Lemon and Walnut Crusted Tempeh

Vegan Lemon and Walnut Crusted Tempeh with lemon-thyme butter.

This lemon and walnut crusted tempeh makes an amazing vegan main for Thanksgiving or Christmas. It’s full of flavor and awesome texture, it’s easy to make, yet it’s so impressive and elegant. Plus the kitchen is going to smell absolutely heavenly. The simple combination of lemon zest, fresh thyme and toasted walnuts go so well with steamed tempeh, it totally blew me away. Trust me, you won’t regret trying this recipe!

This is an extra special recipe here today, because the lemons you see on the pictures are the world’s most special lemons. 💛

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen that my grandparents have visited me 2 weeks ago. It was their first time flying and also their first time in Germany, it was a really precious time. They were so excited about the city (and of course about spending time together), my grandpa’s eyes were sparkling so much when he saw those big ships at the harbor. Don’t wanna sound too cheesy but it was a blessing to see this cute old couple around us, seriously.

Anyways, back to the lemons.

These two beautiful babies were growing on my parents’ lemon tree. I don’t remember when they got that tree exactly, but I’m pretty sure I was still a child when a friend of them gave it to the family. Ever since they love that tree A LOT, despite the fact that the tree was never very thankful for all the care….yep, it doesn’t really want to grow lemons. You can imagine, there’s even this running joke in my family about those few lemons ever grew on the tree, that cost hundreds if not thousand of dollars.

This year they had two gorgeous lemons growing on the tree. Two beautiful, sweet and juicy lemons. My parents would never admit it, but I feel like this tree is like a child to them (especially since me and my sister moved out), a child that they are seriously proud of. And those lemons are like a perfect school report card at the end of the year. Making them extra proud.

So….you’ve probably guessed it already what was in my grandparents’ suitcase when they visited me….Exactly. The two beautiful lemons!

So yes, these lemons are for sure the world’s most delicious and cherished ones. And yes, probably also the most expensive ones.

I had about 1000 ideas in the past 2 weeks what I should do with them, but none of them seemed good enough. I was thinking about just eating them as an orange, but it felt somehow wrong. I didn’t want to make something sweet either, because sweet recipes are never as appealing to me as a savory one. I knew I want to make something using tempeh and nuts, since those are some of my favorite ingredients. And I also knew I want to make something festive and unique, because these lemons really deserve a bit of honoring.

Very long story very short, I feel like this lemon and walnut crusted tempeh recipe is the proper way to celebrate these beauties. I hope you’ll like the recipe too.

If you try this recipe, let me know! I would highly appreciate if you could leave a comment and rate it. Also don’t forget to take a picture and tag it on Instagram (use the hashtag #greenevi) or post it on Facebook! I love seeing what you come up with! ♥︎

Lemon and Walnut Crusted Tempeh

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5 from 1 review

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Yield: 4 1x

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 400 g/14 oz tempeh

For the crust

• 1,5 cups of walnuts
• 1 tbsp lemon zest (zest of 1 lemon)
• 1,5 tbsp fresh thyme
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup of chickpea flour
• salt, pepper

For the lemon butter

• 2 tbsp melted vegan butter
• 1 tbsp lemon zest (zest of 1 lemon)
• 2 lemons, juice
• 1 tsp fresh thyme
• salt, pepper

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Instructions

Tempeh

1. Cut tempeh into 8 equal slices. Place tempeh slices in a steamer basket, and cook for about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile add walnuts, lemon zest, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper to a food processor, and process until you get a coarse mixture. I like to keep some larger chunks, but feel free to blend it finer. Transfer mixture to a bowl.
3. In another bowl whisk together chickpea flour with about 1/2 cup of water. You need a pancake batter consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Dip a slice of slightly cooled tempeh into the chickpea mixture, then pat the walnut mixture onto tempeh, until completely coated. Place tempeh on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining slices. If there’s any walnut left, just spoon it over the slices.
5. Bake tempeh at 200°C/400ºF for 10-12 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

Lemon butter

1. In a small bowl whisk together melted butter, lemon juice and zest, and thyme. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Serve crusted tempeh warm drizzled with lemon butter. Enjoy!

Notes

If you don’t want to use vegan butter, a simple lemony tahini sauce works great here too. Just whisk together tahini, lemon juice and zest, season it with thyme, salt and pepper, and adjust consistency with a bit of water.

• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Category: Main
• Cuisine: Vegan