Your brunch dreams are about to come true with THE best Vegan French Toast ever. It's soft, sweet and golden with a texture just like French Toast made with eggs. Made quickly and easily with regular pantry ingredients, in under 15 minutes!
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FEATURED COMMENT
"Without a doubt the best vegan French toast recipe I have tried. My boyfriend adores French toast and since becoming vegan, I have been on the hunt for a recipe that would taste like the real deal and this is it!"
- Julie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ More reviews →
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Raise your hands if you love French Toast? *me! me! me!* It's got to be one of the best vegan breakfast recipes and today I am 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. The texture is perfection. It's like proper eggy French toast only without the eggs!...<Thank you tofu!>
How To Make French Toast Without Eggs
Regular French toast is made with eggs so it is not vegan friendly. However, it is very easy to make a vegan version that is just as good, and some have said even better than the traditional egg version.
To do that we make our vegan French Toast with a custard made from extra firm tofu instead of eggs. It sounds strange but it really works and it's way better than all the vegan versions out there that use ground flaxseeds or cornstarch. And it gets bonus points for being packed with protein!
You see, 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 and it's something that is missing in most vegan eggless French toast recipes.
And that my friends is where my recipe is different. Because it uses extra firm tofu instead of eggs, as the French Toast cooks in the pan the custard starts to set and you end up with the same texture as you would if using eggs. It really makes the world of difference and is why this really is the best vegan French toast recipe. Interestingly I use tofu in much the same way in my vegan quiche recipe and it works just as well.
Ingredients
Here's a quick rundown on what you need to make to make this recipe:
- Extra-firm tofu - It must be extra-firm tofu or you won't get the intended texture.
- Dairy-free milk - Any type you like such as almond milk, soy milk, almond milk, or cashew milk. Preferably unsweetened. If it happens to be sweetened omit the sugar from the recipe.
- Vanilla, cinnamon, salt - All for rich delicious flavor!
- Vegan butter - I recommend adding some to the custard for richness and to use vegan butter to cook the French toast in the pan. This will give it the very best flavor.
- Bread - Crusty, sturdy, good quality bread. More on that below.
A Visual Walk-Through
Can't wait to make this delicious Vegan French Toast? The full printable recipe is below, but first, let me walk you through the steps to set you up for success in your own kitchen. I also recommend watching my recipe video.
1 - Blend up the custard.
2 - Cut bread into thick slices and drench them in the custard mixture.
3 - Fry in a hot pan. Don't turn until a nice golden crust has formed.
4 - You can serve them up as you cook each slice or pile them up on a plate and keep them warm in a very low oven until you've finished cooking the entire batch.
Making In Advance
You can make the custard 2 or 3 days in advance and keep it in the fridge ready to dunk bread into at a moment's notice, and you can also reheat the cooked French Toast slices in a hot pan or a toaster.
However, if you want a really great prep in advance option I highly recommend you check out my Vegan French Toast Casserole. That can be prepped the night before, then left to soak up all of the yummy custard in the fridge overnight. Then when you get up the next day you can pop it in the oven. It's ultra-convenient for lazy weekend or holiday brunches and is always my most popular breakfast recipe during the holidays!
Serving Suggestions
Of all of my vegan tofu recipes, this Vegan French Toast is my favorite. It 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 or vegan brown butter to melt over it too.
It is also amazing served with anyting you'd eat with pancakes, like a dollop of vegan yogurt or whipped vegan ricotta, and fresh berries of choice and a glug of maple syrup too if you are feeling generous!
Or try it with my frozen berry compote, Vanilla Roasted Strawberries, Date Caramel, Vegan Lemon Curd or Blueberry Lavender Sauce.
Recipe FAQs
French Toast is a simple recipe. It's important to use quality ingredients for it to be at its best. Slightly stale, rustic, crusty, white bread like French bread or sourdough, cut into thick slices makes the best French Toast.
That's because it's sturdy with good texture and won't fall apart easily and it has goof flavor. Because it's stale and not fresh it is able to absorb the tofu custard better. If the bread is thin and too soft, like cheap white sliced grocery store bread, it won't absorb the custard well and will fall apart. It also won't have a nice chewy crust and good flavor.
Most important is that whatever bread you use should be a few days old. Fresh bread does not make the best French Toast. This makes it a great recipe for using up any stale bread you might have.
Extra-firm tofu works best in this recipe and if you want the very best results then that's what you should use. Any other type will produce a less texturally realistic result. So just bear that in mind. The taste will stay the same but the texture will be much softer because the toast won't set the same in the pan.
No. A recipe will always say if you need to press the tofu. In this recipe it is being blended up into a wet custard so it doesn't need to be pressed.
If you only have fresh bread you can leave some slices out on the counter overnight. This will dry them out a bit. Or you can put the fresh slices on a baking tray and bake in a really low oven until they are a bit dry.
To make vegan French toast, simply cut the slices of bread into chunky sticks and follow the rest of the recipe as it is. It won't really affect the cooking time at all.
Use gluten-free bread. The custard is naturally gluten-free.
Recipe
Vegan French Toast
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240 mls) dairy-free milk
- 4½ oz (130 grams) extra firm tofu (about ½ a very packed cup)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons sugar , cane, turbinado or white (not brown or coconut sugar)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon OPTIONAL vegan butter , plus a little extra for brushing on the griddle/pan
- 6 thick slices crusty, sturdy, white bread , it should be a couple of days old (use gluten-free bread if necessary)
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.
- Brush the griddle/pan with a little vegan butter (oil can be used instead but butter tastes better).
- 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 preheated griddle or pan. Cook for around 4-5 minutes or until deeply golden, then flip carefully and cook for another 4-5 minutes on the other side, or until deeply golden. Try not to move it or peek until a nice crust has formed on each side.
- Remove from the pan and serve immediately or keep warm on a plate in a low oven until the entire batch is ready.
NOTES
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NUTRITION
This recipe was originally published on February 2nd, 2018. The post has been updated with new information and now I am republishing it for you. The recipe itself remains the same. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for following A Virtual Vegan!
Julie says
How wonderful the french toast was! We had enough mix for two days. Lovely!
Jennifer says
All I can say is “WOW”, just wow! This was so delicious!!
Sheryl says
This recipe is the very BEST French toast I’ve ever made. I’ve made a lot of vegan French toast, too. It is absolutely perfect and if you make a lot and freeze then they come out nice in a toaster oven.
Melanie McDonald says
Thank you so much Sheryl. I'm really pleased you're enjoying the recipe!
Pris says
Can I use this recipe for scalloped potatoes. Of course I would leave the cinnamon and vanilla out of some of the egg mixture.
Melanie McDonald says
I've only ever used it for French toast so don't know how it would turn out. Scalloped potatoes don't generally have egg in them anyway though. Why not just follow a good scalloped potato recipe and use vegan milk, vegan stock, vegan butter and vegan cheese etc.
Adding vegan scalloped potatoes to my recipe to-do list 😉
Gerry says
I have been making this recipe many times. It is so good! More satisfying that normal french toast with egg. Thanks so much for all the work you do for us.
Melanie McDonald says
So pleased you're enjoying it Gerry!
Julie says
This is the best vegan French toast I have ever made. Absolutely delicious. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Melanie McDonald says
So please to hear that Julie! Thank you for leaving a review. It's much appreciated!
Colleen says
We loved this recipe! I'm just curious, though, is it possible to make the custard in batches and freeze it for future use?
Melanie McDonald says
No I wouldn't recommend freezing it. Tofu changes texture and becomes grainy when frozen. It will keep for a few days in the fridge though.
Mandy says
This French toast is the best! Absolute genius coming up with the tofu custard. I have possibly the fussiest three year old in the world but even she can’t resist this one, my 10 year old loves it to. Sooo easy to make as well. Thank you :)
Maraika says
Delicious, and easy to make. A very satisfying brunch.
Colleen says
This french toast was delicious, but no matter what we did, it stuck to the pan. What type of vegan butter did you use?
Melanie McDonald says
I use different butter every time depending on what's in the fridge. Sometimes my own butter recipe, sometimes Earth Balance, Becel, Miyokos or Flora Plant blocks. I've never had it stick. The type of butter shouldn't make a difference. Sounds like you either didn't use enough butter or the nonstick surface of your pan isn't good enough.
Arch says
Can this be baked?
A Virtual Vegan says
It doesn't work so well baked, but I adapted it to make this recipe so follow this instead (it's very similar): https://avirtualvegan.com/vegan-french-toast-casserole/
Kathy says
I tried numerous vegan recipes for French Toast and all were terrible. This one is the best recipe. I have made it many times and will continue to make it.
Isabella says
This recipe is so good I made it 2 days in a row and will make it again, again, and again!
Lindsey says
I’ve been trying different vegan French toast recipes and this one is the winner! I added orange zest as noted in one of the comments and it was great. Thanks!
A Virtual Vegan says
So pleased you enjoyed it Lindsey and thanks so much for stopping by to leave a review. It's much appreciated!
Jasmine says
My. Kids. Couldn’t. Tell. The. Difference! What a win this morning! This was so yummy! Thank you !
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm really pleased they enjoyed it. Thank you!
chlo says
hi maybe a weird question but do i need to press the tofu before blending it? very excited to try the recipe!!!
A Virtual Vegan says
No you don't. Use it straight out of the packet. Hope you enjoy it!