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It’s with good reason that the super-not-open-minded to vegan food shul near us freaks out (in a good way) every time we bring a loaf or two of this vegan challah to Shabbat services! The Rabbi and congregation say it blows away regular egg challah by a landslide. Plus, my wife and I (honestly, mostly her) fine-tuned this into a pretty hard recipe to mess up, even if you’ve never baked bread before in your life.
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You know what’s one thing us Jewish folks of Eastern Europe have down pat? It’s the sweets, that’s what. If you’ve already become a convert from having made my vegan chocolate babka recipe, vegan rugelach, or vegan hamantaschen, you know this one’s going to be a downright banger, right?
If you are looking to make a sweet challah for Rosh Hashanah, check out my round challah recipe instead, which is spiked with apples, pomegranate seeds, and orange blossom water. Sounds stupidly yummy, right? Well, m'dear love, that's because it truly is.
I’ve made the braiding steps super straightforward, especially because I used to suck at that and know your pain and fear around that. Really, it’s not going to be so bad. I gotcha! Let's braid up some supremely tender magic in your kitchen!
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😍 Why you’ll adore this vegan challah recipe
🕒 Simple and Quick: With just 10-15 minutes of active prep time and an easy-to-follow process, this recipe is perfect even for beginners. Even if you absolutely suck at baking!
✊ Vegan AF: Like all of my vegan Jewish recipes, there’s no eggs or dairy in this bad boyo. The recipe’s actually completely pareve, if that’s your thingy.
🛍️ Pantry-Friendly Ingredients: Everything you need for this recipe—like flour, yeast, and agave—are probably already in your pantry or can easily be found in most grocery stores.
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like all of the vegan bread recipes I share, this vegan water challah recipe was shared with a team of hundreds of recipe testers of varying skill levels across the globe who replicated it with flying colors!
🍞 Water challah ingredients
The Yeast
Instant yeast, aka “quick-rise” or “bread machine yeast,” is my actual JAM right here. I use it as my go-to yeast for baking projects like Korean donuts, msemen, and vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls, and I love how foolproof it makes the proofing and fermentation. If you only have active dry yeast, it will absolutely work too! Just keep a close eye on it to make sure your braided dough doesn’t over-proof and fall back on itself.
The Sweetener
There are two main sweeteners in this recipe, first the regular ol’ sugar in the dough, and then some agave nectar in the glaze. You can substitute sugar with coconut sugar or palm sugar if you are looking for a less processed sweetener, and use maple syrup in place of the agave if you don’t have any.
The Flour
I have tried challah with bread flour (which still works great), but all-purpose flour beats it in terms of a nice cake-y crumb. If you want a more wholesome bread, you can mix in up to 50% whole wheat flour, which tastes pretty nice and adds some fiber, though it will not be 100% as fluffy. Gluten-free flour works very poorly in this recipe. Lemme save you some time, and tell you this will sorta suck if you try to make it that way. Sorry.
A Pinch of Turmeric
Proper challah’s gotta look a little eggy, and a tiny bit of turmeric powder is important for getting that job done. If you don’t have turmeric, a sorta big pinch of saffron crushed up between your fingers and stirred into the liquid in the recipe will get the job done too.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
🤯Variations
Everything Bagel Challah
At the end of baking, when the final coat of glaze has been brushed on, sprinkle a blend of sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried garlic, dried onion, and coarse salt. I never had challah like this growing up, but my wife Joey got me hooked, and unless I am planning to make French toast with it later, this is how I love my challah most of the time now.
Vegan Challah French Toast
Slice day-old challah into thick pieces and dip them into a mixture of plant-based milk, a little flour, vanilla extract, some maple syrup, and cinnamon. Pan-fry in vegan butter until golden brown for the seriously BOMB vegan French toast with vegan mascarpone that we used to serve on our food truck sometimes.
Grilled Challah Breakfast Sandwich
I used to serve a breakfast sandwich like this at my short-lived restaurant location down near Wall Street in NYC. We would lightly grill slices of challah on a flat-top griddle, but you can do it in a skillet too. Then assemble the sandwich with scrambled tofu, hollandaise sauce, either some vegan corned beef or smoked vegan breakfast sausage, and fresh baby arugula for a legendary morning meal!
📖 How to make this vegan challah bread recipe
Nail this plant-based Shabbat bread on your first shot by following these step-by-step photos with helpful tips. Or scroll down to the bottom of this page for the easy-to-print recipe card.
Step One
Activate Yeast Mode:
In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer if you have one, combine lukewarm water, sugar, and yeast. Let the yeast mixture activate for 5-8 minutes over a warm surface until it looks foamy and ready to party.
✅ Warm water from the tap is probably fine. Just make sure it's somewhere in the range of 100°F–110°F (38°C–43°C).
Step Two
You’re All I Knead:
Add the flour, oil, salt, and turmeric and knead the dough for 7 minutes by hand or 4 minutes on medium speed in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. The result should be a firm, smooth dough ready to rise.
Step Three
Double, Double Bowl and Trouble:
Grab a large mixing bowl, and grease the bottom and sides of the bowl with a little olive oil or other neutral oil of your preference. Place the dough into the bowl and cover it with a damp towel. Let it rise in a warm spot for 60-90 minutes until it doubles in size.
✅ I use a kitchen towel or a plate to cover my bowl of dough rather than plastic wrap, and you should too! Let's not destroy the planet to make this dairy-free challah!
Step Four
Divide and Conquer:
Punch the dough down and then divide into equal portions (I divide into 6 portions of about 0.4 lb. Each for braiding a 6-strand challah).
Step Five
Roll and stretch the dough into long thin ropes about 1 inch side (2.5 cm.) by about 16-18 inches long. Allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes for the gluten to relax.
Step Six
Unity:
Press the tends together one one side. You may need to sprinkle in a tiny bit of water to get the ends to fuse together securely
How to Braid Vegan Challah:
Steps 7, 8, 9 & 10:
Bring the outise strand across, and then the other outside strand to the middle. Braid the strands into a long, neat loaf, gently stretching them as you go. Pinch the ends and tuck them under so the braid stays tight as it ferments and bakes.
Step Eleven
Loaf Out Loud:
Carefully transfer the braided loaf from your work surface onto a lightly oiled, parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with a clean, moistened towel and let it rise again for 45-60 minutes until doubled in size. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Step Twelve
Bake to the Future:
Bake the loaf for 30-35 minutes over the center oven rack until it turns golden brown and smells like challah bread heaven.
Step Thirteen
Glaze Anatomy:
While the bread bakes, mix together olive oil and agave nectar, which will function as your eggless egg wash.
Step Fourteen
Glazed and Confused:
Once the challah is lightly golden brown and fully baked, remove it from the oven and brush it generously with the agave-oil glaze.
Step Fifteen
Final Countdown: 5 More Minutes
Return the glazed loaf to the oven and bake for an additional 4-5 minutes until glossy and golden. You can optionally add more glaze at this point when you are taking the challah out of the oven. Transfer to a wire rack and let it cool completely before serving.
👉Top tips
- Mind the Water Temperature: The temperature of the water used to activate the yeast is super-critical. Shoot for what feels like warm (not hot) bath water, in the range of 100°F–110°F (38°C–43°C). Water that's too hot can kill the yeast, while water that's too cool may not activate it, which will slow down the fermentation process.
- Optimal Kneading Time: Kneading develops the gluten network, giving the bread its structure. Knead the dough until it's smooth and elastic, which typically takes about 7 minutes by hand or 4 minutes on medium speed in a stand mixer.
- Non-Stick: Lightly oil the parchment paper you line your baking pan with. That, and the fact that you are only baking the bread glazed for a short time, will help make sure the challah doesn’t stick to the paper.
- Check for Doneness: To ensure the challah is fully baked, tap the bottom of the loaf; it should sound almost a little hollow. Alternatively, use an instant-read thermometer to check that the internal temperature has reached at least 190°F (88°C) and the thermometer has no unbaked dough stuck to it when removed.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! You can mix and knead the bread dough by hand; it may require a bit more effort, but the results will be just as rewarding.
All-purpose flour works well, but using bread flour can yield a slightly chewier texture due to its higher protein content. You can use a 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour and regular all-purpose flour if you want a more wholesome, rustic challah.
A dense loaf can result from under-kneading, insufficient rising time, or using too much flour. Ensure proper kneading and allow the dough to double in size during each rise.
Allow the dough to rise until it has doubled in size, which typically takes 60-90 minutes for each rise, depending on room temperature. Honestly, I have let it go for HOURS before, and with the instant yeast, you almost can’t overdo it!
✌️You'll love these vegan baking projects too
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Easy Vegan Challah Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cups water (lukewarm)
- ⅔ cups sugar
- 4 ½ teaspoons instant yeast
- 1.6 lb. all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup canola oil vegetable oil, or sunflower oil
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
Glaze:
- ¼ cup agave nectar
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together the warm water, sugar, and yeast, and allow the yeast to activate for 5-8 minutes until foamy looking.
- Add the flour, oil, salt, and turmeric and knead together for 7 minutes by hand or 4 minutes on medium speed in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, yielding a firm, smooth dough.
- Transfer the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover the bowl with a moistened kitchen towel, keeping it in a warm place for the dough to rise for 60-90 minutes until doubled in size.
- Punch the dough down and then divide into equal portions (I divide into 6 portions of about 0.4 lb. Each for braiding a 6-strand challah).
- Roll and stretch the dough into long thin ropes about 1 inch side (2.5 cm.) by about 16-18 inches long. Allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes for the gluten to relax.
- Press the tends together one one side. You may need to sprinkle in a tiny bit of water to get the ends to fuse together securely
- Braid the strands into a nice long braid, pulling gently as you braid to elongate the loaf.
- Pinch the ends together, tucking the butt end of the braid under, and transfer the braided loaf onto a lightly oiled, parchment-lined baking pan. Cover the loaf loosely with a clean, moistened kitchen towel to rise for 45-60 minutes until doubled in size. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Once the oven is preheated, bake the loaf for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.
- Meanwhile, stir together the olive oil and agave nectar.
- Once the bread is lightly golden brown and cooked through, remove the loaf and brush thoroughly with the agave and olive oil.
- Finish baking for 4-5 minutes and then remove the loaf, placing it on a wire rack to cool to room temperature before serving.
Notes
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KRB says
Best vegan challah recipe I’ve ever made! Recipe was easy to follow and I love that I didn’t need to source any special ingredients to make it. I put a little dough aside to make a couple small rolls, baked them for about 15 minutes before glazing. Next time I might make two smaller loaves because my braiding abilities are weak and I think it might be easier with smaller amounts of dough.
Ja Williams says
Great recipe that comes together easily and has all the elements( taste & crumb) of a traditional challah. The bread baked up beautifully, although I struggled with the braiding still looked great. The agave/olive oil glaze is game changer it made the bread have that beautiful sheen that generally is only achievable with an egg glaze.
hg says
Even though my braiding abilities are sub par, and my challah wasn't as pretty as his was ( my bad), it really was remarkable how much this vegan challah tasted like a traditional one. Although I haven't tried it yet, I can see how it would make a great French Toast.
Zabeth says
Omg. So tasty. Finally vegan challah !!!!