Looking for a way to use up stale bread and satisfy your sweet tooth? This Vegan Bread Pudding will absolutely melt in your mouth, curbing your sweet cravings and breathing new life into your stale bread!
With just 6 simple ingredients and ready in under an hour, this delicious easy vegan dessert recipe will not only brighten your mood but will also come together easily. And the bonus? Your kitchen will smell fantastic.
Plus, it’s super easy to make your own by throwing in some add-ins like dark chocolate chips, berries, nuts, or my favorite— whipping up an easy 15-minuute bread pudding sauce like this Vanilla Sauce or Brandy Sauce!
As a mom balancing family life and a sophisticated taste for food, I’m in love with one bowl recipes like this with very little hands-on prep time, not too much clean up, just 6 simple pantry ingredients, and tons of delicious flavor. It hits all the right notes—easy, efficient, and elevated!
Plus, using up ingredients I have in my fridge is always a priority as the primary grocery shopper and cook in the house, and this recipe is such a great way to use up stale bread!
What is bread pudding?
Bread pudding is day-old bread that is typically cut into cubes, mixed with a mixture of milk, sugar, and eggs, and then baked in a casserole dish.
For this non-dairy bread pudding that is completely vegan, we are subbing apple sauce for eggs to act as a binder and using non-dairy milk for the bread to soak up.
Bread Pudding without Egg Ingredient Highlights
While bread pudding can be made successfully with any bread, the best bread for bread pudding is usually stale white bread, brioche, challah, or French bread. However, when making vegan bread pudding, you’ll want to make sure the bread you’re using is vegan, too!
As with any bread pudding, breads that have a subtle sweetness work really well, simply because they are already more mild or sweet in flavor, lending to the overall sweetness of your bread pudding.
However, it’s worth noting that the breads you typically think of when you think of “sweet bread” are not always vegan, but they do sell great vegan versions.
Brioche Gourmet makes a great plant-based brioche and I’ve loved the Trader Joe’s Vegan Brioche Loaf as well (when I can get my hands on it!)
Vegan white bread is much easier to find, just check the ingredients first! A few of my favorites are Dave’s Killer and BFree.
The bread is best stale because it will then soak up all the moisture from your milk without becoming too soggy.
Any vegan butter will work—use your favorite! I always go with Miyokos plant milk butter.
After testing a few different plant-based milk options, coconut milk is by far my favorite here. It really makes the bread nice and pillowy and the final result absolutely melts in your mouth. The flavor of the coconut is not very evident.
That being said, you can absolutely substitute another non-dairy milk but just make sure it’s not sweetened. We want to be able to control the amount of sweetness we add to this dish.
On that note, unsweetened apple sauce is the best for this recipe, too!
How to Make Vegan Bread Pudding
Melt Your Butter
Melting your butter allows it to easily combine with the rest of your ingredients. You can melt it over the stove, in the oven, or if you’re lazy like me, just chuck it in the microwave.
Add your vegan butter to a microwave-safe bowl (I just use my glass measuring cup) and microwave on high in 30-second intervals. Stir in between and just keep heating until the butter completely liquefies. Simple as that!
Once your vegan butter is melted, you’ll mix it in with the milk, vanilla, sugar, and apple sauce before adding your bread.
Grab A Large Mixing Bowl
This recipe isn’t only super delicious, it’s as easy as apple pie!
Outside of your 6 simple ingredients, you’ll just need a large mixing bowl and a medium-sized casserole dish (I used a 9″x7″ dish).
A mixing bowl is the best way to make sure all of your ingredients are perfectly integrated before transferring them to your baking dish.
Cube Your Bread
The next step is cubing the bread. You can use any bread for this recipe, but I recommend white bread. It most easily absorbs your liquid and takes on the sugary taste seamlessly. You’ll need just half of a loaf of any bread you choose.
If your loaf is whole, slice it into pieces about 1-inch thick.
If your bread is already sliced, it’s as easy as slicing it into 4 roughly equal parts vertically, then rotating it and slicing it roughly into thirds to form little bread cubes.
You can stack your bread to slice it, but wouldn’t recommend tackling more than 4 slices at a time.
Once your bread is cubed, you can add it to your liquid mixture and use a spatula to toss it, making sure every piece of bread is coated.
Best Ways to Serve Bread Pudding
This dairy-free bread pudding is best served warm. I like to dust it with a little powdered sugar or if I’m feeling decadent, I will whip up this Vanilla Sauce for Bread Pudding or Brandy Sauce for Bread Pudding (both recipes have vegan options!).
Serving bread pudding a la mode is a great way to kick this delicacy up a notch! I really love it with some plant-based vanilla ice cream.
How to Properly Store and Reheat Vegan Bread Pudding
This Vegan Bread Pudding is meant to feed 6-to 8, but it is extremely addictive! If you do have incredible willpower and happen to have leftovers—I got you!
Cover and keep in the refrigerator for 5-7 days or in the freezer for up to a month. Reheating it is a breeze.
From the fridge, reheat a single serving on a frying pan for about 5 minutes on each side, until thoroughly heated through. You can also reheat it in the toaster or the oven at 375°F for 10 minutes from the refrigerator or 15 minutes from frozen.
The microwave will work in a pinch but does tend to make it a little soggy.
Melt-In-Your-Mouth Vegan Bread Pudding
SAVE RECIPE TO COLLECTION PIN PRINT RATEIngredients
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
- ½ loaf stale bread of choice (½ a loaf = 10-12 slices)
- 2 cups coconut milk (or any unsweetened non-dairy milk)
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened apple sauce
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablepsoons powdered sugar to sprinkle on top (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Add butter to microwave-safe dish and microwave in 20-second intervals, stirring in between, until completely melted.2 tablespoons vegan butter
- Meanwhile, cut your bread into cubes, about 1-inch long on each side.½ loaf stale bread of choice
- In a large mixing bowl, add milk, apple sauce, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, and melted butter and stir until combined.2 cups coconut milk, 2 tablespoons unsweetened apple sauce, ⅓ cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add your cubed bread to the mixing bowl and use a spatula or wooden spoon to toss, ensuring every piece is coated.
- Transfer your bread pudding mixture to a medium-sized casserole dish (I used 9-inch x 7-inch), and use a spatula to make sure the mixture is spread evenly across the dish.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top just starts to brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar (optional) and serve warm. Want to add extra moisture? Try adding this Vanilla Sauce for Bread Pudding.2 tablepsoons powdered sugar to sprinkle on top
Pro Tips
- You can use any unsweetened nondairy milk with similar success.
- Don’t worry if your bread is not fresh! This recipe is a great way to breathe new life into stale bread.
- White bread is preferred, but really any vegan bread will work with this recipe!
- Don’t throw out that stale bread! You can breathe new life into it and avoid food waste using one of these amazing stale bread recipes!
27 thoughts on “Melt-In-Your-Mouth Vegan Bread Pudding”
This worked great! I doubled the recipe, still only needed 35mins in the oven. Thank you.
SO happy to hear!! Great to know about the doubling– thank you so much!
I admit I was a little skeptical – particularly about the applesauce.
I was raised on the classic British version with a lot of eggs and milk, and I occasionally break my vegan rules to have it! (Don’t tell my Mum)
Well this turned out so amazing and delicious it will be my go-to in future!
Mine took about 60 – 65 minutes to cook, but I doubled it and used a 9 x 13 pan, plus I used unsweetened soy milk instead of coconut milk. I think the combination of the larger size and less fat in the milk is what accounted for the difference.
Hi Julie!! I’m SO glad you enjoyed! I know the applesauce is a curveball, but it totally works. Thank you so much for your feedback– that’s so great to know about doubling the recipe!
This looks incredible! I know you mentioned using any plant milk, but do you think that Country Crock Plant Cream would work in place of the coconut milk? Or would that be too thick?
Hi Kristina! I’m confident it will work! You may just want to add an extra splash (just a teaspoon or so), but use your discretion! Your goal is to have a very saturated mixture before putting it in the oven.
Fantastic – thank you! I am planning to try this recipe with homemade water challah and will report back! 🙂
Respectfully, the breads you mentioned are not vegan. Hence, this recipe is not vegan.
You’re so right! I’ve updated it to be more clear, listing some of my favorite brands. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave your feedback– reader feedback is always invaluable!
Have you ever tried it with gluten free bread? Any recommendations? Thanks!
Hi Stefanie! I’m so sorry, I haven’t tried it myself, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work so long as it’s day old or stale gluten free bread. I would steer away from anything with too many seeds as they may mess with the texture a bit but otherwise just go with your favorite!
SO SO SO good! I had a bunch of homemade bread that went stale and I had no idea what to do with it- and I also didn’t have any eggs/didn’t want to buy any. Truly delicious, SO moist. I added some chopped apples to this as well. I ended up taking mine out at around 30 minutes when the top was nice and brown. Will be making again!
I am SOOOO glad you enjoyed! The addition of apples is genius! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave your feedback!
delicious and super easy!
SO happy to hear your enjoyed! Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback 🙂
Hi I love the look of the recipe but I’m just wondering what you would suggest as an alternative to applesauce in the recipe and it’s not easily found here?
Hi Anna! You could use any other puréed fruit, a mashed banana, some plant based yogurt or easiest of all, just some extra coconut milk! Just bear in mind substitutes may change the baking time a bit- you’ll know it’s ready when you start to see some browning around the edges.
I want to make this recipe but would like to add apples and nuts. Can you suggest how much of each?
Sounds absolutely delicious! I would go with 1 large apple (large means at least 3inches wide) chopped and about 1/2 cup of nuts. Enjoy!!
P.s. this recipe isn’t overly sweet, so if you’re using an apple that’s on the tart side like Granny Smith, it may be good to toss the chopped apple in a little bit of sugar and/or cinnamon, but that’s totally up to you!
My comment is a question. What vegan butter substitute(s) does not contain Palm Oil, please? Would really like to try this recipe.
Hi Marsha! Thank you so much for asking! My two go-to vegan butter brands without palm oil are Miyokos and Kite Hill. Of course availability will differ depending on where you live, but here in Georgia I grab Miyokos at Target and Kite Hill at Publix.
Here is the Miyokos Store Locator.
Here is the Kite Hill Store Locator.
Hope this helps 🙂
So good!! I used coconut almond milk and monk fruit sweetener and I can’t stop eating it! Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Ingrid! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave your feedback 🙂
I’m excited to try this recipe out! Would it still work with mix-ins and if so what quantity (i.e. chocolate chips)? Thanks!
Yayy! So excited for you to try it, too, Clare! Mix ins absolutely work. For chocolate chips, I would mix 1 cup into the bread mixture and then sprinkle an extra 1/4 cup on top before baking. Enjoy!
I made this for my family with a loaf of leftover sourdough French bread and they all loved it, even my picky kids and my omni mom.
I definitely need to double it next time. How long would you cook it if you made a 9×13 pan? Thanks!
Hi Debbie!!
I’m so happy you and your family enjoyed! For a 9×13 pan, check it after 55 minutes. I don’t think you’ll need more than an hour in the oven 🙂