This shiitake mushroom bacon is a great addition to any dish and makes an ideal plant based alternative to those who don’t eat the real thing. It can be tough finding gluten free versions of vegan bacon so thought I would start exploring with some of my own recipes. This mushroom ‘bacon’ has a lovely rich and smokey flavour making it similar in taste to crispy smoked bacon.
As shiitake mushrooms are quite small this recipe will not result in the long rashers that bacon usually comes in, however, this doesn’t mean they are not a great addition to a cooked breakfast along with my Tofu Scrambled Egg recipe, vegan sausages, tomato, avocado and some fritters, such as my 12 Minute Courgette Fritters or my 15 Minute Sweetcorn Fritters.
If you do want to end up with larger pieces of bacon you could try this recipe using large chestnut or portobello mushrooms in place of the shiitake, however, I find the pieces go crispier when using shiitake as they release less liquid.
I like my mushroom bacon best when it is really crispy so I allow 20 minutes in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius, however, you could remove them from the oven after the 12 minute mark if desired, it is all down to personal preference. After ten minutes remove the tray from the oven to shake the pieces and assess from there how much additional time you think they will need. I have not tried it myself but I think these would also work well in the air fryer!
I always marinate my mushrooms overnight to ensure they soak up as much flavour as possible, however, if you forget you can soak them for less time. Typically I add these to breakfasts and brunches, however, they also work really well thrown into pasta and salads in place of little pieces of crispy pancetta.
If you like my plant based vegan bacon you may also like my Vegan Smoked Salmon which is another great plant based alternative to breakfast staples.
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