Nacho French Toast
Sturdy Italian bread French Toast, coated with tortilla chips, piled up like nachos, and topped with a maple bacon cheese sauce! The edges of this French toast are so crispy, but the insides are tender and delicious! The maple cheese sauce is what brings it all together!
The inspiration for this recipe
Once I had the idea to coat French toast with tortilla chips to make it taste like nachos, I couldn’t wait to make it. Unfortunately I did a poll on my instagram and most people voted for potato chips instead of tortilla chips! I had to wait a few weeks, but I am glad I did because the idea marinated in my head for extra long. During that time I added the idea of making them triangle, stacking them up, and adding the maple cheese sauce!
Cut the bread
Make nice thick slices, then cut each slice into triangles. Use the natural shape of the bread to maximize the amount of triangles you can get from the loaf.
Soak the bread
Make a mixture of egg, milk, sugar, salt, and some spices. I added chipotle, chili, and cinnamon to the mix to give the french toast more nacho flavor from the inside. Let the bead soak in this mixture for 15 minutes to a half hour depending on how sturdy the bread is.
Make the chip crust
I like to blend up the chips to make sure they are uniform. You can just smash them up in the bag though if that is better.
Coat the nacho French toast
After the bread soaks, dip it into a bowl of crushed up chips to form the nacho French toast! It sticks really easily, but make sure to really coat all sides!
Cook the nacho French toast
In a pan over medium heat, cook about 3-5 minutes on all 5 sides! This way the nacho french toast will get crispy on all edges and there won’t be raw egg in the middle.
Maple bacon nacho cheese sauce
I use evaporated milk and cornstarch to make an easy cheese sauce. Then add some maple syrup and bacon fat. This sauce was so good and really helped tie together the nachos and the french toast flavors!
Build the Nacho French Toast
Stack up the pieces of bread, then pour on the maple cheese sauce! So good! Finally top with some bacon, banana peppers, and scallions.
This nacho french toast is an amazing mash-up of some of my favorite flavors and textures. I was worried it would be too one way or the other, but it fell right in the middle!
The maple cheese sauce is what really brings it all together! and the hint of spices in the egg soak.
Twists on this recipe
You could switch up the spices in the nacho french toast if you want, a little cumin might be nice, or just cut it down to cinnamon. You could also just top this with traditional maple syrup. As always you could go vegetarian with some fake bacon, or a smoked crispy tofu.
If you love twists on french toast, check out my yolk stuffed french toast, this amazing garlic french toast, or the layered tortilla french toast!
Nacho French Toast
Equipment
- food processor optional
Ingredients
Cheese sauce
- 12 ounces evaporated milk
- 1.5 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon bacon fat (from the bacon you cook for the recipe)
French toast
- 1 large loaf sturdy French or Italian bread
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder
- 1/8th teaspoon cinnmon
- 12 ounces tortilla chips
- olive oil
- cooked and crumbled bacon
- banana peppers or jalapenos
- sliced scallions
Instructions
Make the cheese sauce
- Mix the evaporated milk and corn starch together in a cold sauce pan until fully combined. Add in the butter and place over medium low heat. Cook until it simmers and thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese, maple, and bacon fat. Set aside until ready to use.
Make the French Toast
- Cut thick 1.5 to 2 inch slices from the bread. Remove the top and bottom crust, and slice into triangles. I was able to get three triangles from each slice. Check out the photo above if you need help. You will need 3 or 4 triangles per person.
- Mix the milk, egg, sugar, salt, and spices in a bowl. Place the bread in a baking dish and pour the egg mixture over it. Flip and allow to sit for 15 minutes to a half hour to soak up as much of the liquid as it can.
- Blend the chips in a food processor and pour them out on a plate. You could just crush them up in the bag by hand as well if you want.
- Preheat a pan with some oil to medium heat. One by one, dip a triangle into the tortilla crumbs to coat, then add it to the frying pan until the pan is full. Cook the triangles for 3-5 minutes on all 5 sides to get a golden brown on all edges.
- Pile the toasts on each plate. Drizzle on the cheese sauce and top with bacon and banana peppers.