These tempeh breakfast sandwiches are made with pan-fried tempeh in a savory sauce, stuffed in an English muffin and piled with avocado and baby spinach.
Breakfast sandwiches have been a mystery to me for most of my life. This is mainly due to the fact that they usually involve eggs, and I've never been fond of eggs. I started experimenting with them a bit though, after discovering that I do enjoy eggless savory breakfasts like vegan quiche, tofu scramble, and vegan omelet. I also really enjoy sandwiches. With those two things in mind, a savory vegan breakfast sandwich was kind of inevitable.
I had a loose idea in mind when I made these, and if you read the recipe you might pick up on that. I wasn't totally sure it would work, but I wanted the tempeh to, at least to some degree, take on the flavor of sausage.
Guess what? It worked! Now, I'm not going to go and say you'd fool someone into thinking they were eating sausage with these, but the sausage flavor is definitely there. In fact, I didn't even mention my sausage-tempeh goal to my husband. Just handed him a sandwich and asked for an honest opinion. I addition to loving the sandwich, he quickly commented that the tempeh had a sausagey flavor. Score! Further proof that you don't need meat, or even meat substitutes for that matter, to enjoy the flavors we've come to associate with it.
Another thing about these sandwiches: they are filling! The recipe gives you the option to make two or three sandwiches. I always have this problem with tempeh. Have you read the "number of servings" listed on the nutrition label of a tempeh package? 2.5 servings. Why? This number is terribly inconvenient, and unfortunately, also pretty accurate.
I never dine with 2.5 people, so often my tempeh recipes end up giving you a range for the number of servings. In this case, if you stretch your tempeh out and go for the three serving batch, I promise, you will not be hungry. Incidentally, I always seem to wake up famished, so I went with the super-stuffed, two serving recipe. Plan accordingly.
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
Savory Tempeh Breakfast Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
- 1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 8 ounce package tempeh
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2-3 vegan English muffins, split and toasted
- ½ avocado, sliced
- About ½ cup baby spinach
- Ketchup
- Dijon mustard
Instructions
- Whisk the soy sauce, maple syrup, vinegar, garlic, paprika and pepper together in a small bowl.
- Slice the tempeh in half, thickness-wise, so you end up with two thin slabs. Slice each of your slabs in half or thirds, so you end up with 4-6 slabs total.
- Coat a large skillet with olive oil and place it over medium-high heat. Add the tempeh slabs in an even layer and cook until they're browned on the bottoms, about 3 minutes. Pour soy sauce mixture over tempeh and cook another minute or so, until the sauce dries up and forms a thick coating on the tempeh.
- Flip tempeh slabs and cook about 3 more minutes, until browned on opposite sides and most of the liquid has cooked off.
- Slather the English muffins with ketchup, Dijon and any other dressings you like. Stuff the muffins with tempeh slabs, topped with avocado slices and baby spinach.
Notes
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
I'm trying this tomorrow. Would this work with seitan?
I haven't tried it with seitan myself, but I think it would work! The only adjustment I can think of that you might need to make is reducing the amount of soy sauce since seitan is much saltier than tempeh. Enjoy!
I am trying to bulk up a very skinny young adult and looking for higher protein vegetarian or vegan options. Can these sandwiches be made ahead and frozen sans the spinach? This young man spends hours in the gym trying to put on some muscle to no avail. According to Men's Health magazine skinny [vegetarian] guys are simply not consuming enough calories, especially protein. I, the grandmother, would like to make these sandwiches to freeze and give to a grandson.
Thanks for any advice.
I think that would work fine! Freeze the muffins and tempeh separate if possible, but if not, no big deal. Good luck to you and your grandson!
Can you swap the tempeh in this recipe for tofu instead?
Tofu should work, but I think you'd be better off marinating the tofu in the soy sauce mixture and then baking it - 30-40 minutes at about 400° should do it. :)
This was delicious. I had it open-faced on Wasa crisp bread, with a little mayo. Perfect!
Sounds like a delicious breakfast! Glad you enjoyed it!
We've made this 5 or 6 times now. Unquestionably the best vegan savory breakfast we've had, and we've tried a lot!
Yay!! I'm so happy to hear that! Thanks Dave!
I went with the 365 brand whole wheat burger buns rather than an English muffin. I also through a bit of dino kale into the skillet towards the end of the cooking time. I'm going to try this again but with spinach. The burger buns are my go-to for breakfast sandwich making. I cut into three servings and ate two sandwiches. I'm used to drinking a quart of smoothie in the AM, so my appetite is large. You have so many recipes posted lately that are on my to-do list!
Kale sounds like a delicious addition! You could really go with all kinds of veggies for this one. :) I'm glad you're enjoying the recipes! Thanks Glenn!
I reheated the third serving last night and added avo and skillet roasted cherry tomatoes with herbs also leftover. Yum!
This is great. It's close to what I had for breakfast this morning--sprouted wheat English muffins with avocado and sriracha. I especially like the sprouted wheat English muffins, cause they're so hearty.
Thanks Cat! I haven't tried sprouted wheat English muffins - I used regular whole wheat for these, but I love hearty, so maybe I'll go for sprouted next time :)
This looks yummy! I have been on the hunt for a tasty vegan breakfast sandwich, will definitely try this out. I had to laugh when you said you never dine with 2.5 people, because at first I agreed, and then I realize that I do! I have a 2 year old daughter, so between me and my husband and her I need 2.5 servings! Not for long, I'm sure. :)
Thanks Beth! Ha! I was thinking that extra little bit of tempeh would be perfect for kids. Looks like you're set. I hope you and your family all enjoy this :)
My husband loathes tempeh. Do you think that I can make the full recipe, and save half for tomorrow's breakfast? (Or lunch...) Would the tempeh still taste good, cold?
I think it would still be good cold, or reheated. I store leftover tempeh all the time - usually that extra 0.5 servings in a package. ;) Enjoy!
You're killin' me with that avocado, Alissa. I can practically feel it melting in my mouth. ;) I love the idea of having this sandwich for breakfast! Definitely more filling than my standard bowl of cereal.
Avocados can be the worst for photographs - you can never be totally sure what it's gonna look like on the insdie when you cut it. I got a really good one so I took advantage and played it up to the camera. Oh, and they were soooo filling!
Oooh, these look amazing! I'm always looking for different ways to use tempeh :)
Me too! There's so much you can do with tempeh - love it! Thanks Claudia!