VEGAN BACON GREASE

As a follow up to my last post for a B.L.A.T. Salad, I thought I’d share my shortcut to having tasty-bacon-greasy goodness on hand at all times. You can use this grease to roast brussels sprouts or potatoes, or sautee dark leafy greens. You can use it to make portobello bacon, eggplant bacon, coconut bacon, tempeh bacon, or just spread it on some toast! It tastes so much like real bacon grease that when I tasted it for the first time, I got this rush of guilt, and I had to remind myself, it’s okay, it’s cruelty-free and made with healthy, cholesterol-free fat, yippeee!

It will last you a long time too, because it’s made from all unrefrigerated items to begin with, just make sure you use very clean utensils and storage ware to keep it bacteria free. It should last a few months at least. Here are some related storage tips.

This takes about 5 minutes to whip up. I’ll be honest, it’s fantastic.

Vegan Bacon Grease

makes 1/2 pint

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 tbs mesquite salt or bacon salt

2 tbs maple syrup

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 drop liquid smoke

1 pinch of granulated garlic

1 pinch of smoked paprika

Ideally start with the coconut oil in it’s solid state. I wouldn’t refrigerate it, because it will be too hard to stir, but if you start with it solid and run the jar under some hot water to soften it a bit, this is what worked for me. Combine all the ingredients and beat with a fork or in the bowl of stand mixer. Coconut oil gets nice and fluffy when it’s whipped. Just a minute or two will be fine. You can store it in a jar in the cabinet or the fridge. Now when someone tells you they would never give up the taste of bacon, you can say, neither would I!

P.S. The more vegan bacon grease you make, the more pig friends you get, pretty sweet deal.