Grilled French Toast
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Take your brunch to the grill! This grilled French toast stuffed with strawberry basil cream cheese will be the perfect brunch recipe.
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: this stuffed French toast recipe cooks up deliciously golden on the grill. A creative spin on a classic brunch recipe!
How long it takes: 25 minutes.
Equipment you’ll need: your grill, a couple of bowls, and a large pan for soaking.
Servings: 6
Strawberry Stuffed French Toast on the Grill
Want to hear a funny story? It wasn’t too funny at the time but you have to laugh at life. A couple of weekends ago, I had 3 or 4 recipes I wanted to develop on the grill. One of them being a variation of our favorite French toast. We hadn’t grilled yet this season, so we got the grill out, and… it was raining. Yep, raining.
Thankfully I had begun some initial recipe development using my grill pan inside, but still. But wait, there’s more! By dinner time it had brightened up, so I asked Ben to fire up the grill again. He went to turn it on, and guess what? OUT OF GAS. Throw me a freakin’ bone! So, it was back to the grill pan. Luckily, this grilled French toast turned out to be a golden and delicious success!
Why You’ll Love This French Toast Recipe
- Strawberry and basil filling. I love the combination of strawberry and basil, in fact, I’ve made my own strawberry basil freezer jam. I’ve also stuffed strawberries with basil whipped cream which you just HAVE to do this summer! They are so delicious.
- Soft, fluffy bread. I carried on with my shopping and saw the challah from Zingerman’s (aka Heaven on Earth). That solidified the grilled French toast in my mind. The bread toasts up so gorgeous and golden on the grill!
- Easy ingredients. Into my order went eggs, milk, tons of fresh berries, fresh basil, and cream cheese. This French toast on the grill uses a handful of simple but quality ingredients, and turns out so full of flavor!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Scroll to the recipe card for the full details!
- Cream Cheese
- Strawberry Basil Preserves
- Fresh Challah Bread: Sliced into thick 1-inch slices.
- Eggs and Whole Milk: For soaking the bread.
- Honey and Vanilla: For sweetness and depth of flavor.
- Berries: Fresh organic strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries make the best garnish for French toast!
How to Grill French Toast
Grilling French toast was a natural progression from my air fryer French toast sticks. You can never have too many ways to prepare French toast! Here’s how to make stuffed French toast on the grill:
- Prepare the bread slices. You’ll want to slice the challah into nice thick slices, about an inch thick. Then, carefully with a sharp knife, slice a hole in the middle of the slice, making a pocket for the cream cheese. I flavor plain cream cheese with the preserves and stuff the bread with that.
- Soak. The stuffed bread goes into a large baking dish until you’re done stuffing each piece. Then you pour your egg and milk mixture over the bread, letting it soak it all up. All that’s left to do is grill it!
- Grill. Grill your slices for about 5 minutes per side over direct heat. You could definitely cook it on a griddle as well, but grilling it gives it such a great flavor. You have to try it!
What To Serve with Grilled French Toast
For the perfect brunch centered around the grill, I also grill asparagus and bacon. You could round it out with some other great brunch offerings like a yogurt parfait with shortbread crumble, a beautiful cocktail. If you want to add more protein to brunch, consider a frittata, they’re very easy to make and taste great at almost any temperature. A white pizza frittata or a leek and asparagus frittata are both great vegetarian options.
If you’re in search of a more traditional French toast, don’t miss my classic French toast recipe – I cover all the tips to make perfect French toast!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Ingredients
- 4 ounces of spreadable cream cheese
- 1/2 cup strawberry basil preserves, divided
- 1 loaf challah bread, sliced into 1-inch thick slices
- 8 large eggs
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 ounces blueberries
- 6 ounces raspberries
- 1 pound strawberries, sliced
Instructions
- Oil the grates of your grill and preheat grill to medium-low, or about 250-300°F.
- From the bottom of each piece of bread, carefully slice a pocket into the middle of the bread. You don’t want to cut all the way through, but the opening should be large enough to get a knife with filling into the bread.
- In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese and 1/4 cup preserves together until combined. It’s okay if it looks a little chunky. Evenly fill the bread slices with cream cheese mixture. Place filled bread into a large pan (at least a 9×13, larger if you have it).
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, honey, and vanilla until combined. Pour over filled bread.
- Grill the french toast on the preheated grill over direct heat for about 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown and cooked through. If it’s browning too quickly, move it away from the direct heat and to the indirect heat.
- Meanwhile, mix berries and 1/4 cup preserves until berries are coated with preserves.
- Top french toast with berries and serve!
Notes
- You’ll likely have extra berries after topping the french toast – they make a perfect fruit salad on the side.
- This French toast could also be prepared on a griddle instead of a grill.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Jamie | My Baking Addiction says
Grilled French Toast is absolutely genius! We are obsessed with Door to Door Organics and have been using them for our produce for years! Such a quality company.
Rachel Gurk says
It is SUCH a great company!
Christine @ WRY TOAST says
LOVE that you grilled this, so creative Rach!!!! would love a slice ;)
Rachel Gurk says
Thanks Christine! I wish I could host a blogger brunch :)
Claudia Lamascolo says
What an awesome recipe and photo
Rachel Gurk says
Thank you, Claudia!
Gina M says
I would make grilled pineapple and yogurt parfaits!
Thanks for the chance to win!
wildorchid985 at gmail dot com
Rachel Gurk says
Yum! That sounds delicious!
Allie | In This Kitchen says
Agh! Damn mold! I am so sick of it, haha. I’m from Arizona where we don’t have much mold thanks to the dry weather (but dust covers everything) so now on the east coast mold is my worst enemy.
In any case, this french toast looks fantastic. I’ve never had cream cheese with it but it sounds divine!
Rachel Gurk says
SUCH a gross thing. I hate mold.
You need to try cream cheese stuffed french toast….total game changer!
denise says
yum!
Rachel Gurk says
Thanks Denise!
Melissa says
I’ve never made brunch on the grill before, but it sounds like a great idea! I think I’d like to grill up some veggies for breakfast tacos.
Rachel Gurk says
oooh great idea!
Linda @ 2 Cookin' Mamas says
This sounds absolutely awesome! I love the combination of strawberries and basil and can’t think of a better way of incorporating it into breakfast than in this delicious looking French toast. I’ve never tried grilling french toast but I’m always up for something new. Pinned!
Rachel Gurk says
Thanks Linda! I hope you love it! Thanks for pinning :)
Medha says
Wow, this french toast is stunning, and it got a serious summer upgrade from being grilled- love it :)
Rachel Gurk says
Thank you so much, Medha!
Taylor @ Food Faith Fitness says
GRILLED french toast?! How AMAZING is this!! I lovelovelove strawberries and basil, so this is calling to me! Pinning!
Rachel Gurk says
Thanks girl!
Ducks 'n a Row (@SineaPies) says
Rachel, this French Toast looks so delicious. I think French Toast is my very favorite breakfast – and breakfast is my favorite meal of the day! I checked my zip code and they don’t deliver to my area yet. Oh well. :(
Sinea ♥
Rachel Gurk says
Oh darn! Hopefully they’ll expand to your area sometime soon!
Dee Fedor says
This looks Amazing! I would have to try and make it Gluten-Free, though. I did not see how to enter. Did I miss something?
Rachel Gurk says
It’s at the very bottom of the post – you might need to try on desktop if you’re on mobile. Let me know if you still have issues. Good luck!
Jenny flake says
How gorgeous is this French Toast?! Love!!!
Rachel Gurk says
Thanks Jenny!
Cindy A. says
I don’t normally use my grill to make brunch, but I’m going to start! Your french toast recipe will definitely be on my favorites list!
Rachel Gurk says
Thanks Cindy!
Jeffrey says
I’d like to make a breakfast pizza on the grill!
Rachel Gurk says
Yum!