. Too much vegan food remains surrounded by self-righteousness. I like to feel virtuous too, but there is a middle way here, and worrying about food, as opposed to planning, is worse for your health than a bit of what you fancy, and yes I can provide the science to back that up.

Unfortunately I am not one of the ones this worked out for! I had high hopes after reading reviews and was craving a BLT-style sandwich. I followed the recipe exactly but all I could really taste is just tempeh, with a slightly odd sweet taste. My partner agreed with me and sadly we threw the batch away.
I won’t be making this particular recipe again but I do still like a lot of Minimalist Baker recipes – this one just wasn’t for me it seems!

It occurred to me today – after taking stock of what I had in the fridge – that I could try my hand at making this bacon. I am thrilled that I did because it is just DELICIOUS. The only ingredient I subbed was liquid allulose for maple syrup, which made the marinade a little runny but the flavors were still there. I may have eaten half of it with a piece of toast and an avocado. Thanks for such a great recipe!

first time use Tempeh! I have made it the according to the recipe but I made a mistake to have it in the spring roll like wrapper. other than that, it taste wonderful! will definitely put in other recipes. thank you!

Love this recipe! I usually buy bacon flavored tempeh but the store only had the original. Made a batch of this today and it turned out amazing!

I just made this and had aI BLT for lunch. It was delicious! I have tried several recipes for tempeh bacon or even tofu bacon and this was the only one I would recommend. I made the recipe exactly as above but also pan fried several slices to see how that method worked. Although it was good, the oven method was hands down the winner. I finally found my go-to. Thank you for this great recipe!

Extremely disappointed. I can’t get it to work at all. Tastes awful and looks nothing like your photos. Please show in the video how to cut the tempeh. I think mine was too thick. I love tempeh bacon and have never had a recipe turn out inedible before.

I’ve probably made this recipe atleast 20 times in the past year. It’s my go-to tempeh marinade because it super flavorful and hides any of tempeh’s bitterness. It only gets crispy if I cut it superrrr thin which is a little hard to do, but even without being crispy I love the Smokey flavor.

I’m in Australia and used Nutrisoy brand tempeh. Unfortunately I didn’t notice that this brand comes in “tasty” variety which already has soy sauce. So the recipe came out way too salty.

Also it didn’t crisp, even though I cooked in a fan forced oven.

I will try again using plain tempeh and cutting the slices much thinner

Excellent recipe. Tastes very similar to the lightlife smoky bacon! Love it on salads, sandwiches & just as a snack. Thank you!

It’s the worst! Are these fake reviewers? I am a trained Baker. I can cook. I followed the recipe exactly and I was so excited. Let’s pretend I was going to use this to make a BLT, I would have to put so many other flavors on that sandwich to cover up this fake bacon tempe. It doesn’t really get crispy. It’s brown mystery “meat” with a bad texture.

The was RIDICULOUSLY DELICIOUS!!! WOW!! Will be putting this on salads, in pasta salads, wraps and might even make a BLT with it!! I did cook a little longer to crisp up but this is a keeper!! Thank you!!

Excellent recipe, easy and tasty. I did not use the optional cayenne, but I did use the avocado oil. The balance of salty, sweet and smoky is perfect.

Love this recipe so much! I’ve been making myself this little treat every weekend for the last 5 or 6 weeks. And then I can reheat and have it with breakfast to start the week off right!
Since it’s summer right now, I’ve been making it in the air fryer (about the same amount of time as the oven instructions, but I cook it at 350 so the edges don’t burn.)
When it’s cold outside I will definitely make multiple batches in the oven so I can enjoy it for longer.

I went oil-free by slightly increasing the amount of coconut aminos and maple syrup to make up the difference in liquid. The recipe was terrific. I ate the entire block of tempeh in one sitting. :D I look forward to using the marinade with tofu. Thanks for the recipe.

I made this and it is wonderful! Also used this marinade on well pressed tofu and it was quite good. Lovely. Making my 3rd batch of this recipe today. Thank you.

This recipe is an absolute staple in my household. We eat it practically every morning and it never gets old. It’s great as strips and crumbles really nicely for vegan bacon bits.

Yum! Such a solid recipe, thank you! I sauté mine in a pan to save time. 10/10 and make this so frequently! Love to toss in salads, in breakfast burritos and on sandwiches (and as is!).

Have made this twice now. So delicious, I make a batch and use in salads and sandwiches. I have frozen a few slices and defrosted for sandwiches with good results. I didn’t use liquid smoke as I didn’t have any, I used a little extra smoked paprika and I used a little less maple syrup than in the recipe. Definitely recommend this one!

Omygosh this is so so delicious. It tastes better than the “bacon” tempeh you buy at supermarkets. I put this in a pasta salad and it was so yummy!

Made this tonight for myself and my husband to go in “BLTs”, and we ended up eating all the leftover tempeh right off the pan! SO good. We marinated them for a few hours while we ran errands and it worked out really well. They were crispy on the edges, chewy in the middle, and really flavorful. Definitely saving this one!

Made for the 1st time so I could have as a BLT w/fresh avacado in place of mayo. I omitted the extra oil and used Less Liq. smoke. It ABSOLUTELY satisfied my craving and I will now attempt again!

Great recipe, but I wound up cooking it closer to 30 min to get it to the crispiness I wanted. Big hit with entire family tho and have had to make multiple times already.

Just made this. It’s wonderful 😋 there is none left for breakfast tomorrow. Easy and delicious thank you❣️

OH.MY.LAWWWWD! This is SOOOOO good!

This was my first attempt at vegan bacon, and it is definitely a KEEPER ! I just sliced my whole tempeh “loaf” cross-ways into thin slices and it worked great.

The marinade mixed up quick with items always on hand. I did bake it longer, and even added a few minutes under the broiler, for really crispy-around-the-edges pieces.

Then I chopped it up and put it on my twice baked potatoes, along with vegan sour cream and chives. SO, SOOOOO delicious!

This bacon just checks allllll the boxes: crispy, crunchy, salty, smoky, sticky, spicy. YUM! I will be making this again and again, Loaded potato soup. Salads. Baked potatoes. BLTs. The list goes on!

THANK YOU for this amazing recipe!

These were really great!! This was my first time working with tempeh. I steamed it after cutting them into slices because I had heard it gets rid of a bitter flavor in the tempeh (can’t say if that’s true or not but I didn’t taste any bitterness), and then did the marinade for a few hours. At the grocery store I had the option of either a hickory or mesquite liquid smoke option. I went with mesquite and it was great, but I think most bacons use a hickory flavor not mesquite, so I would go with that if you have the option. Thanks for the recipe, will definitely make again!

This was ok! I found it a bit salty, and I used low sodium tamari, maybe taste the marinade before adding salt. Next time I will use more spices/flavoring.

The instructions are a bit confusing because the note about tamari vs coconut aminos is misleading. Tempeh = soy so if you are soy free you wouldn’t be cooking tempeh?

Yum! Made the best vegan “TBLT” (tempeh-bacon, lettuce, tomato) with this recipe and it was perfect! I baked a little longer for some extra crunch, plus I love the “burnt” taste. I will say, the suggested cutting method in the recipe was so hard! I destroyed my block of tempeh the first time trying to slice horizontally, that must be advanced knife skills. I could not make it even and ended up with “bacon” crumbles, which were still delicious and perfect on salads. The next time I made this, I just sliced strips down the packaged rectangle block of tempeh (without slicing into the thin squares) and it was so much easier. Will for sure be making again….and again!

This was delicious! I did marinate the tempeh overnight and left out the salt but followed the recipe other than that. I will definitely be making this again!

Perfect! We have bought a product called “Fakin’ Bacon” that was exactly like this for about 30 years but I’ve only run into once in the past 5. I absolutely love it and it’s so great to be able to make it myself, just like the vegan “parmesan” I was always searching for. So easy, raw cashews, nut. yeast, garlic powder, and salt.

I tried this recipe but did not use Maple syrup (even though I love the stuff), so I put I few spoons of Monk fruit instead…. I did maybe 3 times the amount of the ingredients with smoked paprika, and some notational yeasts….. I was tempted to use my air fryer which I did before and turned out very yummy but now they are in the oven…… I know ahead that they will be excellent …. thank you

PS … Maple syrop is not used in Keto . Being from Canada, true maple syrup and honey, It was hard for me not to use these….. C’est la vie

We eat mostly plant based and love tofu. Tempeh is so-so in our house but this recipe is a winner! We made a double batch with the Lightlife flax tempeh. I omitted the liquid smoke but it was still delicious! We served it in some BLTs. It was easy to simply spoon the reserved marinade on the tempeh strips. Super yummy and quick with everything I had on hand! Thanks for another great recipe!!

I add this to Minimalist Baker’s strawberry arugula salad and it is delicious.

First time cooking with Tempeh – Thank you for providing an oil-free/baked recipe for this. It tasted good, was easy to make and I’m so pleased I don’t have to pay so much for ready-made at the store anymore – I can make it myself! Thank you!

Amazing! This recipe is another winner in our book! We made it as is and once it was done, quickly realized we should have doubled the amount! We were fighting over the last piece! We used it to make TLTs tonight and I’m making another batch in the morning to have on egg sandwiches. We have yet to try one of your recipes that isn’t fantastic. Thank you for keeping us healthy and enjoying everything we eat!

This Tempe bacon is awesome! I steamed my Tempe before cutting and marinating. I did adjust the seasonings to taste, adding little more of everything.
Made BLT with my bacon.
Thank you,
Trina

Amazing tempeh bacon! I love Lightlife Smoky Tempeh Fakin Bacon but it’s not available near me. OMG! This recipe is awesome. I made the recipe as directed (added some ground Chipotle pepper to increase the smokiness) & it was terrific. Super quick & delicious. Perfect for a blt 😀 thank you for another fantastic recipe!

This is my go to Tempeh bacon recipe. Thank you so much for sharing this, it is definitely a game changer!

I made this just as the recipe states. Yum Yum Yum. I have to make mo9re next time because my kids ate mire than they should have! Thank you for all your recipes. You help keep us well fed.

This was dynamite! My young kids (3 and 1) DEVOURED this! Next time I’ll have to make a double batch just so I can actually eat some! Great recipe.

I’m not vegan or plant based and I love this recipe. It reminds me of the tempeh bacon we used at the vegan bakery I worked for. I’ve made it 3x this week! I prefer it after it’s sat in the fridge overnight so the flavors have time to marry. Thank you!

Just made these this morning and enjoyed some on a bagel sandwich with some hummus and just egg. So great! I used blackstrap molasses instead of maple syrup because I had some laying around and figured it would add to the smokiness. I also marinaded the tempeh overnight and thus didn’t bother basting the the tempeh halfway through the bake. It came out crispy on the edges and delicious! Now I don’t have to fork over the money for the pre-marinaded and sliced tempeh bacon at the store! Thank you, Dana!

This is my go to tempeh bacon recipe. I like to pile it on a fresh salad with tomato, blue cheese, avocado and slivered red onion. I top it off with a balsamic dressing. Yummy! Always!
Tempeh always has a tough time to marinated fully so I generally leave the tempeh in the marinate for 6 hours or more. When the tempeh is done I also give it a little toss with the extra marinade.

Im sorry but its awful. I didnt expect bacon but i expected something tasty. Nope. Hideously salty and yuk. I didnt even add the salt :(

I followed the recipe for the seasonings exactly and the flavor is delicious. Definitely cheaper than buying the Lightlife strips and just as good or better. Because tempeh can be so uneven across the block, instead of cutting the two large blocks into three layers, I cut them into the three smaller strips and then cut those into the thin pieces. Worked well for me.

We decided to thicken up the remaining marinade (with about 1/2 tsp. organic corn starch, over medium heat) while the tempeh was baking so that once it was flipped and basted more of the flavorful marinade would stick! Didn’t crisp up for us, but deliciously flavorful♡

I used this in a vegan BLT sandwich, and it was delicious. I steamed the tempeh first and then followed the recipe exactly. It was my first time cooking tempeh, and I will definitely make this again. So easy and flavorful; I was excited for my lunch every day this week!

I made this for lunch and it was SO good! Could not stop eating it and wish I made more for more leftovers! Really quick and easy too. Made a few sandwiches out of it. Followed the recipe exactly and it came out perfectly.