“What about bacon, though?“, says pretty much every single meat eater when they find out that you are vegan. What they don’t realise is that there are so many incredible vegan meat alternatives that not only taste like bacon but are also high in protein and significantly more healthy than their animal counterparts.
In this article, I am going to take you through all of the best vegan bacon alternatives that can be bought in the UK.
I have included a mix of different types of meatless bacon products so you have plenty of options to choose from. Each and every single one of these tastes great, I know since I have taste-tested them all!
My top picks
- Best taste & texture: La Vie Bacon Rashers | Skip to review
- Best for cooking: This Isn’t Bacon | Skip to review
- Best tempeh bacon: Better Nature Tempeh Rashers | Skip to review
- Best salad topper: Vivera Bacon Pieces | Skip to review
- Best gluten-free: Chiki Monkey Smokey Yaycon | Skip to review
- Best seitan bacon: Sgaia Smokey Rashers | Skip to review
La Vie Plant-Based Smoked Bacon Rashers
- Made from: Soya protein
- Calories per 100g: 227 kcal
- Protein per 100g: 14.9g
- Packaging: Recyclable cardboard sleeve with a plastic tray and film
- Cost: £3
This vegan bacon product is quite easily my firm favourite choice when it comes to both taste and texture. I always make sure to have a packet of this in my fridge. They have achieved something truly incredible with these rashers! Find out more in my full La Vie Bacon review.
Straight out of the packet, they look quite realistic, with a white fat streak going through the middle of the rasher. Once cooked they go really crispy and maintain a good chew which makes them the perfect sandwich filler for breakfast or lunch.
They have a lovely smoky flavour that isn’t at all overpowering. The taste definitely resembles bacon from a pig, and it is the most realistic that I have tried so far.
I personally love adding these vegan bacon rashers inside a BLT sandwich or on the side of a vegan fry-up at the weekend. You could also cook these up into a recipe that calls for bacon.
THIS Isn’t Bacon Rashers
- Made from: Soya & pea protein
- Calories per 100g: 164 kcal
- Protein per 100g: 25g
- Packaging: Recyclable cardboard sleeve, plastic tray and film
- Cost: £3
Coming in as a close second is THIS Isn’t Bacon Rashers. They are much thicker than other alternatives which does make them a little less realistic, but the taste is definitely very bacon-like. Find out more about them in my full THIS Isn’t Bacon review.
They are really easy to handle and cook. You can achieve a really nice crispy texture with these after just a few minutes on each side in a frying pan. You can cook them as rashers or you can even cut them up into bits to resemble lardons. I like to do the latter and then add them to my vegan quiche recipe.
Whilst I do enjoy eating these inside a sandwich as part of a BLT or a breakfast sandwich with vegan sausages, I much prefer to use these to cook with. They add a really love salty bacon flavour to vegan dishes and they maintain their crispy texture well inside wet dishes.
Better Nature Smoky Tempeh Rashers
- Made from: Soya beans
- Calories per 100g: 180 kcal
- Protein per 100g: 15g
- Packaging: Recyclable cardboard sleeve with a plastic tray and film that can’t be recycled
- Cost: £5
When it comes to more natural plant-based alternatives to bacon, Better Nature’s Smoky Tempeh Rashers are quite easily the best option. These naturally meatless rashers are made using fermented soybeans (a great natural probiotic) and are coated in a lovely bacon marinade.
Because these are made using tempeh, they are less realistic than the direct vegan bacon imitations that I have mentioned in this article. Therefore, you couldn’t use these to fool non-vegans. But these do make for a really lovely and substantial dish.
Unlike many other alternatives, I find these really filling. Maybe because they are made using whole soybeans, or maybe because they are a little more on the chunky side of things!
Vivera Veggie Bacon Pieces
- Made from: Soya protein
- Calories per 100g: 87 kcal
- Protein per 100g: 17g
- Packaging: Recyclable cardboard sleeve with a plastic tray and film that can’t be recycled
- Cost: £2.85
If you are looking for a vegan bacon product that can be easily used for topping your favourite vegan recipes, then these Bacon Pieces by Vivera will do the trick nicely!
They come in small strips that crisp up really nicely when cooked in a frying pan. You can then snack on them as they are (no judgment here) or you can use them to top dishes. I like to use them to make a delicious cruelty-free potato salad with vegan mayonnaise, tomatoes, cucumber, and boiled new potatoes.
Their bacon taste is a lot more subtle than the others here, but I do still find they bring a good salty bacon-like hit to your dishes. The texture is chewy and crispy when cooked in a frying pan on its own. They hold up well when cooked into dishes with liquid in them, meaning they won’t just turn to mush!
Chiki Monkey Smokey Yaycon
- Made from: Gram flour (chickpeas)
- Calories per 100g: 264 kcal
- Protein per 100g: 9.8g
- Packaging: Recyclable cardboard box with a plastic film that isn’t recyclable
- Cost: £4.69
This vegan bacon alternative is a little bit different and not something I’ve seen anywhere else because this one is made using chickpeas. Well, the flour of chickpeas (gram flour) to be more exact.
It can be enjoyed by anyone with a soy allergy. On top of this, it is also a very sustainable crop that has no known significant damage to the environment. Win-win!
The rashers themselves are lovely and smokey with a firm texture. They aren’t going to fool you into thinking they are actually bacon, but they made for a substantial alternative that can be used to make tasty sandwiches and vegan fry-ups.
Sgaia Smoky Flavour Rashers
- Made from: Vital wheat gluten & soya protein
- Calories per 100g: 172 kcal
- Protein per 100g: 31.50g
- Packaging: Recyclable cardboard box with a plastic film that isn’t recyclable
- Cost: £4.89
These plant-based rashers are perfect for all the seitan lovers out there. If you don’t know what seitan is, it is a wheat-based mix that is popular in both the vegetarian and vegan communities. It is used to make pretty much any fake meat you want.
They have also added soya protein into the mix, which I find helps to create a good texture. Sometimes I find seitan products all have the exact same texture, but these are definitely a lot more bacony.
They go nice and crispy when you fry them and work perfectly inside a sandwich or as a topping on vegan buttermilk pancakes.
The only downside of these is that because they are made using seitan, they aren’t great for anyone who is intolerant to wheat. Personally, I can eat bread products regularly, but can’t eat seitan too often as I have a sensitivity to wheat. Therefore, I eat these as the occasional treat!
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