The Best Veggie Bacon and Vegan Bacon, Ranked

The best plant based bacon doesn’t have to be dupe for the real thing—it simply has to taste yummy. Every strip should bring that savory, umami flavor and crispy, sturdy texture. (Bonus points for a bit of grease, too.) Even if the best veggie bacon won’t fool you into believing it’s pork, it should absolutely reinforce one key concept: Plant based food is damn delicious. If it’s not sizzling with flavor, it’s not making this list, period. 

While plant based bacon has come a long way over the years, it’s certainly had its ups and downs, even recently. The maker of our previous #1 best veggie bacon, Ozo, discontinued its popular flavors of vegan bacon, which left fans disappointed and searching for a worthy replacement. Luckily, as we revisited this taste test and searched for more brands of the best vegan bacon we hadn’t tried yet, we ended up with three good options for your vegan breakfast spread and VBLTs. As they say: Let’s bring home the plant based bacon. (And hey, if you have more recommendations for us to try, leave a comment!) 

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Sweet Earth Hickory & Sage Smoked Seitan Bacon

Best for Breakfast Burritos

Sweet Earth Hickory & Sage Smoked Seitan Bacon

Let me preface this by saying that Sweet Earth’s plant based bacon does not taste like bacon—like, at all. It actually tastes like soyrizo, the tofu-based vegan version of chorizo. But hey, like we said, the best plant based bacon doesn’t have to taste like the real deal. If you can ignore the fact that this “bacon” is less like vegan bacon and more like spicy, smoky seitan strips, I think you’ll really like it! It’s jam-packed with flavor, and the Mexican flavor profile of chipotle and cumin would be perfection in a breakfast burrito. —Jordan Myrick

Credit: Merc / Kroger

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Morningstar Farms Veggie Breakfast Bacon Strips

Best Not-Vegan

Morningstar Farms Bacon Strips

I grew up eating Morningstar Farms Bacon Strips and always thought they were delicious. My mom whipped up VBLTs all summer long with these, and that sandwich was one of the things I looked forward to the most during the summer months. Before this taste test, however, I was fully prepared for this product to suck. I know sometimes nostalgia primes us to like things that are not actually good. But I was thrilled to find out that it’s actually delicious, although big, important caveat for the vegans: Morningstar Farms bacon is plant-based, but it is not vegan. The strips contain egg whites. Why is Morningstar still making plant based food that isn’t vegan? We couldn’t tell you, but if you’re vegetarian, this is still a tasty option—really crispy, a little smoky, and pleasantly salty. I also totally stand by the fact that this is A+ on a BLT (shout out to my mom). —Jordan Myrick

Credit: Merc / Target

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

MyBacon

Best of the Best

MyBacon

I’m not messing with you: MyBacon is one of the tastiest vegan foods I’ve tried during my time at Sporked. But that’s mainly because I adore mushrooms, and MyBacon is, at its core, just an incredibly savory, smoky mushroom. But it’s delicious. Each strip comes wrapped in what appears (and tastes like) real bacon fat—but is, in fact, coconut oil that melts on the pan and creates a mouthwatering layer of grease. Like most of the best veggie bacon, the texture is very different from the real deal—it’s actually much closer to Canadian bacon with its slightly firm chewiness. But the strips are very thinly sliced and crisp up beautifully. I am, no joke, obsessed with this stuff (and ate the rest of the package over the course of two days). This is the best vegan bacon we’ve found so far. —Ariana Losch

Credit: Merc / Erewhon

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

Other Products We Tried: Be Leaf, Hooray Foods, Upton’s, Lightlife