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    Oh My Veggies » Vegan Recipes » Vegan Main Dishes

    The Best Vegan BLT (With Eggplant Bacon!)

    Published: Sep 10, 2014 · by Nicole · Updated: Sep 15, 2021 · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

    Photos by Emily Caruso

    I can’t think of a single ingredient that divides vegetarians and vegans quite as much as bacon. There's the “I miss it soooooo bad and dream about it every night” camp, and the “of all non-vegetarian foods, bacon is the one I miss the absolute least” camp. I’ll be honest and say I was never a fan of bacon, so I put myself in the second camp.

    Here’s something cool, though: Despite having no interest whatsoever in conventional bacon, I absolutely love baconizing vegetarian foods! Does this make any sense whatsoever? Actually, it does. Bacon does have some great attributes; it’s just that conventional bacon also has a bunch that I’m not a fan of. It's weird, but I had to become a vegetarian in order to discover how much I really love bacon. (Nope…that doesn’t sound crazy at all.)

    Eggplant
    So, let’s talk about all the great things bacon has to offer, taste-wise: salty, smoky, tangy, that ever-so-slight hint of maple sweetness. These are all some pretty awesome flavor qualities if you ask me. The great thing about vegetarian bacon is that you can take all of these delicious aspects and infuse them into your favorite veggie food. Coconut makes fantastic crunchy bacon. Prefer something more hearty and maybe with a little protein? Tempeh will do the job. I could go on all day, but I’d rather get into my favorite veggie bacon base—eggplant.

    Eggplant does an amazing job of soaking up flavors, so it’s no surprise that the eggplant in this vegan BLT is packed with flavor. It also cooks up tender, with just a bit of browning on the outside. A perfect bacon material indeed. In this sandwich the eggplant bacon adds some bulk and juicy goodness, which is perfectly complemented by crunchy romaine lettuce and sweet summer tomatoes. The icing on the cake (or sandwich) is a spicy sriracha cashew mayo that adds just the right kick to balance out the smoky flavors of the eggplant bacon. I really hope this sandwich makes a bacon lover out of you, too.

    Recipe

    Vegan BLT with Eggplant Bacon Recipe

    The Best Vegan BLT (with Eggplant Bacon)

    Classic BLTs, vegan style! Smoky eggplant "bacon" joins up with crispy lettuce, juicy tomatoes, and a spicy homemade cashew mayo slathered on your favorite sandwich bread. Sandwich nirvana.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Email Recipe
    Prep Time: 35 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 45 minutes minutes
    Course: Main Course, Snack
    Cuisine: American
    Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian
    Keyword: sandwich recipe, The Best Vegan BLT (with Eggplant Bacon), vegan BLT, vegan BLT recipe
    Servings: 4 sandwiches
    Calories: 455kcal
    Author: Oh My Veggies

    Ingredients

    Eggplant bacon:

    • ¼ cup soy sauce
    • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
    • 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons olive oil
    • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
    • 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
    • 1 medium eggplant about 1 pound sliced lengthwise into ¼ inch slabs

    Sriracha cashew mayo:

    • 1 cup raw cashews soaked in water for 4-8 hours then drained and rinsed
    • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1 large lemon
    • 3 tablespoons plain soy or almond milk
    • 1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce less or more to taste
    • ¼ teaspoon salt

    BLT sandwiches:

    • 8 slices sandwich bread
    • Sriracha cashew mayo
    • Eggplant bacon
    • 4-8 romaine lettuce leaves
    • 1 large or 2 small ripe tomatoes sliced
    US Customary - Metric

    Instructions

    Make the eggplant bacon:

    • In a medium bowl, stir together the soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons olive oil, maple syrup, and liquid smoke. Add the eggplant slices and stir gently to coat. Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes or more, stirring every 10 minutes or so to keep eggplant well coated.
    • Coat a large skillet with 2 teaspoons olive oil and place over medium-high heat. When hot, add eggplant slices in a single layer, working in batches if needed. Reserve marinade. Cook until the eggplant slices are browned on bottoms, about 3-5 minutes. Pour half of marinade into skillet (or less if you're working in batches) and cook another minute, until marinade cooks off.
    • Flip the slices and cook until they're browned on other side, about 3-5 minutes. Add the remaining marinade to the skillet and cook another minute, until the marinade cooks off again. The eggplant slices should be tender at this point.

    Make the Sriracha cashew mayo:

    • Place the soaked cashews in a food processor fitted with the S-blade and process until a thick paste forms. Add lemon juice, milk, Sriracha, and salt. Continue blending until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides of bowl as needed.

    Assemble the sandwiches:

    • Slather one side of each bread slice with the mayo. Divide eggplant among four bread slices, followed by lettuce, then tomato slices. Top with the remaining bread slices, slice in half with a sharp bread knife if desired, and serve.

    Notes

    You will have more than enough Sriracha mayo for 4 sandwiches. However, I don't recommend scaling down the batch size unless you've got a small blending device that you're sure can adequately blend a small batch of cashews. You can freeze the extra mayo, use it some other recipes, or just store it in the fridge for a few days, as chances are you'll get a hankering for more of these sandwiches.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 455kcalCarbohydrates: 52gProtein: 14gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gSodium: 1319mgPotassium: 755mgFiber: 7gSugar: 16gVitamin A: 2728IUVitamin C: 15mgCalcium: 194mgIron: 5mg
    Craving more veg-friendly recipes? Shop our collection of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, including our new Vegan Thanksgiving and Vegan Christmas cookbooks!
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    Vegan Main Dishes, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Main Dishes, Vegetarian Recipes eggplant, Make it Meatless Series, sandwich, summer

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sam @ PancakeWarriors says

      September 10, 2014 at 9:02 am

      The liquid smoke is where it's at on this one! I literally dropped my jaw when I read the title of this blog post. I totally forgot about eggplant bacon and now I may become obsessed! Thank you for sharing this was awesome! PS the sandwich is killer~

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        September 10, 2014 at 4:14 pm

        Thanks Sam! I think I'm going through a little eggplant bacon obsession phase myself! Liquid smoke is some amazing stuff indeed. 🙂

        Reply
    2. Leslie says

      September 10, 2014 at 10:32 am

      I've never tried eggplant bacon. I can only eat turkey bacon though because pork gives me serious migraines. This looks good!

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        September 10, 2014 at 4:15 pm

        There's definitely no pork in eggplant bacon, so I think you should be okay. 😉 Seriously though, I love the stuff - I hope you get to give it a try!

        Reply
    3. Caitlin says

      September 10, 2014 at 10:52 am

      I love eggplant bacon! I've been vegetarian my whole life so I can't speak to how authentic it is, but I love it on vegan carbonara. And I get you on the having to become vegetarian to discover how much you love bacon, I feel the same about vegan cheesecake! In my pre-vegan days, did I ever eat cheesecake? Nope, I hated it. But the cashew-based vegan variety? Can't get enough of it!

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        September 10, 2014 at 4:18 pm

        I feel that way about so many vegan and vegetarian versions of foods! For me eggs are the big one - never liked them, but I love a good tofu scramble. I'm totally intrigued by this vegan carbonara idea...

        Reply
        • Caitlin says

          September 10, 2014 at 4:52 pm

          Vegan carbonara is really good with eggplant bacon (I've also made it with zucchini bacon). My boyfriend's favorite dish is carbonara so he asked me to make a vegan version. (I did it here: http://theveganword.com/spaghetti-carbonara-with-crispy-courgette-bits/)
          He said it tasted like the non-vegan version to him, so I guess it worked out pretty well! I'd never had carbonara in my pre-vegan days but I liked it a lot! 🙂

          Reply
          • Alissa says

            September 12, 2014 at 9:13 pm

            I've never had non vegan carbonara either because the eggs always turned me off. I bet I'd enjoy your vegan version though - hoping I get a chance to give it a try. Thanks for sharing!

            Reply
            • Caitlin says

              September 13, 2014 at 9:58 am

              Let me know if you do get a chance Alissa, and hope you enjoy it!

    4. Maikki says

      September 10, 2014 at 12:26 pm

      Eggplant bacon is a must-try! 🙂

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        September 10, 2014 at 4:18 pm

        It really is! I hope you enjoy it!!!

        Reply
    5. Christina @ Bake with Christina says

      September 10, 2014 at 1:27 pm

      Wow this BLT looks AMAZING! I'm not even a vegetarian and I would totally eat that!

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        September 12, 2014 at 9:16 pm

        Thanks Christina! This is definitely one veggie dish that you don't have to be a vegetarian to enjoy 🙂

        Reply
    6. Allison says

      September 10, 2014 at 2:58 pm

      Oh wow! There's nothing I love more than a big satisfying veggie-filled sandwich. I'm going to bookmark this recipe for a weekend dinner! Can't wait.

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        September 12, 2014 at 9:16 pm

        Awesome! I hope you enjoy it!!

        Reply
    7. Inna says

      September 10, 2014 at 3:03 pm

      Do you mind sharing the name of the brand of liquid smoke you use? The one I saw in the grocery store had high fructose corn syrup and bunch of other ingredients I couldn't pronounce.

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        September 10, 2014 at 4:20 pm

        I've heard that's the case with some brands. I used Wright's hickory flavor - it just has water and natural hickory smoke concentrate listed as ingredients.

        Reply
        • Inna says

          September 10, 2014 at 7:03 pm

          Thank you!

          Reply
    8. Laura (Tutti Dolci) says

      September 10, 2014 at 4:12 pm

      Now this is my kind of BLT, love all the veggies!

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        September 10, 2014 at 4:21 pm

        Haha! Yes - I love how veggie-packed these are 🙂

        Reply
    9. Jessica @ Jessica in the Kitchen says

      September 10, 2014 at 6:35 pm

      Eggplant bacon?! Genius Alissa! I'm allergic to meat bacon so I've NEVER missed it haha but I will say I know the flavours it added were great. I love this idea!

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        September 11, 2014 at 8:58 am

        Thanks Jessica! I never missed bacon either, but yeah - gotta love those smokey, savory flavors. 🙂

        Reply
    10. Carey says

      September 11, 2014 at 11:02 am

      I will say, I have missed the classic BLT sandwiches since becoming plant-based and have tried the store bought coconut bacon, but the smell reminds me of that Pupperoni dog treat, which is hard for me to get past. In general, though, the texture of eggplant somewhat grosses me out - a little too slimy, however this sandwich looks so good. Does the eggplant get crispy and a bit firmer when cooking it this way?

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        September 12, 2014 at 9:30 pm

        The texture is pretty much the same as in most eggplant dishes. There are tons of other things you can baconize though. I've never tried store-bought coconut bacon, so I can't say if there will be a big difference, but it might be worth it to try making your own coconut or tempeh bacon using one of the links in the post.

        Reply
        • Carey says

          September 14, 2014 at 5:47 pm

          Thanks so much for the suggestion!

          Reply
    11. Rebecca says

      September 11, 2014 at 12:23 pm

      I'm intrigued by this eggplant bacon. I'm not a vegetarian, but like to eat like one once in a while. A picture of it would be great. Also, bacon is crunchy, would broiling the eggplant make it more crunchy?

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        September 12, 2014 at 9:32 pm

        I haven't tried broiling the eggplant, so I can't say for sure, but I don't think it would get nearly as crunchy as bacon. The eggplant is more of a base for the smoky marinade, which tastes like bacon. If crunchy is what you're going for, I'd say coconut bacon is your best bet!

        Reply
    12. Deryn @ Running on Real Food says

      September 12, 2014 at 3:46 pm

      I know what I'm eating this weekend 😉 This looks perfect. I make coconut bacon often but haven't tried eggplant bacon, great idea!!!

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        September 12, 2014 at 9:33 pm

        Excellent! If you're a fan of both coconut bacon and eggplant, you pretty much can't go wrong with this. I hope you enjoy it!!

        Reply
    13. Joanne says

      September 12, 2014 at 6:11 pm

      Ummm SAME. I totally had take it or leave it feelings about bacon while I still ate meat, so now I don't miss it AT ALL. But I could totally be down with veg versions of bacon...especially if they're made from REAL ingredients like eggplant!

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        September 12, 2014 at 9:36 pm

        You should totally try some veggie bacon! I never would have thought I'd like it, based on my feelings about bacon, but in fact I'm completely hooked. I hope you get to try it - I think you'll love it!

        Reply
    14. Annie @Maebells says

      September 18, 2014 at 4:00 pm

      What an interesting concept! I can honestly say it has never crossed my mind to turn eggplant into a bacon substitute! 🙂

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        September 22, 2014 at 12:43 pm

        Thanks Annie! It's one of my favorite bacon substitutes! I hope you give it a try. 🙂

        Reply
    15. Thalia @ butter and brioche says

      September 18, 2014 at 5:31 pm

      Never though of making a vegetarian blt before.. seriously impressed by this recipe. Thanks for sharing it, I definitely need to make the recipe!

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        September 22, 2014 at 12:45 pm

        Glad to hear it! You're welcome and I hope you do make it!

        Reply
    16. Alex says

      October 01, 2014 at 9:12 pm

      I just try that recipe it was... awful. The eggplant turn to be smoochy and the texture didn't feel cooked even if they were brown on both sides. Reading others eggplants recipe, I believe they should have been cooked in a oven or a dehydrator.

      I didn't want to post something negative as this looked so yummy. I think the recipe is right, just the cooking method that needs to be adjusted.

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        October 02, 2014 at 10:50 am

        Hi Alex. Sorry to hear that! Check out some of the earlier comments - I had a couple of folks ask about the texture of the eggplant bacon, which is really quite tender. If you're looking for something crispy, you might want to try coconut bacon. I linked to a recipe for that in the post.
        On the eggplant not being fully cooked, did you make sure to slice it nice and thin? Your slabs should be about 1/4 inch, as the recipe notes. I know this can be tricky - if you do end up cutting them too thick you could always cook them a few extra minutes at a lower heat.
        I hope that helps. If you do give eggplant bacon a try using the oven or a dehydrator, I'd love to hear how it turns out.

        Reply
    17. Becky Hamby says

      April 25, 2015 at 3:16 pm

      Ok , I want to hoard this accidental recipie; but I like pigs to much. You can try this . God and I will know this will help vegans and pigs everywhere. Plus it only has 2 ingredients. Eggplant sliced and Liquid Amino all purpose seasoning (Briggs brand, like the apple cider vinegar brand). This stuff already taste like very tasty meat. ADD anything you will wish you hadn't . The liquid amino is spot on. The smell alone had the dogs begging and taste the amino acid with a spoon TASTE like bacon. My husband said if he knew it taste like that he would be using it on everything. It says its a good alternative to soy sauce. Taste way better. Try IT.

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        April 28, 2015 at 5:57 pm

        Thanks Becky! I will give it a shot!

        Reply
    18. Mary says

      June 19, 2015 at 10:23 pm

      I had a wrap over Memorial Day weekend that my dear mother got for me because she felt there was never any substantial vegetarian food for me at family barbeques. Anyway, it consisted of eggplant, zucchini, and carrot all cooked in bacon like strips and it was delicious which had me checking out other vegetarian bacon inspirations. I decided to start with the eggplant but I did want to ask if I needed to press the eggplant to get out the extra moisture like you would for eggplant parm or is that step unnecessary. I have no problem with less steps so I'm hoping for the latter LOL.

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        June 21, 2015 at 2:22 pm

        Hi Mary! No need to press the eggplant, so less steps for you. 🙂 I hope you enjoy it!

        Reply
    19. Guest says

      August 08, 2015 at 3:45 pm

      It'd be really lovely if you guys (and every other food blogger on the internet) would include the time to soak the cashews in the "total time," or at least mention the need for soaked cashews near the time section. Thanks!

      Reply
    20. John says

      August 30, 2017 at 11:40 am

      Hi Alissa,
      I am not vegan or even vegetarian, but I just made this recipe and I swear I'll never eat bacon again! It was not crispy, but the flavor was so intense, I didn't even care. I has a fresh Jersey tomato on hand and it made one of the tastiest lunches I've had in recent memory. Thanks!
      p.s. Your website rocks and saves me from the daily conundrum of what to make for a vegetarian spouse.

      Reply
      • Alissa says

        August 31, 2017 at 7:42 am

        I'm so happy to hear that!! Liquid smoke is really amazing stuff. 🙂 Glad you're enjoying the recipes too! Thanks John!

        Reply
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    Nicole is a life long vegetarian and the author of the popular vegan cookbook, Weeknight One Pot Vegan Cooking. She loves sharing her recipes and showing the world just how easy and delicious meatless meals can be!
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