Homemade French Toast – A No Fuss Recipe With 4 Ingredients

If you are looking for a simple yet delicious, no-fuss homemade french toast recipe without all the frills, then this is the one for you! With only four basic pantry ingredients, you can enjoy delicious slices of french toast in no time at all!

In fact, you go from separate ingredients to a fully cooked breakfast in as little as 15 to 20 minutes. That’s huge if you don’t have hours to spend in the kitchen preparing a home-cooked hot breakfast.

This homemade french toast recipe even works great for dinner as well. (Who doesn’t love breakfast foods for dinner?!) Pair it with some crispy chicken tenders and your favorite maple syrup and you have a delicious alternative to chicken and waffles!

With this recipe, you get french toast with a tender and fluffy interior and a lightly golden brown exterior. Pair it with your favorite syrup (my preferred method), powdered sugar, fruit, or even yogurt for a delicious and filling meal.

While this recipe requires only four ingredients, you can also use it as a base for additional seasonings if you are looking to add even more flavor to your breakfast routine.

How To Make Homemade French Toast

*Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the full recipe, including exact measurements and amounts. You can also print out the instructions. I go into a bit more detail about the recipe here first, just in case you need it.

Ingredients

This is a simple recipe that my Mom always used to make for us kids. While we weren’t big breakfast eaters growing up, it was still nice to enjoy homemade french toast on a slow Saturday or Sunday morning. The basic recipe only requires three main ingredients aside from the bread that you likely already have in your pantry and fridge today.

Eggs – You want the eggs to be at room temperature when using. If you are like us and using eggs from your backyard flock, just grab them from your countertop basket (of which we have plenty!) and give them a wash. If using store-bought refrigerated eggs, set them on the counter for about 20 to 30 minutes before using.

Milk – You can use about any type of milk for this recipe. We most often use 2%, but whole milk or half and half also work great and will add a richness to the mix. While you can use low-fat or skim milk, they won’t result in as full of flavor.

Salt – Any regular table salt will do, but our favorite to use is Redmond’s real salt. (I used regular sea salt for these photos). (Product Link: Redmond Real Sea Salt)

Bread Options

The last ingredient is the bread – the vessel for the rest of the ingredients. While you can most definitely use regular sandwich bread (and we have many times), it’s fun to experiment with different flavors and textures of other types of bread.

Thicker slices are best for this recipe. You can even use stale bread if you have some of that lying around that you need to get used up.

Some great bread options are sourdough, brioche, challah, or even french bread. My mom used to use Texas toast a lot growing up, which is just a thicker sliced sandwich bread. Use whatever type of bread you have on hand for this recipe; You really can’t go wrong!

Optional Add-In Seasonings

While we usually stop there when it comes to ingredients, you can go a step further by adding a couple of additional seasoning ingredients.

Cinnamon is a great addition to this recipe. It provides a warm flavor profile that also makes your kitchen smell amazing while cooking. The other option is vanilla extract. This adds a depth of flavor and a bit of sweetness to the mix.

Topping Choices

There are so many different types of toppings you can use for this homemade french toast. We prefer the traditional route and simply use a little bit of butter and maple syrup. However, there are plenty of other options.

Some of the most popular choices aside from syrup are powdered sugar or whipped cream. Mini chocolate chips, Nutella, or homemade peanut butter are also good options.

If you prefer something a little less sweet, try tart jelly, lemon curd, Greek yogurt, or fresh fruit. Sliced bananas, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries are all great options for fruit toppings.

Or, consider going on the savory side by adding bacon or chopped ham and cheese to the top. And don’t forget to try serving them alongside your favorite chicken strips like we do when we have breakfast for dinner!

Instructions For Homemade French Toast

To start with, you want to prepare your cooking surface. We like to use either our electric griddle or a cast iron skillet on our stove. (Here’s the newer version of the electric griddle that I use – Product Link: Presto Electric Griddle. It does a great job of cooking this french toast, smash burgers, hash browns, and tons of other great foods!)

Heat up the cooking surface and grease it with a little butter or oil. Keep the cooking surface warm until ready for use.

Now it’s time to mix up your french toast dredge. Into a shallow dish or bowl, crack the eggs one at a time.

Back when my husband and I were first married, I got these trays and they work perfectly for this recipe or any recipe that requires dredging. You can mix all of the ingredients directly in the tray, making cleanup much easier! However, any shallow dish with sides will work just fine. (Product Link: Pampered Chef Coating Trays)

Beat the eggs for a few seconds with a fork just until the yolks are broken up slightly. Then add your milk and salt. If adding the optional cinnamon and vanilla, do it at this time as well. Stir again until they are just incorporated into the eggs.

Take one to two pieces of bread and lay them into the dredge. Allow them to soak for 10 to 20 seconds. If you prefer french toast with a gooey center, leave them for up to a minute. Flip and do the same for the other side so that the bread pieces are completely covered in the mixture.

Time For Frying

If desired, place the dredged bread onto a wire rack to drain off any excess liquid. (We normally just plop them right into the pan or on the griddle. We don’t mind the extra crispy edges once cooked. Also, fewer dishes this way!)

Place the bread onto the hot cooking surface. Allow them to cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they are slightly browned. Flip and repeat on the other side.

Some cooking surfaces take longer to cook so keep an eye on the french toast so they don’t burn. For example, my electric griddle cooks them pretty quickly while they take longer to brown up when I use a cast iron skillet.

Serve the homemade french toast warm with butter and your choice of delicious toppings. These are best enjoyed right after cooking.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!
– Chelsea

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