A plant-based twist on traditional banh mi, these grilled vegan tempeh banh mi sandwiches pack a serious kick of spice. Get the recipe now!
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I love grilling season.
There’s nothing better than pouring a glass of white wine and hanging out by the grill, soaking in the warm summer night.
Especially when you have these grilled tempeh banh mi sandwiches to look forward to!
Banh mi is a Vietnamese sandwich that literally means “bread made from wheat” and refers to a popular street food traditionally consisting of a baguette filled with meat, pickled vegetables, cucumber, red chilies, cilantro, and mayonnaise.
While I haven’t seen it at restaurants I’ve been to, apparently the traditional banh mi also contains pork liver pate to provide a richness to the sandwich.
Bored with our traditional flavor combinations for dinner, I took on the goal of creating a healthier, vegetarian-friendly version of the banh mi.
And I started where most meals do: the protein.
While I feel tofu is becoming more common on restaurant menus, tempeh is a vegetarian protein-powerhouse that I find few omnivores are aware of.
So what is it?
Tempeh is a protein made from fermented soy beans and sometimes also contains barley, flax, brown rice, or even oats.
What does it taste like? Unlike tofu, tempeh has a lot of texture going on and it provides a nutty flavor. I dare you to get out of your comfort zone and give it a try 😉
In addition to having a texture that holds up well to grilling, 3-oz serving of tempeh also contains around 16 grams of protein and 8% of your daily need for calcium and iron.
If you want to be traditional, grab yourself some baguettes; however, I wanted to reverse the bread to fillings ratio so I used Panini Thins that I found at Trader Joe’s instead.
Such a good decision as the fillings really stood out with just a slight bite of bread providing structural support. Up to you!
To keep these vegan, I used Chosen Foods’ Vegan Mayo.
Other vegan mayo options include:
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Yum! I recently had a tofu banh mi sandwich and have been wanting to recreate it at home. Maybe I will do it with tempeh instead 🙂
Definitely give it a shot! It’s a great way to change up the texture 🙂
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