How to Cook Fried Bread

A crisp outer surface with a chewy bread center, permeated with the flavors of the meat drippings, butter, or batter it was cooked in. This is the ideal fried bread, and if done correctly, it only takes a few minutes to prepare and less than a minute to cook. Fry an egg in the center for a charming, delectable breakfast, or soak the bread in a simple batter to make "French-fried bread," more commonly called French toast.

You might be looking for a Navajo fry bread recipe instead.

Ingredients

Fried bread, or Eggy in a Basket:

1 slice white bread (slightly stale preferred)
~1 tbsp (15 mL) Cooking oil, butter, or bacon drippings
1 egg (for eggy in a basket)
salt and pepper

French toast:

8 thick slices bread (spongy and slightly stale preferred)
3 large eggs
⅔ cup (160 mL) half-and-half, whole milk, cream, or buttermilk
pinch of salt
2–3 tbsp (30–45 mL) butter

(additionally, for sweet French toast)

1–3 tbsp (15–45 mL) sugar
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
2 tsp (10 mL) cinnamon, orange zest or other flavoring (optional)

(additionally, for savory French toast)

5 tsp (20 mL) hot sauce
3 tbsp (45 mL) chopped basil or other savory herb
black pepper, to taste
1 or more cloves garlic, crushed or minced (optional)
¾ cup (180 mL) Parmesan (optional)

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Frying Bread for an English Breakfast

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1
Cook the fried meal that accompanies the bread (optional). Fried bread is almost always eaten with one or more other fried foods, as part of an English breakfast. This often includes eggs, English bacon, sausage, sliced tomatoes, mushrooms, and baked beans. Fry them all in the same pan before you start your bread.
- If cooking all of the above, start the sausages first, the mushrooms a couple minutes later, then the other ingredients a few minutes later. Finish with the fried eggs.
Depending on how much meat and butter you used in the fry-up, you might already have enough fat in the pan. But let's be honest: caloric introspection has no place when frying bread. Add a small knob of butter, a splash of flavorful vegetable oil or, more traditionally, bacon drippings or lard.
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Turn the stove on medium-high until the oil shimmers and gives off heat. A hot pan will keep the bread crisp, instead of weighed down by soggy grease.
4
Add sliced bread to the pan. Slightly stale white bread is perfect, as the dry slice will soak up the flavorful oil more quickly. Save that fresh loaf of whole grain for the people who want toast instead.
- Slice the bread into triangles if you have a small pan.
A small sprinkle of salt and a quick turn of the pepper mill will add some flavor, but this isn't mandatory. Cayenne pepper is another option for people who enjoy spice with their breakfast.
If the pan is hot and oily enough, you'll only need a few seconds on each side to make the bread crisp, golden brown, and full of the flavors of the fried meal. If your pan was too cold and not sizzling, you may need to fry the bread for 15–30 seconds, but pull it out before it gets too soggy.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Making Eggy in a Basket

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1
Cut a hole in a slice of bread with a cookie cutter or knife. You can use just about any type of bread for this method, as long as it can be sliced without crumbling apart. Cut a hole in the center of the bread using a cookie cutter, or cut out a shape using a knife. You can fry the cut-out shape as an addition, or nibble it while you cook.
- Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter for a romantic breakfast.
- If you use a knife, put the slice of bread flat on the cutting board, and use the tip of the knife in an up-and-down motion, perforating the bread with small holes rather than tearing through the bread directly.
2
Heat butter or oil over medium-low. Add a generous amount of butter or cooking oil to a frying pan or skillet. Give it a minute to heat up, or a couple minutes if you are using an electric stove. It should be hot enough to give off a nice sizzle when you place the bread in.
- Don't use high heat, or the bread will burn before the egg is cooked.
3
Place the bread in the pan. Make sure the butter or oil is spread evenly over the pan, then drop the bread slice onto it. Immediately move on to the next step.
- Optionally, add the cut-out section of bread as well, if it stayed in one piece.
Crack an egg into the hole. Crack an egg directly into the hole at the center of the bread, from just above the pan.
5
Add salt and pepper to taste. If serving guests, you can provide this on the dining table instead.
- Alternatively, cook alongside anything you would enjoy on an omelette. Try grating a few shreds of cheddar cheese and placing it over the cut-out bread shape.
You can cook your egg in your preferred style, but a runny egg will be easier, since the bread is less likely to char. After a minute or two, or until the egg white is mostly opaque, but still translucent in places, flip the egg and bread together with a spatula or cooking tongs.
Finish frying and serve. Cook the other side of the eggy in a basket for another minute or two, until the egg white is fully cooked and firm, and the bread is brown. Now that the egg is more cooked, you can move the bread around the pan with the spatula, soaking up the butter or oil.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Cooking French Toast (Fried Bread in Egg Batter)

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1
Slice your bread. Pre-sliced bread is usually too thin and too flavorless to make good French toast, sometimes called eggy bread or French-fried bread. Instead, slice a loaf of challah, egg bread, brioche, or other thin-crust, tight-crumbed bread into slices ¾–1 inch (2–2.5 centimeters) thick.^{[1]XResearch source}
- Ideally, leave a fresh loaf out overnight to make it slightly dry and absorbent; fresh bread should work fine if this is not feasible.
- "Tight-crumbed" refers to the interior of the loaf, which should be spongy and free from large holes.
2
Beat together eggs, dairy, and salt. Before you start frying, you'll need a soupy custard-like batter that will envelope the bread in a golden envelope. To make enough batter for eight slices of French toast, beat together the following:
- 3 large eggs
- Pinch of salt
- ⅔ cup (160 mL) half-and-half. Substitute whole milk for a healthier alternative, or cream for an extremely rich dish.^{[2]XResearch source} Use well-shaken buttermilk instead for additional flavor.
- Use less dairy for thin-sliced bread, or if your French toast ends up soggy.^{[3]XResearch source}
3
Mix in flavoring. French toast can be a sweet or savory dish. Flavor your batter accordingly:
- For sweet toast, mix in 1 tbsp (15 mL) sugar and 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract. If you do not plan on serving the toast with maple syrup or another sugary topping, you can mix in an addition 1 or 2 tbsp (15–30 mL) sugar. Optionally, add 2 tsp (10 mL) cinnamon and/or 2 tsp (10 mL) freshly grated orange peel.^{[4]XResearch source}
- For savory toast, mix in 5 tsp (20 mL) hot sauce, 3 tbsp (45 mL) chopped basil, and a generous amount of black pepper.^{[5]XResearch source} Parmesan, garlic, and any savory herbs can be added as well, or substitute for the other ingredients.^{[6]XResearch source}
4
Soak the bread in the batter. Pour the batter into a wide pan, and place the slices of bread into it to soak. Many cooks prefer to whip up this recipe quickly, and only soak the bread briefly while they heat up the pan of butter. Soaking for as long as 15–20 minutes, however, will increase the amount of batter absorbed, and is recommended if you are using dense, thick slices of bread.^{[7]XResearch source}
- Flip the bread over once, halfway through the soaking process.
5
Heat butter in a skillet. You'll need about 2–3 tbsp (30–45 mL) butter total, but unless you have a skillet that can fit eight slices of bread, you'll probably be dividing it into three or four batches. Melt the butter in the pan, and heat until it foams and subsides.
- You can use a neutral-flavored cooking oil such as canola oil or peanut oil instead, but the dish will be less flavorful.
- A small amount of oil mixed with the butter will prevent it from burning. This may be helpful on an electric stovetop or skillets that heat unevenly.
6
Fry the bread. Drop as much bread as comfortably fits in the pan. Fry until golden brown on one side, then flip and cook the other side. This will only take a couple minutes on each side.
- If you have additional slices of battered bread to fry, quickly wipe up the remaining butter with a dry paper towel, then melt more butter in the pan before adding the next slices.
- Spreading custard is a sign that your pan is not hot enough, or that there is too much liquid in your batter.^{[8]XResearch source}
French toast can be served plain, or with a variety of toppings. Try maple syrup, fresh fruit, or powdered sugar for sweet varieties. Savory French toast can be eaten with pesto, sautéed vegetables, or Parmesan.

Shopping List and Recipe

Sample Fried Bread Shopping List

Sample Fried Bread Recipe

Community Q&A

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Question
Do I use olive oil or vegetable oil?
Community Answer
Vegetable, or even sunflower oil, since they can be heated to a higher temperature than olive oil.
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Can I deep-fry my bread coated with egg sweetened with sugar?
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Yes.
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Can I deep fry bread coated with egg in butter?
Community Answer
I don't recommend using butter to fry bread, as it has a low smoke point (so your kitchen will be very smoky). Other oils (like sunflower oil and vegetable oil) have a higher smoking point, so it is easier to use. If you really want to use butter you can, however, it will just be more difficult for you.
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Tips

To make croutons, follow the recipe for an English breakfast, but use olive oil and/or butter instead to prevent them going rancid in storage. Cube the bread and toss the cubes with garlic and/or your favorite seasonings before frying.^{[9]XResearch source} (Alternatively, crisp the bread in the oven for a less oily crouton.)
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