How to Make Vegan Coconut Bacon

You are going to absolutely love this 5 ingredient vegan coconut bacon recipe that takes just 15 minutes to make. We keep our pantry stocked so that we always have some coconut bacon hand to add to vegan eggs, breakfast tacos, pizza, salads and more!

This post was originally published May 2017; updated March 2023.

When people decide to make the switch to a vegan or vegetarian diet, it seems like bacon is often a difficult food to give up! Luckily, there are tons of great vegan bacon options available in the store as well as this super simple vegan coconut bacon. With just 5 ingredients, you can recreate the flavor of the real thing.

Once you make your coconut bacon, make sure to try it out on one of these recipes: strawberry spinach salad, vegan tofu scramble, or vegan broccoli cheddar soup.

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

• This simple coconut bacon has all the delicious sweet and salty flavors of real bacon but with no animal products. (Don’t worry, there’s no coconut flavor when you’re finished!)
• Keep this super versatile ingredient on hand and use anytime you would traditional bacon bits like salads, eggs, sandwiches, and soup.
• This recipe is vegan, egg free, dairy free. Make it gluten free by using tamari instead of soy sauce.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Coconut Flakes: use unsweetened coconut flakes for this recipe. You can usually find them in the baking aisle or you can purchase them from Amazon. Just make sure to buy coconut flakes (which kind of look like coconut chips) and not shredded coconut as the pieces are too small for this recipe.
• Liquid Smoke: adds all the delicious smokiness of bacon. You can usually find this in the grocery store with the other condiments, but you can also buy it online.
• Soy Sauce: soy sauce adds some umami as well as a bit of salty flavor. Use tamari if you want to make this recipe gluten free. You can also use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce if you want to lower the sodium content.
• Maple Syrup: adds a hint of sweetness that balances out the saltiness of the soy sauce and the smokiness of the liquid smoke.
• Paprika and Black Pepper: use smoked paprika if you have it – otherwise regular paprika works too. It adds just a bit of flavor as well as color so the coconut flakes are closer in color to regular bacon bits.

Step by Step

Serving Suggestions

There are so many ways to enjoy this delicious vegan bacon recipe with a variety of different dishes. Here are just a handful of my favorite ways to use it: 

• Sandwiches & Wraps: add some delicious bacon flavor to your favorite sandwich or wrap with these coconut bacon bits. 
• Soup: you can add this coconut bacon to just about any soup recipe, but my favorite is with this vegan cheddar broccoli soup.
• Breakfast: add some bacon vibes to your favorite avocado toast. This coconut bacon is also delicious on my vegan tofu scramble or vegan breakfast tacos.
• Salad: use this recipe as a vegan bacon bits option for salads. I like to sprinkle this coconut bacon on my vegan Cobb salad or my strawberry spinach salad with lemon dressing. It’s also great on this vegan Caesar salad.
• Veggies: add this bacon to these vegan cheddar broccoli stuffed potatoes. Mmmm! It also makes a great addition to mashed potatoes or cooked Brussels sprouts.

Recipe FAQs