My father had a few breakfast specialties when I was a kid, and one of them was French toast. It wasn’t fancy, but it was always good. Fortunately, dairy-free French toast is very easy to make. A simple milk beverage swap is really all you need! The recipe below is an everyday formula that’s timeless and works with almost any type of bread, including gluten free! It’s also a great way to use up bread that is going a little stale. And I think it’s the perfect easy yet comforting breakfast for this busy time of year.
Special Diet Notes: Basic Dairy-Free French Toast
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, optionally gluten-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, and vegetarian.
For egg-free and vegan French toast, enjoy my Cinnamon-Buckwheat Vegan French Toast or Neal Barnard’s Vegan Vanilla French Toast. If you confuse eggs with dairy, you’re not alone! See this post: Are Eggs Dairy?
- 6 thick slices bread (gluten free, if needed)
- 2 eggs
- ⅔ cup plain, vanilla, or unsweetened dairy-free milk beverage
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
- Pinch salt
- Oil or buttery spread, for cooking
- Put the egg, milk beverage, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg (if using), and salt in a shallow dish and whisk to combine.
- Heat a little oil or buttery spread in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. I use medium or even slightly lower heat on an electric cooktop.
- While the skillet preheats, dunk each slice of bread in egg mixture, thoroughly soaking both sides.
- Place the slices the preheated pan, and cook on both sides until golden. If your slices are quite thick or very saturated with the egg mixture, cover the skillet for a few minutes as they cook to help the slices cook all the way through.
- Serve warm with real maple syrup, buttery spread, fresh fruit, powdered sugar, and/or jam.
Pantry Ingredients & Supplies: Basic Dairy-Free French Toast
More for French Toast Fans
Mini Maple French Toast Casseroles (optionally vegan, gluten-free & allergy-friendly)
Cinnamon-Sugar French Toast Bites (optionally gluten-free, nut-free & soy-free)
Apple Pecan French Toast Muffins (optionally gluten-free & soy-free)
16 Comments
Absolutely the BEST French toast ever! I used soy milk, and it was delicious! Thank you! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
So glad you enjoyed it Chris!
Made this this morning using oat milk. Delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for your feedback Christina!
We loved the recipe. We are soy & dairy free due to baby with intolerance (this is our 3 & they all had it). I love french toast, but my wife isn’t a huge fan. However, she said this was the best she has had (not too eggy to be specific). It is super quick & easy. A lot of recipes have tons of little ingredients that are more specialty items for cooking. This has common ingredients that can found in most kitchens. It has definitely made our short list of breakfast items. Thanks for sharing.
Wonderful! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I’m with your wife – I like it not too eggy! Thank you for the feedback.
We are french toast people! I’ll have to try the French toast bites, too. They are a perfect size for my toddler’s breakfast.
Aren’t those fun?
French toast is one of my family’s favorites. We some of us are dairy-free too. Looks delicious!
in our family, my Grandpa Z was the French Toast Pro – I try to make my mine taste as good as his always did. and I’ve been craving French toast lately – may have to have some this weekend…
Aw, that is so sweet Kristina. I bet he’d be very proud of your French toast!
French toast was always a special treat growing up but today we have to make it differently with all the food allergies. Love all these versions to pick from.
I haven’t had french toast in ages! Probably since it is hard to find a safe bread (sesame cross contact is a problem for me), but I may need to bake a loaf and make some. French toast also reminds me of my childhood. It was one food I started to make on my own 🙂
Ooh, that is rough. I know you aren’t gluten-free, but I think Canyon Bakehouse went sesame-free – don’t quote me on that, but there was a brand that I covered that recently went allergen-safe for sesame, and I think it was them. Caroline at Grateful Foodie knows all the sesame-free stuff!
I LOVE French toast. I haven’t tried putting nutmeg into the egg mixture yet, but I definitely want to try this recipe next time I make French toast.
I love all of these ideas! I always think of French toast as a “special” breakfast. Your French toast variations will bring many special breakfasts to my table.