Vegan BLT Sandwich
This vegan riff on the classic BLT sandwich features coconut bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado! This BLT makes a delicious, simple lunch or dinner.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
One of my friends swears she’s happier when it’s cloudy and gray outside, but I couldn’t be more the opposite. June has brought longer days and an abundance of sunshine. I feel so energized by all the light that I have to remind myself to pause and soak up the summer vibes. Cookie is pretty jazzed, too, since it means that we can go for a quick walk at 9 pm and watch fireflies blink along our path.
Now that warm weather is here, I’m craving more light and refreshing meals, and this sandwich is one of them. Ripe tomatoes, fresh lettuce, avocado instead of mayonnaise, and homemade coconut bacon collide in this vegan BLT recipe.
Bacon was the one meat I really missed after becoming a vegetarian, and coconut bacon is a surprisingly satisfying alternative. It’s savory with a sweet edge, a little salty, and crisp, just like the real thing. It’s the one and only meat substitute that I can get behind.
I have a few tricks to making a satisfying sandwich without meat, and it starts with some great bread. You want whole grain bread, preferably one that’s full of seeds, which is rich in fiber and keeps you full longer. Bonus? It has more flavor, and in my book, more flavor is always better than less.
So, once you have picked out some great bread, you want to add some healthy fat for satiety, like avocado, nut butter, or hummus. You can also add cooked tofu or tempeh, or a fried egg, if you’re not trying to keep it vegan. Then, load it up with fresh veggies and crisp greens, and you have one stellar sandwich.
This BLT is great on its own, and I imagine it would also be delicious with a side of my favorite bean salad or a simple green side salad.
Vegan BLT Sandwich
This vegetarian/vegan riff on the classic BLT sandwich features coconut bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado! This BLT makes a delicious, simple lunch or dinner.
Ingredients
Per sandwich
- 2 slices whole grain bread
- 1 medium ripe avocado
- Salt, to taste
- ¼ cup coconut bacon
- 1 medium ripe red tomato
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Several small leaves of romaine or butter lettuce
Instructions
- Be sure to make the coconut bacon before you get started on the sandwich (it’s easy to make, and you’ll have lots of leftovers, which freeze well).
- When you’re ready to make sandwich(es), first toast the bread to your desired doneness.
- Halve and pit the avocado, and scoop the avocado flesh into a bowl. Add a pinch of salt, and use a fork to mash the avocado until it’s pretty smooth and easily spreadable. Taste, and add more salt if necessary.
- Spread avocado on top of both slices of bread. Spread coconut bacon heavily on one piece of toast, and lightly press it into the avocado to help it stick.
- Slice the tomato into ½″ thick slices. Top the bacon-covered toast with 2 to 3 slices of tomato, and sprinkle it with black pepper. Top the tomato with lettuce, and place the remaining slice of bread on top, avocado side down. If you prefer, carefully slice the sandwich in half with a serrated knife.
Notes
Make it gluten free: Use gluten-free bread and double-check that your coconut bacon ingredients are gluten free.
Change it up: Mayo lovers, feel free to add mayo or substitute it for the avocado. Use vegan mayo to keep the sandwich vegan.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I had to read this just to see what you replaced the bacon with…coconut bacon – so cool and creative. I love the idea and want to try it, even though I’m not vegan.
Thanks, Karen! Coconut is so tasty. I think you’d like it!
Can I tell you Ive never made coconut bacon?? But I can almost FEEL the crunch of those bad boys hiding in the sandwich. That bread also looks amazing :)
Oh, it’s so good! Hope you’ll try it soon. :)
This dish was very easy to make and just delicious for a hot +28 day! it was so good. I will make it again and again.
Thank you, Shelly! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
Hi Kate, I’ve never used liquid smoke before and I am super keen to try this. Can you recommend the best flavour? I live in Australia so we do have this brand Colgin liquid smoke natural Hickory. There are other Hickory flavoured ones – is this the best flavour for the coconut bacon? Thanks!!! P.S LOVE your blog.
Hey Kate! I like all the varieties I’ve tried. I think the natural pecan one is my favorite, though.
Made this last night to go on top of waffles and even my meat eating husband LOVED it! Super easy and delicious. Thanks!
Awesome!!! Thanks, Kristen!
OMG on WAFFLES? You just blew my mind. I made coconut bacon today for a BLT and it was divine. Great idea.
You’ve been inspiring me with so many ingredients I don’t use!
Eggplant bacon, mushroom bacon, tempeh bacon, I’ve tried them all.
But coconut is my next “bacon” to try cooking. Thanks for all the beautiful recipes, Kate!
I haven’t tried those types of “bacon” yet! Please give coconut bacon a try when you get a chance, and let me know how it compares! :)
Yum! This looks to die for. I’m so down for any excuse to eat avocado. Love it!
Yum! Love coconut bacon – it really is an easy and surprisingly wonderful substitute. I’ve always shied away from vegetarian BLTs because they always seem to have avocado, which I am allergic to, and they just never sounded very satisfying with only coconut bacon, tomato, and lettuce. But I love your suggestion to use hummus since I’ve never thought of that. I think I will be making one in the near future!
Oh good, I’m glad you saw that suggestion! I think a hummus BLT would be delicious. Hope you love it.
This looks amazing! I’ve made your heirloom BLT salad once and I loved it but somehow forgot (yeah yeah, I don’t know how that’s possible either) I made it, and how lovely it was. Thanks for the recipe, but also thanks for reminding me of that brilliant and vegan salad!
Also, good to see you back around on the blog again a little more frequently :) Are things cooling down for you a bit? I hope the super stress of the last month(s) is fading away and gives you more time to spend on yourself, Cookie, important things that probably got a bit on the back burner with the deadlines looming. I’m enjoying the sunshine now, too, with another one of your lovely salads, with avocado, tart apples and cranberries :)
Thank you, sweet Evelyn! I’m glad you’ve been enjoying my salads. I wish I could say that things have calmed down. They haven’t, but I have been getting more sleep, so that’s good! I have more photos to take and a couple more rounds of edits to go, and I just found out that I need to move to a new place in a couple of months, etc. etc…. It will all work itself out eventually. :)
Oooh, I’ve never thought about using coconut bacon in a vegan BLT! I usually use tempeh bacon. Love this spin on it!
I had some coconut bacon in the freezer, so this was one of the times I had all the ingredients on hand to try the recipe. Not much to the recipe, but, oh my! Who woulda thunk it would be soooo good? My only regret was that I ate it too quickly and wished I could eat it again. Thanks Kate!
This looks absolutely delicious! I love the seeds and grains of the bread–got to try it out sometime!
Bought a Spiralizer and made this recipe for my vegan daughter. Love the Spiralizer and the meal looked and tasted fabulous! This opens up a new range of veggie meals! I’m thrilled! Thanks!
This is SUCH a great recipe! I’ve missed BLTs since giving up meat, and fake bacon is not appealing to me at all, so I had to try this. The coconut bacon is so natural bacon-y flavored it’s eerie! It hasn’t got that nasty chemically taste (or composition) the fakes have. I made my sandwich with avo on one side, Just Mayo on the other, and with lots of black tomato and crispy romaine in between. It is heavenly. Summer on a plate, even. Thank you!
I made coconut bacon last night and I was really surprised when it actually tasted like bacon! Even my boyfriend, who doesn’t like coconut, thought it was impressively close to the real thing. The BLT was so tasty, though not super filling. The only problem is that coconut has so much saturated fat and I am hesitant to eat it; even one serving is 86% of your daily value. There doesn’t seem to be enough research out there whether coconut fat is ok to eat. I was planning on eating this the rest of the week for lunch, but now I’m not sure if I should.
YUM! I put coconut bacon on everything: salads, soup topping, ect! I might have to make a batch tonight :)
Put some real bacon in. Way better
This recipe is SOOOOOO GOOOOD! I admit, I was a coconut bacon skeptic, but not anymore. I tend to steer clear of imitation meat, cheese, etc. (as a vegan, I don’t see the point of eating imitation meat), but the coconut bacon is delicious with only four ingredients. We used Dave’s organic bread and toasted it on the Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grillin’ Machine. I use that to toast all my bread, as it keeps it crispy on the outside but moist inside. I bought a huge beef-steak tomato, which was perfect for the BLT. We enjoyed the sandwich with a craft beer. No side necessary because it’s a filling sandwich.
Great! I’m so glad it was such a hit, Dana.
Excellent addition to the pack lunch rotation! Love mayo, forgot to use it, didn’t miss it! So glad I tried this recipe.
Hi Kate! Currently there is something wrong with the coconut bacon link. All I get is a picture of adding liquid smoke to coconut flakes. No instructions or words anywhere. Please fix! I love every recipe that I try. Thank you so much for sharing your creative cuisine! And please add more recipes to your app!
Hi Beth! I’m sorry for your experience with Cookie + Kate over the weekend. My web hosting made a big mistake and I’ve worked with them to resolve the issue. All should be fine now.