Beans on Toast (The Proper British Way – Recipe by a Brit!)
Beans on toast has been eaten every day in the UK for breakfast, lunch or dinner for decades. It’s a super simple dish, but it’s comfort food on a plate for many of us. I hope you’ll enjoy it, too!
If you’re from Britain, you’re probably wondering why on earth there’s even a need for a recipe to make beans on toast, am I right?
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However, if you see what is out there on Google when you search “beans on toast”, you too will be horrified! Recipes with so much misinformation about beans on toast that the steam was coming out of my ears! I knew I had to write about it and set the record straight, asap! So here we are. If you just want to know about Heinz beans, versus beans on toast, then this post on everything you ever wanted to know about Heinz beans is for you.
Did you know that beans on toast is a dish fit for a Queen? Yep, Queen Elizabeth II loves her beans on toast and has even attributed (jokingly, of course) that she caught Covid due to going two days without eating her beloved beans! If you’re interested, here’s the recipe for the Queen’s favorite “cake”: chocolate tiffin.
🇬🇧 Check out the recipe for Coronation quiche (for American kitchens) as well as how to plan an English party at my friend Cynthia’s site at What a Girl Eats! 🇬🇧
My friends know that Heinz beans are one of the very few ready-made, or processed foods that I eat. In fact, last winter, two separate friends both spotted a 2 kg can of Heinz Beans at the 99 cent store, and each of them bought one for me without knowing the other had done the same! (Some of you have asked about my puffin mugs.)
I still haven’t even opened one of the massive tins because how on earth will we go through two kilograms (almost 5 lbs) of beans with only two people in the house? 🤣 I’ll have to have a ton of friends over for a big Scottish breakfast. Then I’ll make some potato scones, and Lorne sausage, too!
And of course, pots of real British tea!
If you don’t already know that Heinz beans are an integral part of being British, maybe this fact will help:
“The United Kingdom eats more cans of baked beans than the rest of the world combined. A staggering 1.5 million cans of Heinz Beanz are sold every day in the UK.” – Fact.Cat
Sir Patrick Stewart claims beans on toast is the only thing he can cook! Methinks he needs to visit my site! 😝
And in case you’re wondering, yes, it’s eaten with a knife and fork: keeping the fork in the left hand and knife in the right, no switching back and forth, that’s the American-style.
What Kind of Beans do the British eat on Toast?
There’s the original: Heinz Beans (sometimes spelled Heinz Beanz)! In fact, I remember a commercial/advert from when I was a little girl in Scotland which said “beans means Heinz!” However, the full slogan was, “a million housewives everyday, pick up a can of beans and say Beanz Meanz Heinz“. Pretty good, huh? No wonder they’re still a staple in almost every British household.
Sure you can make your own version of Heinz beans, but I highly doubt you’ll be able to capture the essence and flavor of this classic. The recipes I’ve seen online are a far cry from Heinz beans in a can, too. Heinz has five basic ingredients, while the recipes I looked at contain twice that many. Some people refer to these as “breakfast beans”, however, no one in the UK uses this term.
I wonder if these recipe developers have even traveled to the UK! In ten years of recipe-sharing, I’ve never said, “forget making homemade, buy the can”, and I probably never will again, but if you’re British, you’ll understand!
Where did Beans on Toast Originate?
The creation of “beans on toast” was a marketing event by the Heinz company in 1927, and fared well during WWII. Surprisingly, Heinz Beans were first produced in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1895, and were exported to the UK beginning in 1904, albeit at a high price point. However, it wasn’t until 1928 that Heinz began producing baked beans at their factory located just outside London that the popularity increased in the UK due to the lower price. -Heinz.com/hk/en
British food gets a bad rap. Check out this list of English dishes for a primer on why so much of it is a myth.
Since Heinz became so popular, it’s no wonder that there have been copycats to come along, and some prefer them to the original product. For example, a priest friend from my old church raves about Batchelor beans. These tinned beans are Irish, and so is he! 🇮🇪
Branston, the famous pickle company, also created their brand of Branston beans. If you’re in the UK, you’ll find many canned beans in most grocery stores under the generic brand of that store.
What Goes with Beans on Toast?
You can eat beans on toast on its own, but you can always serve it with an egg (usually fried, but there’s nothing wrong with soft-boiled, or coddled eggs). Some like to add some grated Cheddar cheese on top (you can always put it under the broiler, too). You can serve this as breakfast, lunch, a snack or dinner.
My dad would be very upset if I didn’t mention his way of serving Heinz Beans to the soldiers when he was a cook in the British Army, stationed in Ballymena, Northern Ireland.
He said the men loved it when he served them this way. He’d sauté onions until they were browned, and then added the beans to heat them. Dad still prefers his Heinz beans this way. I used red onions here, but his preference is white or yellow onions. Dad even likes onions in his beans as part of his full Scottish breakfast.
Beans on Toast is Perfect for Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner.
Yes, you can eat beans on toast any time of day. It literally takes 5 minutes to make, and is full of protein. There is added sugar in the beans, but using good quality artisan bread instead of the typical British loaf will make it a bit more healthy. If you have bread and a tin of beans, there’s always something to eat! Just add a soft boiled egg, coddled egg, or your choice of egg, if you want to add a little more protein.
Beans on Toast (The Proper, British Way)
A classic British dish serves 3
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Ingredients
- Heinz Beans
- bread
- butter (optional)
Directions
- Put the Heinz beans into a small pot over medium low heat.
- Put the bread in the toaster, and make the toast as desired. (If you like, you can butter the toast, but I find it unnecessary as the beans are the primary flavor.)
- Stir the beans, and heat until almost boiling, but don’t allow to boil. (According to directions on the tin, this will affect the flavor.)
- Place the toast on plates (you can butter the toast, but skip it to keep it vegan), and spoon ⅓ tin of the beans over the top of each slice.
- Serve immediately.
- Preferably with a cup of hot tea.
Enjoy; you’re now closer to being an honorary Brit! 🇬🇧 This has to be the easiest “recipe” ever, right?
TRIVIA: Heinz Baked Beans are sold in 69 countries around the world, so clearly there’s something about these beans.
Beans on Toast (The Proper British Way - Recipe by a Brit!)
Ingredients
- 1 can Heinz Beans (made in England) 415 g/14.6 oz
- 3 slices bread
- 1 tsp butter (optional-omit for vegan)
Instructions
- Put the beans into a small pot over medium low heat.
- Put the bread in the toaster, and make the toast as desired. Butter the toast,(but you can omit if you're vegan.)
- Stir the beans, and heat until almost boiling, but don't allow to boil. (According to directions on the tin, this will affect the flavor.)
- Place the toast on plates, and spoon ⅓ tin of the beans over the top of each slice. Serve immediately, preferably with a cup of hot tea.
Notes
Nutrition
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Thanks for the knowledge. I have been watching Ben Colsen on YouTube and he mentions Beanz and toast. Never heard of it. but with Scottish roots, suppose I need to try it. God’s abundant blessings from US
Thanks, Shari! Yes, give them a try, it’s a great option when there’s nothing to eat! :)
my first bite wasn’t sure, then it was gone!! om nom nom!
Haha! Love this, Grace!
I’ll give it a 4.9 out of 5. (It would be UNAMERICAN to rate it as highly as biscuits and gravy.)
My wife picked up the beans at Costco and as soon as I saw them, I knew what I was going to try for breakfast. She looked at me like I had grown a second head but whatever… I tried it on wheat toast; the only white bread we keep in the house is sourdough of which we currently don’t have any. Needing to fuel up with a goodly amount of protein in the morning, I threw a slice of cheddar cheese on the plate. I tried it as written here, without any additional salt or seasonings. BTW, you are correct, my Yankee taste buds do require more salt but my Southern instincts kicked in and I grabbed the bottle of Tabasco sauce that sits on the table. I really liked what the Tabasco did… it paired well with the beans and their sauce plus it gave the dish that spicy kick I seem to be addicted to.
OMG, I love this, Caines! You are very right in your rating as an American! 🇺🇸 Happy that you tried beans on toast and enjoyed them. I’m a spicy fan, too! Thank you and enjoy the rest of the beans (maybe try frying onions like my dad did in the army!)
Hi there! I’ve been wanting to try this British staple. I found the Heinz British beans at Costco and just tried this dish today. I found the beans to be very bland. I did add salt and pepper as there is no salt at all in the ingredients of the beans. I needed to add a bit of bbq sauce to get a bit more flavor but I have the HP sauce on order. Am I the only one to find the beans bland? Is it just my American taste buds that are use to more seasonings? All-in-all the dish was delicious and filling with two pieces of toast, and I will make it again 👍
Hi Sara, glad you tried beans on toast, and liked it, but the beans actually have a lot of sodium (11-14% of RDA), so I wouldn’t recommend adding more, just for health’s sake.
There are two things at play here, and yes, I believe your US trained palate is one of them. The other thing is that Brits grow up with these beans and it’s a nostalgic flavor. They are not, by any means, a super strong flavored, Michelin level, can of beans, so maybe hearing so much about them builds them up, too.
I found them at Costco too, and stocked up! Try them as part of a full Scottish breakfast, and along with all the deliciously savory items on the plate, I thing they’ll start to grow on you! You are now, an honorary Brit, haha!
As a Brit, I wholeheartedly approve this message!
All the instructions I’ve ever read, recommend heavily buttering the toast so I’m sticking with that myself. I also simmer the beans until they’re pretty thick. I definitely add cheese and HP sauce. Currently alot of Costco store started selling them @$7.99 a 6 pack so awesome deal!
You can do this however you like, Mary. Also, the Heinz can recommends NOT boiling the beans for flavor. Also, they are so thick already, I can’t imagine them even more thick. Already found them at Costco, yay!
beans
THIS IS THE WAY TO MAKE BEANS ON TOAST!
Yes, this is the real deal!