Bacon From Broccoli
I’ve made a lot of bacon out of a lot of different things on my channel. But I recently had a thought, that I could make bacon out of broccoli stems. This is a test! I have not tried this before so come along with me to see how it goes. I’m going to turn this into kind of like a BLT. So before we start the bacon from broccoli, I’m going to make some lemon pepper aioli, a really simple one just because I think it will be great on this sandwich. I’m also going to use arugula on my BLT so I guess it’ll be more like a BAT. If you like this recipe check out this one too! and this one!
Lemon Pepper Aioli
I thought that would be a good dressing for this sandwich so let’s get started. First we are going to add about a quarter cup of vegan mayo to a bowl then you could just add lemon pepper seasoning but I am going to really zest a lemon into it, then squeeze in all its juice, now add fresh cracked black pepper, and a pinch of garlic powder. Mix that up well, then toss it into the fridge!
Bacon Marinade
For the vegan bacon, in a large bowl I add two tablespoons of soy sauce, one tablespoon of maple syrup, a tablespoon of olive oil, two teaspoons of hickory liquid smoke, a teaspoon of smoked paprika, a teaspoon of garlic powder, a pinch of salt, cracked black pepper, a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, and a tablespoon of your favorite Not Steak Sauce! Whisk this all together. At this point, you can take the broccoli and pull off the stems and leaves. I cut my broccoli way at the top. Then I cut it in half. Now I tried using a mandolin slicer and it worked pretty well.
Bacon Prep
I slice a piece of bacon, then add it into the marinade. And repeat this until I have enough slices. At this point, I’m going to cover it up and let this marinade sit. I let it sit for about thirty or forty minutes. After it sits the broccoli is softer, and the strips have taken on the color of the marinade. I want to fry these two different ways, to see how they are fried. I put half of my bacon in an air fryer. At 350ºf for about eight minutes. And the other half in a hot nonstick pan, with a little oil and we are just gonna simmer them up. I continually flipped them until they got a little darker than what I actually wanted.
Taste Test!
The bacon on its own, is good! Both ways the bacon was cooked turned out awesome. They both taste like real bacon! They have a nice, crispy, bite texture. And some of that sweet bacon taste. I threw my sandwiches together, and they are delicious! This is a perfect way to enjoy the bacon from broccoli. The sauce is great too. This is such a great bacon substitute, you have to try it! Watch the full video here!
Making Incredibly Realistic Bacon From Broccoli
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup vegan mayo
- 1 lemon
- black pepper
- 1.5 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp hickory liquid smoke
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- salt
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp Not Steak Sauce
- large broccoli
Instructions
- Add vegan mayo to a large bowl along with lemon zest, lemon juice, fresh cracked black pepper, and garlic powder. Mix that up well and then let it sit in the fridge.
- In another large bowl add soy sauce, maple syrup, olive oil, liquid smoke, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, apple cider vinegar, and Not Steak Sauce. Whisk it all together.
- Pull off the stems and leaves from the broccoli. Then cut it at the top, and again in half. Then I used a mandolin slicer to get the broccoli nice and thin. Add the slices into the marinade. Once you have cut your slices and they are all in the marinade, cover it and let it sit for 30-40 minutes.
- I put half of my bacon in the air fryer at 350ºf for 8 minutes.
- Then the other half of bacon went into a hot nonstick pan with some oil and flipped them until they darkened.
- These taste great on their own but add them to a sandwich with the lemon pepper sauce and it's amamzing!