What Is MyForest Foods MyBacon?
MyBacon is a whole-cut, mycelium-based bacon alternative from MyForest Foods, a company that grows its own raw material rather than buying a commodity protein isolate and extruding it into a strip shape. The base ingredient is oyster mushroom mycelium — the root-like network that mushrooms grow from — cultivated on trays in a vertical farm in Green Island, New York, using a wood-chip-like growing medium. Instead of grinding soy or pea protein into a slurry and reshaping it, MyForest Foods slices the naturally layered mycelium mat much the way you'd slice a whole cut of pork belly, brines it, and packages it as bacon. That "grown, not ground" process is the company's whole pitch, and it's part of a small but growing wave of mycelium-based meat alternatives that also includes Meati's mushroom-root cutlets and steaks.
The growing process is the whole reason MyForest Foods exists as a company. Most plant-based meat brands start with a commodity protein — soy, pea, wheat gluten — that gets textured through extrusion, a process that pushes a protein slurry through heat and pressure to create a fibrous structure that mimics muscle fiber. MyForest Foods skips that step entirely by growing the fiber structure itself: mycelium naturally forms dense, layered mats as it spreads through a growing substrate, and the company simply harvests those mats once they've reached the right thickness and density, rather than trying to recreate that texture mechanically afterward. It's a genuinely different manufacturing model, closer to farming than to food processing, and it's part of why the company markets MyBacon around the phrase "grown, not ground."
MyBacon is sold in a roughly 6-ounce package and, as of 2026, is distributed to more than 3,000 stores nationwide, including a expansion into Whole Foods Market locations across the eastern United States. It's typically found in the refrigerated meat-alternative section rather than the freezer aisle, which sets it apart from most of the extruded soy and pea-protein bacon strips that are sold frozen.
Ingredients
MyBacon's ingredient list is about as short as packaged bacon alternatives get: organic oyster mushroom mycelium, organic coconut oil, organic sugar, natural flavor, and salt. That's five ingredients total, with no soy, no gluten, no dairy, and no added protein isolates or gums to hold the strips together — the mycelium's own fibrous structure does that job. The product carries Plant-Based Certified, Keto, and Kosher certifications, and MyForest Foods states plainly that it's animal-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free.
Is MyBacon Vegan?
Yes. Every ingredient on the label — mycelium, coconut oil, sugar, natural flavor, salt — is plant- or fungus-derived, with nothing sourced from an animal. Unlike Quorn's mycoprotein products, which typically rely on egg white as a binder, MyBacon doesn't need an egg or dairy binder at all, because the mycelium is grown and harvested as an intact, self-supporting sheet rather than a loose protein that needs to be held together after the fact. If you want to double-check any specific flavor variant before buying, run the ingredient panel through the spvegan.com ingredient checker, but as of 2026 the entire MyBacon lineup is formulated vegan.
Nutrition Comparison: MyBacon vs. Other Vegan Bacon Brands
| Product | Serving | Calories | Total Fat | Sat. Fat | Protein | Sodium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MyBacon Original | 2 slices | 60 | ~4g | 2g | 3g | 420mg |
| Sweet Earth Benevolent Bacon | 38g | 90 | 3.5g | 0.5g | 10g | 160mg |
MyBacon runs lower in calories and higher in sodium per serving than Sweet Earth's soy-and-wheat-based benevolent bacon, and it's noticeably lower in protein — closer to what you'd expect from a fungus-based product than from a soy protein isolate. If protein content is the deciding factor for you, Sweet Earth or a pea-protein bacon will get you more per strip; if you want the shortest possible ingredient list and a genuinely different growing process, MyBacon is the standout.
Taste and Texture
This is where MyBacon tries to differentiate itself from the extruded, soy-based bacon strips that dominate the category. Because the mycelium is grown in layered sheets rather than pressed from a slurry, the raw strip has a naturally fibrous, marbled look that's closer to a cut of meat than most plant-based bacon achieves. Cooked properly — meaning fried long enough to crisp, not just warmed through — reviewers consistently describe it as tasting close to real bacon and producing a similar aroma while cooking, with a genuine crunch on the bite. The catch is that it's more cook-technique-dependent than a soy strip: undercooked, it reportedly turns chewy and starts to taste more like popcorn than bacon, so this isn't a "toss it in the pan for two minutes" product — it rewards the same patience you'd give real bacon on the stove.
How to Cook MyBacon
Because texture is so dependent on getting a proper cook, a few practical notes matter more here than with most vegan bacon. Cooking it low and slow in a skillet, the same way you'd render fat out of real pork bacon, gives it time to crisp at the edges without burning the sugar in the brine. A hot pan straight out of the fridge tends to cook the outside before the center firms up, which is the scenario that leaves it chewy and underdone-tasting in the middle. Because MyBacon contains no soy or wheat gluten, it also won't behave exactly like a soy-based strip in the pan — it releases moisture differently as the mycelium cooks down, so resisting the urge to move it around too much and letting it sit undisturbed for longer stretches tends to produce a better result than constant flipping.
Where to Buy and Price
MyBacon is sold at more than 3,000 stores nationwide, including Whole Foods Market locations in the eastern U.S., along with online retailers and delivery services like Instacart. Pricing runs close to premium organic pork bacon — roughly $10 for a package, compared to somewhere in the $9 range for a comparable organic pork bacon at a store like Sprouts — which puts it at the higher end of the vegan bacon category rather than competing on price with budget soy-based strips.
MyBacon vs. Other Mycelium and Vegan Bacon Alternatives
| MyBacon | Sweet Earth Benevolent Bacon | Prime Roots Koji Bacon | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base ingredient | Oyster mushroom mycelium | Soy/wheat protein | Koji (fermented rice fungus) |
| Ingredient count | 5 | Longer, formulated blend | Longer, fermented protein blend |
| Allergens | None of the top 9 | Soy, wheat | None of the top 9 (check label) |
| Best for | Pan-frying whole strips | Higher-protein breakfast plates | Chewy, umami-forward bacon bits |
MyBacon and Prime Roots both lean on fungal fermentation rather than soy or pea protein, which makes them the two most allergen-friendly options in this category if you're avoiding soy and gluten. The difference comes down to process and texture: MyBacon is grown as an intact sheet and sliced, while Prime Roots ferments koji into a protein base that's then formed and seasoned, giving it a chewier, more shredded texture rather than MyBacon's fibrous strip. Both sit apart from Sweet Earth's more conventional soy-and-wheat approach, which trades some of that novelty for a firmer protein number and a lower price point — a reasonable tradeoff if protein-per-dollar matters more to you than ingredient minimalism.
Who Should Buy MyBacon
MyBacon is a strong pick for vegans avoiding soy, wheat, and gluten who still want a whole-strip bacon experience rather than crumbled bits, and for anyone curious about mycelium-based meat alternatives who wants to try the category without committing to a full mushroom-root steak. It's priced close to premium organic pork bacon rather than to budget plant-based bacon, so it's not the pick if you're optimizing for cost per pound. It's also not the easiest product for a beginner cook — because texture depends heavily on getting a proper crisp, someone looking for a foolproof, low-effort bacon substitute might have better luck with a pre-seasoned soy strip that crisps up more predictably.
It's also worth considering for anyone building a BLT, breakfast plate, or bacon-wrapped dish where the whole-strip shape and structural integrity matter, since crumbled or ground bacon alternatives don't hold up the same way when you need a strip that stays intact. If your main use case is bacon bits sprinkled over a salad or baked potato, the shape advantage matters less, and a cheaper crumbled product will do the job for less money.
Final Verdict
MyBacon delivers a genuinely different eating experience from the soy- and pea-protein bacon strips that dominate the vegan bacon aisle, with a short, recognizable ingredient list and a texture that rewards proper cooking technique. It isn't the highest-protein option in the category, and it demands more attention in the pan than a standard plant-based strip, but for shoppers specifically looking for a mycelium-grown, allergen-friendly bacon alternative, it's one of the most interesting products on the shelf. The premium price is the main thing holding it back from a wider recommendation — at close to what organic pork bacon costs, it's priced for people who care about the ingredient story and the eating experience, not for anyone shopping strictly on a per-pound basis. Rating: 7.5/10.
