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You know how sometimes you just need a sandwich, or even just a piece of bread to cover in peanut butter or Earth Balance? Well, this vegan keto roll (or bun, whatever you’d like to call it) is for you! I’ve been working on veganizing a bunch of the earlier recipes on this blog, and received a super helpful comment yesterday asking about a potential substitution for this recipe. Well, holy crap – with a little tinkering, it came out fabulously!
So, huge thanks to Erika (hiii!!!) for suggesting tofu, and getting the ball rolling on the creation of these dinner rolls. Or breakfast rolls. Snack rolls…I won’t tell you how to live your life. Because these rolls use psyllium husk powder, they are pretty fickle (I have a lot of failed attempts to prove it!), but with attention to detail, they turn out great! These rolls are not only low carb and vegan, they are also gluten free and nut free. So, most people can actually enjoy them. If you make these, I’d love to hear how they turn out, so feel free to leave a comment!
Notes on Making Vegan Keto Rolls (gluten free & nut free)
- When scooping these onto the baking tray, try to make them about 1/2″ thick. This way, they’ll actually cook all the way through! They will puff up, so don’t worry about them being too flat. The key is to make sure they cook in the middle.
- These really do need a full hour in the oven to keep from being too soggy or gummy in the middle.
- If you do find that yours didn’t bake long enough – I cut the not-as-cooked ones in half and just toast them, which seems to do the trick!
- Be careful about eating more than one of these in a day. The amount of fiber can be a little intense…
- Be sure to drink plenty of liquids, as these contain psyllium husks, which can bind up if you are dehydrated.
Vegan Keto Rolls (gluten-free, nut-free)
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp ground flax seed
- 1/2 cup tofu I used extra firm, but firm will work, too
- 1/2 cup psyllium husks
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a blender or food processor, blend together ground flax seeds, salt, water and tofu until smooth, and totally free of lumps.
- In a separate dish, combine psyllium husks with baking powder, and seasoning of choice.
- Pour the tofu mixture over the psyllium husk mixture and stir until completely combined, and no pockets of psyllium or tofu exist.
- Scoop into mounds on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat, or parchment paper, and bake for 60 minutes, until just brown on the outside, and cooked all the way through.
Nutrition
Easy peasy! I can’t wait to try these!
These came out great and are very filling and really fill that bread-void that comes with a keto diet!
I’m so happy you like this recipe, Rose! Bread cravings can be tough, and it’s nice to have a solution. 🙂
Do you think that a silken tofu or med firm would work alright as well?
I think it would work just fine! I mentioned that I used extra firm because of the nutritional information. 🙂
Is there any sub available for the tofu? I’m not supposed to have processed soy 🙁 also, what does the husk powder do?
Hi Rosy! I’m going to run an experiment to see if peanut butter (or other nut butters) can be used as a substitute this weekend!
The psyllium husk powder basically acts as a binder, and as flour. I haven’t been able to find anything else that can be used as a substitute, unfortunately. 🙁
Look forward to seeing your post with peanut butter — I hope it works as a substitute for tofu! My daughter and I can’t go near soy — she actually breaks out in a rash when she eats it, unfortunately. And I turn into a crazy person when I have it. 🙂
Thanks for all the great inspiration here!
Hi! I totally understand wanting to sub the tofu – those are not great side effects! I just tried the peanut butter and it TOTALLY WORKS!!! I’m so excited, because soy actually upsets my stomach, so I don’t like to have to rely on it. Basically, I subbed in a half cup of peanut butter and increased the water to 1 cup. They needed the full hour to bake, but turned out so good!
YUUSSSSS Thank you so much! I can’t wait to try these! Is the peanut butter flavor noticeable? I wanted something I could spread avocado and salami on in the mornings…
Hi Rosy!! So, the peanut butter taste is still there, but it’s really not as strong as I thought it was going to be! I used them for avocado toast, as well as random sandwiches with mustard and sauerkraut and other salty/savory toppings, so I feel like salami would be similar.
So, in a nutshell – it’s still peanutty, but it doesn’t taste as strong as peanut butter. It’s much more muted, and works with other flavors so much better.
So I made them and 1) I’m a dork and shaped them like cookies and they came out like little balls lol, and 2) They’re AMAZING! Like rye bread almost. The full hour was more than they needed I think bc they’re a bit dry, but they softened up overnight a teeny bit in a tupperware and they have that amazing pull-apart and bounce quality of real bread. Genius.
Thanks for the recipe! I have an egg allergy and low carb baking has been a total bust for me – until this! The most bread-like substance I’ve had so far with this way of eating 🙂
Thanks for the comment, Tania! Without eggs, low carb baking can be such a challenge! I’m glad this recipe worked for you. It’s definitely the product of a loooooot of trial and error…
This is a great recipe and worked really well. I substituted tofu (can’t have soya) with 1/2 small banana – perfect! You can’t really taste/smell it and doesn’t turn sweet. Will also try using sweet potato pure – can only imagine it will work well too! Thank you so much for posting this recipe. Wonderful.
I’m so glad you liked it, Lotte!! The banana idea is genius! I bet you could add some cinnamon to that for just a tiny touch of sweetness. I’d love to know how it turns out with sweet potato!
So have tried with the sweet potato but it didn’t work! They ended up hollow and gooey at the bottom. Used the exact same packs of Ingredients as with the banana substitute so must be the sweet potato. Think I’ll stick to the banana from now on – nice idea with cinnamon will try that. Got my eyes on your pumpkin spiced doughnuts which I’ll try making tomorrow!
Just a quick update!
Substituting banana for tofu works and does not give a sweet taste at all but it need to be firm banana (or maybe even green). Very ripe soft bananas doesn’t seem to work. The rolls end up like with the sweet potato mash hollow and gooey at the bottom. But firm banana is brilliant.
Oooh, Lotte, thank you so much for this update! I’m going to have to try that. I feel like maybe it could work with plantain, too!
Any possible sub for psyllium husk powder? I know in gf baking it and xanthan gum serve similar purposes- could that work?
Hi Chess! I don’t actually know whether xanthan gum would work here. I do know that the quantity would be quite different!
I can definitely run a test something to see, though!
Could you use anything in place of the tofu in this ?
Hi Sophia! This recipe here is the soy-free version of these rolls: https://meatfreeketo.com/low-carb-vegan-bread-soy-free-grain-free-gluten-free/
I hope you enjoy them!
Just made these and they turned out fantastic! Just wondering, are there any restrictions on eating them (i.e., is it okay to consume so much psyllium at once)? I wanted to devour the entire batch! :O
Hi Evie! Thanks so much for the comment – I’m glad you like them!
I would definitely not recommend eating the whole batch at once – maybe just a couple at a time, otherwise you might have some digestive discomfort!
Haha, I have eaten a whole batch in a day though, so it’s not THAT bad.
Mine are in the ove. They really are puffing up! Hope they turn out OK….need a low carb vegan bread as I’m hoping to not use eggs. I pressed some flax and hemp hearts on top.
Ooh, I like the idea of topping them with seeds, too!!
I hope they turn out well! Puffing up is a good sign! 😀
I cut into one too soon, but was able to salvage it a bit in the toaster oven. Taste is good (with Earth Balance smear) but mine turn out dark, like pumpernickel color. Must be the psyllium I’m using as the peanut butter rolls were very dark too, but either way, I’ll make again. May try a hoagie style roll next time with this recipe. Thanks!
I have a silly question – will these hold up in a toaster, after they are completely cooked? I want to freeze some, and would love to toast them. The thought of toasted bread and peanut butter makes me feel like a kid again 🙂 Can’t wait to try this recipe! Thank you so much!
Hi, Elle! Not a silly question at all! I haven’t tried them in a toaster, but they were AMAZING in the toaster oven with some PB spread on after. I think they should hold up to being vertical instead of flat. I hope you enjoy! Sometimes, it’s the little things in life
Sorry for this rally silly question but I am not at all accustomed to using cup measurements (we use metric here in the UK most usually.
I have bought some cups but don’t know how to use them to measure solids like firm tofu. For silken tofu (which I use all the time) it will be easy – mine is like thick yoghurt when mashed (I mash as soon as I’ve opened it up and store it in the fridge like that.)
But firm tofu? Do I mash it or dice it or what before putting it in the cup for measuring?
Many thanks for help
Helen
P
Hi Helen! That’s not a silly question at all! I usually cube it up and put it in the measuring cup. Then, you kind of eyeball the amount of space in the cup that isn’t taken up by tofu and just add a few cubes to make up the difference. You could also mash it like with the silken tofu, and measure that out the same way, especially since this is going to be pulverized for the recipe!
I know it’s not a totally exact thing, like with just weighing things out, but fortunately this recipe has some wiggle room. I hoped that helped! 🙂
Oh thank you so much.
Do think about using metrics sometime in the future won’t you? It’s really does cut out uncertainties, especially in recipes without ‘wriggle room’, and would make your lovely recipes more reproducible.
Your site is lovely.
I have whole psyllium husks not powdered but am fairly sure that 1/3 cup powder and 1 cup whole have the same weight. Do you think I should grind them first?
Thank you, Helen!
On my newer recipes, I’ve been trying to put both where possible. I agree with you, it’s so much more accurate to measure by weight, and so much less confusing!
As for the psyllium, the powder I have isn’t very finely ground at all, so I just weighed out a 1/3 of the cup and it’s 30g!
I think I’m going to start going back through these recipes and adding weights to everything, so thank you for that idea! 🙂
Oh great.
The psyllium (whole or powder) is a great example of why weights are best! There is a factor of 3 difference in volume between whole husks and powder (you can buy it in both of these forms – though whole is the most usual) …. which would make a huge difference to a recipe. So it’s 30g…..thank you. That’s perfect.
Yes, absolutely. This is a great example of volumetric measurements just not cutting it. Thank you so much for the help! I’m going to start using metric weights ASAP. 😀
So…..just to clarify……
Conversion for your own husks would be 90g per cup, so 45g for this recipe?
It sounds more like you have the whole husks rather than the finely ground powder. That’s just as well really, as a healthy upper limit for the intake of psyllium is around 1 tbsp of the husk or 1 tsp powder. So 1/2 cup (8 tbsp) powder for the 4 rolls here would be beyond excessive. Even for the whole husks, 2 tbsp per roll is a lot.
Many thanks for inspiration.
Helen
Hi Helen, thank you for checking on this. It seems like I do have husks based on weight. Serves me right for buying from a bulk bin without looking closely at the label!
Yes, indeed – the 2 tbsp of psyllium in each of these is a lot, which is why I mention limiting them in the notes, as well as drinking water!
Again, I do really appreciate your help here. Oof, I can’t imagine what 3x the psyllium would be like in this…gummy hockey pucks for sure!
Best,
Liz
So 90g husk per cup, and 45g for this recipe? Have I got this right? If so then I can then apply it to your other recipes.
I see you’ve edited the ingredients list! That’s a good idea. I’m sure you know this… but you still have the word powder in the method section and also mostly everywhere in the rest of your recipes which use psyllium.
Have a look at website/recipes by ‘The Rawtarian’. She has some lovely breads made with psyllium and has an article on the topic. I’ve also had an online discussion with her in the comments section……She also has conversions to metric, though her psyllium conversions are a little different to 90g per cup.
H
You are correct Helen! Oh, thank you for pointing that out! I will check out her site and recipes right away. Again, thank you for your help!
I made these and I didn’t follow the directions exactly. I accidentally put all the ingredients in the food processor instead of doing a wet dry method. I cooked them for exactly 1 hour, and when I took them out and cut into them, they completely deflated. The tops were just a shell and the bottoms were chewy. Not sure if they cooked all the way (how can you tell they’re cooked through without cutting in?) or if the mixing was the problem or if I cut into them too quickly. Thoughts?
Hi JP, I’m sorry you’re having trouble with these!
I’ll answer the easier part of this first – usually I can tell these rolls are done because they almost sound a little “hollow” when you tap on the bottom. It also definitely helps to let them cool for a bit before cutting in.
Part of what helps mine rise best and cook evenly is to flatten them to 1/4″ – 1/2″ all around, this way they don’t form as much of a bubble.
While I was recipe testing these, and trying to get the timing right, the first few batches were still gummy, so I split them and toasted them so they could still be enjoyed. 🙂
It could have been the mixture, but it was most likely that they just need to be flattened a bit more. so they cook more evenly.
I hope this helps!
Hi Liz! Thank you so much for this recipe!! I tried to make it yesterday and the mix was really really dry. So they didn’t turn out. My question is, do you press the water out of your tofu? I did and my tofu was really dry, do you think that’s where I went wrong? I can’t wait to try again! Thank you!!
Hi Jennifer, I’m sorry they were dry! I did not press the water out of the tofu, so that is likely the culprit. 🙂
Because moisture levels across brands can vary, you may also need to add 1-2 tbsp of water, especially if it looks dry.