Ok, your brunch dreams are about to come true with THE best Vegan French Toast ever! It’s soft, sweet, vanilla scented, golden perfection & all you need to make it are a few simple ingredients & 15 minutes.
Raise your hands if you love French Toast? *me! me! me!*
So why have I not created a Vegan French Toast recipe until now? I think I’ve been failing as a vegan food blogger and today I am putting it right and bringing you THE most amazing Vegan French Toast EVER!
We are talking thick, crusty bread, dunked in thick, sweet custard then pan-fried or griddled until it reaches fluffy, golden perfection.
A couple of slices stacked up with a knob of Vegan Butter and some maple syrup, or some vegan yogurt and berries of choice is quite literally brunch perfection.
Some Vegan French Toast truths
Do you want to know why I haven’t tried to work on a Vegan French Toast recipe before?
I have tried many recipes, from some excellent vegan bloggers but at the end of the day their recipes are always bread dipped in sweet plant-based milk, or a mixture of plant-based milk and chia seeds. Sometime even chickpea flour makes an appearance. All of these are ok, but the results are nowhere near as good as proper eggy French Toast. Sweet milk or sweet milk with some chia seeds stirred in is not custard and just doesn’t do it for me. If I can’t make it as good as the original then I’m not making it at all.
Years of French Toast disappointment and longing have passed. Seriously, it was my favourite brunch prior to becoming vegan. Then, a couple of weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night with an idea.
Yes, I’m weird. I keep a notebook beside my bed because I often wake up with ideas and if I don’t write them down, by the morning they have disappeared into recipe oblivion.
So anyway, my idea worked and here we are.
How do you make Vegan French Toast?
When you make French Toast with eggs, the eggs cook in the custard and start to set. That’s what gives you the soft, melting, custardy centre.
My Vegan French Toast uses tofu instead of eggs and as the French Toast cooks in the pan, the custard starts to set a little and you end up with the same texture as you would if using eggs.
To make the custard all you have to do is:
Add the tofu, plant-based milk, vanilla, sugar, salt and cinnamon to a blender and blend until smooth. It does need to become silky smooth so make sure your blender is up to the job. The last thing you want are lumps of tofu in your custard 🤢 I use a Blendtec blender similar to this one: (<<affiliate link)
Then you are going to cut some big thick slices of 
Get those slices and drench them in the custard, then pan-fry or griddle until absolutely golden brown and crispy around the edges.
I treated myself to one of these Cuisinart Griddlers last year and absolutely love it for recipes like this one: (<< affiliate link)
This totally isn’t sponsored by Cuisinart by the way. I just love this appliance and want to share it with you.
How to serve Vegan French Toast
This Vegan French Toast is absolutely incredible just as it is with a generous glug of real maple syrup. Take it up a notch with a big knob of vegan butter to melt over it too.
It is also amazing with a dollop of vanilla vegan yogurt and berries of choice and a glug of maple syrup too if you are feeling generous!
Or try serving it with my Vanilla Roasted Strawberries or Blueberry Lavender Sauce .
This is why I am loving this Vegan French Toast:
- The texture is perfection. It’s like proper eggy French toast only without the eggs!…<Thank you tofu>
- It’s so tender and rich
- That colour! It’s so golden brown. I did not touch up the goldenness in my photos at all (note that I did brush a little vegan butter on the griddle plates and if you don’t use butter then yours might not turn out quite as golden).
- It is not soggy like many other Vegan French Toast recipes I have tried
- It tastes amazing! (promise you can’t taste the tofu!)
- It’s really high in protein at 10g per slice!
- It’s really filling and keeps you feeling that way for hours!
Ok, time to make all of your brunching dreams come true….Let’s do this!
Vegan French Toast
Ok, your brunch dreams are about to come true with THE best Vegan French Toast ever! It's soft, sweet, fluffy, vanilla scented, golden perfection & all you need are a few simple ingredients & around 15 minutes of your time.
Ingredients
- 240mls / 1 cup plant-based milk *
- 130g / 4½ oz / ½ heaping, very packed cup extra firm tofu **
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons cane sugar ***
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon OPTIONAL vegan butter **** , plus a little extra for brushing on the griddle/pan
- 6 thick (around 1 inch) slices of crusty white bread (a couple of days old) *****
Instructions
Add everything except the bread to a blender and blend until completely smooth.
Preheat a griddle or a pan over a medium/low heat. I set my griddle to 350°F.
Brush the griddle/pan with a little vegan butter (even if it's non stick I recommend doing this as it makes it much easier to keep the golden crust that develops on the bread intact when turning it).
Pour the blended 'custard' into a wide bowl and dip the bread in it. Leave it to sit for around 20 seconds then turn over and leave for another 20 seconds. Make sure all areas are covered, then lift it out and quickly dip the crust around the edges.
Carefully place the custardy bread slices onto the hot griddle or pan. Cook for around 4-5 minutes then flip carefully and cook for another 4-5 minutes on the other side. Try to leave it alone and not peek while it's cooking. If you move it too early the golden surface can get damaged and not look quite so pretty. Keep an eye on it while cooking and if there is any sign of it getting too dark turn it earlier or turn the heat down a little.
Once it is very golden on each side, remove from the pan and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
*choose a neutral tasting milk. Almond milk has a really strong flavour and doesn't work well in this recipe. If you use sweetened milk omit the sugar or use a little less. I like to use cashew milk or soy milk.
**extra firm tofu works best. Firm will be ok if that's all you have. Medium and soft are not advised.
***cane sugar is best, turbinado sugar is 2nd best. Do not use brown sugar or coconut sugar. Maple syrup is ok but best results and better colour come from using sugar.
****the butter is optional but recommended. It makes it slightly richer in flavour and helps with the browning.
*****for the best results the bread you use must be a rustic, crusty white loaf that is slightly stale. Soft sandwich bread does not yield good results, nor does really fresh bread.
Leftover 'custard' will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for 3-4 days. It does thicken up and go a little jelly like. Just add a little milk, put the lid on and give it a good shake or a quick whisk until it's smooth again and the consistency it was originally. Then use again as before.
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DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
If you did, be a ☆ and let me know what you think by rating it and commenting below. Tag me on Instagram too. I am @avirtualvegan and my hashtag is #avirtualvegan
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Dr. Jerry says
This was amazing! My cardiologist put me on a vegan diet and I’ve been looking for recipes for our weekend “fun” breakfast. This French toast was just like traditional French toast but without the guilt. Cooking notes: We used an immersion blender and it worked great; had tofu frappé in seconds. For the bread, we had whole-grain rye bread on hand so that’s what we used ~ it gave the toast a wonderful, nutty flavor.
A Virtual Vegan says
I’m so pleased you enjoyed it and thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. I really appreciate it!
Hanna says
This recipe was great and sooo easy. I used a magic bullet instead of a blender and it was great! I was very impressed with how simple and tasty it turned out.
A Virtual Vegan says
That’s great Hanna. I’m so pleased you enjoyed it! Thank you for stopping by to leave feedback. It’s much appreciated !
Brittany Brown says
Delicious!
Darnetta Izean says
These French toast was so good evening my kids kept asking for more even though they were already full. Since I been vegan breakfast been the only area I struggle with when it come to breakfast we use to eat. Thank you again this recipe will definitely be one of my family request for Sunday breakfast.
A Virtual Vegan says
That’s so good to hear Darnetta. It’s a family favourite here too. Thank you so much for stopping by to let me know. It’s much appreciated!
Kerstin Decker says
what do you mean when you say ” use neutral milk” what do you call neutral?
A Virtual Vegan says
There was a word missing there. It should have said “neutral tasting” milk. i.e one that isn’t strongly flavoured. I like to use cashew milk or soy for this recipe.
Jennifer Klein says
Is this calling for 1/2 c of tofu or 1 cup? I cannot tell with the way it’s worded. Thanks!
A Virtual Vegan says
It’s ½ cup or 130g/4½oz
Tonya says
So. Darn. Good. I used a lovely brioche loaf. It was very fresh and I didn’t want to wait for it to go stale so I sliced and lightly toasted the bread before soaking in the custard. Absolute perfection!
A Virtual Vegan says
Sounds lovely! So glad you enjoyed it and thank you for stopping by to leave feedback!
Cindi says
I think you’ve hit on something here. We all loved it. I made it with the day old homemade whole wheat bread which worked perfectly. The only change I made was using black salt instead of regular salt top give it a little more eggy taste.
A Virtual Vegan says
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed it Cindi!
Kimberly says
I’ve had this recipe twice lately and it’s amazing! I’m allergic to eggs, so I haven’t been able to have “real” french toast in about three years. This was just as good, if not even better than I remember! I added a little nutritional yeast as well. I will definitely be making this again!
A Virtual Vegan says
That’s awesome Kimberley. I’m so glad you are enjoying it and thank you so much for coming back to leave feedback. I really appreciate it!
Lori Shafaye says
Thank you! This is the Best vegan recipe for french toast!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Lori, I’m glad you think so!
Sharon says
Do you drain and press the tofu well before using? And what milk is good to use ? Would Good Karma flax milk work? I usually use that or almond milk.
A Virtual Vegan says
No you don’t need to drain and press the tofu. As for milk, I have no experience of Good Karma milk as it isn’t available here. I have personally never tried flax milk either so have no idea whether it has a distinctive flavour. Any milk that’s neutral and that you like the flavour of will work. Soy and cashew are the ones I tend to use most in recipes. Hope that helps!
Albert Bevia says
This is such an incredible recipe! my wife is vegan so I have tried many vegan french toast recipes, but like you said, they just don´t cut it, making this tomorrow morning for breakfast!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Albert. I hope you and your wife enjoy it!
Vanessa Cassani says
Wow! I’m amazed and proud this recipe was a success. Sometimes it can be difficult to find that egg substitute we use in our foods sometimes.
Dale C. says
Looks amazing, but 221 grams of fiber might kill me :p.
A Virtual Vegan says
I think that might give anyone a poorly tummy! It was a typo. I just recalculated the nutritional info. It’s only about 1.5g of fibre per serving!
Ashley says
This french tiast looks so delicious, thanks for sharing the recipe!🙂
A Virtual Vegan says
You’re welcome. Hope you enjoy it!
Zory says
Hello, do you use regular (refrigerator) block tofu or (Morinu brand)silken tofu?
A Virtual Vegan says
You need extra firm tofu from a regular block.