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Vegan BLT Sandwich with Maple Tempeh Bacon

Do I really even need to say anything else? Crispy (tempeh) bacon with cashew ranch dressing and mashed avocado and other magicalness? Maybe we can finally silence those haters who leave the, “this needs bacon!” comments when I post pictures of vegan food on social media… 🙂

I’m telling you – if you’ve never had tempeh bacon, your life is woefully incomplete. This stuff is incredible, and crispy, and delicious. Plus, you’ll be so surprised at how easy it is to make: all we do is take thinly sliced tempeh (a super-healthy protein made from whole soybeans), marinate it in a special maple/soy sauce, and then bake for 15 minutes until crunchy. Done. Add that onto some yummy whole wheat bread with cashew ranch, avocado, and (of course) lettuce and tomato. Oh, your coworkers are going to be so jealous tomorrow at lunch.

Vegan BLT

Makes 2 sandwiches

Ingredients:

  • 4 slices whole grain bread
  • 8 oz tempeh
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons tamari / soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 roma tomato
  • 4 romaine leaves
  • 1/4 cup cashews
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried dill
  • Pinch of salt

Vegan BLT Cutting Board

Step One

Make the tempeh bacon! Cut the tempeh into very thin strips (just barely thick enough to hold together) and place in a large baking dish or other surface. Then, pour about 2 tablespoons of each: tamari or soy sauce, vegetable oil, and maple syrup. Also sprinkle on a tablespoon of smoked paprika. Let this marinate for 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 400º F.

After about 30 minutes, transfer the slices of tempeh to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes, then flip each slice and bake for another 8 minutes or so until they start to blacken. Remove from the oven just when they’re on the border of becoming charred for maximum crispiness.

Maple Tempeh Bacon

Step Two

If you’ve been reading my website lately, you know how much I love cashew-based dressings & sauces. This time, we’re adding some spices to give it a ranch dressing type of feel. To make this one, combine 1/4 cup cashews in a blender with 1/4 cup water, 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon dried dill, and a pinch of salt. Blend until smooth and slather onto one slice of bread for each sandwich.

A note on bread: I used a fairly unhealthy white sourdough bread here to give the photos a nice effect. But when I make this myself, I almost always use a healthy, whole-grain bread like the Ezekiel brand and I hope you will as well!

Step Three

In a bowl, mash one avocado with a fork and a pinch of salt. Spread this onto the other slice of bread for each sandwich.

Step Four

Put the sandwich together by adding a few romaine leaves onto the bottom piece of bread, followed by a generous amount of the tempeh bacon, then a few tomato slices, and finally the top slice of bread with avocado.

Vegan BLT Knife

16 Comments

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  1. Oh, how I love tempeh! I’ve had a tempeh BLT before, but I’ve never made one myself! Now is the time! By the way, I love your usage of the totally made up word magicalness. I totally do that too–take a word that already exists in noun form and create my own, longer, noun form. Magicalness is so obviously superior to magic.

    • Now IS the time, Jenni! 🙂

      “take a word that already exists in noun form and create my own, longer, noun form” haha, that made me laugh out loud. Creating new words is the bestest thing ever.

  2. Darn, this looks so good too! But I can’t have soy of any kind 🙁
    Ohh well will keep looking… By the way great site…

  3. Hey, made the Tempeh bacon. Took no time at all and was absolutely delicious. The meat eater of the house actually stole the leftovers for lunch the next day. Just saying 😉
    Thank you!

  4. Okay, I need some advice. I followed the bacon directions exactly, but mine ended up pretty flavorless. I cut the slices a little thicker than an average piece of bacon and let the slices marinate for 30 minutes. I am wondering if I need to go thinner, marinade longer, or try a different brand of tempeh. I’m new to tempeh, so I’m not sure if one brand is better than another. Does anyone have any suggestions?

    • Hmm, that’s a tough one. I’m sorry it didn’t work out, but I couldn’t imagine why. In my experience this tempeh bacon is super flavorful. The marinade caramelizes on the outside and adds a ton of flavor. I would say, keep the slices as thin as possible, make sure there is plenty of marinade on the strips, and keep the oven temps as high as possible without burning.

  5. It was a delicious lunch! It was the first time I made tempeh bacon and I really liked it, but I suggest adding a little bit more soy sauce and smoked paprika to the marinade 🙂

  6. I just made this recipe for dinner with a home baked bread and a green salad. It was really awesome -my boyfriend eats meat and was complimenting a lot.
    I used kala namak instead of normal salt for the avocado. Bacon with egg but plant based 🙂

    • Awesome! I love the idea of the kala namak (which I have still NEVER used…) that sounds amazing with the avocado!

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