Rice Paper Bacon
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The easiest, tastiest and cheapest vegan bacon I’ve ever encountered: RICE PAPER BACON!
I’ve made a bunch of different homemade vegan bacons, and lord knows I’ve bought plenty. Rice paper bacon is by far, my favorite homemade vegan bacon. It’s easy to make (it does take a little practice but once you get it, it’s like riding a bike!), super tasty, easy to customize, and pretty dang cheap!
why you’ll dig rice paper bacon
Probably my favorite thing about using rice paper is we can get bacon that’s crispy on the outside, and slightly chew in the middle. I personally prefer frying mine in a bit of oil in a skillet because I can really monitor the texture, but you can totally bake these too.
Now will this bacon fool a non-vegan? Absolutely not! BUT like with most things, I think it’s really good on it’s own, and I enjoy it the same way I did pig-based bacon. In fact, I like to eat this the same way I ate old timey bacon, mostly as part of a sandwich, or crumbled up onto a salad or baked potato.
Or heck, maybe a Vegan Western Bacon Cheeseburger!
Or maybe a classic WEDGE SALAD! I haven’t had one since going vegan and this was just as good as I remember! I wish vegan blue cheese was more common, I used the kind by Follow Your Heart! It’s pretty magical stuff.
how to make rice paper bacon
Making Rice Paper Bacon couldn’t be easier! First, we’ll whip up an easy bacon marinade.
Then grab a couple sheets of rice paper.
Then simply hydrate the rice paper in some water until softened, about 10 – 15 seconds. They will continue to soften after you take them out of the water. It’s important to not over soak them as it will make it difficult or impossible to get them crispy.
After they’ve been hydrated, coat them in the marinade, feel free to brush some of it on if needed.
Then slice into strips about 3/4″ thick.
Lastly, fry them up in a little oil!
Let them rest on a wire rack, and then they are ready to eat! It’s that easy!
Then simply use it the way you would use regular bacon. And even though I like mine in a sandwich, it totally works with some Vegan Eggs or a Tofu Scramble & Toast!
Maybe make a VEGAN BACONATOR?
Baking Rice Paper Bacon
While I do prefer frying these in a little oil, you can bake them as well. Cook them on a wire rack lined baking sheet in an oven set to 400 F / 200 C oven for about 8 minutes, or until cooked to desired crispiness. I would check them after 5-6 minutes as ovens vary and you don’t want them to get too crispy / burned!
I haven’t tried air frying these, but I I would be worried they might fly around from all the air, but I could be totally wrong about that. If you do try it, make sure to keep that in mind!
Ingredients
- Rice Paper – Obviously we need rice paper for these! They are often labeled as spring roll wrappers too. I can find them at most grocery stores in the “Asian” section, and you should be able to find them at any East Asian Market like 99 Ranch.
- Neutral Oil – any neutral flavored oil will do!
- Soy Sauce – for some umami and color. Use Tamari for GF.
- Liquid Smoke – To make it smoky! If you can’t find this stuff use more smoked paprika.
- Maple Syrup – A little sweetness to balance out all the salty smokiness!
- Sriracha – I like to add a little heat to mine.
- Nutritional Yeast – For added umami of course!
- Garlic & Smoked Paprika – Because this rice paper ain’t gonna season itself!
- MSG – optional but recommended for some added flavor.
How to make vegan bacon bits!
This bacon is best fresh, but if you have leftovers, one thing I like to do is make bacon bits with ’em! If your bacon is still pretty crunchy you can simply chop them up.
But if it’s softened and gotten chewier, you can throw some in an oven set to 350 F / 175 C for about 6-8 minutes. This should dry them out a bit and get them SUPER CRISPY! Just keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.
Once they are as crispy as you’d like, just chop them up and add them to a salad, baked potato, whatever you want!
Storage & reheating
You can store these in some tupperware either at room temperature for a few days (like 2-3) or in the fridge for about a week. I recommend reheating them in a pan. The oven is good if you want to make them super crispy. Bake them at 350 F / 175 C for 5 minutes to heat up, and longer to get crispier.
You can also simply marinade them and then store them to fry later on. Just keep in mind they will stick to each other, so layer them in between parchment paper or something similar.
TROUBLESHOOTING rice paper bacon
I’ve heard a few folks complain of the issues below, so here’s some extra guidance!
“My Rice Paper Bacon didn’t come out crispy!”
This is likely due to one of two things. First, you may have overhydrated the rice paper. You only need to dip it in some water for about 10 – 12 seconds.
The other reason could be that you didn’t cook it long or hot enough. Make sure you are using medium heat and cook it until the edges are fairly browned.
“My Rice Paper Bacon was burnt!”
This is likely due to the opposite problem. You cooked it at too high a temp and / or for too long. Try testing out a strip or two at first to get a hang of it and how your stovetop cooks.
can I use this rice paper bacon in dips / soups?
Over time I’ve experimented with different ways to use this rice paper bacon and I’ve discovered that it won’t stay crispy in wet environments. So making a bacon jam or dip with it won’t work. Or cooking it in a soup either. It’s great as a soup topping, but if it actually cooks in the soup it becomes soft and gummy.
So don’t introduce it into any wet environments if you want it to stay crispy!
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Rice Paper Bacon
Ingredients
- 6 - 8 pieces of Rice Paper
bacon marinade
- 2 Tbsp neutral oil
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce (or tamari)
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1-2 tsp sriracha
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp MSG
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a large rimmed plate or skillet.
- Add some water to a skillet or rimmed plate. Take two pieces (or three for thicker bacon) of the the rice paper, and gently coat them in the water for about 10 - 12 seconds. Gently press them together and try to get rid of any air bubbles. Make sure you don't oversoak the rice paper as it can get too soft and unable to crisp up.
- Then lay your rice paper bacon sheets in the marinade and coat both sides, flipping it over to coat as thoroughly as possible.
- Add the rice paper to a cutting board, careful not to let the rice paper fold onto itself. Seal off the edges with your fingers so there's no air bubbles and to make sure the pieces are stuck together.
- Using a knife or pizza cutter, slice the rice paper into bacon strips (about 3/4 - 1 inch thick).
- You can add the strips to a wire rack or leave them on the cutting board until they are ready to fry. Additionally, if you only want a few pieces of bacon, you can store them in a tupperware container and fry them later. Or fry them all and store the cooked bacon. Again, up to you!
- Bring a skillet up to medium heat with a bit of oil. Fry the strips to your desired doneness. I recommend doing a few test pieces to figure out what kind of texture you like. They will crisp up a bit after frying so keep that in mind!
- Once they are cooked, use them any way you want. You can literally use these them same way you would use non-vegan bacon!
- ENJOY!
Notes
You can bake the bacon on a wire rack at 400 F for about 8 - 10 minutes, or until desired crispiness. To reheat leftover bacon, simply fry in a skillet until warmed through, or bake at 350 F for 5 minutes, longer for crispier bacon.
Skip to Recipe
You you omit the msg? I don’t have any. Or what else could you use?
Hi, you can omit it, the bacon will be good without!
Premade vegetable stock usually contains msg, so it is a good substitute.
What is msg ?
A flavor enhancer. Monosodium glutamate.
Pretty awesome! I had trouble cooking in a skillet since my non-stick pan wasn’t so non-stick. I then used the airfryer with parchment paper. I will need to experiement more with the temp and time but they came out quite tasty and with a little crispness. I agree the skillet method made them taste more like bacon. My BLT sandwich was quite satisfying!
Awesome! Yeah I’ve made these a lot and everytime they get a little better, so it definitely is something that you can finesse based of what you like and have to work with!
This recipe beats EVERY/ANY other vegan bacon recipe, I can hardly stop eating it, THANK YOU for sharing it!
Thank you!! Glad you like it!
This is a tremendous recipe. Best vegan bacon I’ve ever tasted.
For best results, just be careful not to oversaturate the rice paper with water. If overexposed to water, it become rubbery, like in a spring roll. For this recipe, I found it really helps to have the rice paper still pretty firm, which makes it easy to slice and transfer to the skillet.
Thank you! And yes, that’s a good tip. I’ve found if I over soak it’s pretty much impossible to get them crispy. I’ll make a note, thanks!
Just made this and so delish✅❤️👌🏼 Thank you!
Bonjour
C’est quoi le msg ?
Est-ce que vous superposez plusieurs feuilles de riz ? 😀
Merci beaucoup pour votre recette, j’ai hâte d’y goûter ! 🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓🥓🥰
Salut, le MSG est du Glutamate Monosodique c’est un rehausseur de saveur. Il est vendu en épicerie comme étant une alternative au sel. La marque que j’ai chez moi est Accent, mais il y a aussi Herbamare qui contient du MSG.
Pour la recette, oui c’est bien ça il faut superposer 2 à 3 feuille de riz les tremper dans de l’eau tiède pendant 15 seconde avant de les faire mariner et ensuite les couper.
This is the best vegan bacon recipe I’ve ever tried, and it’s so easy (as long as you have a nonstick skillet)! Is there any way to save and reheat leftovers that will return the bacon to its former crispy glory? Should I refrigerate the leftovers? (The only time I’ve even had leftovers is when I was saving some for a friend to try, but the bacon had softened by the next day.)
Glad you like it! Storing in the fridge is an option, but I feel like they stay crispier if you store them in an airtight container at room temp. I need to experiment more with reheating them, but I would think the air fryer would work best. I’ve found that they actually get softer when reheated in a pan, which is strange. I’ll do some experiments and update the blog. Thanks!
Hi. I can’t wait to try, thanks for your great recipes. The non-extreme-crisp issue with reheating in a skillet may have to do with steam that develops first between the bacon and the pan, which can prevent deep crisping.
When it comes to crisping up things like thin crust pizza, I’ve found that even the shallowness of the cast iron pan makes a real difference eg crispier results with a relatively rimless griddle vs a pan with higher sides. (The higher sides encourage steam to stick around a bit more than if there’s no rim.)
Love to nerd out with fellow cookers.
So, so good!!! Did without the MSG and they turned out awesome! Not sure if I missed the nutrition facts for these.
Seriously good bacon. It is so easy to make and I don’t worry about what’s in it like I do with the mock meats that are highly processed. It’s like a little high in sodium, but it’s bacon. Of course it is.
I made this yesterday because I really miss BLTs. This turned out so great and was easier than I was expecting! I would add more salt to really get that BLT flavor but that may just be personal preference. I will make this again and again.
This was unbelievable! The marinade is great, and I found that I like the bacon best when it’s both crispy and chewy. I also tried baking these at 400°F for 4 minutes on each side, the results were great but I might try for 3 minutes for more chewiness.
Thanks for this awesome recipe!!
Excellent, thank you, glad you liked it!
Definitely going to try this. Question: Why not eliminate water and soak in marinade instead ?
Not enough liquid in the marinade to hydrate them from my tests, thanks!