Savoury French Toast With Bacon and Eggs

French toast with bacon drizzled with maple syrup is not new! The sweet and salty combination has been here for years (and for a good reason!). But this Savoury French Toast with Bacon and Eggs recipe is something different: cheesy eggy bread and bacon topped with an egg, all scattered with fresh herbs! It's a truly savoury breakfast dish that is a great change from traditional French toast!

Jump to:

• Breakfast You Will Love: Can French Toast Be Savoury?
• Ingredients and Substitutes
• Step-By-Step Method
• Other Savoury Eggy Bread Toppings
• Tips for The Best Savoury French Toast 
• Recipe FAQs
• Reader Review
• Other Delicious Breakfast Recipes
• Savoury French Toast with Bacon and Eggs

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Breakfast You Will Love: Can French Toast Be Savoury?

There are two types of people: the ones who like their breakfast sweet and cheerful, and people who like their breakfast filling and savoury and wouldn't mind having roast duck leg for breakfast given the chance. This breakfast is for savoury breakfast lovers!

Cheesy Savoury French Toast is fried in butter to golden brown perfection, topped with crispy salty bacon and served with an egg for a truly satisfying morning feast! French Toast (or as Seb calls it, eggy bread) and bacon make a great decadent breakfast, fit for a special occasion!

Ingredients and Substitutes

To make this Savoury French Toast With Bacon And Eggs, you won't need any special equipment, but will ideally have a dish that fits 4 slices of bread in a single layer (for soaking the bread in the eggy mixture). You will also need two (or three) non-stick frying pans. 

As for the simple ingredients, you will need:

• brioche: thickly sliced. Alternatively, use thick-cut white bread, Japanese milk bread slices or even French baguettes sliced on the diagonal to make this savoury eggy bread. Any stale bread will work, but some thick crusts may need to be removed. If you make sourdough bread, we highly recommend making sourdough brioche for this recipe. 
• eggs: use 1 large egg in the UK (or extra-large in the US) per 2 slices of bread for the soaking. We will also need eggs for the eggy bread topping to go alongside the bacon. 
• milk: both dairy and non-dairy milk will work for this French Toast with Cheese, but make sure you use unsweetened milk. 
• cheese: almost any strong-tasting hard cheese will work well in this Cheesy Eggy Bread recipe. Choose your favourite type, whether it is Parmesan cheese, Grana Padano, Pecorino, Manchego or Mature Cheddar cheese.  
• paprika: we used sweet paprika (not spicy). 
• turmeric.
• butter, for frying.
• odourless oil, for frying: like vegetable, sunflower or rapeseed oil. 
• bacon: streaky or back bacon slices, smoked or unsmoked - you choose!

Find the ingredient quantities, full recipe and nutrition facts in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Step-By-Step Method

1. Place grated cheese on a large plate.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the large eggs, milk, turmeric, paprika, and a pinch of salt. Pour the egg mixture into a large shallow dish (or shallow bowl) and arrange brioche slices in it. Soak for 10-20 seconds on one side, then carefully flip them over and soak again.

3. Heat butter and oil in a large frying pan (or two) if you don't have a large enough pan.

4. Gently lift each slice of bread and dip them in grated cheese, making sure it sticks. 

5. Place the cheesy soaked bread straight into the hot pan. Cook on medium heat for approx 2-3 minutes (without fiddling with them), then gently flip the slices over and cook for another 2 minutes.

6. Whilst Savoury French Toast is frying, fry/grill the strips of bacon to your preferred crispiness (How To Cook Bacon?).

7. At the same time, fry or poach your eggs keeping a runny yolk (How To Poach An Egg?)

8. Serve two slices of savoury French toast with bacon and eggs on top! Scatter fresh herbs all over your savoury breakfast and enjoy!

Other Savoury Eggy Bread Toppings

Oh, the choice is endless! We absolutely love these toppings for this savoury French toast recipe: 

• Simple Sauteed Garlicky Mushrooms and Chives (Vegetarian)
• Rocket (Arugula), avocado slices and fried egg (Vegetarian)
• Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
• Smoked Salmon and Dill Creme Fraiche with A Little Bit of Freshly Ground Black Pepper (Pescatarian)

Crumbled blue cheese, your favourite hot sauce, and fresh fig - all a great option to serve with this brunch recipe!

Tips for The Best Savoury French Toast 

This is an easy recipe that makes delicious French Toast, but if it's your first time making it, here are some tips:

• If you have the time, make the egg and milk mixture the night before and chill it in the fridge overnight. The milk will infuse with the flavours of paprika and turmeric resulting in extra tasty brioche French Toast. 
• Do not use fresh bread. Take it out of the packet the night before and leave it to go slightly stale, if you have a fresh loaf.  
• Slice the brioche into thick slices. You want them about 2 cm (¾ in), any thinner and they will be too flimsy after soaking in milk and eggs and hard to flip over in the pan.
• Be very gentle when handling soaked brioche. Lift it into a frying pan supporting the slice from underneath. Also, be careful when flipping it over in the pan. 
• Don't overcrowd the frying pan. Use two pans, if you don't have one that's big enough to fit all the slices with gaps in between. 
• Make sure the cheese sticks to the Savoury Eggy Bread before you put it in the pan. The cheese on the surface of the French Toast will crisp up creating a lovely salty crust. 

Recipe FAQs

Other Delicious Breakfast Recipes

You can find a bunch more savoury and sweet breakfast ideas that the whole family will enjoy in our Breakfast section. Some of our favourite breakfast recipes include:

• Huevos Rancheros | Mexican Breakfast
• Ham & Cheese Frittata
• Vietnamese Omelette With Mushrooms and Spinach
• Bagels with Asparagus, Poached Eggs and Pistou
• Smoked Salmon And Spinach Eggs In Ramekins (Eggs en Cocotte)