Making vegan bacon wrapped water chestnuts is easier than it may sound! You could go out and buy a pre made vegan bacon and make it even more simple, however, we decided to use rice paper! That’s right, rice paper is our super cheap and easy bacon replacement. (Cue the non-vegan haters 🤪).


The marinade is the most important part of this recipe, as the rice paper soaks up all the flavours. Same with water chestnuts, they are quite plain on their own. Having them soak into a flavourful marinade is super important!


The key to adding the bacon flavour is the liquid smoke and maple syrup. Liquid smoke is very strong and a little goes a long way! We’ve had the same bottle in our fridge for a while. The maple syrup adds a nice sweet flavour to these delicious little gems. This recipe is perfect for hosting or even a potluck dish. We used metal skewers, however you can use toothpicks for an easy way to serve them at a gathering. You can still make delicious plant based food on a budget at home and this recipe shows that! We hope you enjoy these vegan bacon wrapped water chestnuts.
Did you miss our latest recipe? Click here for our delicious vegan cream of mushroom soup!
VEGAN BACON WRAPPED WATER CHESTNUTS
Course: Uncategorized4
servings30
minutes40
minutesIngredients
- For Water Chestnuts
2 small cans of whole water chestnuts
1 tbsp maple syrup
½ tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp chilli oil
- For Rice Paper Bacon
4 sheets of rice paper
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 tsp chilli oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp maple syrup
Directions
- Strain and dry water chestnuts with a piece of paper towel. Mix ingredients for water chestnut marinade in a small bowl and add dried chestnuts to the bowl. Mix to fully coat chestnuts in marinade.
- Grab another small bowl and mix rice paper bacon ingredients. Lay out a plate and pour about ½ cup of water onto it. One by one, dip rice paper sheets into the water and then set on cutting board for a minute. The rice paper will feel hard at first but after a minute you can begin to cut them into 1 inch strips.
- Roll each chestnut one by one in a rice paper strip, wrapping the strip around the outside. Once chestnuts are wrapped, dip each one into the bacon marinade. Make sure to fully coat each one.
- Air fry water chestnuts at 400 degrees for 10 – 15 minutes or until crispy and golden brown. If your oven has an air fry setting, you can skewer them first and then air fry.
- Remove from oven and let cool before enjoying.