Homemade vegan bacon (and pig-friendly snacks from France!)
Bacon is one of England’s most popular foods, whether in a BLT or fried up a sandwich or for a full English breakfast. But of course bacon comes from pigs – and not much bacon sold in England is from free-range animals. We have 58 million people (including children). And there is simply is not enough land, even accounting for the millions who don’t eat meat.
World Health Organisation classifies all processed meats as Group 1 Carcinogens (bacon is linked to increased risk of colorectal cancer).
So in this post, we’ll look at how to make your own vegan bacon. Then finish off with some good brands in stores (for both vegan bacon and ham). And even a palm-oil-free black pudding!
- Keep these foods away from pets due to onion, garlic, salt (for the same reason, avoid feeding leftovers to garden birds or wildfowl). Read more on food safety for people and pets.
- Before recycling cans, rinse then remove lids (pop ring-pulls over holes). Then step on upper cans to ‘pinch’ inner rims together, to avoid wildlife getting trapped.
- Unless you have a food waste bin, bin pepper and allium scraps (onion, leeks, garlic, shallots, chives) and citrus/tomato/rhubarb scraps, as acids could harm compost creatures.
Homemade vegan bacon recipes
It’s really easy to make your own vegan bacon. The taste is from the smoked flavour, not the meat itself. And so all you do is take a base ingredient and use the same smoky process, to replicate the taste.
Tofu bacon (Jessica in the Kitchen) uses thinly sliced tofu, that’s marinated in a sweet, savory and smoky blend of seasoning.
This 6-ingredient vegan bacon (Broke Bank Vegan) is also made with tofu. Serve with a vegean scramble, in burritos or on meat-free BLTS.
La Vie vegan bacon and ham (from France?!)
La Vie Vegan foods is a fantastic brand of vegan bacon, ham, lardons and deli meats from France. In fact, it’s so popular that their items are sold worldwide every second, and some French farmers have tried to ban their sale!
If your kerbside does not recycle soft plastics, just drop off at supermarket bins when you’re next passing.
Qui sont les cochons préférés? Eh bien, Vincent et Nicolas, bien sûr !
Translation: Who are the very favourite people of pigs? Why Vincent and Nicolas, of course!
This brand is fab! It was founded by Vincent and Nicholas (a third co-founder left to focus on helping star-tups). Vincent has a background in physics and engineering, while Nicolas is the business brains.
Together they are saving pigs worldwide. With likely the most popular vegan bacon (and ham dyed with radish extract!) on earth.
Palm-oil-free vegan meaty snacks
Ever looked for a vegan meaty snack in supermarkets? You’ll find all of them contain palm oil. Not these! La Vie vegan food offer vegan bacony snacks made with sunflower oil. Why are supermarkets and petrol stations not selling these? They would fly off the shelves and make more profits.
The ham is dyed with radish extract!
Buy vegan black pudding (with no palm oil)
Black pudding sounds disgusting, but many people eat this (pig’s blood mixed with oats). If you want to try a vegan version of ‘blood sausage’, it’s offered by The Bury Black Pudding Company. It’s also free from palm oil.
It’s a mix of oats, barley and black beans, and subs the blood with beetroot (far better! Just slice and grill (keep leftovers chilled and use within a few days).
Suitable for freezing, but defrost before cooking and do not re-freeze.
England has millions of people, and even if you eat meat, there is not enough land for everyone to eat free-range. So it pays to switch to avoid factory-farming and cholesterol. SO you can enjoy a BLT every day!
Originating in the Lancashire town of Bury and Stornoway (in the Scottish Hebrides), it’s not that dissimilar to Scottish haggis, and designed to use up parts of animal slaughtered for its meat, for more profit.
Make your own vegan black pudding
Vegan Sandra also offers a simple recipe. Once cooked and sliced, fry to serve alongside potatoes or juicy tomatoes for a cooked breakfast.
Why pigs are brilliant!
Pigs are such wonderful mothers, they sing to their piglets! They are also very clean animals that will build a nest and walk up to a mile to go the toilet. They are so brainy, they are up there with dolphins and chimpanzees.
They have strong bonds and will sleep nose-to-nose with other pigs, and use their sensitive snouts to forage for food (as eyes are on the sides of their heads, they have poor depth perception).
Pigs can’t sweat, which is why they roll in mud. Only domestic pigs have curly tails! And in the wild, pigs can live to be up to 20 years old.
