Vegan BBQ Lil Smokies

I don’t know about you, but I am assuming if you found this recipe, you likely grew up on Lil Smokies too.

We used them for crockpot BBQ cocktail wieners or pigs in a blanket pretty often at my house. I actually can’t remember a holiday get together, or cookout without a crockpot of BBQ Lil Smokies sitting on the counter. They are nostalgic for me.

If you don’t know what a Lil Smokies is, it is simply a brand of a tiny little sausage links in the US. I guess there are different brands of the same kind fo product, but Lit Smokies are what we grew up eating.

I have thought about making vegan Lil Smokies for years but just never got around to it until now. I make homemade vegan hotdogs often enough but wasn’t sure these would work since I did not plan on indiviulay wrapping up a gazzilion lit franks to steam. Who would want to do that.

So I decided to try baking them with the pan wrapped up in foil vs the franks themselves.

Well yall, it worked!! I did add pictures of the batch I cooked on a lower oven rack that got weird. I got a little careless forming that last batch, and in my oven they seem to have cooked hotter than those on the top rack. Keep this in mind. ALL OVENS COOK DIFFERENTLY, this always effects seitan and it comes down to trial and error sometimes. Often ovens are not cooking at their registered temp. So it is a good idea to get a oven thermometer to know what yours is doing, and avoid cooking your seitan or baked goods too hot. This is true with all seitan. Don’t let this discourage you, just keep this in mind.

After you get the Lil links mixed up, baked, and rested, the rest is easy peasy. Mix the bbq sauce up, toss it all into a crockpot or slow cooker, and bust out the party toothpicks! Potlucks, football watching, birthday parties, BBQs, whatever the occasion, you can now enjoy the tiny BBQ Lil Smokies you used to love! What a time to be alive, y’all!

---

*Below is a picture of the perfect vegan Lil Smokies vs the ones that got weird. Same dough, baked on same brand of pan, same oven temp, at the same time. The ones on the left were just on a different oven rack and I did not take as much care forming them. Truly they seemed to just have baked hotter on that rack causing them to bake faster and the bottoms to brown. This tells me my bottom oven coil must cook hotter than my top and my oven in fact. ( not surprised) does not bake evenly. I added both to the sauce and you could not tell the difference once it did. So if yours come out looking weird, the should still taste good!

---

INGREDIENTS:

For the Vegan Lil Smokies:

• 16 oz package of super firm tofu, the kind that is vacuum sealed in little water

• 1 and 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten

• 1/3 cup yellow onion

• 1/4 cup sauerkraut (just the cabbage, not the juice)

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 3 tablespoons ketchup or tomato sauce

• 2 tablespoons neutral flavored oil

• 1 tablespoonNo Beef Better Than Bouillon, or vegan beef bouillon powder

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 1 teaspoons ground coriander

• 1 teaspoon dried mustard

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 1-2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• a few tablespoons water if needed

For the Sauce:

• 1 bottle any bbq sauce you like

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 small onion finely diced

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1/4 cup ketchup

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

(You can easily half this recipe and use half a batch of the Vegan Lil Smokies)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

• Dice the onion. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade along with the onion and sauerkraut. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu and onion are broken down.

• Add all of the remaining ingredients and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add a few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more!

• Once you have a smooth but firm dough, remove it from the food processor and place on a clean counter. Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute, forming a kind of rectangular shaped loaf with the dough.

• Evenly divide the dough into about 6 pieces.

• Take each piece and working them in your hands, one at a time, forming a dough rope. I like to roll between my hands and then lay the rope out on a clean counter top or cutting mat and continue rolling until each piece is around a 16 inch rope.

• Cut each rope into 8 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece in your hand to form a mini hotdog link shape, kind of pinching the ends to seal them. Try to get the dough as smooth as possible. I have pictured below the difference in taking your time to get the dough smooth, and the ones I rushed.

• Place all of the little smokies on 2 cookies sheets lined in parchment paper. Spray the smokies with some cooking oil and cover the pans tightly with foil. I wrap the foil around the pans and tuck it. You need the smokies to steam on the pan so make sure you have a nice seal around the edges with the foil.

• Place the pans in the oven and bake wrapped for 20 minutes. My smokies on the top rack of my oven came out perfectly. The ones on the rack below cooked too hot on the bottom. I suggest keep both pans on the top rack if they will fit, or swapping the pans mid bake so each batch bakes evenly.

• Carefully remove the vegan lil smokies from the oven and let them cool a minute on the pan. Transfer them to bowl and pop them in the fridge to rest for at least 4-5 hours. This rest is what gives you the correct texture for these vegan lil smokies. THEY MUST REST.

• Mix all of the sauce ingredients right in your crockpot or slow cooker and add the rested vegan Lil Smokies. I tuRned mine on high for 4 hours and switched it to warm. It will depend on your crockpot, but all you are really doing is heating the sauce for the sugar to melt and onions to soften, and heating the lit smokies through. After that has happened, just keep your crockpot/ slow cooker on warm. Alternatively, you can heat the sauce on the stove top in a pot. Add the smokies and let them heat through and transfer to a bowl to serve.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Kogo

Vegan Hotdogs

Vegan Casey’s Corner Slaw Carrot Dogs

Vegan Reuben Dip

I think if I were forced to choose a favorite sandwich it might come down to a reuben.

It would for sure be in my top 3!

Our vegan conned beef recipe is quickly becoming my favorite deli meat on the site, and there is normally a batch in my fridge!

So recently I saw a recipe for reuben dip that was not vegan, and decided it need to be! I mean I already had the vegan corned beef, and I always have vegan cream cheese, sour cream, and sauerkraut in my fridge!

I have included links to homemade cheese, and even a quick and easy sauerkraut for this dip, but you can just as easily use store-bought!

The corned beef does take a while. You have to prepare the seitan and then allow it to rest for around 8 hours. So if you are planning to make this dip, keep that in mind and get started on the vegan corned beef, STAT!

If you are a fan of a reuben sandwich or corned beef, you won’t regret having a batch ready in you fridge. You only need about a quarter of what you make for this recipe and that means you get to use the rest however you like!

The vegan corned beef also freezes well, so you can freeze what you don’t use for later if you like. It will keep frozen for about 6 months.

This dip is delicious served with crackers, cut up veggies or even used in a sandwich. Currently I have been using up my leftovers as a sandwich spread! I like it on soft white bread, with thinly sliced cucumbers and sprouts! Even my daughter who claimed not to really care for the dip , loved it on a sandwich!

So if you love all things reuben and want a new twist on an old classic, try this vegan reuben dip! I think you will love it as much as I do!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 loaf of 86eats Vegan Corned Beef, finely chopped (or around 8oz of any other recipe or store-bought)

• 8 oz vegan cream cheese

• 4 oz vegan sour cream

• 1 cup vegan mozzarella, gouda, or Swiss shreds

• 1 cup Sauerkraut, drained

• salt and pepper to taste

• 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

• 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Slice and finely dice the vegan corned beef.

2. In a medium sized bowl mix the cream cheese and the sour cream. Add in the sauerkraut, cheese, vegan corned beef, and seasoning. Stir well.

3. You can garnish the top with dried or fresh dill or parsley.

4. Serve with crackers, or cut up veggies. This dip also makes a really delicious sandwich spread. I like to make a sandwich with the dip, and some thinly sliced cucumbers!

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Cashew Queso

Vegan Dill Chicken Salad

Vegan Frech Onion Dip

Vegan French Fry Corn Dogs

Recently my friend Yanira was over and stumbled upon a French fry coated corn dog while scrolling through her phone.

I personally had not seen such a thing and when she showed me, but I knew we had to make them.

Then of course, because I am old and lame and know nothing, my kids informed me “its a thing, its on TikTok.” Well there you have it, the teens confirmed its a thing, and everyone is doing it?!?!?

Well I took to google to find out where it started and from what I can gather (can I even google being so old and lame?!?! barely) and found out that it seems to have stared in Korea, and is a popular street food called Kogo!!

I mean I would have really guessed this thing hailed from America. We love to combine all the bad foods together and deep fry them. I really was shocked it did not originate as American Fair food.

All that said I just wanted to get one of these French fry corn dogs in my face ASAP.

Y’all, its perfect really. You get your corn dog and a side of fries ALL IN ONE!! Its magic really!

So I did it. I made a vegan Kogo, or vegan French fry corn dogs, and it is everything I imagined and more.

For everyone who quickly wants to nay say this amazing and brilliant creation, I am sure there is a salad bar somewhere waiting for you, and being honest, I am right behind you in that salad line, right after I stuff a few of these beauties in my face, once or twice a year.

You can make your own vegan hot dogs, I mean I can hook you up with a pretty tasty recipe, or you can just buy a package of store bough. No judgments from me.

The batter mixes up quickly, frozen fries are your friend in this recipes, and really start to finish you can be munching away in about half and hour. It might actually be a little too easy to whip up a batch of these vegan french fry corn dogs, but I am not mad about it.

Thank you Korea!!! I will be forever grateful for this weird but amazing food!

INGREDIENTS:

You will need 8 popsicle sticks or thick wooden skewers

• 8 vegan hot dogs, homemade or store-bought

• 4 cups frozen French fries (I used Trader Joe’s Fries)

• 3/4- 1 cup dairy free milk

• 1 starch egg (1 tablespoons corn or tapioca starch and 3 tablespoons water)

• 2 tablespoons pickle juice (you can omit this but will need a splash more milk)

• 1 tablespoon dijon or regular mustard

• 3/4 -1 cup all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup corn meal

• 3 teaspoons sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Remove the French fries from the freezer and let them sit at room temp while you prepare the batter.

2. Mix the wet ingredients together in a small bowl starting with one cup of milk.

3. Whisk dry ingredients together in a larger bowl

1. Add wet ingredients into the dry and mix well. If the mixture seems too thick, then add a little more milk. You the batter to be on the thicker side so that it will hold the French fries.

2. Once the batter is all mixed up, pour some into a mason jar, tall glass, or pyrex measuring cup. This makes dipping the hot dogs easier than if you try dipping them in the bowl.

3. Poke a popsicle stick into each hot dog about halfway up.

4. Place the French fries in a blender or food processor and pulse until they are chopped up. You don’t want to turn them to crumbs but you want the pieces small enough to easily coat the hot dogs. You could also chop them with a knife if you like. It’s just faster and easier in the blender. Dump the chopped fries onto a plate.

5. Dip the hot dogs in batter making sure they are completely covered. Roll the battered hot dogs in the plate fries, making sure they are completely coated. Repeat with all of the hot dogs.

6. In a medium sauce pan, deep skillet, or deep frier, heat enough oil to fully cover the corn dogs. I suggest frying with grape seed oil or peanut oil.

7. Once the oil is nice and hot, reduce the temp to medium/low. You can test the oil by placing chop stick or one of the popsicle sticks into the bottom of the pan. If little bubbles form around the tip then the oil is ready.

8. Add 1 to 2 corn dogs to the oil at a time. If you do more than one at a time they may stick together depending on the size of your pot or pan.

9. Fry each corn dog for a few minutes, using tongs to turn them several times until they begin to get golden brown all over and the fries seem crispy (unless you are using a deep frier with a basket, in which case just fry until they are golden brown). Then place finished corn dogs on a cooling rack while you finish frying the rest.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Fried Dill Pickles

Fried Vegan Mac and Cheese Balls

Vegan Gorgonzola Fried Brussels Sprouts

Vegan Chicken Fries (seitan fries)

My kids have missed out on a lot of foods their friends regularly eat. The joys of being raised vegan.

I don’t regret any decisions we have made regarding our kids diets, but I do often feel a little guilty that they don’t have the slightest clue about so many odd culture foods that most teenagers are eating their weight in.

Like Burger King’s Chicken Fries.

Two of our 4 kids already have one foot out the door headed to college, and are driving. What they eat when they are out with friends or at college is their decision. As they have gotten older we have allowed them make decisions regarding their diets. I mean you have to let them grown up and think for themselves. What they eat at this point is up to them (when they are out and about on their own, with their own money) We can only hope that most of what we taught them sticks…you know go out into the world, make good choices, don’t eat real chicken fries, please!!!

That all said, I do try and recreate the foods they see and wish they could eat so they don’t feel totally deprived. I mean they are homeschooled and vegan often causing the to feel like the odd man out, but its not like we are raising them on lettuce, green juice and air. I like to fry things.

Again I am 100% aware that nobody “NEEDS” chicken fries in their lives, but my kids were very curious recently when we went through the Burger King drive thru on a road trip to visit their Grandparents.

I mean really, I find it genius. I LOVE fries. Like LOOOOVE them. And I am pretty into a vegan chicken nuggets, too. So turning vegan chicken into a crunchy, little dippable, stick of fried goodness was super appealing to me.

So I deiced as soon as we got home I was making some vegan chicken fries. This way my kids would feel like they were getting a weird drive thru junk food like everyone else, but I can sleep at night knowing it is a much healthier alternative (minus the whole deep fried part) and hopefully it’s things like vegan chicken fries that will help them continue on this diet path when they are on their own, knowing you can veganize just about any food you want!

---

Y’all, they were a hit with everyone in the house. Including the 4 year old who currently lives off blueberries and edamame pretty exclusively these days. She LOVED them, and at this point her loving anything new is a huge triumph!

Can you air fry these you may ask? Sure you can! I actually popped a batch into my air fryer as I was pan frying a batch for comparison. I actually air fry my vegan chicken pretty often. It is obviously healthier and normally faster. This time was the exception to that rule. They did NOT fry faster in the air fryer! I had finished 2 batches in my frying pan and the ones in my air fryer were still not really golden and crispy.

That is not to say its a bad choice for frying them. I was frying them at 400 and after 5 minutes they still were not done. I suggest giving them a spray of oil and turning them once or twice until they are golden brown if you choose to air fry them!

However you decide to fry them, I am pretty sure you, and maybe your whole family will love these vegan chicken fries. And If you do have kids, they can know the joy of weird American fast food creations without having to actually eat meat. And hopefully once they are adults, that will keep them on a vegan path. Fingers crossed!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 block super firm tofu (16 oz) the kind that is vacuum sealed in not much water

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 2 -3 teaspoons No Chicken Better Than Bouillon, or any vegan chicken flavored bouillon powder or seasoning

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1-2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon sage

• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoon neural flavored oil

• 1/2 to 3/4 cups water

• 1 teaspoons salt

*I used high protein tofu in a vacuum sealed package and this what I strongly advise using. It is much firmer than regular firm tofu and has less moisture and a more chewy texture. If you opt to use regular firm tofu you will need to press it first and remove as much liquid as possible. You may need to adjust the amount of water in the recipet as well. Add the water last, adding just enough to accomplish a firm dough but pliable dough.

THE COATING:

• 1/2 cup vegan sour cream or unsweetened plain vegan yogurt

• 1 1/4 cup unsweetened plant milk

• 1/2 cup corn or tapioca starch

• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

• 2 cups panko bread crumbs (make sure they are vegan, many are. not, I use Trader Joes)

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 2 teaspoons of your favorite all purpose seasoning (I use Cavenders all purpose greek)

• Oil for frying (I use grapeseed oil)

CHICKEN INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu is broken down.

2. Add all of the remaining ingredients and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add another few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more! I start at 1/2 cup and work from there.

3. Once you have a smooth but firm dough, remove it from the food processor and place on a clean counter. Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute. Begin pressing the dough out flat into a rectangle shape. Place the rectangle on a pieces of parchment paper around 12x16 inches. I like to spray the top with a little oil and place a piece of parchment paper on top, using my hands I press the dough out and then take a rolling pin and roll it out until I have a 12x16ish inch rectangle. This just helps the dough not stick on your hands and helps you get it pressed out more easily. (see pictures below for the process)

4. Using the parchment paper pick up the dough rectangle and transfer it to a large cookie sheet. Sprinkle the top with any all purpose seasoning you like. Cover the pan tightly and completely with aluminum foil creating a seal. The goal is to let the seitan steam inside the foil.

5. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool at room temperature for about half an hour then transfer to the fridge and allow the seitan to rest for 3-4 hours. This seitan is really thin so a 3-4 rest is normally enough for it to cool down and firm up! You must, MUST let the seitan rest! If you don’t, the texture will not be as firm as it needs to be!

   ** If your seitan has little holes in it and looks like bread, it is pretty likely your oven is cooking hotter than it is registering. You can get an oven thermometer to check this or you can reduce the oven temp by 25 degrees the next you bake it.

FRYING INSTUCITONS:

1. Once the dough has rested and has firmed up, remove from the fridge, and place on a cutting board. Begin at one end of the rectangle and cut 1/8 inch strips all the way across. Next, cut each strip in half. The goal is to cut the dough the size of a long fry.

2. In a medium sized mixing bowl whisk the plant milk with the sour cream or yogurt. In another mixing bowl, combine the flour, starch, panko and seasoning.

3. First dip the fry into the wet mixture, then into the flour mixture, pressing the dry mix into the seitan to make sure it’s well coated.

4. Heat several inches of a neutral flavored oil in a deep skillet. Bring the oil to 350 degrees. If you do not have a thermometer you can place a chop stick into the oil touching the bottom the pan. If little bubbles form around the tip of the chop stick then the oil Is ready.

5. Place a wire cooling rack on top of a paper towel lined baking sheet near the stove.

6. Add some of the coated fries to the oil in batches. Use some metal tongs to help straighten out the strips, and making sure not to over crowd the pan! These vegan chicken fries cook up REALLY fast and only need a minute or two per side! They are done once they are golden brown and crisp. Place finished fries on the cooling rack to allow excess oil to drip off while you fry the remaining vegan chicken fries.

7. Serve with your favorite dip on the side.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Cheeseburger Egg Rolls

Easy Vegan Chicken Breast

Vegan Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

Vegan Boneless Buffalo Wings (seitan wings)

I have always been a fan of all things buffalo.

Pre-vegan and pre-vegetarian, boneless wings were my go to when we went out to eat.

I love, love, loved boneless buffalo wings with a big side of ranch dressing.

Over the years I have made different vegan variations of wings using an easy basic seitan recipe, and often crispy tofu.

None of the variations have been bad, but none have been and tasty as this version.

A while back I kind of perfected an easy vital wheat gluten/tofu chicken. By perfected, I just mean its perfect for me. You may disagree or have a recipe you like better, but this one is so super quick and easy, the texture is spot on, and the flavor is well, chicken like. So to me that is the perfect seitan chicken.

I has already used the recipe to make my kids fun shaped nuggets but hadn’t made wings with it yet.

I am often on autopilot so I had just kept making crispy tofu wings and never really thought to use the seitan chicken in its place, until recently.

Man am I a dummy sometime.

These vegan boneless wings are SOOOOOO FLIPPING GOOD!!!!!

I have given instructions for oil frying and air frying. Depending on the day and my mood, determines how I cook mine. Sometimes I pan fry them oil to free up my air fryer for French fries. Other times I don’t want to deal with the mess of the oil so forgo the fries and just make the wings in my air fryer.

If you choose to air fry them you will need to at least give them a spray of oil so they don’t stick to the fryer. If they stick the coating will rip off and nobody wants a naked wing..am I right?!?!

People often as if my oil fried recipes can be made in the air fryer so I just decided to try and give instructions for both methods.

No matter how you choose to fry these vegan buffalo wings, both methods will yield a super crispy, dippable, delicious wing! And really that was all I was ever looking in a vegan boneless wing.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 1 block super firm tofu (16 oz) the kind that is vacuum sealed in not much water

• 2 -3 teaspoons No Chicken Better Than Bouillon, or any vegan chicken flavored bouillon powder or seasoning

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1-2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1 teaspoon all purpose greek seasoning or any all purpose seasoning you like

• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoon neural flavored oil

• 1/2 to 3/4 cups water (you might not need much water at all. Add a little at a time just until the dough comes together and is smooth)

• 1 teaspoons salt

COATING:

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 1 cup panko bread crumbs

• 1/2 cup tapioca or corn starch

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup vegan yogurt or sour cream

• 1 cup unsweetened plant milk

• 1 and 1/2 cups vegan buffalo sauce (we used Franks) plus 2 teaspoons vegan butter

• Oil if you are choosing the pan fry method

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

1. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu is broken down.

2. Add all of the remaining ingredients and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add another few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more! I start at 1/2 cup and work from there.

3. Once dough has come together, transfer to a clean counter top or cutting board. Press the dough out to a large 1/4 inch thick circle. Divide the circle into 4 pieces. Divide each of the 4 pieces into 8 pieces. You will get 32 nice sized vegan wings from the dough.

4. Shape the seitan pieces into a nugget shape. Just any ol blob like nugget shape will do. Don’t think too much about it!

5. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spread the vegan wings out on the 2 pans and give them a spray or brush with some oil. Tightly cover each pan with foil. You need to make sure the pan is all sealed up so the seitan can steam inside will baking.

6. Bake the vegan wings for 25 minuets. Remove from oven and allow to cool some at room temperature before transferring to the fridge to rest for AT LEAST 3 HOURS. Seitan needs to rest for the texture to improve. Trust me, let those wings rest y’all!

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

1. To coat wings, whisk the vegan sour cream or yogurt with 1 cup of plant milk in a medium sized bowl.

2. In another medium sized bowl, whisk the flour, starch, panko, and seasoning.

3. Begin by dipping the wings one at a time in the wet mixture then pressing them into the flour mixture making sure all sides are well coated.

4. Once all of the vegan wings are coated you can pan fry them in oil or air fry them.

5. Air frying instructions: To air fry, place the wings in the air fryer basket. Depending on the size of your fryer, you will need to work in batches. Place a single layer of wings on the tray and give them a spray with oil so the coating doesn’t stick. Fry at 375 for 5-10 minutes (this just depends on how big your fryer is, and how many wings you crammed in there). I always open up my fryer a few times and give it a shake to make sure nothing is sticking. They are done once the coating is crispy and begging to brown.

6. Pan frying instructions: Add a couple of inches of a neutral flavored oil that is good for frying to a medium sized high sided skillet. I use a cast iron. Heat the oil over medium heat until it is good and hot. You can tell if the oil is ready by poking a chop stick or wooden skewer into the oil and touching the bottom of the pan. If little bubbles form around the chop stick the oil is ready. Line a baking sheet with paper towels and place a wire cooling rack on top. Fry the wings in batches for several minutes on each side until crispy and browned. Place the nuggets on the wire cooling rack to allow the excess oil to drip off.

7. Fill a microwave safe bowl the wing sauce and butter. Microwave for 2 minutes or until the butter has melted and the sauce is warm.

8. Toss the wings in the sauce and serve with vegan ranch or blue cheese dressing and celery.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

Vegan Tofu Wings

Vegan Buffalo Mac and Cheese

vegan flank steak

Vegan Salami

Many, many, many, months ago my friend Rosemary Kate sent me a text asking if I had made a vegan salami yet.

I had not. I had, however, thought about it, but had not tried it at that point. So I got right to work.

Guys, some things just don’t come that easily. Like you may try a recipe 5 times before it works out, or doesn’t.

In this case I think I made 5 or 6 salamis and was just not really satisfied with how it looked.

I mean I know looks are not what counts in life, but where food is concerned, they kind of do matter. And when you are trying to mimic a classic meat, you want people to look at it and say, “oh is that vegan salami”, so I just kept on trying.

After attempting to mimic the fat bits with white seitan and it always failing, I tired small tapioca pearls.

My daughter and I have been mulling over the idea of using tapioca when I saw a fellow recipe creator and Facebook friend, Aleksandra (go join her Facebook group Creative Vegan Cooking! You will find so much inspiration there, I promise) make a beautiful seitan with tapioca!! And our suspicions were confirmed about using tapioca as the fat bits! She is a genius. I knew that already, but this sealed the deal.

I only had small pearls on hand so I tried that at first. And at first, that seemed like it was going to work. But once the salami baked up, the pearls were lost! Sigh…attempt number 5, at least.

So you 100% NEED TO USE THE LARGE PEARLS. They do not get lost in the dough. I had to order mine online because I could not easily find them at a regular grocery store.

Now if you do not care about it actually looking like salami, you do not have to use the pearls at all!! The only single thing those pearls do is recreate the fat bits in a non vegan salami. That is it. The taste and texture will be the same without them.

I am just tenacious and stubborn to a fault and would not dare post a vegan salami until I felt like it at least somewhat resembled a traditional salami.

This vegan salami recipe is pretty quick (mixing and baking that is) and easy to make. It does take some time for those pearls to soak, so keep that in mind when you go to make this vegan meat. You will need to soak the tapioca for about 4 hours. You will also need to allow for the VERY IMPORTANT REST TIME. And I yell this because you 100% have to let this salami rest before you go slicing into it. The texture depends on it.

I say this so you understand you will make vegan salami today and probably not eat it until tomorrow! But that is ok, good things come to those who wait, and this vegan salami is worth the wait.

It is also worth the savings. Store bought vegan meats are not very cheap. But if you make your own at home it will be pennies to the dollar you spend on pre-made vegan meats! That is reason enough for me to make my own vegan deli meats at home. They are so affordable and easy to make, once you start, there will be no looking back! Promise!

So go, make some vegan salami and stack it high on a cracker with a nice slice of vegan cheese, or on your favorite sandwich! It really is delicious and so easy to make your own vegan salami right at home!

INGREDIENTS:

• 16 oz of super firm tofu (the kind in vacuum sealed package)

• 1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten

• 1/4 cup LARGE tapioca peals, plus hot water to soak them

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 1/4 cup tapioca or corn starch

• 1/3 cup diced cooked beet (buy in a jar or tin, or you can wrap in foil and bake at 400 degrees until tender. After it has baked the peel easily comes off)

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 1 tablespoons No Beef or Vegetable Better Than Bouillon. or some other vegan bouillon paste or powder

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 2 teaspoons dried mustard

• 2 teaspoons sugar or monk fruit sweetener

• 1-2 teaspoons black pepper

• 1 teaspoon salt (optional)

• 2 tablespoons neutral flavored oil (you can also use water instead)

• 1-2 teaspoon liquid smoke

• 1-2 teaspoons dried red pepper flakes

• 1-2 tablespoons water if needed

*I use SUPER FIRM TOFU that is packaged in a sort of vacuum sealed wrapper. This tofu if much firmer than firm or extra firm and does not hold much water. Because of this you do not need to press this tofu AND it yields a much firmer seitan than regular or extra firm tofu. If you can only find firm or extra firm tofu then you will need to press it really well first, I suggest at least 30 minutes.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a medium sized bowl, add 1/4 cup of large tapioca pearls. Cover the pearls in HOT water. You can also add 1 teaspoon of bouillon if you like but don’t have to. Let the pearls soak for about 4 hours. Once they are done soaking, drain and set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

3. Add the cooked beet to a food processor or high speed blender, and blend until the beet is well minced and broken down.

4. Add the tofu (no need to press if using super firm) broken up into pieces into the food processor, or blender with the beet, and blend for a minute. You want to blend until the tofu iis good and broken down.

5. Food Processor Instructions: Add all of the remaining ingredients and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add a tablespoons or of water, just don’t add too much more! You need a firm dough for this recipe.

6. Blender Instructions: If you are using blender then break down the beet and tofu in the blender and get it as smooth as you can. Add the tofu and beet mixture to a bowl with the remaining ingredients and mix by hand. You will have to get the dough as mixed as you can then turn it out onto a clean surface to knead the dough by hand unit it comes together. You alternatively could add the tofu and beet mixture and remaining ingredients to a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, and allow it to mix and knead that way.

7. Once you have a smooth but firm dough, remove it from the food processor and place on a clean counter. Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute, forming a large rectangle shaped loaf with the dough. Try to stretch and flatten the dough out as much as you can.

8. Sprinkle and few tablespoons of the tapioca pearls evenly over the dough and press them in the best you can with your hands (they like to pop out of the springy dough.) Now fold the dough in half and sprinkle more pearls, pressing them in. fold again, adding more pearls, repeating this process until you can not fold the dough any more, and you are out of pearls ( as you fold pearls will spring out as mentioned above, its ok if you don’t get them all in there.)

9. Once you have gotten all of the pearls (or as many as you can) into the dough, cut it in half. Begin kneading one piece at time by hand until the dough comes back together and is somewhat smooth.

10. Shape each piece of dough into a 7 or 8 inch log. You will need to roll and pinch the dough to get it as smooth as you can. Adding the tapioca pearls makes getting the dough smooth a little more difficult than if you were making something like a pepperoni. But it will get smooth, I promise.

11. Take two pieces of aluminum foil about 3x bigger than each log of dough, and lay it out flat. Coat the foil in spray oil or wipe it down with any oil you have. Place a log of seitan at one of the long ends of the foil and begin rolling. Once you have it rolled up tightly in the foil, twist up the ends of the foil nice and tight (see picture) like foil arms.

12. Take a dutch oven, cast iron skillet, or even a baking dish, and use the foil ends to drape the salamis over the pot or pan. You want them suspended and not touching the bottom. If the salami is baked resting on a pan, the bottom tends to flatten a bit and brown while it bakes. This will help you keep a nice round shape without a water bath, and the bottom won’t brown!

13. Place the pot or pan in the oven on the middle rack, and let the vegan salamis bake wrapped for 1 hour.

14. Remove from the oven and allow to cool enough to open the foil. Allow to further cool at room temperature. Once cooled place in a zip lock bag or airtight container in the fridge.

15. Leave the vegan salami in the fridge to rest for at least 6 hours. I normally just leave mine to rest over night. The salami MUST REST! Seitan will firm up only after it has a nice long rest in the fridge! If you want a firm sliceable vegan salami then you have to let it rest, y’all!

16. Store rested vegan salami in the fridge for up to 10 days in an air tight container, or freeze for up to 6 months.

Trouble shooting issues with your vegan salami:

1. If your vegan salami seems too doughy after it has rested, then you may not have kneaded it long enough. The longer you knead seitan dough the tougher / firmer it will get. Make sure to let the dough knead a few minutes. Also make sure you wrap that foil nice and tight!!!

2. It also may be that your oven temp is off and is not the temperature it is registering. You can get an oven thermometer to check the real temp or next time just let it bake an extra 20 minutes.

3. If you seitan seems bread like, with little holes in it after it has rested, once you slice it, then your oven may be cooking hotter than it registers or you maybe have cooked it too long. Again, can get an oven thermometer and check the temp, or just knock back the temp 20 degrees or so then next time you bake it.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Deli Glazed Ham

Vegan Dry Rubbed Brisket

Vegan Deli Sliced Turkey

vegan flank steak

Vegan Tofu Sushi Cups

I love sushi.

That said, with a family of 6 going out for sushi can be pricy.

Making sushi at home is something we have started doing more and more, but we are not experts around here by any means, and I am actually not very great at rolling it, so I don’t.

My 15 year old daughter is actually really good at rolling sushi, but can’t often be convinced since it is a bit time consuming to cut the ingredients and roll up enough sushi for 6 people.

So, the other day when I was craving sushi but didn’t want to bother the teenager, I decide to use one of my favorite food hacks and make little sushi cups using a muffin tin.

This way we could get all the good stuff from sushi, all together in a cute little cup, without having to roll anything. I also didn’t have to bribe one of my kids to help, or go broke ordering take out.

I mean sushi burritos are thing now, so I guess this is like a sushi burrito, meets regular sushi rolls love child?!?!? Maybe that’s a stretch but its somewhere in between the two.

I honestly have yet to try a sushi burrito because it just seem like too much. I like that sushi is small and bite sized and every bite is something exciting. So the appeal of a giant sushi burrito is lost on me. But if you love them, then by all means, eat those sushi burritos right up!

These cups are obviously bigger than a sushi roll, but way smaller than a burrito, so some happy medium that I am very satisfied with.

They are still single serving, can still be dipped in soy, or extra yum yum sauce, and will hold up the next day for your lunch box or leftover dinner.

You could also make smaller versions of these cups using a mini muffin tin and smaller pieces of nori, making some pretty cute party appetizer if you are also horrible at rolling sushi or do not have the tools required to roll it, like a sushi rolling mat!

These tofu vegan sushi cup are really easy to make, require little actual cooking, are light, but filling and delicious.

Feel free to swap out other veggies if you are not a fan of carrots or cucumbers. Those just happen to be our families agreed upon sushi faves.

The tofu requires no cooking but soaks up the marinade and has a little kick of spice that is extra delicious.

If you have a rice cooker than this recipe is so super easy. If not, just follow the stove stop directions on your package of sushi rice. Either way, waiting for the rice to cook is honestly the hardest part of this recipe!

And those are my favorite kind of recipes, easy and delicious!

*You will need a 12 cup muffin tin for this recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/4 cups sushi rice

• 3 sheets nori

• 1/4 cup vegan panko crumbs

• 1/2 block super firm tofu ( the kind that is vacuum sealed in little water)

• 3 tablespoon soy sauce or coconut aminos

• 2 teaspoons sesame oil

• 3 teaspoons rice vinegar

• 1 teaspoons Sriracha (optional)

• 1 small English cucumber, finely diced

• 1/2 cup matchstick carrots

• 1/4 cup vegan cream cheese

• furikake seasoning for topping

Vegan Yum Yum Sauce:

• 1/2 cup vegan mayo

• 1 tablespoon ketchup

• 1-2 teaspoons rice vinegar

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

• 2 teaspoons sugar or monk fruit sweetener

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• a few tablespoons of water as needed to thin out the sauce

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare rice according to package instructions. I use a rice cooker and it is the equivalent to 3 scoops of rice (the scoop that came with my cooker) and filling the water line to the 3. Once rice is done, allow it to cool enough that you can handle it with bare hands.

2. Drain the tofu. If using super firm there is no need to press the tofu. If using firm or extra firm you will need to press the tofu for 15 minutes to remove as much liquid as you can.

3. Dice the tofu into little 1/4 inch cubes. Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar and Sriracha in a medium sized bowl along with the tofu. Let it marinate for at least 15-20 minutes (the longer the better if you have more time)

4. Cut nori sheets into quarters. You will now have 12 squares of nori.

5. Press a square of nori into each muffin cup. Using a large cookie scoop or 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop out rice and press into each muffin cup on top of the nori sheet. Wet your hands (this helps the rice not stick to your hands so you can press it more easily) and press the rice to form a cup around the nori. Pop the muffin tin in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Take them out and carefully remove the rice and nori cups from the muffin tin.

6. Add about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese to the bottom of each cup and spread it out using the back of a spoon.

7. Dived the cucumber, carrots, and tofu (marinade drained first) evenly among the cups. I like to do this in little rows.

8. Mix the ingredients for the yum yum sauce in a bowl. Make sure you have added enough water that it will drizzle over the cups. Drizzle the sauce over each cup.

9. Sprinkle with panko.

10. Top with a good shake of furikake or you can sprinkle with dulse flakes and sesame seeds to serve.

11. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Crispy Sesame Tofu with Broccoli

Tofu Summer Roll Salad

Vegan Egg Roll in a Bowl

vegan flank steak

Vegan Carne Asada Queso Fries

My love for carbs is strong, especially french fries.

I would chose salty over sweet every time and a potato over most other foods always.

Offer me loaded cheese fries and its game on.

I recently saw a recipe for carne asada queso fries and quickly decided that was a recipe I was 100% going to veganize it.

I have never made carne asada pre vegan so I am not sure how it compares but the flavors in this recipe are delicious and I am a big fan of the vegan flank steak marinated in the mix of citrus, garlic, and cilantro. This marinated flank steak would be delicious in lots of things, from tacos, quadrilles, nachos, or even topping a salad.

I make serval different queso recipes, meaty queso, spicy queso, nut free queso, so if you are making these fries you don’t use the white queso I used in this recipe, you can check out all of queso recipes on the site and pick your fave. For this recipe I wanted a classic white queso with a little kick, so thats the one I made!

Fro the carne asada I had to create a vegan flank steak recipe that would easy enough for even a new vegan to make, and I wanted it to be fairly quick and fuss free. You will have to make the steak ahead of time and let it rest. So if you want these fries in your future, you will have to get the flank steak started early in the morning if you want to eat these fries later that night.

The flank steak bakes up quickly but requires at least a 4 hour rest. Once it has rested then you need to allow it to sit in the marinade for a few hours.

You only need half a batch of vegan flank steak for this recipe, so you can bake up a batch and freeze the other half for later. The vegan flank steak works great on its own for fajitas, tacos, nachos, sandwiches, whatever!! It so quick and easy to make and a staple I keep around now for recipes like these fries!

We topped our vegan carne asada fries with and easy homemade guacamole, tomatoes, sour cream, and extra cilantro.

I also used frozen fries for this recipe. I used to always make homemade fries but recently I have just started buying Trader Joes frozen fries and been plenty happy with them.

I give deep frying, air frying, and baking instructions for the fries. I personally have not deep fried a french fry since I bough an air fryer a few years ago. It is maybe my favorite kitchen appliance next to my vitamix! Game changer y’all!

So if you are a fan of cheesy loaded fries, these vegan carne asada fries might be a new loaded fry for you to try and love. I know I am now a BIG fan of these!

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 russet potatoes (for making homemade fries. You can also use frozen fries)

• 1/2 batch vegan queso

• 2 avocados

• juice from 1 lime

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• vegan sour cream, diced onion, dicd tomatoes (all optional)

• oil for frying, OR you can air fry or oven bake the fries

Vegan Carne Asada (Flank Steaks):

• 2 vegan flank steaks (1/2 recipe)

• 1 cup orange juice

• juice from 2 limes

• 1 tablespoon oil

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 1 jalapeno, diced (optional)

• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. To prepare the carne asada, fill a large zip lock bag or shallow baking dish with the ingredients listed above. The flank steak (that has been previously baked and rested) juice, herbs, and spices. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours but the longer the better.

2. If you are making homemade fries, wash and cut the potatoes into fries, leaving the skin on the potatoes (or use frozen fries) If you wish to deep fry the fries, heat a large skillet with several inches of oil over medium heat. Once the oil is nice and hot add the fries in batches (do not over crowd the pan) until they get nice crispy. Remove the fries placing them on a cooling rack that is sitting on a paper towel lined baking sheet, and continue with remaining potatoes. I typically double fry mine (if using fresh potatoes.) This means that after I have fried all the potatoes once, I repeat with the already fried fries to get them extra crispy. You can also air fry the fries by misting them with oil and placing them in the air fryer at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. You can also oven bake the fries at 400 on a cookie sheet being sure to turn them a few times as they bake. Bake until nice and crispy.

3. Make queso according to instructions. If it gets cold before you are ready to use it, you can reheat it in the pot and add a little more water to thin it back out. (it will thicken as it cools)

4. Heat a grill over medium/ high heat. Spray the grates with some oil to help avoid sticking. Remove the steaks from the marinade place on the hot grill for about 5 minutes per side, or until you get some nice grill marks and char on the steaks.

5. Once the steaks have cooled a bit, slice and cut into small bitesize cubes.

6. Scoop 2 avocados out of the peal and into a bowl. Mash with a fork. Sprinkle salt and add the juice from one lime. Mix it all up.

7. Top the fries with the vegan carne asada, queso, guac, vegan sour cream, diced tomatoes, onion, and extra cilantro to serve.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Philly Fries with Beer Cheese Sauce

Loaded Vegan Roasted Red Potatoes

Bbq Jackfruit Fries

vegan flank steak

Vegan Fried Dill Pickles

vegan fried dill pickles

Sometimes you eat a certain food and you can remember forever the first time you had it.

That is fried dill pickles for me.

I ate my first batch of fried dill pickles in high school at a place called the Pizza Farm. And after just one bite, I declared they would be one of my most favorite food for forever!

I was raised by southern parents and spent a lot of time with my Grandmama when I was a kid. She canned all kinds of things because they lived on a farm. She also pickled a lot of things and made some of the best dill pickles I have ever eaten in my life.

We also fry just about anything in the south!

I have always loved a good dill pickle, pickled okra, pickled green beans, pickles asparagus. But y’all, when I ate my first FRIED dill pickle I think it almost blew my mind.

Now 25 years later and they are still one of my favorite things. Sadly they are normally not vegan if you are ordering them out.
The obvious and easiest solution is making your own easy vegan fried dill pickles at home!!

Seriously!! They take hardly any time at all and so, so, so, so crispy, tangy, and delicious!

And don’t forget the vegan ranch! Nothing goes better with a batch of vegan fried dill pickles than a side of cool, creamy, vegan ranch!

If you have never eating an crispy fried pickle or think I am crazy for suggesting it, you just have to trust me here. They are seriously one of the best things, and I feel like if you love dill pickles there is no way you would not love them crispy fried and dipped in some ranch!

vegan fried dill pickles

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups sliced dill pickles

• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond or oat milk

• 1/2 cup vegan plain yogurt or sour cream

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup corn meal

• 1/4 cup corn starch

• 1 teaspoons salt

• 1 teaspoon all purpose seasoning of your choice

• neutral flavored oil for frying

• Vegan ranch for dipping

vegan fried dill pickles

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Slice 2 cups worth of dill pickles into thin pickle chips

2. Whisk the plant milk along with the yogurt or sour cream in a medium sized bowl.

3. In a sperate medium sized bowl, whisk the flour, corn meal, starch, and seasoning.

4. Begin by dipping the pickles chips into the the milk mixture. Next dip them into the dry mix making sure to get a nice coating. Repeat with remaining pickles.

5. Heat an iron skillet or any high sided skillet with a few inches of oil over medium heat.

6. Prepare a cookie sheet lined with paper towels and a cooling rack on top.

7. Once the oil is nice and hot (you can poke a chopstick or wooden skewer touching the bottom of the pan, if little bubbles form around the chopstick then the oil is ready) add a handful of pickles to the pan, just make sure not to over crowd them or they will stick together. Let the pickles fry on each side until golden brown.

8. Place the finished vegan fried dill pickles on the cooling rack and continue frying the remaining pickles.

9. Serve the vegan fried dill pickles hot, with a side of vegan ranch.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Gorgonzola Battered Brussels Sprouts

Vegan Fried Green Tomatoes

Vegan Fried Mac and Cheese Balls

vegan fired dill pickles

Homemade Vegan Chicken Nuggets

I have mentioned before I have a lot of kids.

I mean not a lot, just 4, but to some people that seems like shocking number.

To us it’s the perfect number!

That said, kids like kid food, no matter how mature their palates are because they have been forced to eat a multitude of fancy vegan things. I mean, I am in my kitchen all day creating recipes and they eat whatever I make, with few complaints…..well everyone except the 4 year old that is.

That said, sometime the kids, even our teenagers, just want a plate of dinosaur or Mickey Mouse shaped chicken nuggets. Who can blame them. Thats is just plain fun!

So I occurred to me the other day (again sometimes I am extra slow with these ideas) that I should make our kids some vegan chicken nuggets. EVERY time we are at Costco and my kids see the “fun shaped nuggets” the lament wishing those were vegan…I mumble in agreement, and keep on moving.

But last week at Costco when I paused when passing the “fun nuggets” and a light bulb when off. We can just make our OWN homemade vegan chicken nuggets in any shape we want.

If you have made the 86eats easy baked vegan chicken breast, then you know it is an easy seitan recipe to bake up. These nuggets are the same base recipe, just a reduced cook time, and a shorter rest time…cause they are tiny!! So it doesn't not take as long for them to firm up. I also kept this dough a little bit softer so it would press out more easily for cutting the shapes. You don’t want too firm of a dough here because you want it to stretch to a pretty big rectangle.

If you have never made seitan a day in your life, I promise this recipe is as simple as mixing up and baking a super easy cookie recipe. Really!! Seitan is just a dough, and we just cutting and baking this dough into shapes. Then easily coating and baking them up. You don’t even have to fry these in hot oil!!

We have whole box of cute little cookie cutters we hardly ever use so this seemed like the the PERFECT use! Micky mouse, dinosaurs, hearts, stars, flowers. Everyone gets a nugget shape they are into.

My husband and myself include. We are in our 40s but a delicious fun vegan chicken nugget is not lost on us.

No worries if you don’t have fun shaped cookie cutters. You can just use a knife and cut them into little pieces of regular shaped nuggets. Or use a small round cutter and make them into a circle. Any shape will work.

If you want to freeze these vegan chicken nuggets, since the recipe yields about a pound and half of nuggets, you can do a light bake or air fry with them, and freeze them for later use.

These nuggets are pretty convincingly chicken nuggety, super crispy, and delicious.

So if you or your kids have been craving or wanting some vegan nuggets in all the fun shape those “other guys” get to eat, just know its really easy to make them at home. And not only are they cute, they are pretty tasty. I ate enough of this batch to confirm I will be making them weekly, and freezing them for easy weeknight dinner or lunches!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 block super firm tofu (16 oz) the kind that is vacuum sealed in not much water

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 2 -3 teaspoons No Chicken Better Than Bouillon, or any vegan chicken flavored bouillon powder or seasoning

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1-2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon sage

• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoon neural flavored oil

• 1/2 to 3/4 cups water

• 1 teaspoons salt

THE COATING:

• 3 cups vegan bread crumbs ( I use vegan panko, but put them blender to make a finer crumb)

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup tapioca or corn starch

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup vegan yogurt or sour cream

• 1/2 cup unsweetened plant milk

*I used high protein tofu in a vacuum sealed package and this what I strongly advise using. It is much firmer than regular firm tofu and has less moisture and a more chewy texture. If you opt to use regular firm tofu you will need to press it first and remove as much liquid as possible. You may need to adjust the amount of water in the recipet as well. Add the water last, adding just enough to accomplish a nicely formed dough.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu is broken down.

2. Add all of the remaining ingredients and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add another few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more! I start at 1/2 cup and work from there. This dough needs to be soft enough to press out into about 12 inch by 8 inch rectangle..so a little softer than the turkey breast dough if you have made that before.

3. Once you have a smooth well formed dough, remove it from the food processor and place on a clean counter. Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute, forming a large rectangle, about 12 inches by 8 inches ( this is roughly the size of my cutting mat, so just press it out to roughly that size.

4. Using any cookie cutter shape you like, somewhere between one inch to two inches in size, begin cutting shapes from the dough. Repress out the scraps into another rectangle and continue until all of the dough has been used up.

5. Line a baking sheet in parchment paper or foil, spray with oil. Evenly space out the seitan chicken pieces making sure they are not touching. They will expand as they bake. Spray the tops with oil and give them a sprinkle with any seasoning you like. Tightly cover the entire pan in foil, tucking the edges tightly around the edges of the pan. We want the seitan to steam inside the pan. Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

6. Remove the pans from the oven and remove the foil. Allow the vegan chicken nuggets to cool a bit then transfer the nuggets to a bowl or Tupperware container. Place the nuggets in the fridge for at least 3 hours to cool and rest. This rest time is important to get the vegan chicken nuggets to firm up and and have a texture similar to meat.

7. Once the nuggets have rested, prepare the coating but whisking the vegan yogurt or sour cream with the plant milk in a medium sized bowl or pie pan. In another bowl, add the 3 cups of bread crumbs, starch, flour, and seasoning. Store bought bread crumbs are mostly not vegan. They often have milk or eggs in them. I use vegan panko but pop them in my blender to get a fine crumb so it sticks better to the nuggets.

8. Start by dipping the vegan chicken nuggets first in the wet mixture ,then into the dry mixture, making sure to press the coating into both sides of the nuggets. You can either cook the nuggets in the oven or an air fryer.

9. AIR FRYING THE NUGGETS: Place nuggets in a single layer in the air fryer and give them a light mist with some spray oil. Cook at 375 degrees for about 10-12minutes. Checking them a few times, and cooking them just long enough to get them to your desired crispness. The cook time just depends on your air fryer and how crispy you like your nuggets.

10. OVEN BAKING INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place nuggets on a baking sheet that has either been sprayed with some cooking oil, or is lined in parchment paper ( they want to stick otherwise.) Give the tops another spray and bake for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes flip the nuggets using some tongs and bake another 5-10 minutes or until the nuggets are your desired crispness.

11. If you want to freeze these nuggets, I suggest a light bake. Just enough to lightly crispy the coating, then freeze them in an airtight container or zip lock freezer bag. Then when you are ready to reheat the nuggets, bake or air fry them as suggest above.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Popcorn Tofu

Vegan Southern Fried Chicken

Vegan Deli Sliced Turkey

Vegan Cheese, Bacon, and Jalapeño Stuffed Bread

Bread, check.

Vegan cheese, check.

Vegan bacon, check.

A little spice, check.

To sum it up, this is a perfect meal in my opinion.

I love carbs, I love vegan cheese, I love bacon, and I love a little pepper spice to top it all off.

I recently saw a similar thing done, but it was not vegan. But like most things, you can easily make it vegan and not be left out of the stuffed cheesy bread party. I mean anything they can make we can make vegan these days.

I started with a loaf of artisan bread and sliced it up to create little pockets for the filling. Then mixed up the vegan cheesy, gooey, filling and piped it right in. Easy peasy. Then sprinkled some more vegan cheese on it and baked it right up until it was bubbly, and gooey and crispy and ready to shove in my face.

I actually made this for lunch for my kids and had leftovers the next day, but I think it would work well for a party, or movie night snack as well.

If you are not into vegan bacon you could always slice up some vegan pepperoni and dip the bites into some marinara! Then it would basically be pizza bread. I mean come on! I would eat that all day. I would dip it just they way it is in marinara because I love red sauce.

You can buy some vegan cheeses at the store or check out the site from homemade versions of all the cheeses you need to make this vegan stuffed cheesy bread.

And if you are not a fan of spice, leave out the peppers. You do what you want to do here. Your bread, your rules.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 round artisan bread loaf, store-bought or homemade

• 10-12 slices vegan bacon, I used lifelight

• 1 (8 oz) container of vegan cream cheese, or 8 oz homemade

• 1/2 cup vegansour cream

• 1-2 teaspoon minced garlic

• 1 teaspoon onion salt

• 3 tablespoons vegan mayo

• 1 cup shredded vegan cheddar cheese

• 1 cup shredded vegan mozzarella cheese

• 1 jalapeño seeded and finely diced

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1. Finely dice the bacon and cook it unit crispy in a small skillet. Let it cool.

2. Cut the round bread loaf in a cross hatch pattern as deeply as you can without cutting through the bottom. I suggest using a sharp serrated knife. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

3. In a medium bowl mix the garlic, cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, bacon, jalapeños, and half a cup of each shredded cheese.

4. Fill a piping bag, or zip lock bag with one corner tip cut off, with the cheese mixture. Pipe the mixture into each opening you cut in the bread, making sure to try fill each gap fully with the mixture.

5. Sprinkle the top of the bread with remaining shredded cheese.

6. Bake on the middle rack for 20- 25 minutes or until all of the cheese is gooey, bubbly, melty. Garnish with extra pepper slices and bacon if you like.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Stuffed Bagel Bites

Vegan Peppernoi Pizza Nachos

Vegan Cheese Stuffed Pretzels

Vegan Pepperoni Pizza Rolls with Cream Cheese Drizzle

I have a friend named Aurora who used to food blog, but now days is focusing her energy on her newest project, MurderMuder News! The only place you need to go for your True Crime news fix!

I am a true crime fanatic and if you adore a good true crime website/podcast/ documentary as much as I do, then you must, MUST go right now and follow Aurora and Angelina over at MurderMurder News and on their youtube channel for all things true crime related! Also she is just great and I promise you will love her!

That said, she messaged me the other day telling me I really need to veganize this recipe she found over at Thrillist.com. So naturally I knew she was right and decided to give it a go.

After poking around the interwebs I saw this is actually a thing people do…make pizza into a kind of cinnamon roll hybrid. How am I just now seeing this?!?!?

Rolling up pizza toppings into pizza dough and cutting and baking them like a cinnamon roll!! FLIPPING GENIUS, Y’ALL!

Had I known this was a thing years ago, I might weigh a lot more than I currently do, and I would have been making these weekly…I guess I am gonna have to step up my gym game.

Veganizing these was actually pretty easy. After looking around at what is standard pizza roll protocol, I decided I liked that the folks over at Thrillist added a cream cheese drizzle (not the norm elsewhere from what I saw) to mimic an icing if you will. Also I will add cream cheese or sour cream to just about anything so it seemed only right! I also added extra marinara because I LOVE sauce and want to dip alllll the things.

For the filling I used a store bought marinara, some shredded vegan mozzarella, and homemade vegan pepperoni. I guess if you are feeling too lazy to whip up some pepperoni you could add olives, mushrooms, peppers, or whatever you want. Just be careful to keep the stuffing sliced thinly and don’t over stuff!!

If you are into making your own pepperoni, its easy. Our recipe is super easy and will give you 2 “sticks” of pepperoni. You only need half of one for this recipe so you will have plenty leftover to snack on with cheese and crackers, add to a salad, or freeze for later.

So if you want a little something different on pizza night, try rolling that mess up like a cinnamon roll, don’t skip that cream cheese drizzle, and make sure you have extra sauce for dunking. And if you love true crime you can eat these rolls while watching the ladies over at Murdermurder News on youtube. Sounds like the perfect Friday night to me.

INGREDIENTS:

• 16 oz pizza dough ( homemade or store bought)

• 4-6 oz of vegan shredded mozzarella (homemade or store bought)

• 1/2 cup marinara sauce, plus more for dipping

• 1 tablespoon vegan butter

• 2 teaspoon garlic powder, divided

• 1/4 of a batch of homemade vegan pepperoni, thinly sliced (half of one stick)

• 1/3 cup vegan cream cheese ( homemade or store bought )

• A few splashes plant milk

• Dried basil or parsley

• 1/4 cup or so of corn meal

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1. If you are using pre-made pizza dough, remove it from the fridge and let it rest for about 10 minutes. It will stretch better if you do. Once it has sat, flour your hands to stretch it out to a large 16x12 inch (give to take) rectangle. You can also roll the dough out using a rolling pin, I just have always preferred to stretch it! It will be sticky so adding flour to your hands and work surface will help.

2. Melt a tablespoon of butter and mix in 1 teaspoon of garlic powder in a small bowl. Brush the dough leaving a 1 inch border around the edge that you don’t brush.

3. Spread the sauce evenly over the dough, remembering to keep the 1 inch border. Lay out the thin pepperoni slices in a single layer, and sprinkle the top with the cheese.

4. Starting at the 16 inch side facing you, roll the dough into a log as tightly as you can. If you don’t roll it tightly enough, the filling will fall out when you cut it ( I may have lived this exact scenario the first batch I made, just trust me.)

5. Using a very sharp knife, carefully cut 10 evenly sized rolls from the dough.

6. Dip the bottoms of the the rolls in some corn meal and place them on a baking sheet or in a 9x13 casserole dish about an inch or so apart. Place the rolls in the oven with the rack positioned in the middle. Bake for 25 or 30 minutes, or unit the dough seems to be browning and done, and the cheese is bubbling and melted. Remove and let cool just a bit.

7. Place the cream cheese along with 1 teaspoons of garlic salt in a small bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds to soften. Mix in about a tablespoon of plant milk or as much as it takes to thin the cream cheese out enough to drizzle over the tops of the pizza rolls. Not too thin, not too thick, about the consistency of icing. It really will depend on the brand of cream cheese you are using as to how much milk you will need to thin it out.

8. You can serve as is, or I like to also drizzle some extra sauce on top and sprinkle with some dried basil or parsley.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Cheese Stuffed Pretzels

Vegan Pizza Nachos

Vegan Stuffed Crust Pizza

Vegan Pepperoni Pizza Nachos

Pizza night just got at lot more fun with these vegan pepperoni pizza nachos.

Sure, you could just go ahead and make a regular pizza but eating pizza that is also a nacho is sorta just better sometimes.

It’s as easy as cutting up your pizza dough into bite size pieces before baking it up, then loading the pizza “chips” with all your favorite pizza toppings.

We topped ours with the best All Purpose Vegan Cheese Sauce. It is easy to make and works so well for pizza and even better for these nachos. Just drizzle, pour, drowned these nachos in this vegan cheese sauce and pop them back in the oven until the sauce gets gooey, bubbly, perfectly melty mozzarella like….its magic really.

Next top the pizza with whatever toppings you like. We love vegan pepperoni in this house and it is more than easy to make yourself. If you have never made your own vegan pepperoni or other vital wheat gluten based vegan meats, trust me when I tell you, it’s easy. It mixes up fast, bakes rather quickly as well, but it does need time to rest. So if you want pepperoni for dinner, you better get started at breakfast, or just get in the habit of keeping some in the fridge for pizza, cheese and crackers, or even as a salad topper.

We also added some green and black olives, became I love ALL olives, but you can add any veggie you like. Or if you are a family, or friends divided, just sprinkle the toppings you like on your half or quarter of the pan.

These vegan pizza nachos work well for a snack, lunch, dinner, or even party appetizer. They also reheat just as well as pizza, right in the oven, so don’t fret over any leftovers you may have. Just pop them back in the oven for 10 minutes or so and you are good to go.

So cheers to the marriage of two of the best foods ever made. Pizza and nachos are a match made in snacking heaven!

INGREDIENTS:

This recipe will make enough pizza nachos for 4-6 people as a meal. If you want just a snack or are feeding less people, half the recipe.

• 1/2 batch Easy All Purpose Vegan Cheese Sauce

• 1/2 jar vegan marinara sauce

• 1 Vegan Peperoni thinly sliced

• 2 batches vegan pizza dough. Store bought or homemade

• Black and green olives, onions, peppers, mushrooms, or whatever pizza topping you may like

• Fresh basil and vegan parm for garnish

INGREDIENTS:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. Roll the pizza dough out at thinly as you can and cut it into chip sized triangles. Spread the triangles out in a single layer on several cookies sheets. Pop the cookie sheets into the oven and bake for about 10 minutes or until the pizza dough is cooked though and begging to brown. Remove from oven and set aside.

3. Prepare cheese sauce according to instructions. You can either make full batch of cheese sauce and save half for another recipe (it keeps for a week or can be frozen) or just prepare half a batch.

4. Arrange the pizza “chips” in a pile on one baking sheet. Drizzle with desired amount of marinara and cheese sauce. Top with pepperoni slices, olives, and whatever other veggies or toppings you may like. Place the cookie sheet back in the oven and bake at 425 degrees for 5-10 minutes, or unit the cheese sauce is bubbling and browning.

5. Remove from oven and garnish with fresh basil and vegan parmesan cheese to serve.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Caesar salad Nachos with Fried Soy Curls

Vegan Stuffed Crust Pizza

Vegan Matzah Nachos

Vegan Cheese Stuffed Soft Pretzels

Bread, in any an all forms is my favorite food. My next favorite food is vegan cheese.

I had to do a brief stint gluten free when our last daughter was born and we were trying to sort out her allergies. I actually had to give up dairy, wheat, and soy and it was giving up bread that did me in. I never touched dairy again, but bread, she’s my love language.

So obviously I needed to sort out an easy and delicious vegan soft pretzels recipe pretty quickly because soft pretzels are in my top 5 favorite breads. I mean come on, they are buttery, salty, soft, warm perfection.

I decided our vegan challah dough would work perfectly for creating the perfect vegan soft pretzel and I wasn’t wrong.

Don’t be intimidated by the aquafaba. It’s just bean cooking liquid and if you whip it up it acts like egg whites, which works really well in place of eggs in baked good!! I typically just use a can of chickpea liquid but any canned bean liquid will work!

After talking to someone (Pen) on Instagram recently who mentioned cheesy pretzels and lightbulb went off, and after chatting with on of the kids about it, we knew we had to stuff them with cheese….and beer cheese at that. One of my favorite ways to eat a vegan soft pretzels is with vegan beer cheese dip. But stuffing dough with a wet ingredient often proves tricky so I needed to make a hard vegan beer cheese is that was what we could easily stuff them with!

So I did, and IT IS AMAZING. I love beer. I love cheese, I love bread. I love everything about a beer cheese stuffed pretzel!!!

Even if you are not into beer cheese, you can stuff them with any vegan cheese you like. We actually stuffed half with vegan mozzarella. We have over 30 vegan cheese recipes on the site and any one of them would be delicious stuffed inside these pretzels.

So go make some soft pretzels! I promise your friends or family will be happy to help you eat them, or you can hoard them for yourself. I won’t judge you!

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups all purpose flour

• 1 1/4 cup whipped aquafaba (measure the whipped product, not the bean liquid)

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup oil (I use grape seed but you can use any neutral oil you like)

• 4 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1 tablespoon salt

• 1 cup hot water. I just use hot water from the tap, you don't want it too hot or the yeast will die, and it will not activate

• 2 tablespoons baking soda ( This is for the water you dip the pretzels dough in before baking)

• About 2 cups vegan shredded cheese, (we used mozzarella and homemade Beer Cheddar)

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a large glass bowl mix hot water, yeast, and 1 tablespoon sugar.

2. Let the that sit for 10 minutes to activate, or until the mixture is super foamy at the top.

3. In a stand mixer add the yeast mixture, aquafaba, sugar, oil, salt, and 2 cups of flour. (you can mix by hand, just mix the above, and add remaining flour slowly. You will need to knead it for the same amount of time. It's a good workout though!

4. Mix until all of the ingredients are incorporated, then add in the remaining flour. I typically will hand mix the first 2 cups of flour in, or use my paddle attachment and replace with the dough hook when I add the remaining flour.

5. The dough should come together and not be sticky, if it seems sticky you can add 1/4 more flour a little at at time until the dough comes together. Your goal is smooth, and elastic-y dough, not sticky.

6. Let the dough kneed in the mixer on low/medium speed for 10 minutes. The dough should be smooth at this point and have a sort of bounce back if you poke it.

7. Form dough into a nice ball, and place in a lightly greased glass bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel, and place inside your oven turned off, OR on the bread proof setting if your oven has one.

8. Bring a small pot of water to a boil and place in the bottom of the oven. The heat and steam from the water will help the dough to rise.

9. Let dough rise about an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

10. Remove dough from bowl and split in half. Next, evenly divide each half into 8 equal pieces.

11. Flatten each piece into a rectangular shape about 3 to 4 inches by 3 to 4 inches.

12. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of shredded vegan cheese into the center of the dough rectangle. Fold the rectangle in half and pinch the seam closed, making sure it is sealed well. If the seam comes open the cheese will fall out.

13. Begin squeezing the sealed dough into a rope shape, using both hands and letting gravity help. You will need a 10 to 12 inch rope. Be careful not to allow any holes to rip in the dough. If a hole forms, do your best to pinch it back together.

14. Take each rope and make a U shape. Take the tops of the U, cross then twist them once. Now bring the crossed dough over the bottom of the U. ( the pictures will help if this is confusing.)

15. Allow pretzels to rest for about 15 mintues. While this is happening bring a large pot of water to a boil. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Once pretzels are done resting, add about 2 tablespoons of baking soda to the water.

16. Add pretzels 2-3 at a time into the water for about 30 seconds. You will need to flip them half way through. Just use a slotted spoon and gently turn them over in the water. Return them to a parchment lined cookie sheet once they come out of the water.

17. Brush pretzels with leftover aquafaba, and sprinkle with some corse sea salt before putting in the oven.

18. Bake pretzels for 15- 20 minutes. I normally move my top rack to the highest position for this. That way they get nice a brown. You will need to keep a close eye on them, and if they brown really quickly, move them to a lower rack for the remainder of the bake time.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Breakfast Stuffed Biscuits

Vegan Stuffed Bagel Bites

Vegan Chorizo Empanadas

Vegan Caesar Salad Nachos with Fried Soy Curls

Lets talk nachos.

Chips, a protein, normally something cold and crunchy like lettuce, some cheese. Nachos.

So when I saw a recipe in some magazine for some grilled chicken caesar salad nachos, at first I was confused, but then intrigued. And then it all made sense that one could make a caesar salad nacho and it probably be delicious.

I don’t really know what all was going on in that non vegan recipe version, I didn’t really look past the pic, but I knew I could take my favorite vegan caesar salad recipe and add some kind of vegan protein, and probably find my new favorite summertime dinner!

I have tried a ton of vegan caesar salad recipes, and dressings over the years, and until now none have been a winner.

So when recently I was making a caesar salad, and contemplating the protein I would add, I decided on Alabama White Sauce Grilled Tofu, and a light bulb went off.

Alabama White Sauce (AWS) is a a tangy, vinegar and mayo based bbq sauce which originated it Northern Alabama at Big Bob Gibson’s Bar-B-Q.

Our AWS is a vinegar and mayo based sauce like the original, with a little kick and has just enough tang to work as a caesar dressing substitute. AWS is a staple condiment in our house because it is delicious and versatile, and not just for bbq!

So after I grilled up the tofu, it occurred to me to take the leftover sauce and turn it into the dressing for this salad .

PURE JOY! It was so good that I will never attempt another “caesar” dressing recipe again.

I also added some carrots to the salad because I’m adult and I can do what I want..right?? And what I want is carrots on everything, even if it's not the norm, who cares if it tastes good.

When making the nachos I first considered adding my grilled Alabama White Sauce Grilled Tofu, and honestly I think that could be delicious too, but I had a bag of Butler Soy Curls staring at me and I was in the mood for some fried soy curl goodness. So that is what I did and I am glad I did because fried soy curls are one of my favorite things.

The chips act as a crouton crunch without adding croutons!!! I imagine you could also toast up some pita bread as well If you didn’t want to sue tortillas, and if you are gluten free you could use corn tortillas!

I served these nacho on a big ol plate and let everyone dig in. I think this recipe would work great for a BBQ or gathering, game night or movie night. It’s light but filling and pretty fun to scoop up that salad and crispy soy curls on a garlicy chip.

This might be how we eat caesar salad in our house for the foreseeable future!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 heads romaine lettuce

• 1/3 cups shredded carrots

• 1 package flour tortillas (you could use corn if GF)

• A few teaspoons garlic powder or garlic salt

• spray oil

• A few tablespoons vegan parmesan cheee

For The Soy Curls:

• 1 (8 oz) bag Butler soy curls

• 3 cups boiling water

• 1 teaspoon Vegetable or Chickenless Better than Bouillon

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 2/3 cups tapioca starch

• 1 teaspoon garlic salt

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

  ( you could also use the 86eats easy seitan chicken breast, grilled or fried and cut into strips)

Alabama White Sauce Caesar Dressing:

• 1/2 batch Alabama White Sauce

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare the Alabama White Sauce according to instructions. Whisk in the remaining dressing ingredients with 1/2 of the sauce. The other half of the Vegan Alabama White Sauce can be used as a dip for veggies, used to make grilled tofu, or even Alabama white sauce tempe tacos.

2. Cut the entire pack of tortillas into triangle shapes. Arrange them on two baking sheets in a single layer and give them a light mis of oil and good shake with some garlic salt or powder. Bake them at 350 degrees until they begin to brown and get crispy. (about 10 minutes but keep an eye on them.) Remove from oven and allow to cool. Set aside.

3. Pour hot water along with Better than Bouillon into a large bowl, whisking in the bouillon until it has dissolved. Add the soy curls and let them soak for 10 minutes.

4. While the curls are soaking, whisk together the flour, starch, and seasoning in a large bowl.

5. Drain the soy curls in a colander over the sink, return the curls to the bowl they were soaking in.

6. Begin adding a handful of curls at a time to the flour mixture, making sure to fully coat the curls. Place coated curls on a baking sheet pan, and repeat with remaining curls.

7. Line another baking sheet pan with paper towels and place a wire cooling rack on top.

8. HOT OIL COOKING METHOD: Heat a large deep skillet or dutch oven with a few inches of oil, over medium heat. You can poke a chop stick or wooden skewer into the pan, if small bubbles form around the stick the oil is ready. Once the oil is nice and hot begin adding batches of curls to the pan, making sure not to over crowd them. Using a pair of metal tongs, keep the curls moving around in the pan so they cook evenly. Allow the curls to fry for several minutes until golden brown and crispy. Place finished curls on the wire rack and repeat with remaining curls. I like to sprinkle a little extra salt and old bay on the finished curls

9. AIR FRYER COOKING METHOD: Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may have to cook the curls in batches. I have a 7 quart air fryer and can fit them all in at once. Place the coated curls in the air fryer and give them a light spray with some oil. Fry at 375 for 10 minutes, opening and shaking the basket a few times throughout their cooking. I often use tongs and stir them around to keep them from sticking. You may need another 5 minutes on the fry. Just make sure they fry long enough that they are all crispy. You may also want to give them another mist of oil when you open the basket to shake and stir them around.

10. Wash and chop the lettuce. In a large bowl toss the lettuce, carrots, and 2/3 of the dressing.

11. To serve, arrange the chips on a large platter (or if you want individual servings, arrange on single plates) top with salad, some crispy soy curls (I don’t use the entire batch, but my kids always just snack on the leftovers with dip, or I save a reheat what I don’t use later) , sprinkle with vegan parmesan cheese, and drizzle with remaining dressing. Serve right away.

Serves 4- 6 (you can half this recipe easily for less nachos)

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Alabama White Sauce Caesar Salad with Grilled Tofu

Veagn Matzah Oven Nachos

Vegan Alabama White Sauce Tempeh Tacos

Vegan Fiddle Faddle (Caramel Corn with Peanuts)

vegan fiddle faddle

I am guessing that not everyone knows what Fiddle Faddle is. So incase you don’t know, I’ll tell ya!

It’s the most delicious caramel popcorn and peanuts all mixed together and it taste like my childhood.

My dad always, ALWAYS, had a box of Fiddle Faddle in our pantry and I loved it as a kid. It was sweet, and salty and crunchy, and sticky, and peanutty perfection!

After not thinking about fiddle faddle in probably 25 years, I suddenly began craving it the other day. This is especially odd because I am not a big popcorn eater. Movie theater popcorn has made me sick to my stomach my whole life. I have either myself been in braces, or 2 of my 4 kids have been in braces at some point over the last 7 years, so we don’t eat a lot of popcorn in this house. ( popcorn is a big NO when wearing braces)

vegan fiddle faddle

But, as of last month nobody is wearing braces (hallelujah!!! but we still have 2 kids to go) and I decided my kids needed to learn the joy of box of Fiddle Faddle. But, like most tasty treats from my childhood, Fiddle Faddle is not vegan. And like most tasty treats from my childhood, it was my responsibility to try and veganize them so my kids could know the same happy joy.

I would love to claim I made this, but it was actually my super talented 14 year old daughter who played with a caramel recipe until it was just right. She takes charge where all things vegan baking and sweets are concerned. She is beyond gifted and a natural in the department! I was pretty much just in charge of popping the corn and not starting a fire. That is a story for another day.

This caramel is perfect. Not gritty (like the first attempt) but crunchy and chewy, and just right. The peanuts make this caramel corn extra special and they are my favorite part. Again, I don’t love popcorn on its own that much, but add peanuts and salty, sweet buttery caramel, and I’m all in.

So if you are a long time Fiddle Faddle fan who has also been craving a box, or you just happen to love caramel corn and needed a vegan recipe, this Vegan Fiddle Faddle recipe should be just the fix you are looking for.

vegan fiddle faddle

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/4 cups white sugar

• 6 tablespoons water

• 6 tablespoons vegan butter (we used Earth Balance)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• pinch of salt

• 1 to 1 1/4 cups shelled peanuts

• 10 cups popped popcorn ( 1/2 cup pre popped kernels)

INSTRUCTIONS:

vegan caramel corn

1. Begin by popping the popcorn. I heat a large dutch oven over medium heat with the teaspoons of a neutral flavored oil. Add two or three pop corn kernels to the pot and wait for them to pop. Once they have popped add the 1/2 cup of kernels to the pot and reduce the heat to medium/low. Place a lid over the pot and wait until you hear no more popping. I often shake the pot around while it’s popping to avoid burning the pop corn. Remove the pot from the heat but leave the lid on so any stray kernels that may still pop stay put. (you could also just pop a few bags of microwave popcorn if you are not into loose kernels or use whatever popcorn popping machine you may have….we are pretty old school poppers in this house)

2. In a medium sized pot, over medium heat add sugar and water. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the peanuts to the pot.

3. Increase the heat to medium/ high and let cook until the mixture turns an amber/brown color, stirring occasionally. Be careful not to let the mixture get too dark, as this will mean you burned the sugar. Depending on the kind of pot you are using, this could take 5-7 minutes.

4. Remove the pot from the heat and add the butter, vanilla, and pinch of salt and stir well. It might look separated and like its not going to come together, but once the butter heats up, it will mix together.

5. Carefully pour the mixture over the pot of popcorn. Using a large spoon, stir the best you can, trying to evenly coat all the popcorn.

6. Lay a large sheet of parchment paper out on your counter top and pour the popcorn out to cool.

7. Store cooled caramel corn in an airtight container at room temperature.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Peanut Butter Buckeyes

Vegan Cheeze-its

Vegan Bacon Brown Sugar Bites

vegan fiddle faddle

Easy Candied Cranberries

Cranberry season makes me happy.

I love cranberry everything and these pretty little jeweled or candied cranberries are no exception.

These little beauties are so easy to make and add a little fancy sparkle and burst of flavor to so many holiday recipes. You can add them garnish cocktails, top desserts, or just snack on them.

They are sweet, and super tart, and pretty to look at. They store well in the fridge so if you are like me, once you make a batch, you will find as many ways as you can to use them. They are too pretty, and too tasty to let go to waste!

And if you are concerned about white sugar being vegan, just give the brand you use a quick google, or check this list . I use Florida Crystals brand and know they are for sure vegan but give the list a look and check your brand!

---

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 oz fresh cranberries

• 1/2 cup water

• 1 1/2 cup sugar divided

• optional, 2 large pieces of orange peel

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Bring 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water, and orange peel to a boil in a medium pot over medium heat, until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat. Stir in the cranberries.

2. Place a wire cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet. Transfer cranberries to the wire rack to dry for about an hour. Fill a large bowl with 1/2 to 1 cups of sugar and toss the cranberries in the sugar to coat. Transfer the cranberries back to to the cooling rack to dry for another half hour before storing in an airtight container in the fridge. You can optionally add half 1/2 orange worth of zest to the sugar for an extra citrus pop.

3. Use cranberries as a garnish for cocktails, or desserts, or just as a tasty snack!

If you like this recipe, try these:

Vegan Cranberry Sweet Rolls

Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Classic Vegan Cranberry Scones

Vegan Cheez-Its

I have actually only ever met one person who hates a cheez-it (I’m looking at you Dustin.) Its baffling to me, honestly. I think 20% of my diet in high school may have been cheez-its.

My kids also loved them before we went vegan, and my 13 year old daughter suggested we try and make a vegan version. Done and done, kid. This recipe could not be easier. The hardest part is trying to evenly cut the crackers, which I 100% failed at doing. My personality is pretty haphazard so who cares about evenly cut crackers, just put them in my mouth. My sincerest apologies to all of y’all that need each cracker to be the exact same size. Hats off to ya, and the precision you bring to the world, you are needed!

We actually used Follow You Heart brand cheddar in this recipe because I had a bag on hand and it made it fast and easy. But if you are feeling especially extra, you can whip up a batch of your own vegan cheddar and use that. We linked are few of our cheddar recipes at bottom of this page!

Make sure to get the dough rolled out thin enough or these crackers will stay on the chewy side. If you get the dough thin, they come out nice and crispy and just as good as an original, if not better because these are vegan! Even Dustin ate a handful, and thats saying something!

---

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 8 ounces of vegan cheddar shreds, store bought or homemade

• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

• 3 tablespoons ice water

• 1/4 cup cold vegan butter

• 1-2 teaspoons of salt ( to sprinkle on the crackers)

---

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (when ready to bake)

1. Add the cheese, flour, butter, and nutritional yeast to a food processor. Pulse until the cheese is nice and minced up. Add in the ice water and process until a ball of dough forms. If you want to make these without a food processor, place cheese in a blender to get it good and chopped up. Add the cheese with the flour, nutritional yeast, and butter to a bowl. Using your hands mix in the butter. Once butter is incorporated, add in the ice water. Dump out on to a clean floured surface and knead just until you have a ball of dough. Do not over knead because it will cause the dough to be tough.

2. Wrap up the dough in some plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge for about an hour.

3. Lightly flour a clean surface. Divide dough in half. Pop the half you are not using back in the fridge. Roll out one half of the dough into a about a 10x12 inch rectangle that is about 1/8 of an inch thick. Any thicker and it is hard to get them crispy. Wrap up any scrap dough and refrigerate until you are ready to use it.

4. Using a pastry cutter or pizza cutter, cut small squares, about 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle with a little salt if you like. If you want to make a classic cheez-it hole in the middle of each cracker you can use the small end of a chopstick or a skewer. Bake for 18-22 minutes on the middle oven rack. Watch the first batch of crackers closely. You want to leave them in until they are nice and crispy but you don’t want them to brown to much. You will know how long to bake the remaining batches for after the first batch.

5. Repeat with remaining dough. Store crackers in an airtight container. You can also store leftover dough for a few days in the fridge and bake later.

If you like this recipe, try these:

Smokey Cashew Cheddar

Smokey Coconut Milk Chile Cheese

Classic Vegan Sausage Balls