The best vegan French toast is crispy on the outside, tender on the inside and makes the perfect breakfast! You won’t miss the eggs at all.
When I was first thinking about making vegan french toast, I really had no clue how to make this happen. I mean french toast is just so…..eggy. Like…how would you do this without eggs?
Well the answer turned out to be a little chickpea flour with non-dairy milk and a few other ingredients to mimic the ‘eggy’ flavor. And wow, it works so well!
Chickpea flour works wonderfully to create ‘eggy’ dishes, we’ve used it for our vegan scrambled eggs and our vegan omelette.
Of course it’s not like what you’re used to, if what you’re used to is the regular (egg) version. But I tell you, it works. And it’s damn tasty.
How To Make Vegan French Toast
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
This recipe is super easy and takes only around 30 minutes or less from beginning to end, which is the way I like it.
Just whisk up the wet ingredients in a bowl and slice up some bread into thick sturdy slices.
Dip the bread in the wet mix (both sides) and then fry it in a hot frying pan with a little coconut oil.
The frying pan should be very hot and the combination of the mix that you dip the bread in, plus the coconut oil creates the perfectly browned result you see here. It’s crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, with a deliciously light flavor.
You will love this vegan french toast for its perfectly sweet taste and mix of subtle flavors, its texture, and how quick and easy it is to make.
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
Chickpea flour. We used chickpea flour but you can also make this with all purpose flour. I have tested this recipe with all purpose flour and I found it worked just as well. Chickpea flour is a little more suited to an eggy vibe, but it’s not a huge difference. So whatever you have on hand will be great.
Nutritional Yeast is a very versatile ingredient. It can be used to create cheesy flavors, buttery flavors AND eggy flavors! Of course it’s here for eggy flavor.
Black Salt: We used regular salt in this recipe but if you happen to have some black salt aka kala namak on hand, then you can use half black salt and half regular salt. Black salt isn’t actually black at all, but is a salt that has a very strong eggy taste. It’s quite miraculous. It’s not at all crucial in this recipe, but if you have some on hand you can use it.
Sturdy Bread: The first time I tried this recipe the only bread I had on hand was pre-sliced sandwich bread, and that struggled a bit to stay together. Soft, thinly sliced sandwich bread is an issue because as soon as you dunk it in the batter it will want to break apart. So you really need a sturdy sort of bread that you can slice thick. If it’s a bit stale too that’s even better.
I used a sourdough bread for this recipe that had also been sitting for a couple of days so it was a little stale. That was just perfect for this recipe.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve it plain or with some maple syrup, or if you want to get a bit fancy, some jams, vegan whipped cream and fresh berries! It’s a pretty fine breakfast no matter how you serve it.
Make Ahead & Storing
You can prepare the ingredients in advance and keep the dipping mix in the fridge until you’re ready to start. However, I would not fry the French toast in advance, because that needs to be served warm and crispy.
This recipe does not store or freeze well, so it’s best served hot and fresh.
More Delicious Vegan Breakfast Recipes
- Vegan Quiche
- Vegan Pancakes
- Vegan Banana Bread
- Vegan Waffles
- Vegan Blueberry Muffins
- Super ‘Eggy’ Vegan Tofu Scramble
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan French Toast
Ingredients
- 1 cup Soy Milk (240ml) or other non-dairy milk
- 4 Tablespoons Chickpea Flour
- 2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast Flakes
- 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Salt or ¼ tsp black salt / kala namak and ¼ tsp regular salt*
- 6 Slices Bread Thick sliced
- Coconut Oil For frying
Instructions
- Add the chickpea flour (or all purpose flour if you’re using) to a shallow bowl and add just a dash of soy milk and mix in until smooth. Then add the rest of the soy milk.
- Add the nutritional yeast, maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt and whisk together.
- Heat up a frying pan with some coconut oil.
- Soak a slice of bread in the batter for a few seconds on each side, and then place onto the frying pan to cook until browned on each side.
- Serve as is or drizzled with syrup or jam and topped with vegan whipped cream.
Video
Notes
- Black salt – if you have black salt aka kala namak on hand then you can use half black salt and half regular salt. Black salt adds more ‘eggy’ flavor to recipes.
- Coconut oil – I find coconut oil to be very helpful in getting the outsides nice and browned and the most similar to ‘regular’ French toast. I added a bit more coconut oil (around one teaspoon) with every slice of french toast.
- Stale, sturdy bread – I used a sourdough bread that was a little stale. Cut thickly it made the perfect kind of slices for making french toast. You will definitely get the best results if you choose a sturdy kind of bread (not soft sandwich bread) that you can slice thickly, and it’s also ideal if it’s a little on the stale side rather than ultra fresh.
- Nutritional information – is for one slice of French Toast, served as is, no additional toppings.
- This recipe was first published in February 2016 now updated with a few added tips and tricks!
- Recipe adapted from Peta.
I’ve been vegan 7 years and this is by far the best french toast recipe out there, vegan or not. Perfect blend of flavours, crisp sides, and soft fluffy interior. I made it to a T with my own french bread and they were perfect.
Thank you so much! 🙂
i made this then cooked it in a waffle maker. it was soooooo freaking delicious and easy. also, it’s all stuff you probably already have in the house!
Oh awesome! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
I made this for my very much non vegan dad who loved it! He said it was better than real French toast… of course he ate it alongside of bacon and eggs!
Hi Rosey! That is great news! So glad he enjoyed it, and I always see it as a big success when a non-vegan starts to realize that vegan food can be just as good, it starts to open their minds just a little bit more towards it. Thanks so much for the wonderful review! xo
This is BY FAR the best vegan French toast recipe I was able to find. It tastes amazing! However, make sure you’re opening doors and windows when making those. I don’t know if it’s just me but it leaves behind the GROSSEST smell ever that I cannot stand and it’s also soooo strong. Still totally worth it if you’d like to eat some delicious French toast though 🙂
Hi Ana, so glad you liked the recipe! I usually do open the windows because frying with coconut oil things can get a bit smokey in the kitchen. But there shouldn’t be a bad smell, unless it’s just the coconut that’s clashing with you a bit. You can try frying in vegan butter if that makes it better. 🙂
Just tried this recipe and my vegan boyfriend loved it. I had to start over, however, after Step 1. I’m not sure why you would want to add “just a dash of soy milk” to the chickpea flour and “mix in until smooth.” In my experience that’s not how you get a smooth mixture; you get a clumpy or crumbly mixture — and that’s what happened to me.
I started over and, instead, mixed (with a wire whisk) all the liquid ingredients together and (separately) all the dry ingredients together. I then _slowly_ added the dry to the liquid as I mixed the batter constantly. That yielded a nicely blended batter that I could soak the thick bread slices into.
Tip: Place the soaked six slices of bread on a plate and then cook them two at a time on the stove, not crowding them. If you have extra batter, spoon a little bit on the slices after you place them in the pan. High temperature is key, I found, to brown them nicely — but watch that they don’t burn. After they’re cooked, place them on a plate in a 250 degree oven to keep them warm, and then cook two more, and so on till done. That way you can present a plate full of warm French toast to your guests and eat along with them rather than hanging out by the stove cooking more.
As a previous person commented, I did notice the nutritional yeast — more as an aftertaste — so next time I may use half the amount instead.
Hi Stefan, thanks for sharing your experience with the recipe and your tips. I usually do it this way with all flours, start with a smaller amount and create a thick paste and then add the rest and whisk. But definitely glad it worked out well for you in the end and thanks for your review. 🙂
Alison! These are sooooo tasty! Thanks so much for the recipe (-: It’s honestly been years since I had good French toast, I’ve tried a handful of vegan recipes and gave up for a while (which is why I’m so hype lol). Anyway for whatever reason this morning I was really craving French Toast & now this will for sure be my go-to recipe. Only subs were a lot of cinnamon & switching the flours for what I had in my pantry. I was worried because the Sourdough I get is fresh & I always use the bread cutter when I purchase the loaf so they were cut in about half an inch slices and it still crisped up really well. Super quick & super delicious! Take Care.
So wonderful to hear that Candace, thanks so much for the awesome review. 🙂
What is the white cream you put on top looks delicious?
It’s vegan whipped cream. You can make it yourself (vegan whipped coconut cream) or use a store-bought variety of vegan whipped cream. 🙂
Very yummy! I was a little hesitant on the nutritional yeast, because I don’t like the smell or flavor. But I couldn’t even notice it specifically in the dish! I thought it was perfect- super crispy and fluffy, and we will add this to our list of recipes when we have non-vegans over. My husband noticed the nutritional yeast, so we may try without next time to see what he thinks. We used all purpose flour instead of chick pea flour, and it worked great! Thanks for the recipe and tips for the bread!
Wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing, great to hear it was a hit! 🙂
Mine has been in the pan for a while and is really soggy still! wet on the inside, I think my bread is too soft and thick. I’m going to leave it for a while and see what happens!
This looks like the perfect french toast! Amazing!
Thank you! 🙂
I just recently discovered your page, and WOW!!! Everything looks amazing!!! Can`t wait to try them.
Can you sub chickpea flour with any other flour??
Great! Yes, sure you can switch it for another kind of flour no problem.
Honey isn’t vegan. 🙁
Oops – nevermind – just noticed it’s date honey. My apologies. Looks yummy.
No worries! Yes, I love date honey, it only has one ingredient: dates! And it’s generally a lot cheaper than maple syrup. But it’s not available everywhere so maple syrup is great when you can’t get date honey.
What kind of bread do you use? Doesn’t most bread contain eggs???
No, most bread is vegan. Some breads contain dairy but very seldom eggs. Just check with your bakery for which breads are vegan, I’ve never been short of options.
delicious!!?
My little girl loves this whole concept!
Simple and tasty