No eggs? No problem. This vegan French toast recipe is easy to make with simple ingredients. Fluffy, light, and crisp, it's a delicious breakfast.
This vegan French toast recipe is just as good as the classic kind! It’s fluffy on the inside, crisp around the edges, and has a lightly sweet cinnamon flavor. You might think that it takes fussy ingredients to make French toast without eggs, but this recipe is secretly simple. Made with 9 pantry basics and ready in 20 minutes, it’s an easy, comforting, and delicious breakfast.
I first tried vegan French toast years ago (like…25) at the Pick Me Up Café in Chicago. Jack and I went there regularly when we had just started dating long distance and he would come into town to visit. Their vegan French toast was so yummy that it inspired me to make my own version at home.
I originally shared this vegan French toast recipe in 2013. Through years of making it on lazy weekends, I’ve gradually tweaked it to use even simpler ingredients and have a lighter, fluffier texture. I’m sharing an updated version today along with new recipe photos (my 2013 pictures were due for a refresh!). Whether you’re vegan or just out of eggs, I hope you love this recipe as much as I do.
Vegan French Toast Ingredients
You need 9 simple ingredients to make this easy vegan French toast recipe:
- Bread – I like to make this recipe with soft, thick-sliced bread. I try to use a sturdy bread like sourdough, French bread, ciabatta, or vegan brioche rather than flimsy sandwich bread. If you have to use sandwich bread, handle it carefully so that it doesn’t tear after dipping. Stale bread is ideal, as it will soak up the batter like a sponge. In a pinch, fresh bread works too.
- Unsweetened almond milk – It makes up the base of the batter. If you don’t keep almond milk on hand, feel free to substitute another non-dairy milk, like soy milk, coconut milk, or oat milk.
- Cornstarch – The secret ingredient in this vegan French toast recipe! It thickens the batter and helps it coat the outsides of the bread, giving the French toast delicious crispy edges.
- Baking powder – It helps the vegan French toast become light and fluffy as it cooks.
- Nutritional yeast – It adds a savory, “eggy” taste to the French toast batter.
- Maple syrup – For sweetness. You’ll mix a little into the batter and serve the French toast with more on top.
- Cinnamon – For warm depth of flavor.
- Coconut oil – For cooking.
- And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Vegan French Toast
This recipe has three simple steps:
- Making the batter
- Dipping the bread
- Cooking the French toast
Start by making the batter. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, nutritional yeast, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Add the almond milk and maple syrup and whisk until smooth.
Then, dip the bread. Transfer the batter to a shallow dish and dip in the bread slices one at a time, turning to coat both sides.
Pan fry the slices until golden brown on both sides, for about 2 minutes per side over medium heat. If the outsides of the bread start to brown too quickly, reduce the heat to medium-low.
Recipe Tip
Depending on the size of your skillet or griddle, you might need to cook this French toast in batches. If that’s the case, spread cooked slices in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Tent them with foil and hold in a 200°F oven to keep them warm until you’re ready to serve.
Topping Ideas
This vegan French toast is delicious with just a drizzle of maple syrup, but it’s great with other toppings too! Here are a few more options we love:
- Fresh berries, like blueberries, raspberries, or sliced strawberries
- Other fresh fruit, like sliced bananas or these soft cinnamon apples
- Nut butter, like peanut butter or almond butter
- Strawberry compote, blueberry compote, or apple butter
- A dusting of powdered sugar
- Coconut whipped cream
What are your favorite toppings for this recipe? Let me know in the comments!
More Vegan Breakfast Recipes
If you love this recipe, try one of these vegan breakfast ideas next:
- Vegan Pancakes
- Tofu Scramble
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Or any of these 30 Vegan Breakfast Recipes!
Vegan French Toast
Ingredients
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- Sea salt
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup, plus more for serving
- Coconut oil, for the pan
- 4 to 6 thick slices bread, slightly stale
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, nutritional yeast, cinnamon, baking powder, and a tiny pinch of salt. Add the almond milk and maple syrup and whisk until smooth. Pour into a shallow baking dish.
- Heat a nonstick griddle or skillet over medium heat and brush with coconut oil.
- Dip each slice of bread into the almond milk mixture, turning to coat both sides. Place into the skillet and cook for 2 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Reduce the heat to low as needed to cook thoroughly without burning. Work in batches if necessary, brushing the skillet with more coconut oil between batches.
- Serve with maple syrup.
I made this for brunch yesterday, using soy milk, whole wheat pastry flour, butter in the pan and the neighborhood’s best sourdough bread. Needless to say it was a big hit and the table got very quiet as my guests devoured it. Thank you!
Hi David – ha, I’m so glad it was a hit! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Do you think this would work with normal, all-purpose flour or whole-wheat flour? Or does it need to be millet flour?
yep, you can use either kind of flour
I am excited to try this recipe for Christmas morning when my daughter and her boyfriend are visiting from Washington DC. Thank you! And I LOVED the Pick Me Up Cafe when I visited there last time I was in Chicago. Seeing all those vegan options on that huge menu was enough to make me dizzy with happiness!
ha, it was a favorite of ours, for sure :). I hope you have a lovely christmas morning!
Thank you thank you thank you … for someone whose body has decided to stop properly digesting eggs and dairy, I am grateful. I thought this was one food I wouldn’t be having again. It is delicious.
Will this recipe work with regular milk? I can’t use almond milk.
yep, you can use any kind of milk…
awsome recepie! can I make the mixture the day before and keep it in the fridge over night and toast the bread the day of? 🙂
awsome recepie! can I make the mixture the day before and keep it in the fridge over night and toast the bread the day of?
Hi Shaya – yes, the mixture should be just find overnight in the fridge.
I seriously thought there was no way this would taste remotely like french toast, but it honestly tastes better! This is my new favorite breakfast recipe, hands down!!
ha, thanks! I know, I hardly make french toast with eggs anymore 🙂
I have already commented on how great this recipe is but need to add that since then I have made it countless times for others visiting, non-veg eaters and it is still a hit. No one believes me when I say it is vegan. Also, my 11 year old, who used to hate french toast frequently requests I make her french toast now that I use this recipe! Thanks!!
ha, I’m so glad you’re still loving it! Great to hear, thanks for sharing 🙂
I made this tonight and was very pleased! Very simple. I did not have maple syrup so I used cane syrup and agave and it worked out fine (though probably not the way the recipe is intended to taste. I recommend!
I first had this when my husband made it for me for a surprise breakfast. We have made it countless times since then and every time it is incredible. Many of our non vegan family members have since raved about it. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Tried this recipe this morning and was so simple & delicious!
Hi Danielle – so glad you liked it!!
This is by far the BEST vegan french toast recipe I have ever tried, and I have tried many!! Tastes the most like “traditional” french toast. Thank you!!
so glad you liked it! It’s a favorite of ours 🙂
This was fantastic! Thank you!! 🙂 I really missed french toast since I recently found out I cannot tolerate egg! Yum!
Hi Natalie – I’m so glad you liked it!
I’m surprised you managed to make french toast without eggs because when people think of french toast you instantly think of eggs. This is another yummy looking recipe that I’m looking forward to trying soon 🙂
– xx Val xx
http://www.officialvalbarnes.tumblr.com
This looks wonderful. I would have to have a side of bacon with mine.
I do not even want to imagine what was my breakfast 11 years ago. It probably contained a lot of bacon, eggs, among other ‘healthy’ food. It is nice that you have been a vegan for such a long time, and it serves as an evidence that people can really become lifelong vegans.
Your recipe looks delicious. I believe I have tried something very similar on the Winterlicious food festival, although I do not remember if it contained some eggs or not. I’m slowly changing to vegan, so I would like to try your recipe without eggs or other non-vegan ingredients. I hope that baking it will be as easy as with eggs.
I do not even want to imagine what was my breakfast 11 years ago. It probably contained a lot of bacon, eggs, among other ‘healthy’ food. It is nice that you have been a vegan for such a long time, and it serves as an evidence that people can really become lifelong vegans.
Your recipe looks delicious. I believe I have tried something very similar on the Winterlicious food festival, although I do not remember if it contained some eggs or not. I’m slowly changing to vegan, so I would like to try your recipe without eggs or other non-vegan ingredients. I hope that baking it will be as easy as with eggs.
I have been making this weekly for a couple of weeks and everybody in the house LUVS it even has a leftover the next day..
My husband is vegan but I am not. I’m always looking for vegan recipes that we’ll both find delicious–which is particularly difficult for breakfast. This is hands down the best vegan french toast recipe EVER! It is easy to make, beautiful to plate, and absolutely delicious. It’s like a party in my mouth that I never want to end! Thanks for sharing this recipe with us.