Wait, Bacon Bits Aren't Actually Bacon? (2024)

FAQs

Wait, Bacon Bits Aren't Actually Bacon? ›

What Are Bacon Bits Made Out Of? As you can see: not a trace of meat in there, which is actually a big win for vegans or vegetarians who may be missing bacon. So what are these bits actually made from? They're basically just flavored soy protein chunks.

According to Mashed, the components of your pre-made bacon bits vary by maker. McCormick Bac'n Pieces—one of the more popular brands—are 100-percent vegan. In place of cured pork, the food item contains textured soy flour and canola oil.

HORMEL^® BLACK LABEL^® fully cooked bacon is ready to use right out of the package.

While neither brands are especially sinister, both types of bacon bits are highly processed—which definitely isn't good to shovel into your body. So if you're craving bacon bits, it's probably best to crumble nitrate-free strips of the real deal, or try making coconut bacon bits if you don't eat meat.

It's unsafe to eat this popular breakfast item raw due to an increased risk of food poisoning. Instead, you should cook bacon thoroughly — but be careful not to overcook it, as doing so can increase the formation of carcinogens. It's healthiest to limit your consumption of bacon and other processed meats.

Bacon is a cut from the belly of the pig along the ventral line. However, butchers may also make bacon from cuts of pork other than pork belly—for instance, back bacon is from the loin, jowl bacon is from the cheeks, cottage bacon is from pork shoulder, and slab bacon typically comes from side cuts.

A lardon, also spelled lardoon, is a small strip or cube of fatty bacon, or pork fat (usually subcutaneous fat), used in a wide variety of cuisines to flavor savory food and salads. In French cuisine, lardons are also used for larding, by threading them with a needle into meats that are to be braised or roasted.

Epic Uncured Hickory Bacon Bits

Free of both nitrates and nitrites, this brand is probably the healthiest—and tastiest—bacon bit today on the market. With a deep smoky flavor, they're the closest to tasting like something you cooked at home.

Hormel^® bacon toppings are made from 100 percent real bacon and are sold in bits, pieces or in crumbled form. They have a moist and tender texture that adds an intense full bacon flavour to salads and recipes.

Bacon bits: Sliced-up, home-cooked bacon is a great addition to almost any meal, and with an airtight container, you can refrigerate them for a little under a week. Bacon bits are also known to freeze well, lasting up to six months when stored correctly in the freezer.

Can you eat bacon bits cold? ›

If bacon is to be served cold it has to be cooked until quite crisp, carefully drained and then thoroughly blotted to remove every bit of excess fat. Strips of cold, crispy bacon on a sandwich or bits of cold crispy bacon in a salad is delicious. Congealed bacon grease is not.

What are bacon bits made of? Many brands of bacon bits are vegan because the main ingredient is actually textured vegetable protein (soy protein), typically soy flour, which is produced from ground soybeans. Brands choose to use soy flour because it is typically cheaper than bacon, and has a much longer shelf life.

Ingredients: Pork Bellies Cured With Water, Salt, Sugar, Natural Smoke Flavor, Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite.