If you’re in need of a breakfast casserole that is packed with with healthy fats, fibres and protein, then you need to try my Healthy French Toast Casserole Recipe! Delicious, dairy free, and perfect for brunch, you’ll love this recipe!
One of my all time favourite make-ahead brunch staples is french toast casserole. I’ve been making variations on this recipe for years now and serve it up anytime someone comes over for brunch. I love that I can make it easily dairy free for my dairy-free friends, and can also switch it up by adding in different seasonal fruit. This healthy french toast casserole features apples and raisins since we’re now getting into fall, but I assure you that you can easily add what you’ve got.
Table of contents
Why This Recipe Works
Other than being absolutely delicious and healthy, here are some more reasons why you need to make this healthy french toast casserole recipe ASAP!
- Make ahead friendly for easy weekend mornings
- Packed with fibre
- Packed with protein
- Family friendly
- Can easily feed a crowd
Key Ingredients
Eggs — I like using omega 3 eggs just to boost up the nutrition in this overnight healthy french toast casserole.
Unsweetened vanilla oat milk — You use whatever unsweetened non-dairy (or dairy) milk for this recipe.
Whole grain raisin bread — I love raisin bread because the cinnamon-y flavour is just so perfect in this sweet breakfast. But if you can’t find a whole grain version, any good hearty bread will work.
Apples — I like using a sweet apple that holds it’s shape like Cortland, Gala or Fuji, but any apple will work great in this recipe.
Nutritious “Add Ins” — Raisins, pecans, flax, hemp hearts and cinnamon are my go-tos, but again, you can throw in any nuts, seeds, dried fruit you have in your pantry instead
Maple Syrup — This is for the topping and really makes the whole thing bubbly, caramelized and sweet.
Vegan Butter — If you’re not dairy free, feel free to us any kind of regular butter or margarine.
How to Make This Recipe
Step 1: Grease a square 9” baking dish. Then to a bowl, mix together the eggs, oat milk, vanilla, cinnamon and salt.
Step 2: Place the raisin bread pieces into the baking dish, along with the diced apples, raisins, pecans, flax and hemp hearts. Pour the egg mixture over top and toss everything together. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge overnight.
Step 3: When ready to eat, preheat oven to 350 F. Mix together the melted vegan butter and maple syrup and pour over the casserole. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until golden brown on top and there is some bubbling sweet sauce all around the edges.
Allow to sit for at least 5 minutes before dishing in. Serve with yogurt, fruit or more syrup.
Expert Tips
Ideally, you will want the bread to be a little bit stale so it can soak up the egg mixture. If the bread is not stale or dried out, you might end up with a casserole that’s soggy.
If you forget to prepare this healthy french toast casserole recipe the evening before, it’s not a huge deal! The longer you soak the bread in the custard, the softer it’s going to be. If you forget the night before, just let it soak as long as you can (at the very least an hour!) in the morning before baking it off.
This casserole will last for at least 4 days after baking, making it a great breakfast meal prep as well. When ready to eat, I warm it up in the microwave for a quick breakfast or snack and serve it with yogurt and fruit.
Recipe FAQs
I’ve done this so many ways, the sky really is the limit. Here are some of my favourite combinations:
Peanut butter + Chia jam + crushed peanuts on top
Strawberries + nutella + hazelnuts
Peanut butter + chocolate chips + banana
Cherries + chocolate chips + almonds
Mango + pineapple + coconut + cashews
Honestly, I kinda think it’s just semantics. It’s all delish. But I would say a baked french toast is more like whole pieces of bread, and french toast casserole is more like bread pudding (cut into cubes). I prefer the cubed version because I feel each piece gets more soaked in custard and it’s just nice to get those crispy caramelized bits on top and moist spongy insides.
I like to keep brunch simple. If you’re doing this as your “main”, you could do some scrambled eggs, or little egg cups (like these), along with some fruit salad and yogurt.
My kiddo adores this, and because there is a lot of sweet ingredients, there’s no need to add more syrup on top. I also use it as a great way to get some yogurt in on top.
Yes, just make sure to use gluten free bread and you’re good to go.
I have never attempted to make this with flax eggs and I do worry that the flax eggs won’t soak into the bread as well. But if you try it, let me know how it turns out!
More Recipes You Might Like
Want more delicious and healthy breakfast recipes like this healthy french toast casserole recipe
to make for your family? Try these recipes:
- Sweet Potato Breakfast Bowl (Vegan & Gluten Free)
- Vegan Breakfast Casserole (Gluten Free)
- Baby Cereal Protein Pancakes (BLW High Iron Breakfast)
- Everything Bagel Keto Salad for Breakfast and Brunch
Have you tried making this healthy french toast casserole recipe? Leave me a comment below with your thoughts!
Healthy French Toast Casserole Recipe (Dairy Free)
Ingredients
- 6 large omega 3 eggs beaten
- 2 cups unsweetened vanilla oat milk
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Pinch salt
- 8 cups semi-stale whole grain raisin bread diced
- 2 medium apples diced
- ¼ cup raisins
- ¼ cup pecans
- 2 tbsp flax
- 2 tbsp hemp hearts
To top:
- ¼ cup melted vegan butter
- ¼ cup maple syrup
Instructions
- Grease a square 9” baking dish.
- To a bowl, mix together the eggs, oat milk, vanilla, cinnamon and salt.
- Place the raisin bread pieces into the baking dish, along with the diced apples, raisins, pecans, flax and hemp hearts. Pour the egg mixture over top and toss everything together. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge overnight.
- When ready to eat, preheat oven to 350 F.
- Mix together the melted vegan butter and maple syrup and pour over the casserole. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until golden brown on top and there is some bubbling sweet sauce all around the edges. Allow to sit for at least 5 minutes before dishing in.
- Serve with yogurt, fruit or more syrup.
Notes
- Ideally, you will want the bread to be a little bit stale so it can soak up the egg mixture. If the bread is not stale or dried out, you might end up with a casserole that’s soggy.
- If you forget to prepare this healthy french toast casserole the evening before, it’s not a huge deal! The longer you soak the bread in the custard, the softer it’s going to be. If you forget the night before, just let it soak as long as you can (at the very least an hour!) in the morning before baking it off.
- This casserole will last for at least 4 days after baking, making it a great breakfast meal prep as well. When ready to eat, I warm it up in the microwave for a quick breakfast or snack and serve it with yogurt and fruit.
Nutrition
Abbey Sharp is a Registered Dietitian (RD), regulated by the Ontario College of Dietitians. She is a mom, YouTuber, Blogger, award winning cookbook author, media coach specializing in food and nutrition influencers, and a frequent contributor to national publications like Healthline and on national broadcast TV shows.
Maggie says
So delicious!!
Leah says
Hey Abbey! I hope this isn’t triggering, but how do you calculate the calories of these recipes? I’m watching my weight/calorie count so just wanted to know! Love your vids!
Abbey Sharp says
We have a nutrition calculator embedded in our recipe card 🙂