Quick & Easy Vegan French Toast (No Chia!)

This vegan French toast recipeis light, fluffy, and so delicious — it’s the perfect classic plant-based breakfast! This recipe has just 8 ingredients — aquafaba is the star of the show! — and uses no refined sugar and no chia seeds. Ready within 15 minutes, top with coconut whipped cream and fresh berries and enjoy!

Why you’ll love this vegan French toast recipe

This is going to be your new favorite vegan French toast recipe, and for a good reason (or a few). It’s one of my family’s absolute favorite vegan breakfast recipes (in line with our classic vegan cinnamon rolls and easy vegan Belgian waffles with oat flour!).

Not only is this vegan French toast only 8 simple pantry staple ingredients and incredibly easy to make, but the result is absolutely astounding: this tastes like French toast!! It’s not “eggy,” it’s not soggy, and it’s most certainly not chia-y (which tends to happen with French toast without eggs- the most common egg replacement is chia).

You get the perfect sear on each side, and the cinnamon vanilla flavor is just melt-in-your-mouth heavenly.

The trick? It’s all in how you prepare the ingredients. Think about it. Have you ever watched the Great British Bakeoff? Well, if you haven’t, there’s always a second challenge in which the contestants are given all of the ingredients, but not told how to make the dish. So the results are actually quite funny- they’re all so different!

Same goes with this vegan French toast. If you don’t add the ingredients together properly, your French toast will definitely be more soggy than custard-like!

Which is why this is the best vegan French toast: we’re going to walk through how exactly to get that custard like texture that everyone loves!

How do I make French toast without eggs?

With making French toast vegan, we need to address the egg replacement. Instead of using just flaxseed, we’re actually using a mixture of arrowroot and aquafaba. But first, let’s go over why we’re using aquafaba instead of flaxseed or chia.

Many people really don’t like the taste of chia seed and it never yields a fantastic texture (same goes for flaxseed). To be honest, same here. I don’t really think that it has a great aftertaste, and the only time I enjoy chia seeds are in chia pudding. When it comes to vegan egg replacements, I still with ground flaxseed, aquafaba or applesauce (all three of which I use as my go-to vegan egg replacements in my cookbook).

Some say to use chickpea flour, but the results are again *iffy*. When it comes to this eggless French toast, then aquafaba is the move.

Aquafaba, or chickpea brine, acts as an egg white binder, which we’ll combine with dairy free yogurt to create the perfect vegan egg replacement. And no, it’s not just non-dairy milk sweetened up a bit, I promise.

Now let’s go over the remaining ingredients, because making French toast without eggs or milk may sound a little funny to some people.

Ingredients:

For this recipe, you’ll need the following:

• Vegan bread: Use gluten free bread if needed! I recommend using my easy vegan Challah bread recipe or my vegan Brioche bread for the best tasting vegan French toast! Stay tuned, I will also update this post when my gluten free vegan brioche bread is ready. For now, I recommend using my gluten free sandwich bread recipe!
• Dairy free milk: the thicker the better: I recommend my homemade 5 minutes oat milk or a thick coconut milk from the can. Forager Project’s soy milk is also wonderful!
• Aquafaba: Instead of using ground flaxseed, I actually opted for aquafaba. This is also called chickpea brine or the liquid in your chickpea can! When combined with dairy free yogurt, it actually makes a better “egg” than flaxseed (or chia seed) does.
• Dairy free yogurt: I used Forager Project’s unsweetened vanilla cashew milk yogurt. It’s amazing!
• Arrowroot powder: This helps to achieve a custard texture in the French toast.
• Vanilla extract
• Coconut sugar: You can also swap in maple syrup if you’d like, or you can use granulated sugar. 
• Ground cinnamon

Now you’ll notice we’re using maple syrup in the actual batter of the vegan French toast. This is not a mistake! It honestly gives the best flavor and consistency.

If you’re in the New York/tri-state area, I recommend Crown Maple. However, if you’re not, your local maple syrup will do!

What bread is best for French toast?

It really depends on what you’re going for with your French toast. I grew up with my mom always using Brioche bread, and Jared grew up with always using Challah, so our preferences are different.

In general, an enriched bread, such as Brioche or Challah, works best here, but you can also use ciabatta, sourdough, or an artisan loaf. As long as it’s day old bread, you’ll be perfect!

If you need gluten free, then definitely use a gluten free vegan bread. My favorite is Little Northern Bakehouse.

Overview: how to make vegan French toast taste like the classic:

As with all of my recipes, the full written instructions are found down below in the recipe card, along with ingredient measurements. However, let’s go over the basics here:

1. Whisk together the ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the dairy free milk, aquafaba, dairy free yogurt, arrowroot, vanilla, and sugar. Whisk vigorously to combined.
2. Soak the bread: Then, place one slice of bread into the batter and let it soak for 2-3 minutes. If the bread is very thick, you can soak for longer (up to 10 minutes). You want to really allow the bread to absorb the mixture. Flip the bread and let it soak again for another 2 minutes.
3. Cook the French toast: I recommend using. pancake griddle or a large skillet. Place the soaked bread onto the skillet, and let it cooke for 2-3 minutes, pressing down lightly to sear the sides of the French toast. If it doesn’t look cooked like traditional French toast, allow it to cook for longer. Flip to the other side and repeat.
4. Serve and enjoy!

Can you make French toast in advance?

I wouldn’t recommend making this vegan French toast in advance. It’s best enjoyed immediately after being cooked; you can absolutely freeze French toast for later on. But it won’t taste as good as when it’s served fresh!

You can (and it’s recommended to!) make the brioche bread in advance by at least a day for the best tasting vegan French toast!

Tips for making the ultimate vegan French toast

• Day old bread works best. In France, French toast is called pain perdu, which essentially means lost bread. The recipe calls for day old or stale bread. Essentially, soaking the stale bread in the batter adds back the moisture. If you were to use fresh bread, you’ll get a bunch of soggy slices. Not good!
• I don’t recommend swapping in either flaxseed or  chia seed. I just think that chia seed French toast doesn’t come out as good! Chia seeds, while nutritious, tend to leave an aftertaste that flaxseed just doesn’t have. And flaxseed will leave specks of seeds on your eggless French toast. Using aquafaba and yogurt is truly the best option!
• Feel free to play with the spices! We have a delicious vegan pumpkin French toast that uses pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice blend if you’d like for a more fall or autumn tasting French toast, or even a mix of gingerbread spices for the holidays.
• You can swap in cornstarch for arrowroot powder. They’re both 1:1 replacements for each other. I just tend to have arrowroot starch (or powder- the name is interchangeable, it’s the same product).
• For gluten-free vegan French toast: Swap in my easy gluten free bread recipe!
• Storage: If you have any leftovers, I find it best to store the leftover slices frozen in an airtight container. For reheating ease, you can place a piece of parchment paper in between each slice. Store the French toast for up to 3 month in the freezer.

Eggless French toast topping ideas

Here are a few of my favorite ways to top vegan French toast:

• Coconut whipped cream
• Fresh berries
• Sliced banana
• Chocolate chips
• Maple syrup
• Candied walnuts or nuts or seeds
• Vegan coconut “bacon”
• Drizzle of Biscoff cookie butter
• Peanut butter or cashew butter
• Vegan chocolate ganache
• Homemade vegan Nutella

What are some of the best things to serve alongside French toast?

You can serve this vegan French toast with a homemade berry compote, dairy free yogurt, or go savory, and serve a quinoa or tofu scramble!

You’re just going to absolutely love this vegan French toast as much as I do. If you give it a go, be sure to leave a comment down below, as well as a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ so that others may find this recipe.

As always, I love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there!

Happy French toasting!

More Healthy Vegan Breakfast Recipes:

Easy Vegan French Toast Casserole

Vegan Buttermilk Pancakes

Gluten Free Vegan Belgian Waffles

Banana Bread Granola

Vegan Overnight Oats

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

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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