Vegan Bacon Made Out of Bread Splits Internet: 'This Is Genius'

TikTok has become a hub for all kinds of food hacks and recipes, including some which are slightly outside of the box—like this vegan "bacon" made from bread.

Rj the Magician shared his recipe for the strange concoction on July 24, and has amassed over 300,000 views on it since.

Made from a base of bread and a list of seasonings, the result is an unbelievably real-looking bacon alternative.

Rj explained in the post that he got the idea for using bread because "it gets compact and squishy. It's absorbent, it'll absorb anything you put in it, and it's made to get crispy."

"I tried it and it works," he assured before showing how viewers can make it themselves.

To start, Rj flattened the bread using a rolling pin, but added that hands can work for this too, before cutting it into bacon-sized strips.

The next step was adding the bacon flavor to the bread, using a mixture of sauces and seasonings—¼ cup of maple syrup, ¼ cup of soy sauce, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, ½ teaspoon of smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, a pinch of MSG and nutritional yeast. JR also presented liquid smoke and Tabasco chipotle sauce in the video, but didn't specify the measurements in the comments. He did however advise you try different ratios to find your own preferred flavor.

He then dipped the bread into the mixture and "let that sit for like a minute." Next, he pan-fried the bread with olive oil and vegan butter on a low heat while flipping often. "Flip a lot," he advised.

"Take it out and place the hot bacon on some forks and that will give it the curve," he said, placing the bread over lined up forks to create dents.

Rj described the recipe as "almost like candied bacon" and said it was the, "best thing [he's] ever created."

As with most meat alternatives online, the recipe has been met with a mixed response ranging from those branding Rj a "genius" to those less-than-keen to try it out.

"This I'm going to try and I'm not even vegan," wrote one user.

"This is genius," added another.

Some however described the recipe as simply "seasoned bread," with one user writing: "That's literally toast with maple syrup and hot sauce."

Just last month, another TikTok user went viral for his vegan take on a meat classic—the Big Mac.

Ben Rebuck, under the name Ben's Vegan Kitchen, posted the recipe using gherkin, onion, vegan mayo, mustard, paprika and white wine vinegar to make the Big Mac sauce.

He then paired it with meat-free burgers and melted vegan cheese in a bun, describing it as "banging" in the video.

"I used to love McDonald's but their vegan options are so bad. It's much easier to make them at home and it just takes a little bit of ingenuity to get that same flavor at home. It was my first attempt. I knew it'd be easy as the sauce is the only tricky bit—but that was quite simple to veganize," he told Newsweek.