Challah substitute

Best substitute

Brioche

Use the same amount by weight or by slice as the challah you are replacing

Best for French toast

Close match

When a recipe asks for challah it almost always wants three specific properties: a soft open crumb that can soak up custard without turning to mush, egg-yolk richness, and a light sweetness. That is why any old sandwich loaf gives disappointing French toast. Brioche is the closest swap at 1:1, richer and more cakey because it is made with butter, so lower the pan heat a notch since it browns faster. Japanese milk bread or Hawaiian sweet rolls also swap 1:1 and are sweeter, so cut the sugar in the custard. A sturdy thick-cut white loaf, staled in a low oven for ten minutes, works at 1:1 if you add an extra egg yolk and a spoonful of oil to the custard to make up for what it lacks. One thing to know if it matters to you: challah is deliberately dairy-free, so brioche and milk bread are not equivalents there.

Other challah substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Japanese milk bread, shokupan or Hawaiian sweet rolls
Close match
Use the same amount by weight or by slice
Very soft, tender and slightly sweeter than challah, with a fine even crumb that soaks custard beautifully.
What changes
The bread is less eggy, so French toast tastes cleaner and more milky and less golden-rich, and Hawaiian rolls in particular bring a distinct pineapple-ish sweetness.
Best for
French toast, bread pudding, sweet strata, slider buns, sandwiches
Reduce the sugar in the custard or the sauce by about a quarter, since these breads are already sweet. Both contain milk, so they are not dairy-free. Milk bread is very soft when fresh and really needs a day of staling first.
3Supermarket egg bread or a plain braided loaf
Close match
Use the same amount
Frequently the same recipe under a different label, particularly loaves sold simply as egg bread, egg twist or braided bread.
What changes
Expect a slightly less rich version with a touch less sweetness and a paler crumb, and in every other respect identical behaviour.
Best for
French toast, bread pudding, stuffing, sandwiches, any challah recipe
Read the label if dairy matters, since supermarket egg breads sometimes use butter or milk powder where challah would not. Panettone and Portuguese sweet bread are related and much sweeter, so treat them like the milk bread option.
4Thick-cut white sandwich bread, staled
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by slice, plus 1 extra egg yolk and 1 tablespoon oil per 4 eggs of custard
The cheap, available option and honestly fine once you compensate.
What changes
Plain white bread has none of challah's egg richness or sweetness, so French toast made with it tastes flatter and goes soggy faster, and bread pudding is lighter and less custardy. Enriching the custard closes most of the distance.
Best for
everyday French toast, bread pudding, stuffing, feeding a crowd cheaply, dairy-free cooking
Slice at least 2.5 cm / 1 inch thick, which usually means buying an unsliced loaf, and dry the slices in a 150C / 300F oven for 10 minutes. Standard thin sandwich slices will disintegrate in custard no matter what you do.
5French bread, baguette or a soft Italian loaf
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
A very different eating experience but a good one.
What changes
The crumb is chewier and the crust is real, so French toast comes out less custardy and more toasty with a firm bite, and bread pudding turns rustic and toothsome rather than soft and pudding-like. It is lean, so it soaks liquid readily without collapsing.
Best for
bread pudding, savoury stuffing and strata, panzanella, dairy-free and pareve cooking
It needs longer in the custard, closer to 2 minutes a side, because the crumb is tighter. Trim the very hard end crusts. For savoury stuffing this is arguably a better choice than challah anyway.
6Croissants
Taste and texture differ
Use About 6 large croissants for every 500 g challah
Only for bread pudding, and there it is spectacular.
What changes
The laminated layers soak custard unevenly and give crisp flaky ridges on top with a rich soft base. It is far more buttery than challah, so the pudding is heavier and much less like the dish the recipe describes.
Best for
bread and butter pudding, baked French toast casseroles, using up day-old bakery pastries
Halve or omit the butter in the recipe, since croissants bring plenty of their own. Day-old and slightly stale is much better than fresh. Not suitable if you need dairy-free.
7Sourdough
Taste and texture differ
Not recommended for sweet dishes
Worth naming as the swap to avoid.
What changes
Sourdough has a tangy, lactic flavour and a holey, chewy crumb, and both fight sweet custard: the acidity reads as sour under maple syrup and the large holes let custard run straight through. For savoury stuffing or a cheese and egg strata, it is genuinely good.
Best for
savoury stuffing, cheese and herb stratas, savoury bread puddings, croutons
If sourdough is all you have and you want French toast, use a mild young loaf rather than a strongly fermented one, and add an extra spoonful of sugar and a good pinch of cinnamon to the custard to mask the tang.

What is Challah?

Challah is Challah is a lightly sweet, golden Jewish bread enriched with eggs and made with oil rather than butter, usually braided, sold in bakeries as challah bread, egg bread or braided bread.

Cooking tips

Day-old challah is better than fresh for cooking, which feels wrong but is the most important thing to know. A fresh loaf is already full of moisture and turns to mush in custard, while a stale one drinks it up and holds together. If yours is fresh, slice it and dry the slices in a 150C / 300F oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
Slice thick, about 2.5 cm or 1 inch, and soak for 30 to 60 seconds a side rather than leaving the slices sitting in the dish. Thin slices soaked too long are the single most common cause of soggy, collapsing French toast.
The egg and sugar in challah make it brown fast, so cook French toast over medium rather than medium-high heat and in butter that has not already started to brown. Turned up too high, the outside is dark before the middle has set.
For stuffing or strata, cut the loaf into cubes and dry them in a 150C / 300F oven for 20 minutes rather than leaving them out overnight. Properly dried cubes take up stock without going pasty.
A whole challah freezes very well for up to three months. Slice it before freezing and you can pull out two slices at a time and go straight into the custard, since slightly frozen bread holds together even better than stale bread.

Frequently asked questions

Is challah the same as brioche?

They are close cousins but not the same. Both are enriched breads with a soft sweet crumb, but challah is made with oil and no dairy, which keeps it pareve and gives it a lighter, chewier crumb, while brioche is loaded with butter, which makes it richer and cakier. They swap 1:1 in almost any recipe, but brioche is not dairy-free.

Can I just use regular sandwich bread?

Yes, with two adjustments. Buy an unsliced loaf and cut it at least an inch thick, and add an extra egg yolk plus a tablespoon of oil to the custard to make up for the richness plain bread does not have. Standard thin pre-sliced bread will fall apart, so if that is all you have, dry the slices in the oven first and soak them for only 15 seconds a side.

Does challah contain dairy?

Traditionally no. Challah is made with oil rather than butter and no milk, specifically so it can be eaten alongside a meat meal under kosher rules. That makes it a useful bread for dairy-free cooking, and it also means brioche, milk bread and Hawaiian rolls are not direct swaps if avoiding dairy is the reason you wanted challah.

Can I leave challah out or use something completely different?

In French toast or bread pudding the bread is the dish, so you need something. Almost any enriched or sturdy white bread will do, and even hot dog or burger buns work at a push for bread pudding, since they are soft and slightly sweet. What will not work is anything thin, very holey or strongly flavoured.

Why is my challah French toast soggy in the middle?

Almost always because the bread was too fresh, sliced too thin, or soaked too long. Use day-old bread, cut it an inch thick, soak 30 to 60 seconds a side, and cook over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes a side so the centre has time to set before the outside darkens. Finishing the slices in a 180C / 350F oven for 5 minutes fixes stubborn cases.

Related substitutes

More grains & starches substitutes

Challah substitute

Other challah substitutes

2Japanese milk bread, shokupan or Hawaiian sweet rolls

3Supermarket egg bread or a plain braided loaf

4Thick-cut white sandwich bread, staled

5French bread, baguette or a soft Italian loaf

6Croissants

7Sourdough