My chickpea bacon is smoky, crispy, and just a little sweet! This easy snack bakes up in minutes and is the perfect way to get your bacon fix, no meat required. They're delicious on salads, sprinkled on soup, or enjoyed by the handful!
Do we really need another vegan bacon recipe? Isn’t tofu bacon, tempeh bacon, and coconut bacon enough? Not quite! Each of my vegan bacon recipes checks different boxes. This chickpea bacon keeps well for a few days, makes an excellent snack, and is amazing on salads. Oh, and it’s ridiculously addictive. So yes, we definitely need it!
If you’ve ever made roasted chickpeas, you know how hard their crunchy goodness is to resist. But these bacon-roasted chickpeas blow all the other flavors out of the water: smoky, savory, and just a touch sweet. They’re the ultimate plant-based swap for bacon, and I can never stop at just one handful.
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Chickpeas. We're using canned chickpeas here. This is intended to be a quick and easy snack, after all!
- Olive oil. You could use another high-heat oil if you'd like.
- Brown sugar. Use organic brown sugar. Conventional brown sugar is often processed using animal products, so it may not be vegan.
- Soy sauce. Need an alternative? Try tamari or liquid aminos.
- Liquid smoke. Look for this near the barbecue sauces at your grocery store.
- Smoked paprika.
- Garlic powder.
How They're Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Get ready. Preheat your oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Make sure it has a rim, to catch any drips!
Step 2: Prepare the chickpeas. You'll need to drain, rinse, and dry them. I like to simply toss them around in a strainer and blot them with a paper towel, but feel free to use your own methods. Just get them pretty dry!
Step 3: Make the sauce. Stir your olive oil, brown sugar, soy sauce, liquid smoke, smoked paprika, and garlic powder together in a small bowl.
Step 4: Coat the chickpeas. Add them to the bowl, then stir until they're evenly coated with the sauce.
Step 5: Get ready to bake. Arrange the chickpeas in a nice even layer on your prepared baking sheet.
Step 6: Bake the chickpeas. It should take about 20 to 25 minutes for them to get crispy, but you can leave them in the oven longer if needed. Just keep close watch so they don't burn!
Step 7: Let them cool. Place the baking sheet on a cooling rack, and let your chickpea bacon cool completely before enjoying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! You just need to substitute gluten-free tamari for the soy sauce.
Store your roasted chickpeas at room temperature in a container that’s loosely covered (not airtight). You want a little bit of air to get to them, so they stay crisp. They'll keep for three to four days, although they're best and crispiest on the day they're made.
Try sprinkling your chickpeas on soup, like my vegan butternut squash soup or vegetarian split pea soup. They're also great on a salad, like my vegan antipasto salad or vegan Caesar salad. You can also stuff them in a wrap, sprinkle them on a baked potato, serve them as a breakfast side, or snack on them by the handful.
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Chickpea Bacon
Ingredients
- 1 (15.5 ounce/439 gram) can chickpeas
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons organic brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Open the can of chickpeas, then drain them into a fine mesh strainer. Rinse them well, then gently blot them dry. You can arrange them on the towel and blot them with a second towel if you'd like, or leave them in the strainer and blot, then gently toss, and repeat until they feel relatively dry.
- Stir all of the remaining ingredients together in a medium bowl.
- Add the chickpeas to the bowl. Stir to coat them in the mixture.
- Arrange the chickpeas in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake the chickpeas for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until they're browned and crispy. If they don't seem crispy after 25 minutes, just leave them in the oven a bit longer, keeping any eye on them so they don't burn.
- Place the baking sheet on a cooling rack and let the chickpeas cool completely.
- The chickpeas will keep in a loosely covered container for 3 to 4 days at room temperature, although they'll be crispiest on the day you make them.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
I've been making this recipe for over 10 years, but haven't made it recently and went to Pinterest to see the ingredients and this is different than your original recipe. Is there any way you can give me the old recipe again? I like it better than this one. Pinterest deleted all personal notes last year without telling anyone and I lost SOOOOO many recipes that I have modified and added notes to since 2009 😢.
Thank you for the great recipe! I know my boys and husband will love this!
Quick Question: if I have any left over, what is the best way to store the 'bacon' for best flavor retention?... glass jar/ zip log bag at room temperature or in the fridge and reheat in oven? I'm thinking will cold chickpea bacon taste pleasing once they get cold.
Thanks in advance!
I usually store them in a ziplock bac at room temperature, but they tend to loose crispnes after a day. I'm so glad you enjoyed them!!
Made these today as a topper for a big salad. They taste great! My husband, who claims to not really care much for chickpeas, couldn't keep his hands off of them. :)
Yay! I found them pretty addictive too! Glad you both enjoyed them. :)
I'm totally having a head-smacking why-didn't-I-think-of-this moment now. My nine year old devours roasted chickpeas, AND he misses bacon like crazy. He's suspicious of eggplant or coconut chips or other commonly used bacon replacements, but this sounds perfect. Doh! Thanks for the idea!
Haha! Yeah, I kind of wondered why this hadn't occurred to me sooner. I think these would be a perfect snack for kids! I hope he enjoys them! :)
This sounds amazing!
Thanks Kelly!