Savory parmesan french toast loaded with simple yet bold flavors topped with delicious garlicky mushrooms and spinach, topped with spicy hot pepper honey (optional) make for a yummy salty breakfast or brunch that is quick and easy to make.

So who planted the idea of savory french toasts in my head... is a question for another time, but can we just agree that savory breakfasts are so much better than sweet breakfasts?! Growing up in an Indian household, I have relished paranthas (savory Indian flatbreads) or super heavy & indulgent north Indian potato based breakfast recipes, specially on days when I am home that is when I really enjoy a good brunch. Pancakes and french toasts were not really part of the breakfast menu, specially in my childhood. Now I relish a good serving of cinnamon french toast or stuffed french toast from time to time, but I am an even bigger fan of this savory french toast recipe!

So here's how I describe this indulgent savory breakfast recipe: Its vegetarian (if you replace parmesan with any kind of other tasty cheese), its quick, its easy and best part? does not require fancy equipments, just a mixing bowl & a pan and very basic pantry ingredients... well, the basic ones plus a few tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan cheese: both in the custard and in the spinach mushroom topping.

These french toasts have simple yet bold flavors. All litte elements are essential and not to be skipped - all of them... including those little quantities of parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning. These are yummy slices of multigrain or sourdough bread soaked in flavorful custard, cooked in butter until crispy golden edges, yet soft spongy centre is achieved, then they're topped with garlicky mushrooms and spinach, magic dust of parmesan cheese. It does not end here... you mix some hot honey with paprika and pepper and drizzle over it - best of both worlds of sweet & savory! If you are looking for lighter breakfast items, look elsewhere please 🙁 if you belong to my team of eating all you like, keep reading...

How to make savory french toasts?

Ingredients for savory french toast:

eggs
milk (regular whole milk)
salt, pepper, Italian seasoning or mix of any kind of dried herbs
grated parmesan cheese
butter
and of course bread - I love using multigrain bread but of course, sourdough bread or any kind of dry/ stale-ish bread that's a day or two old

Savory French Toast Mushroom & Spinach Topping

mushrooms
spinach
garlic powder
parmesan cheese

Steps to make savory french toast

You could either have mornings where you have a lot of time: like I did, when I shot this recipe, taking my sweet time to cook the french toasts & then the mushroom mix and then the hot honey, but if you have a simple (busy-ish morning) and still want to make this delicious breakfast, here's how you can plan: Start with the honey - simply warm the honey and add pepper & cayenne pepper and mix and keep aside. Now start by preparing the mushroom mixture by cooking the mushrooms and while they are cooking, start with the french toast custard.

Please be generous with butter and let the french toasts cook until the corners/ edges are lightly fried and the centre is fully cooked and still spongy.

While that is cooking, keep an eye on the mushroom mix, add the spinach leaves and cook until wilted. Now transfer the french toasts to a plate & top with spinach mushroom mix thats mixed with parmesan cheese and pour over some hot honey & serve!

More savory breakfast recipes to try:

Savory French Toasts with Spinach and Mushrooms

Author: Sheenam
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 15
Total Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 6 French Toasts 1x
Category: Breakfast
Method: Stove-Top
Diet: Vegetarian

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Description

Savory parmesan french toast loaded with simple yet bold flavors topped with delicious garlicky mushrooms and spinach, topped with spicy hot pepper honey make for a yummy salty breakfast or brunch that is quick and easy to make.

Ingredients

Scale

For Savory French Toast

6 slices of bread (see note 1)
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
3 tbsp parmesan cheese
2 tsp Italian seasoning or mixed dried herbs
1 tsp cayenne pepper or chili powder
salt
pepper
4 tbsp butter

For Mushroom & Spinach Topping

2 tbsp olive oil (extra virgin)
200 grams regular white mushrooms (sliced)
2 cups of spinach (chopped) or baby spinach leaves
1 tbsp garlic powder
salt
pepper
1 tbsp dried rosemary (or fresh)
3 tbsp parmesan cheese

Spicy Pepper Honey (optional but highly recommended!)

honey
black pepper
cayenne pepper
salt
paprika

Instructions

Spicy Honey

Heat honey in saucepan or transfer to glass bowl & microwave until liquid. Add pepper, cayenne pepper, salt and mix until well combined.

Mushroom & Spinach Mixture

To a pan, add olive oil and heat for a few seconds. Add mushrooms and let cook for a few minutes until mushrooms are browned.
Add garlic powder, salt, pepper and mix well.
Add spinach and mix until well wilted and well combined. Once fully cooked, transfer to a bowl and let cool. Add parmesan cheese and mix well. Keep aside.

French Toast Recipe

To a large bowl, add everything listed under "french toast" except for bread and whisk until fully combined.
Heat a tbsp of butter in a non stick pan. While the butter melts, transfer bread (one slice at a time) to the french toast custard (mix) and let the bread soak the mixture for about 3-4 seconds each side. Transfer the bread to the pan. Its easier to cook 2 bread slices at one time.
Let cook on medium low flame for 2-3 minutes and flip carefully. Add another tbsp of butter and let it slide to the corners of the french toast slices and and let cook for 2-3 minutes.
Cook until the edges of the bread get lightly pan fried and the egg custard on the bread (middle) is fully cooked and golden brown in colour (see blog post above for image)
Transfer to a plate and repeat the same for remaining bread slices.
Top with parmesan spinach & mushroom mixture and drizzle spicy honey over it. Serve.

Notes

Note 1 - Just make sure whatever bread you use, its not too soft. I love using multigrain bread as its drier than regular white bread, plus its tastier! Sourdough bread or any kind of dry/ stale-ish bread that's a day or two old would work very well too.

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Savory French Toasts with Spinach and Mushrooms