A BLT is hands-down my favorite sandwich. Using a classic and simple combination of ingredients, I think it is simply the best. Crispy, chewy, and salty bacon paired with creamy mayo, perfectly toasted yet soft bread, fresh iceberg lettuce, and juicy, ripe tomatoes, oof! I am salivating just thinking about it.
Now, I know what you might be thinking…babe, do we really need you to tell us how to make a BLT? Well, truth be told, I have had quite a few bad BLTs in my day, in particular in the vegan department. So YES, it seems as though the internet does need my expertise on how to assemble this glorious sandwich. Because so few ingredients are used, it is crucial that they are all spot-on. In today’s blog post, I will go over my favorite plant-based ingredients to use for this famous sandwich (with 2 vegan bacon options) to ultimately help you make the very best vegan BLT you’ve ever had.
INGREDIENTS FOR A BLT
As I mentioned before, because we are gathering only a handful of ingredients for this sandwich, they all need to be perfect. I have had too many BLTs where the bacon was not crisp enough, the bread was not the right texture, there wasn’t enough mayo, and/or the tomato was not ripe (yikes!). Let’s review:
THE BEST BREAD, LETTUCE, TOMATO, AND MAYO TO USE
BREAD: When it comes to my top choices for bread for a BLT, my vote is either a soft, sandwich sliced loaf or a fresh ciabatta bun. (Lightly toast no matter which you decide.) The soft sandwich slice will offer the classic BLT texture while a ciabatta bun helps to hold all of the ingredients together making a BLT that you can fill up a bit more. Because ciabatta buns are springy and rounded, the shape will help to hold the sandwich together, keeping all of the ingredients secure (see image above.) Here are some breads that I love:
Dave’s Killer Bread
I love me some Dave’s Killer Bread and they have many different varieties. For a BLT, I think their White Bread Done Right is ideal. It has a neutral flavor, soft texture, and once lightly toasted it works perfectly.
Rocky Mountain Sourdough
This sliced sourdough bread is quite literally perfect for a BLT. It has a nice tangy flavor that compliments the other ingredients nicely and the texture is ideal. I always can find this at Whole Foods.
Costco Ciabatta Buns
I adore the texture and flavor of these buns and they work magnificently for a BLT. They hold all of the ingredients together nicely and once lightly toasted they are just the right texture of being springy but also soft. Heads up! You need to keep these in the fridge or freezer as they can go moldy very quickly. (TBH, I keep all of my bread in the fridge for this reason, including the loaves above.)
BREAD NOT TO USE FOR A BLT
What you do NOT want to use is something like a whole-grain dense bread. (I am looking at you Ezekiel.) Also, a thick, super chewy piece of rustic sourdough does not work well for this sandwich, either. You don’t want a bread that is going to offer too much resistance, competing with the experience of the BLT. The bread needs to compliment and enhance.
LETTUCE: I don’t want to hear any ifs, ands, or buts about this one. Iceberg lettuce is the ONLY lettuce to use for this sandwich. Period. We need that crispy and juicy texture and subtle vegetal flavor to contrast all of the other ingredients. When prepping the lettuce, it needs to be layered as larger leaves and not shredded. Yes, this matters. If you want to use spinach or arugula, I will banish you from the blog. And if you like adding avocado, I don’t want to know about it.
MAYO: Vegan mayo can be a bit complicated. There are many on the market that are bad. If they are used, they will ruin the experience of a vegan BLT. Not to be dramatic, but it’s true. The mayo is incredibly important for this sandwich! Here are my favorite vegan mayos to use. If you cannot find one of these, make sure to use one that you know tastes great. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even bother making a BLT. (Also, none of the products listed below or above are sponsored—they are just what I love.):
MY FAVORITE VEGAN MAYOS:
Fabalish Classic Vegan Mayo
Super clean ingredients and DELICIOUS! My new favorite mayo. I can only find it at Fresh Market here in NOLA but you can order it online. I’m hoping more stores carry it soon.
JUST Mayo
This mayo has a complicated story. It used to be shelf-stable and sold at Walmart (and many other stores). Then it disappeared! Then it came back but now it is usually in the refrigerated section at Whole Foods. The texture and flavor are excellent. Thick and creamy.
Vegenaise
Old-faithful, this was my go-to vegan mayo for most of my two decades of being vegan. It has to be refrigerated and will loosen up over time after being opened but overall it is a great product and I love it. I don’t think it has the perfect mayo flavor and texture like the other ones here but it is still delicious and will work.
There are other vegan mayos on the market but these are my top picks! LMK your favorites in the comments below.
THE PERFECT TOMATO
Picking out the best tomato is key for this sandwich. My advice is to use a tomato that is deep, deep red and firm. This way, once it is sliced it will hold its texture nicely (I call these ‘slicer’ tomatoes). That said, you could use a large, very juice heirloom tomato but that can make for a big mess when eating. So although delicious, I will always recommend a more firm, slicer tomato over any other variety. Lastly, although you might be tempted to slice a very thick piece, I actually think a slice or two on the thinner side works best for a BLT. You want each and every bite to have a little bit of everything, not a whole bunch of one thing.
LET’S TALK ABOUT VEGAN BACON
TOFU BACON
I am including two different bacon options here to use for this sandwich. One is my tofu bacon which has an incredible texture. It is crispy and chewy at the same time (if it is cooked properly) and holds up beautifully for this sandwich. My biggest tip with using this bacon is when slicing the tofu, you want to go pretty thin so that it gets super crispy around the edges. You also do not want to skimp on the fat. The tofu bacon needs it to fry in the oven. We are trying to replicate bacon, people, so this isn’t the time for you to experiment with air-frying using less oil. If you want to be oil-free, don’t make this sandwich.
SHIITAKE BACON
Next, I am offering my shiitake bacon. This bacon has the most incredible flavor and if you are into mushrooms, you will be blown away with the transformation. The only thing I want to point out about this one is you do not end up with big beautiful pieces like with the tofu bacon. Therefore, if you go this route, I recommend using the sliced sandwich bread and not a ciabatta bun. (This better highlights the shiitake bacon!). Here are a few process shots for my skillet shiitake bacon. I do recommend using a non-stick skillet for the best results. (HOT TIP: You could go all out and use BOTH bacons for this sandwich and I would be really impressed. So would your taste buds!)
ASSEMBLING THE BLT
As for the assembly, I have a few rules so let’s review. First and foremost, I think that mayo should be on both sides. This way the mayo will work as glue. Next, the bacon should be either on top or bottom. If you were to try and sandwich the bacon in between the lettuce and tomato, it could potentially fall out which would be a terrible shame.
However, when it comes to the lettuce or tomato on the other side with mayo, I think you can go either way. In the top image, I have the bacon on top, and then the tomato, and then the lettuce on the bottom. In the image below, I have tomato on top, then lettuce, then the bacon on the bottom. Notice that in each one the bacon is always on a mayo side.
ENJOY THIS VEGAN BLT RECIPE
I am very excited for you to try out all of my tips and tricks for making the best vegan BLT. This sandwich brings me so much joy and I hope it does the same for you! If you do make one, please leave a review and comment below. It very much helps the overall health of my blog. Happy cooking and thanks for being here!
-Timothy
IF YOU LIKE THIS BLT RECIPE, CHECK OUT THESE:
1 batch Tofu Bacon or Shiitake Bacon Make the bacon: Choose either the Tofu Bacon or the Shiitake Bacon (or both!) and make one batch. Toast the bread: You can toast the bread in a toaster but I find that if you are making more than one sandwich at a time, laying the bread out onto a baking sheet and toasting them in a 350°F oven for a few minutes is more efficient. The bread should be lightly toasted and still soft. Assemble the sandwiches: Spread on a good amount of vegan mayo to cover the entire surface of each slice of bread. Then add a few pieces of the bacon to one side, pressing it into the mayo, encouraging it to stick. (You want to use enough bacon to create an even layer. Do not use too much but rather just enough so that each bite will have some.) Then add one to two slices of tomatoes and one to two pieces of lettuce and place the other piece of bread on top. Slice the sandwich in half and serve immediately! If you are using ciabatta buns, you can get away with adding more layers of ingredients as the sturdiness of the bun will help to hold everything together. Just makes sure it is all balanced.
Ingredients
8 slices soft sandwich bread or 4 ciabatta buns, lightly toasted
1 head iceberg lettuce, separated
Desired vegan mayo (see blog text)
2 ripe slicing tomatoes, thinly slicedInstructions
notes
If you are using a sliced sandwich bread, I think using less is more. If you go wild and add 3 big tomato slices then you will result in a sandwich that is too juicy and messy. Don't do that. You want each bite to have the perfect amount of each ingredient.
Food styling, photography, recipe, and text by Timothy Pakron
6 comments
Looking forward to making this BLT! I also love a BLT! Such a classic.
Yes! Whenever the first tomatoes come into season, I start making them all the way to fall. Thank you for being here!
…hehehe…u called us all babe. that’s so cool.
and 100% agree — following all these BLT building must do’s makes for an insanely good sandwich. We did your tofu bacon (a regular weekend favorite) AND the shiitake version. yummmmmmmmmm!
even my sometime meat eaters asked for another one and another one and another—cross country runners. they can seeeeeriously put away your top notch vegan grub!
Haha thank you for this sweet comment, it made me smile. So happy to hear that you are sharing the recipes with good reviews! I appreciate you being here.
I will make this soon with the tofu bacon option! I love b.l.t’s. My favorite vegan mayo is the Helmans brand 😋
Enjoy my friend! I have had that one and I do like it!