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 recently went vegan and this recipe is amazing!
I just made your vegan french toast for breakfast this morning. Oh my goodness they are absolutely delicious!! We enjoyed every bite! Thank you
I’m so glad you loved it!
Finally have found my go-to vegan French Toast recipe! French Toast was my favorite breakfast before going vegan over 3 years ago and this is the first recipe that I have found that I actually enjoy as much as the original! Thank you so much for posting! I do add some vanilla extract but I add it to just about every baking recipe I make!
Followed the instructions exactly, and never have I ever had a recipe turn out so terrible. It was a complete mess to cook, never actually toasted and was just mush. And I tried to toast it to the point where my house raised a total of 4 degrees. Not the recipe I hoped for.
So sorry you didn’t enjoy this one.
this recipe give me good idea for breakfast I’m getting board with English muffin have morning. Thank you for this very good ideas
Love this recipe so much! It’s now my go to!! Thank you!!
I’m so glad you loved it!
This is the best vegan French toast recipe! I add a little black salt and it’s as good as I remember French toast being before being vegan! Better even… thanks so much for being such an inspiration!
Hi Sophie, I’m so glad you loved it!
Thanks for the recipe! My 7 yo son said, “this is the best thing I have eaten all summer! You could open a restaurant with this.” Lol! ?
I use regular bread instead of the suggested ciabatta and I didn’t see till the end that you are supposed to use thick bread it came out very soggy and inedible.
You definitely need thick ciabatta bread (about 3/4 inch thick) like the recipe calls for. I think you’ll really like it with that type of bread.
I also used a regular Texas toast bread, and it was soggy at first. A fix for this, is to then put it in the oven at 375* for 10-15 minutes. Firms up the texture. My kids loved it!
Great
we love your skills,
keep sharing!
Recipe was spot on I usually see recipes that includes chia seeds but this was easy delicious and simple
Hi Tasia, I’m so glad you loved it!
You are an angel for posting this recipe. I was looking for vegan breakfast ideas and found yours. I have made your recipe just with good bread, almond milk, maple syrup, nutritional yeast and a pinch of salt. It turned out amazing. My fussy son loves it. Don’t know how to thank you enough for the recipe idea.
Hi Eleina, I’m so glad you both loved it!
If you are like me, gluten free and vegan. I can only get sandwich type bread. Pop your slices in the toaster first and get them nice and toasted. They hold up well then for making French toast. Also I highly recommend buying some kala namak known as black salt. It’s sulfur content makes eggless food taste just like egg, if you are trying to win over meat eaters.
These are perfect! This comes from an egg lover….
I forgot to mention that I used multigrain sourdough bread from Trader Joe’s and it was perfect!
Just made this and it is sooo yummy! My 19 month old granddaughter and I are loving it! I topped with wild blueberries, a drizzle of real maple syrup, and I put a scoop of almond butter on the side to “dip” into. Oh my, so delicious! This is the only french toast recipe I’ll use from now on. It’s the only one I need! Looking forward to checking out more of your recipes. Thank you so much Jeanine! Have a wonderful day!
Hi Maureen,
Yay! I’m so glad you both loved it so much!
Wow! This was so delicious! I rarely ever post reviews but had to here because I’m so impressed.
(I ran out of ciabatta bread halfway through and had to use normal white bread. The bread didn’t fall apart at all, but I did prefer it with ciabatta bread because the thick crust gives it a firm crunch.)
Thanks for such a great recipe. I’m newly vegan and missing a lot of my old foods. To skeptical new vegans: this has completely fulfilled my craving for French toast!
This was delicious! Thank you for sharing!!
I’m so glad you loved it!
Great recipe! I’ve been making these for years and dont know why I haven’t left a review until now! Everyone that I make these for are always blown away! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THESE ❤
Ha ha, thank you for letting me know how much you’ve loved it!! ❤ ❤
Why add the nutritional yeast……….
it adds a bit of “eggy” flavor that’s in traditional french toast