If you made (or are thinking of making) my 2 ingredient vegan chicken (washed flour seitan), you may be wondering what to do with the leftover starch water. Introducing my vegan wheat starch bacon!!! This is the most bacon-y vegan bacon I've ever made! And this recipe makes a HUGE batch that can be frozen for later.
Crispy, chewy, salty, and delicious! This has even out baconed my rice paper bacon which formerly held the position of most bacon-y. This starch water bacon is crispy, chewy, fatty, smoky, salty goodness. And, well, just look at it!!
My favourite part about this vegan wheat starch bacon (aside from the flavour and texture of course), is that it can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge or even frozen. So you can make big batches of this, and have the slices in the freezer, ready to fry up whenever vegan bacon cravings strike!!!
To make vegan wheat starch bacon:
Separate the starch from water: If you are saving the starch water from making washed seitan, save the water from the first 3 washes in a large container, or in several bowls. Let the starch water rest for 4 hours or overnight so that the starch and the water separate. The white starch will sink to the bottom, and the yellow water will rise to the top. Gently pour off and discard the water leaving behind just the starch.
Give your starch a good stir to make sure it is smooth (it can get clumpy when it sits), and add a splash of water if needed to get a nice thin batter.
Season the starch: In a large measuring cup or medium bowl mix together all of the "red bacon starch" ingredients. If making the white bacon starch, in a separate measuring cup or bowl, mix together the "white bacon starch" ingredients. The white bacon starch is for making the bacon look more realistic mimicking the fat of the bacon, but feel free to skip this step if you prefer.
Make vegan bacon crepes: Heat a large skillet or non-stick frying, brush the pan with oil. Working quickly, pour or spoon a small amount of the red starch into the pan to make a thin crepe. Use a spoon to drizzle the white starch across the top of the crepe to make stripes (you only need to do this on one side). Cook the crepe a couple of minutes per side until cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Keep the crepes nice and thin to get the best texture. You can add more water to the starch to make the batter thinner if needed. Repeat these steps until you use up all of the starch, making several crepes.
Cut bacon strips: Once the crepes are cooled, use scissors or a knife to cut the crepes in the bacon sized strips. At this point, you can store the starch bacon strips in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer.
Fry up that vegan bacon! when you're ready to enjoy the bacon, heat 2 - 3 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet or frying pan. Fry the bacon strips until they reach the desired crispiness. Drain on a paper towel. Enjoy!
Enjoy this crispy, chewy, delicious vegan wheat starch bacon anywhere you like! Serve it up with a side of tofu scramble, crumble it onto a salad, or on a pasta, or you could make a B.L.T. sandwich- my fave!
Bon appetegan!
Sam Turnbull.
(click stars to vote)
Vegan Wheat Starch Bacon
Servings: - 45 bacon slices (give or take)
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Ingredients
For the red bacon starch:
- 1 ½ cups wheat starch water
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons paprika
- 1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
for the white bacon starch (optional):
- ¾ cup wheat starch water
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke
Other:
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Separate the starch from water: when making washed seitan save the water from the first 3 washes in a large container, or in several bowls. Let the starch water rest for 4 hours or overnight in the fridge so that the starch and the water separate. The white starch will sink to the bottom, and the yellow water will rise to the top. Gently pour off and discard the water leaving behind just the starch. Give your starch a good stir to make sure it is smooth (it can get clumpy when it sits), and add a splash of water if needed to get a nice thin batter. *If you are using store-bought wheat starch, mix starch and water together until you reach a consistency similar to the photos above.
- Season the starch: In a large measuring cup or medium bowl mix together all of the "red bacon starch" ingredients. If making the white bacon starch, in a separate measuring cup or bowl, mix together the "white bacon starch" ingredients. The white bacon starch is for making the bacon look more realistic mimicking the fat of the bacon, but feel free to skip this step if you prefer.
- Make vegan bacon crepes: Heat a large skillet or non-stick frying, brush the pan with oil. Working quickly, pour or spoon a small amount of the red starch into the pan to make a thin crepe. Use a spoon to drizzle the white starch across the top of the crepe to make stripes (you only need to do this on one side). Cook the crepe a couple of minutes per side until cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside. Keep the crepes nice and thin to get the best texture. You can add more water to the starch to make the batter thinner if needed. Repeat these steps until you use up all of the starch, making several crepes.
- Cut bacon strips: Once the crepes are cooled, use scissors or a knife to cut the crepes in the bacon sized strips. At this point, you can store the starch bacon strips in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer.
- Fry up that vegan bacon! when you're ready to enjoy the bacon, heat 2 - 3 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet or frying pan. Fry the bacon strips until they reach desired crispiness. Drain on a paper towel. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Rose says
Hi!
I left my starchy water on the bench over night to seperate.
About 16hrs all up.do you think the bacon I made is safe to eat? It tastes and smells fine, I just want to make sure 🙂
Sam Turnbull @ It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken says
Hi Rose, it's difficult to tell without being in the kitchen with you, but if you are unsure I recommend erring on the side of caution and not consuming it, as harmful bacteria aren't always detectable by taste or smell. I hope that helps!
Nate Sorensen says
I didn’t write this recipe, but yes, it’ll be fine. A lot of people let their starch sit out overnight covered so a few more hours won’t hurt.
Sally says
Several times in 2021, you said that you would get back to us for the water/wheat starch powder. I see no updates on this. Do you have any suggestions now?
Sam Turnbull @ It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken says
Hi Sally, I have tested it, and I found that this recipe didn't work as well with store-bought starch as it does with starch water from making seitan. The store-bought starch made the bacon very crumbly unfortuneatly.
Claire says
I had a really good result using tapioca starch instead of the store bought wheat starch (which was a big crumbly pile of mess). The tapioca starch looked much more like these pictures, had a good bit of stretch, and fried up nicely for me.
Sam Turnbull @ It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken says
Oh I will have to try that, thanks for the tip!
Onevikinggirl says
We had some old wheat starch, and all ingredients except onion powder. This a fabulous recipe, we haven’t had bacon flavoured food in years.
Sam Turnbull @ It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken says
So happy you enjoyed it!
dots says
i made these as a follow up from seitan recipe.
the fake bacon strips are very tasty, mine ended up a bit spicy - i used chipotle and cayenne.
overall a very good recipe. i do not like to waste food so using a byproduct of seitan production really appealed to me.
as a word of advice to others: it is good to fry these strips with a bit of fat, i recon it enhances the flavour.
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
Great advice, thanks for sharing!
Haydn says
Took some trial and error to get the thickness of the crepes and batter right and they're still more crunchy than crispy. The flavor is very good tho. I made some slight alterations. A bit of worcestershire sauce in the red and a tablespoon of butter in the white. I like the added fat and I'm vegetarian but not vegan. I'll be making and experimenting with this recipe again for sure
Noé says
Hi ! just made it, turned out pretty okay , I chose to skip the liquid smoke and maple syrup part (those ingredients aren't widely available and cheap here (France) and I definitely shouldn't have, it's litteraly the missing flavor in mine
overall they turned out visually great (used a bottle for the stripes and made a swirly wirly thing as a base layer)
I'll totally do it again as a way to use the starch byproduct in my seitán method .
thanks for this recipe !
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
We're happy to hear you were happy with the results and hope they turn out even better with the added ingredients!
V says
Hi Sam
By “store bought wheat starch”, do you mean gluten flour? Thanks for answering, looking forward to making this recipe!
V
Sam Turnbull says
Hi V, gluten flour is actually the opposite of wheat starch. Wheat is made up of protein (gluten) and starch. Gluten flour is the wheat protein separated from the starch. Wheat starch is what is leftover. You can get wheat starch online here.
V says
Thanks so much for explaining. I can’t get wheat starch where I am. Would potato starch or tapioca starch work?
Benjamin Grimm says
This does not say how hot to heat the pan for making the crepes. Mine turned out very badly and were impossible to flip. On medium heat, the crepe was way too soft to flip. On high, it just burned on the first side and had to be thrown out. Not a winning one, in my book.
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Benjamin, I recommend medium-high heat. You need a good non-stick pan and it does take a bit of practice before you get the hang of it. If you have ever made crepes it is the same technique 🙂
Erik B says
Hi Sam,
Back in June of ‘21 you wrote this above:
Shelley says
May 26, 2021 at 6:58 pm
If you're using store bought wheat starch, roughly what quantity of wheat starch should you mix with what quantity of water? Thanks.
Reply
Sam Turnbull says
June 03, 2021 at 5:56 pm
I haven't measured this yet but will update once I get the measurments!
I know you are a super busy woman, but might you be able to post this info, especially since this recipe was just posted on Instagram?
Thanks, Erik
Sam Turnbull says
It's in my notes to update it! I have been working on many projects but hopefully have time for this soon. 🙂