This vegan french toast casserole is easy to whip up and tastes delicious! Made with a caramel-like drizzle and cinnamon sugar flavor. It’s the perfect vegan french toast bake.
I love a good french toast recipe, but let’s be real. Making french toast can be a bit of a pain in the butt.
You have to dip each piece of bread and then cook each side; I much prefer making a baked french toast casserole; it’s easy, tasty, and the perfect breakfast.
I’m always looking for a tasty vegan breakfast casserole for Christmas morning or when you have house guests. This is a great one for that!
This recipe is excellent if you need to use some leftover bread that has dried out a bit. Make sure to plan ahead, so the bread isn’t fresh.
If you need to dry out some bread, you can do so in the oven. To dry it out;
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees
- Place the bread on a cooling rack on a baking sheet in a single layer.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Flip and bake for 5-10 minutes
- You want the bread to be dried out, not crispy and hard
If you like things added to your french toast, like dried fruit or diced apples, feel free to play around with the recipe. It’s versatile.
Vegan French Toast Casserole Recipe Q&A
What’s the best bread for french toast?
The most important part of making french toast is that it requires that the bread is a bit dry. Otherwise, you will get soggy french toast.
Here are some options;
- French bread
- Texas toast
- Italian bread
- any thick bread
I prefer using white bread, but you could use whole wheat bread if it fits the description of being thick and dry.
Many people recommend Brioche bread for french toast; however, this is not vegan unless stated, but 9/10 it’s not.
Always, always, always read labels.
Can I make this a gluten-free french toast casserole?
If you need this to be gluten-free, get your favorite thick gluten-free bread and use all-purpose gluten-free flour for the flour in the recipe.
How do you keep french toast casserole from getting soggy?
The best way to keep it from not getting soggy is using day-old bread or stale bread, but really better than stale bread is just dried-out bread.
The dryer the bread, the more it will keep its shape and not be mushy.
But to be honest, I don’t mind soggy french toast, but my kids sure do; the texture is too much for them.
The kind of bread makes all the difference between soggy and non-soggy french toast.
Can you make this an overnight french toast casserole?
I’ve never made this ahead of time; as long as you have dried-out bread, it will be a great make ahead breakfast.
Prepare everything up until the baking, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge until the next morning. It will take a few more minutes to bake due to being cold.
What do you need for this traditional french toast casserole?
Check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full recipe.
- vegan butter
- cup brown sugar
- 12 thick pieces of dry bread
- flax meal +8 TB water (4 flax eggs)
- non-dairy milk (almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, whichever you prefer)
- vanilla extract
- almond extract *or more vanilla
- cinnamon
Topping
- white sugar or brown sugar
- cinnamon
How do you make this vegan french toast casserole recipe?
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees, grease a 9×13 pan with cooking spray, and set it aside.
Take a small cup and combine your flax meal and water; stir until combined, let thicken and set aside.
Cut your bread into even cubes and set aside.
You can do this next step in a microwave-safe bowl or on the stovetop. Either way, combine your brown sugar and vegan butter.
For the microwave, let cook in 30-second intervals until the sugar is dissolved in the vegan butter.
For the stovetop- cook stirring until the sugar is dissolved into the vegan butter.
This will make a semi-thick caramel sauce. Set it aside.
Take a medium bowl and combine the non dairy milk, flax meal mixture, 1 tsp cinnamon, and the extracts and stir until combined.
Pour the caramel you made on the bottom of the greased casserole dish (9×13 pan), then place the cubed bread on top evenly, then pour the non dairy milk mixture over and stir the mixture so all the bread pieces are covered, and the caramel sauce is drizzled throughout.
Combine the 1 TB sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon, then sprinkle over the top of the casserole.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes; check on it at the 20-minute mark and see if you need to cover it with foil if it’s getting too brown.
How do you serve this easy vegan french toast casserole?
Serve warm with a drizzle of maple syrup.
You can also serve however you love to serve french toast with powdered sugar, fresh berries, vegan Nutella, or whatever you love with your french toast.
How do you store eggless french toast casserole?
Leftovers of this french toast casserole should be either covered tightly with plastic wrap or placed in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
You can reheat it in the microwave or the oven until just warm.
Can you freeze french toast?
Yes, let the french toast come to room temperature before placing it in a freezer safe air tight container for up to 3 months.
Let defrost, then reheat in the oven for the best flavor.
Want some other vegan french toast recipes?
Check out these vegan breakfast recipes-
Ingredients
- 6 TB vegan butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 12 thick pieces of bread
- 4 TB flax meal +8 TB water
- 2 1/3 cups non dairy milk
- 1 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract *or more vanilla
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Topping
- 1 TB white sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees, grease a 9×13 pan with cooking spray, and set it aside.
- Take a small cup and combine your flax meal and water; stir until combined, let thicken and set aside.
- Cut your bread into even cubes and set aside.
- You can do this next step in a microwave-safe bowl or on the stovetop. Either way, combine your brown sugar and vegan butter. For the microwave, let cook in 30-second intervals until the sugar is dissolved in the vegan butter. For the stovetop- cook stirring until the sugar is dissolved into the vegan butter. This will make a semi-thick caramel sauce. Set it aside.
- Take a medium bowl and combine the non dairy milk, flax meal mixture, 1 tsp cinnamon, and the extracts and stir until combined.
- Pour the caramel you made on the bottom of the prepared 9×13 pan, then place the bread pieces on top evenly, then pour the non dairy milk mixture over and stir the mixture so all the bread pieces are covered, and the caramel sauce is drizzled throughout. Combine the 1 TB sugar and 1 tsp sugar, then sprinkle over the top of the casserole.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes; check on it at the 20-minute mark and see if you need to cover it with foil if it's getting too brown.
- Serve with maple syrup
Notes
Nutrition
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