Eggy Bread

Eggy Bread is a savoury breakfast classic along with it’s sweet cousin French toast. This is quick and easy comfort food at its very best. In 12 minutes you can make a savoury souffle’d treat to eat on its own or dressed up as a more hearty meal. I especially love it topped with bacon and maple syrup!

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My Eggy Bread recipe is another of those classic egg dishes that I grew up with. It makes for a brilliant breakfast, quick supper or is great with loads of toppings for a cheeky brunch.

It takes about 12 minutes to make and dirties only one dish and one pan. That’s my kind of speedy dish. My biggest problem is not eating the whole thing before I’ve even sat down at the table. I have the same issue with toast, two slices is just never enough.

What’s the Difference Between Eggy Bread and French Toast?

The difference is simple – eggy bread is savoury and french toast is sweet.

Obviously the dishes are very similar and french toast can be made without anything sweet being added to the egg mix. But it is then generally served with syrup, fruit and/or whipped cream etc.

I’m also inclined to use thicker bread to make french toast whereas I would only tend to use a regular white sliced loaf for Eggy Bread. Make sure to check out my Simple French Toast recipe to see the difference!

I am not adverse to turning my Eggy Bread into a sweeter dish but I would usually do so alongside savoury elements. Think Eggy Bread with bacon, maybe a cheeky fried egg and drenched in maple syrup. Its the best of both worlds!

Both dishes likely evolved from the french dish called Pain Perdu. Pain Perdu is generally made with thick sliced french bread rather than the sandwich loaves favoured in the UK and USA.

How to Serve Eggy Bread

As with pretty much anything involving eggs, or indeed food, I am inclined to involve bacon. My current treat is to use two slices of eggy bread to make a bacon sandwich.

I do also sometimes blow all that I have said above out of the water and have it topped with bacon and maple syrup. If I’m feeling really off the charts, I’ll have a poached or fried egg too – for the runny yolk. You can never have enough eggs.

My Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole is essentially a large baked eggy bread with lots of extras and perfect to make in advance.

Make Eggy Bread into a Feast

I truly believe that you can make any dish into a proper feast! Whether thats a feast for one after work on a Tuesday, a casual feast for four on a Friday evening or a feast for 12 for a special occasion!

Eggy Bread is absolutely perfect to make into a Brunch Feast. try combining it with sliced avocado and roasted cherry tomatoes for a Vegetarian Brunch Feast.

Or stacking up up with bacon and maple syrup like in my photos for something a little meatier. I’d even serve it with some cheeky Pigs in Blankets!

Ingredients for Eggy Bread

Eggs

Any eggs will do. Fresher, older or somewhere in-between.

Bread

My preference is to use a sliced white sandwich bread. You can use a brown or granary bread in a pinch but the flavour will come through quite strongly after cooking.

Eggy Bread is a great way to use up stale bread. So as long as there is no mould happening, this is a fab way to avoid throwing out that forgotten loaf. Or even the crusts.

Milk

Any milk will do. Skimmed, full fat or plant-based. No milk? Use water instead.

Be Flexible

As with most recipes with so few ingredients, there are not too many ways that you can vary the recipe apart from which bread you choose and what you serve it with.

For a sweet option, check out my recipe for French Toast.

I make my Eggy Bread with whole slices of bread. When I was younger, the bread was usually sliced into three large soldiers before dunking and frying. It can also be cute to use a cookie cutter to make pretty shapes out of the bread for kids or presentation. Just try to be mindful of bread wastage when choosing your shapes.

Is Eggy Bread Vegetarian?

Providing you don’t use your Eggy Bread to make bacon sandwiches, this recipe is suitable for vegetarians.

How to Make Vegan Eggy Bread?

It is possible to make Vegan Eggy Bread by substituting the eggs with a vegan egg substitute like Vegan Easy Egg. A plant based milk or water can be used in place of the regular milk.

Do also check the ingredients of the bread being used as many white loaves can contain milk powder etc.

How to Make Eggy Bread Allergy Friendly

This Eggy Bread recipe is nut, onion and garlic free.

Gluten Free: This is a great way to make some of the dodgier gluten free breads significantly more edible! Just be careful when flipping the slices as gf bread will be more inclined to fall apart.

Dairy Free: Substitute the milk for plant-based milk or water.

Egg Free: Use a vegan egg alternative instead of the normal eggs.

Please note that this recipe may contain other allergens not referred to above and any variations suggested have not been tested unless otherwise stated. For more information regarding any dietary information provided on this website, please refer to my Nutritional Disclaimer.

Equipment Notes for Eggy Bread

I like to use a dish large enough to soak both slices of bread side-by-side at the same time. This makes for maximum efficiency! My large lidded pyrex dish is the perfect size but any large dish will do.

For the same reason, I use the largest frying pan that I own to cook the eggy slices. This means that I can cook both slices at once and don’t have to keep moving them around. You could cook the slices one at a time in a smaller frying pan if you need to.

A fish slice spatula is ideal for flipping the slices when cooking. Mine has a head nearly the size of a slice of bread which helps to ensure that it doesn’t break up when turning it in the pan.

A comprehensive list of the equipment used to make this recipe is included in the main recipe card below. Click on any item to see an example. There are no hard and fast rules so many items can be sensibly substituted to achieve the same results.

Get Ahead

I would not recommend soaking the bread in the egg mix too far in advance. The bread will start to break down quite quickly and turn into bready scrambled eggs in the pan.

You can however part cook the eggy bread then leave it in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to eat. Simply reheat in a frying pan and finish the cooking process.

It is likely that you can cook frozen eggy bread from frozen on a low heat but I have not actually tried this yet.

Leftover Eggy Bread

I generally err on the side of only cooking the amount of Eggy Bread that I’m going to immediately eat or serve so leftovers don’t tend to be an issue.

However you can treat any leftovers the same as you would if you were cooking in advance. Chill or freeze the eggy bread until you wish to reheat and eat.

Eggy Bread Tips

Lower and slower cooking is the key to a lovely souffled middle. Cooking too fast will leave the outside too crispy and the centre filled with raw egg.

Try not to move the slices around the pan too much. Leave it be and a lovely crust will form.

If making a large batch, sit any cooked slices on a plate in a very low oven while cooking the remaining batches.

Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you try making this recipe – I want to know what you think and if you made any substitutions, how did it turn out?

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