What Are Bacon Bits?

Ah, the bacon bit! It was a staple of the family-style buffets I frequented in my youth. I remember dousing these little salty morsels onto any sort of salad my parents demanded I eat. I’m also pretty sure I sprinkled them on my mashed potatoes and more than one slice of pizza. Am I a culinary genius? Who can say. But despite their obvious deliciousness, what are bacon bits, exactly? Are bacon bits made of bacon? If not, what could they be? Let’s bring home the bacon—i.e. some answers. 

What are bacon bits?

Bacon bits should be little pieces of bacon, right? It turns out it’s not that simple. While you can find many products on the market that are little chunks of bacon to add to salads and such, they will typically be labeled as “Real Bacon Bits.” That’s because, for a lot of people, “Bacon Bits” refers to a specific salty, fake bacon product. Perhaps the most well-known is McCormick’s “Bac’n Bits,” which, they are quick to note, are imitation and only bacon-flavored.

What are bacon bits made of?

Real bacon bits are made of actual, real bacon. But imitation bacon bits are not. So, what are imitation bacon bits made of? Mostly soy.

To get more specific, let’s take a look at the ingredients list for McCormick’s Bac’n Bits. They contain “Texturized Soy Flour, Canola Oil, Salt, Caramel Color, Yeast Extract, Natural & Artificial Flavor, FD&C Red 40 & Disodium Inosinate and Guanylate (Flavor Enhancers).”

Are bacon bits vegan?

As you can see from the above ingredients list, there are no animal products listed anywhere in Bac’n Bits. That’s right, despite its bacon-y flavor, imitation bacon bits are typically vegan.

Now, I probably don’t have to say this, but real bacon bits are not vegan, because they are made from an animal known as a pig. 

Are bacon bits gluten free?

A lot of times, it’s hard to tell if something is gluten free. You can look at the ingredients list and make an educated guess, but that might not be good enough for those with severe gluten aversions. 

Fortunately, in this case we have a post straight from the horse’s mouth. “McCormick Imitation Bacon Bits do not contain gluten.”

Why were Bacos discontinued?

We’re talking about Bacos bacon bits (styled as “Bac-os”), which were a bacon bit product made by the Betty Crocker company until 2016. Why did they stop manufacturing them at this point? It turns out this one’s a bit of a head scratcher. There’s no History of Bacos article, as far as I can tell, and no obvious reason. My best guess is that it may have had to do with the ingredients list. 

Bacos contained “Defatted Soy Flour, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil (Adds a Trivial Amount of Saturated Fat), Salt, Water, Sugar, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Caramel Color and Red 40, Tocopherol (Preservative).” Saturated fat, trivial or no, is something that has definitely fallen out of favor. 

Beyond that, it may just be that the bacon bit market was not particularly lucrative for Betty Crocker with so many other brands available, and they decided to put their resources elsewhere.