How to Make Coconut ‘Bacon’

TIME: 15 mins

SERVINGS: 10

Savoury, crispy coconut bacon in 15 minutes! Perfect for topping salads, adding to sandwiches (hello vegan BLT!), dips, and more. Watch how easy it is here.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups coconut chips
• 1 Tbsp sunflower or coconut oil (or any neutral oil)
• 2 Tbsp tamari
• 3 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika (or more, to taste)
• 1 pinch sea salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper

STEPS:

1. Preheat oven to 160º C and line a large shallow baking tray with parchment paper. (Use more baking trays if increasing batch size).
2. Combine all ingredients except the coconut chips, and stir to thoroughly mix. (If using coconut oil you may need to heat the mixture gently on the stove to melt.)
3. Place the coconut chips in a large bowl and toss/stir through the flavour mix to thoroughly coat.
4. Bake at 160º C for 6 minutes, then stir and flip pan around. (I just use a spatula to shovel and turn.)
5. Bake for another 5-7 minutes, or until coconut bacon is beginning to brown.
6. Watch carefully in the last minutes of cooking and be careful not to burn as it can go from brown to burnt very quickly! The coconut will still feel a bit 'wet' when you take it out.
7. Remove from oven and leave in tray for 10 minutes - it will continue crisping as it cools.
8. Store leftovers in a sealed container at room temperature up to 1 week, or in the freezer for 1 month.

TIP:

For a snack mix or salad topper, try adding nuts and/or seeds at half time to your mix, so long as they don't crowd your tray.