Recipe Carrot Bacon

[The Late Night Gourmet]

If someone ever offers me "vegan bacon", I'll try it, but probably dread the taste. But, this is something that intrigued me immediately. There's no meat here: just carrots and seasoning. Obviously, this is fully vegan.

If you close your eyes and take a bite, you'd swear...well, you'd know you weren't eating real bacon, but I have to say it's delicious.

The only thing missing is the mouth feel: this doesn't have a texture like bacon. I think there's a sweet spot between undercooking, which comes across like a baked carrot, and overcooking, which is crunchy like a cracker. The dark patches you see were the latter: while tasty, it doesn't conjure up bacon. On the other hand, it's still tasty, and much lower in calories than the real thing.

Recipes I've seen have the cook only last 15 minutes or so. This doesn't yield the look or feel that I want, but maybe it'll work for you.

Ingredients

1 carrot
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons canola oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 320° F (160° C).

2. Wash carrot. Using a mandoline set at 1.5 mm, cut the carrot into strips. I used a cut-proof glove so I could get every bit out of the carrot.

3. Combine garlic salt, paprika, and oil. Brush on both sides of the carrot strips and place each on a baking sheet.

4. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip over each piece (just like bacon in a pan!). Cook for 10-15 more minutes, or until pieces curl up like bacon.

 

[sidevalve]

Not bacon - strips of carrot. I don't eat bacon 'carrot' and I can only repeat what I have said before - if they don't want meat why do so many people feel the need to pretend they are eating it. [Sorry simply me being pedantic - not saying there is anything wrong with the recipe just that I don't understand the need for vegetarians/vegans to pretend they are eating meat or to try a 'fool' their guests into thinking they are - after all I wouldn't try to sneak a bacon rasher into a guests food if I knew they were vegan so why the other way round ?
Sorry rant over

 

[Francesca]

@The Late Night Gourmet

Lovely snack and no fat except for the Oil ..

I would have prepared a dip for the "carrot strips" and called it: Oven Fried Carrot Paprika Strips ..

( However, it is not pancetta or panceta or bacon as in Spain or Italy ) ..

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Not bacon - strips of carrot. I don't eat bacon 'carrot' and I can only repeat what I have said before - if they don't want meat why do so many people feel the need to pretend they are eating it. [Sorry simply me being pedantic - not saying there is anything wrong with the recipe just that I don't understand the need for vegetarians/vegans to pretend they are eating meat or to try a 'fool' their guests into thinking they are - after all I wouldn't try to sneak a bacon rasher into a guests food if I knew they were vegan so why the other way round ?
Sorry rant over

I'm typically not fooled by such things, but the look of it really got my attention: it does look like orange bacon, and it tastes sort of bacon-y. Baked Carrot Strips would have been a more accurate name, but it immediately sounds boring. It doesn't catch the attention quite like Carrot Bacon. I'm not vegan, but I believe some people on here would be interested in this.

 

[Morning Glory]

Isn't i a bit 'leathery'?

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Isn't i a bit 'leathery'?

Surprisingly, not one bit. It seems to go from soft to crunchy pretty quickly. I'm going to get more carrots tonight and experiment some more, maybe checking every minute starting with minute 15, or maybe cutting them thinner (maybe 1 mm).

 

[Morning Glory]

Surprisingly, not one bit. It seems to go from soft to crunchy pretty quickly. I'm going to get more carrots tonight and experiment some more, maybe checking every minute starting with minute 15, or maybe cutting them thinner (maybe 1 mm).

I'll have to give this a try then...

 

[Herbie]

I've seen similar carrot/aubergine bacon recipes but they used 'liquid smoke' and that contains gluten. I had not thought of using smoked paprika though I used this is a few traditional Portuguese dishes that call for chorizo (my husband was really surprised how well it turned out). It sounds like it would be nice for adding a smokiness and crunchy texture, like adding baked, spicy chickpeas to the top of salads as gluten-free 'croûtons'.

 

[Frizz1974]

The garlic salt, smoked paprika & canola is what I use to scrunch into my (curly) kale before roasting for "chips".

I love veggie chips & will definitely give the carrots a go.

 

[Morning Glory]

they used 'liquid smoke' and that contains gluten

I did not know that! How can it? I don't really understand how liquid smoke is made. It seems like witchcraft to me!

 

[Elawin]

I was channel hopping last night and caught a bit of Coronation Street where a group of vegans were talking about meat substitutes. Such substitutions are not really my idea of fun; the nearest I get to it is substitute potatoes for fish in a curry

 

[Morning Glory]

I was channel hopping last night and caught a bit of Coronation Street where a group of vegans were talking about meat substitutes. Such substitutions are not really my idea of fun; the nearest I get to it is substitute potatoes for fish in a curry

When veganism appears in Corrie then you know its become mainstream!

 

[Elawin]

When veganism appears in Corrie then you know its become mainstream!

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

I tried this again, but this time with fresh carrots. What a difference! The carrot I used was a few weeks old, but just look at this. I also added maple syrup. The "bacon" actually shrank (like real bacon), and sizzled (like real bacon). It still doesn't taste like bacon, but it actually does have the "feel" of bacon. And, it's still tasty.