How to Make Fried Bread

The ideal fried bread is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, flavored with gravy, fried in butter or wrapped in deep-fried dough. If done properly, it will take you just a few minutes of prep and less than a minute of frying on the stove. Fry an egg in the center for a delicious and hearty breakfast, or dip the bread in deep-fried dough for “French toast,” more commonly known as French toast.

You can substitute with this recipe for Navajo fried bread.

Table of Contents

Ingredient

Toast, or “egg in a basket”:

1 slice white bread (slightly stale bread is better)
About 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of cooking oil, butter, or bacon fat
1 egg (to make “egg in the basket”)
Salt and pepper

French Toast:

8 thick slices of bread (foggy and slightly stale is better)
3 large eggs
⅔ cup (160 ml) half-and-half whole milk and cream, whole milk, cream, or buttermilk
Pinch
2–3 tablespoons (30–45 ml) butter

(Also, to make sweet French toast)

1–3 tablespoons (15–45 ml) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla
2 teaspoons (10 ml) cinnamon, orange peel or other flavor (optional)

(Also, to make savory french toast)

5 teaspoons (20 ml) chili sauce
3 tablespoons (45 ml) chopped basil or other herbs
Black pepper to taste
1 or a few cloves of garlic, minced or sliced (optional)
¾ cup (180 ml) Parmesan cheese (optional)

Fried bread for English breakfast

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Make stir-fry dishes with bread (optional). Usually fried bread is served with one or more stir-fries in an English breakfast. Common ingredients include eggs, English bacon, sausage, sliced tomatoes, mushrooms and baked beans. Stir-fry these ingredients together before starting to fry the bread.

If using all of the above ingredients, start with the sausage first, add the mushrooms a few minutes later, a few minutes later add the other ingredients, and finally the eggs.

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Add fat or oil (optional). Depending on how much meat and butter you use when sautéing, you may already have enough fat in the pan. But let’s be honest: fried bread leaves no room for calorie apprehension. Add a bit of butter, vegetable oil, or if you want to be more traditional, you can use bacon or lard.

Heat the oil. Cook over medium high heat until the oil is bubbling and emitting heat. A hot pan will help keep the bread crispy without being greasy.

Put the sliced bread in the pan. Slightly stale white bread is best, as the dry slices will soak up the oil and flavor more quickly. Save fresh whole-wheat bread for those who want to bake.

Slice the bread into triangles if you’re using a small pan.

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Add flavor (optional). A small pinch of salt and a pinch of ground pepper will enhance the flavor of the dish, but this seasoning is optional. Cayenne pepper is another option for those who like spicy breakfast.

Fry for a few seconds until the cake turns golden. If the pan is hot and has enough oil, you’ll only need to fry for a few seconds on each side to get the crispy, golden brownies and flavor of the stir-fry. If the pan isn’t hot enough and doesn’t sizzle, you may need to fry for 15-30 seconds, but the bread must be removed from the pan before too much oil is absorbed.

Making “Eggs in a Basket”

Cut a hole in the center of the bread slice with a cookie cutter or knife. You can use any type of bread for this method, as long as it can be sliced without crumbling. Use a cookie cutter or knife to cut a hole in the center of the slice. You can either fry the cut pieces or eat them while they are frying.

If you want a romantic breakfast, you can use a heart-shaped cookie cutter.
If cutting with a knife, place the slice on a cutting board and press down with the tip of the knife to make small holes instead of slitting straight into the slice.

Heat butter or oil over medium-low heat. Put more butter or oil in the frying pan. Wait 1 minute for it to heat up or a few minutes if you’re using an electric stove. The pan should be hot enough that it can sizzle when the bread is added.

Do not use high heat, or the bread will burn before the eggs are cooked.

Put the bread in the pan. Make sure butter or oil coats the bottom of the pan evenly, then place a slice of cake in. Immediately move to the next step.

You can also fry the cut pieces as well if they are still whole.

Crack an egg into the hole you drilled. Crack an egg into the hole in the center of the slice, lowering your hand slightly as you place the egg in the pan.

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Add salt and pepper to taste. If serving guests, you can leave salt and pepper shakers on the table.

In addition, you can add whatever ingredients you like to serve with the omelette. Try grated cheddar cheese and sprinkle it over the cake.

Flip the pie once when the egg whites are almost milky. You can fry the eggs any way you like, but it’s easier to fry the eggs so that they’re still liquid, because that way the cake won’t burn easily. After about 1-2 minutes, or when the whites are mostly milky but some are still clear, use a shovel or tongs to flip the egg and cake at the same time.

Make French Toast (Custard Fried Bread)

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Cut the bread into slices. Pre-sliced bread is often too thin and pale to make French toast (sometimes called egg bread or French fried bread). Instead, you should slice a loaf of challah, custard, brioche, or thin crusty bread into slices about 2-2.5 cm thick. ^{[1] X Research Source}

It’s best to leave the fresh loaf overnight to dry out a bit and increase absorbency; however fresh bread is fine if you can’t keep it overnight.
“Dense” refers to the interior of the loaf which is porous and does not have large air holes.

Beat eggs, milk and salt together. Before you start frying, you’ll need a loose custard-like dough to coat the slice of bread to form a golden crust. To make enough flour to fry 8 slices of bread, you need the following ingredients:

3 large eggs
Pinch
⅔ cup (160 ml) of whole milk and whipped cream mixture. You can replace it with whole milk for better health, or cream for a richer dish. ^{[2] X Source of Research} Replace with fermented milk shake well for more flavor. ^{[3] X Research Sources}
For thin slices of bread, you should use less milk, or your French toast may get soggy. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

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Flavoring. French toast can be sweet or savory. You can season the dough depending on whether it’s sweet or savory:

To make the pastry , mix 1 tablespoon (15 ml) sugar and 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla. If you’re not planning on serving your cupcakes with maple syrup or another sugary drizzle, you can mix in 1-2 tablespoons (15-30 ml) of sugar. Optionally, you can also add 2 teaspoons (10 ml) of cinnamon and/or 2 teaspoons (10 ml) of freshly grated orange peel. ^{[5] X Research Sources}
To make savory pancakes , mix 5 teaspoons (20 ml) of chili sauce, 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of finely chopped basil, and plenty of black pepper. ^{[6] X Research Source} You can add or substitute other ingredients with Parmesan cheese, garlic and any other herbs you like. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

Soak bread in flour. Pour the batter into the wide saucepan and drop the bread slices in to soak. Many cooks like to quickly mix the ingredients and just dip the bread in the batter while waiting for the pan to heat up. However, soaking the bread in the dough for about 15-20 minutes will help increase the amount of flour absorbed into the cake, and this is recommended if you are using thick, dense bread slices. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

Flip the bread slices once after soaking for half the time.

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Heat butter in a pan. You’ll need all of about 2-3 tablespoons (30-45 ml) of butter, but unless your pan can hold 8 pieces of cake, you may need to divide the butter into 3 or 4 batches. Melt butter in a saucepan and heat until the butter foams and settles.

You can use a neutral flavoring oil like canola or peanut oil, but the dish will taste better.
You can mix a small amount of cooking oil with butter to prevent burning. This can be useful when you use an electric stove or pan that conducts heat unevenly.

Fry bread. Fill the pan with slices of bread, but not too tight. Fry until golden on one side, then flip and fry the other side. Frying time only takes about 2 minutes on one side.

If you want to fry more donuts, use a paper towel to quickly wipe the remaining butter in the pan and melt more butter in the pan before frying the next batch.
Scattered egg batter is a sign that the pan isn’t hot enough or that the batter is too thin. ^{[9] X Research Source}

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Enjoy French toast. French toast can be eaten on its own or with a variety of toppings. You can try maple syrup, fresh fruit, or powdered sugar for a variety of sweet toast flavors. Savory French toast can be served with pesto sauce, sautéed vegetables or Parmesan cheese.

Advice

To make crouton, follow the English breakfast recipe, but replace it with olive oil and/or butter to prevent it from spoiling in storage. Cut the bread into squares and season with garlic and/or your favorite seasoning before frying. ^{[10] X Research Source} (You can also use an alternative by toasting the bread in the oven for a less oily crouton.)

Things you need

pot
Cooking shovel or tongs