Easy Vegan French Toast Casserole (Overnight Option)
This easy baked vegan French toast casserole is a perfect no-stress holiday breakfast recipe! With sweet notes of cinnamon and vanilla, this vegan custard-y casserole bake tastes just like the classic!
The best custard-y French toast casserole without eggs
If you’re vegan (new or seasoned!) and think that you can’t still have French toast, then think again!
This super easy vegan French toast casserole tastes just like the traditional French toast casserole yet is entirely eggless, dairy free, nut free, soy free, and can easily be made gluten free.
Like my easy vegan French toast, this is one of the best vegan breakfast recipes to convert any vegan skeptics in your life. It’s a perfect sweet baked casserole dish to serve alongside some savory favorites, like vegan quiche or chickpea scramble.
Or serve it alongside vegan monkey bread, classic vegan cinnamon rolls, and vegan chocolate pancakes!
The vegan French toast pieces bake to this beautiful and deliciously sweet custard texture, and drizzle with a bit of maple syrup, everyone will be asking for a slice. And if you need gluten free, not to worry- there’s an option for that (and for my gluten free vegan cinnamon rolls as well!).
This specific vegan French toast bake is one of my family’s all time favorite Christmas morning breakfast recipes because it’s so easy to make, you can make it ahead of time (the overnight option!), and it’s zero stress (no fancy or special ingredients needed!).
Easy vegan French toast casserole ingredients
In order to make this easy French toast casserole completely eggless and not to mention, vegan overall, we’ll need to make a few ingredient swaps!
Don’t worry, it’s super easy. In fact, these vegan French toast casserole ingredients are most likely already found in your cupboard. That’s what makes this such a wonderful and easy holiday breakfast. You don’t need to go searching for anything fancy in the stores!
Just use what you have on hand.
For this easy vegan French toast casserole, you’ll need:
- Day-old bread: I recommend using this amazing vegan challah bread, or vegan brioche bread. If you’re gluten-free, you can use this amazing and easy gluten-free bread here as well. We really do need day-old bread, however, so that the bread is slightly dry and willing to re-absorb some liquid from the French toast casserole batter.
- Cornstarch: we’ll mix this with the dairy free milk to create an egg replacement. You can also use arrowroot starch as well. Cornstarch and arrowroot starch are fantastic egg replacements in vegan baking, making it a great sub for this alternative French toast casserole recipe (instead of using chia eggs or flax eggs).
- Dairy free milk: any non-dairy milk will work here! I like soy milk, oat milk, or almond milk for a neutral taste. Coconut milk will also work, but note that it will leave a more coconut flavor in your French toast casserole.
- Aquafaba: This is very similar to egg whites in vegan baking, and will help to give the baked French toast casserole structure.
- Maple syrup + coconut sugar: I also love this vegan French toast casserole with brown sugar for a richer flavor.
- Vanilla extract
- Cinnamon: Like my vegan pumpkin French toast, you can also swap in pumpkin pie spice (also referred to as pumpkin spice with some brands) as well!
- Vegan butter: This will add a richer flavor to your vegan French toast.
Of course, for serving, you’ll need a few extras! If you’re making this for a vegan Christmas breakfast option, I recommend serving with a bit of nutmeg even, and definitely some more maple syrup and coconut whipped cream!
Fresh berries or chocolate chips are also a really fun way to enjoy this vegan twist on a traditional French toast casserole!
What bread should I use for vegan French toast casserole?
Vegan challah bread or vegan brioche work perfectly here. It makes this vegan French toast casserole taste just like a traditional one made with eggs and dairy. Seriously, no one will know!
I also have an amazing gluten free bread recipe that is absolutely perfect for this recipe.
The one thing that I advise against is using super soft sandwich bread. That’s a big no no. The reason being is that the bread will get way too soggy and will end up more like mush than deliciously sweet and custard-like French toast.
I love using sourdough bread of French bread loaf here. The sweet notes that are typically associated with French toast paired with the slight tanginess of the sourdough make this vegan breakfast option just irresistible.
How to make vegan French toast casserole:
I think you might be slightly surprised at how easy it is to make this vegan French toast casserole. There’s even an overnight option so that if you’re making this for a holiday or Christmas brunch, you can effortlessly just bake it right before you eat!
The full instructions for preparing this French toast bake, along with the ingredient measurements are listed down below in the recipe card. However, let’s go over the basics:
- First, prepare the bread: you can roughly cube the bread or slice it, and place it in your greased baking dish. I recommend a 9×13″ baking dish.
- Next, create the vegan French toast mixture: whisk the ingredients in a medium or large mixing bowl.
- Then, pour the mixture over the bread: use a large spoon to lightly toss any uncoated pieces.
- Cover the casserole dish and place it in the fridge: we’ll go over the overnight option in the next section. Basically this will just need to soak for an hour while you preheat the oven.
- When ready to bake: place the vegan French toast casserole dish into the oven and bakecovered at first. After 30 minutes, you can remove the cover to bakeuncovered for the final 10 minutes (40 minutes total).
- Serve! This sweet breakfast casserole is perfect for Christmas morning, or a big holiday brunch!
Overnight French toast casserole option
If you’re making this baked French toast casserole for a vegan Christmas breakfast or vegan holiday brunch option, then you might want to try the overnight option.
Making overnight French toast casserole is essentially just splitting the recipe steps in half.
You’ll make the vegan French toast up until you place it into the fridge covered. Then instead of preheating the oven right away, you’ll just let the French toast casserole soak overnight.
Whenever you’d like to serve the French toast casserole, you’ll just bake it 40 minutes prior to the breakfast time the next morning!
Toppings:
Here are some of my favorite topping ideas:
- Fresh berries, like strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries
- Coconut cream, homemade coconut whipped cream or store bought vegan whipped cream
- Chopped pecans (or walnuts, cashews, or almonds!)
- Maple syrup
- Dairy free yogurt
- Powdered sugar
- Chocolate chips
What to serve with French toast casserole
In my family, we always do big spreads for the holidays, so accompanying this casserole will often be homemade vegan waffles or fluffy vegan buttermilk pancakes (always more sweets haha!).
You could even do a big tofu or chickpea scramble with some roasted Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes too, if you need more of a savory balance!
You are just going to love this easy vegan breakfast casserole as much as I do! If you make this vegan French toast casserole, let me know how it went down below in the comments section, as well as giving it a rating so that others can find it!
As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there!
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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
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Easy Vegan French Toast Casserole (Overnight Option)
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 10 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This easy baked vegan French toast casserole is a perfect no-stress holiday breakfast recipe! With sweet notes of cinnamon and vanilla, this vegan custard-y casserole bake tastes just like the classic!
Ingredients
- 1 loaf vegan Challah bread or vegan brioche (450 g), gluten-free if needed*
- 2 1/2 cups (360 mL) dairy-free milk
- 1/2 cup (120 mL) aquafaba
- 1/2 cup (110 g) coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (60 g) cornstarch or arrowroot starch
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp vegan butter, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Prep: Grease a large baking dish (about 9×13″) with olive or coconut oil. Roughly chop the bread slices into cubes or slice, and place them into the dish. Set aside.
- Make the batter: Whisk the dairy free milk, sugar, aquafaba, cornstarch, maple syrup, vegan butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and sea salt together.
- Soak: Pour the mixture over the cubed bread and use a large spoon to gently toss any uncoated pieces. Cover the dish with aluminum foil or an oven-safe casserole cover and place in the fridge to soak for at least 1 hour. About 45 minutes in, check the slices and flip them to evenly coat. After about 30 minutes, you can begin to preheat the oven to 375F (see notes section for overnight option).
- Bake: Once preheated, remove the French toast dish from the fridge and place into the oven, still covered. Bake covered for 30 minutes, then remove the cover for the last 10 minutes.
- Serve: Remove from the oven. Serve with powdered sugar, coconut whipped cream, maple syrup, fresh fruit, and extra cinnamon!
Notes
Overnight Option:
- If preparing this for an overnight option, make the recipe up until Step 3.
- Leave the French toast casserole in the fridge covered overnight. Then when ready to finish, preheat the oven to 375 and follow the directions from Step 4 on.
Gluten Free: Use gluten-free bread for gluten-free French toast casserole.e
My partner and I made this with cinnamon raisin bread and brown sugar (we were out of coconut) – it was lovely! We actually made it ahead to reheat in the mornings, and that worked perfectly (especially good with a slab of vegan cream cheese and some extra cinnamon on top). Thank you!
Aw that’s WONDERFUL!! LOVE the addition of the vegan cream cheese on the cinnamon raisin bread- that sounds incredible!! Thank you for the review, and enjoy!
Can we use regular egg?
Yes! The ratio is 1 egg = 1 tbsp flax 🙂
Can we replace the aquafaba with egg? How many eggs would that equate to? Thanks!
Hi Jennifer! I haven’t tried using eggs because I’m truly vegan- however, 1 egg is usually equivalent to 3 tbsp of aquafaba, so just under 1/4 cup. There are about 8 tbsp of aquafaba in the recipe, so probably around 3 eggs, or a little more. But I can’t guarantee results because I truthfully have not baked with eggs in over 8 years since going vegan. I hope this helps!
Made this for my non vegan husband. Very yummy! He even had seconds!
This is wonderful!! So happy to hear it 🙂 Thank you for the review!
Another question – does the aquafaba need to be whipped?
No need to whip the aquafaba! 🙂
Hi! Is the overnight or instant bake option better to avoid soggy bread?
They’ll both avoid the soggy bread once baked! 🙂 The overnight option is just if you want something that you can pop into the oven first thing in the morning without having another thought 🙂