French Toast Casserole (Instant Pot & Oven)

This easy recipe for Cinnamon Raisin French Toast Casserole is everything you love about a classic French toast, just more delicious and way more convenient! Sweet cinnamon raisin bread soaked in custard, baked till it's soft and gooey on the inside and crispy and caramelized on the outside! 

Great Make-Ahead Breakfast

With this 'make ahead and bake later' french toast recipe, I've got you covered for busy mornings, weekend breakfast or brunch, holiday guests, and whenever you feel like having breakfast for dinner 😉 .

This recipe is easy enough for kids to put together for Mother's Day breakfast surprise too!

4-Ingredient Cinnamon Raisin French Toast Casserole

My girls love French Toast that I make with Cinnamon Raisin bread. They also love the French Toast Casserole, which I make using challah bread, eggs, milk, and cinnamon. So I thought, why not combine the two and I came up with this recipe!

By replacing challah with store-bought cinnamon raisin bread, I was able to make this sumptuous breakfast using only 4 ingredients: bread, eggs, milk and maple syrup.

Overnight French Toast Breakfast Casserole

Ok, you're going to LOVE this french toast recipe even more when I tell you that you can assemble it the night before and bake it in the morning!

Whenever I have family or friends staying over, I feel breakfast tends to be more chaotic in general with different wake-up times and preferences .  This Cinnamon Raisin French Toast casserole is my lifesaver for one of those mornings. It is a favorite for holidays or weekends when you have house guests.

I assemble it, cover it with foil and pop it in the refrigerator. Next morning, I bake it while I sip my coffee 🙂

This casserole is so much more convenient than flipping individual French toasts, and it looks like a million bucks when it comes out of the oven, or the Instant Pot.

How to Make French Toast Casserole in the Oven or Instant Pot

Step 1: Prepare the bread:  Lightly grease an oven safe bowl or cake pan with butter or oil.  Cube cinnamon raisin bread into about 1 inch pieces and add to the bowl.  

Step 2: Make the custard: Whisk together milk, eggs and maple syrup.

Step 3: Pour over the bread pieces, pressing down gently so the bread soaks the custard.

Step 4: Let is rest for 5 mins. This allows the bread to soak up the custard and adds to the gooey texture.

Step 5: Cover the bowl with aluminum foil. Cook it in the Instant Pot, or bake it in the oven following the directions below.

Oven Baked Cinnamon French Toast Casserole

• Pre-heat the oven to 375F.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, or till cooked through. 
• Carefully remove from the oven using oven mitts. Let is cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Instant Pot French Toast Casserole

• Pour 1-2 cups of water in the inner pot, depending on the size of your pot. Place a trivet, and place the french toast bowl on top of the trivet. 
• Close lid and set Manual/Pressure Cook for 15 minutes (high). Turn the pressure knob to sealing mode if using a DUO model. 
• Once cooking time is done, carefully release pressure (QR), by turning the valve to 'venting' position in DUO models, or by pushing down the pressure valve in ULTRA models.
• Open the lid after the pin drops.  Using oven mitts, remove the bowl. Cool 5 minutes before serving

Accessories Needed for Instant Pot French Toast Casserole

To bake this casserole in the Instant Pot, you need a trivet and an oven safe baking pan that fits easily in the inner pot.

Optional but Recommended Topping

The topping is only 2 more ingredients, butter and brown sugar.  It is optional, but I highly recommend it. This is how I make it:

• I place thin slices of butter all over the baked bread pieces. 
• Then, I sprinkle brown sugar evenly over the bread. 
• I broil it in the oven for 1-2 minutes, which melts the butter all over the bread and the caramelizes the sugar.  DEE-LICIOUS!!

How to Multiply this French Toast Casserole Recipe

Making this recipe for a larger crowd is very easy! If you are multiplying this recipe, I recommend baking it in the oven. You can use two 9X13 inch casserole pans and make enough for everyone in one go!

Simple multiply all ingredients, use a larger baking dish like a lasagna pan, and bake it for the SAME time.

To multiply this recipe in the Instant Pot, you can use two stackable pans, and cook them using pot-in-pot technique. Cooking time stays the same.

More Easy Breakfast Recipes from my Kitchen

• Egg Bites (Oven & Instant Pot Recipe)
• Creamy Steel Cut Oats
• Hard Boiled Eggs
• Nutella French Toast
• Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (whole wheat)

📖 Recipe

This recipe was originally posted in 2018, but was updated in 2019 with new photos, helpful information, tips, and step-by-step photos.