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.
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 really only one kind: 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.
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.
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). 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.
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)
Instructions
- Put the 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 unecessary 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, 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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Few problems here….:-)
Heinz have been a staple for years, but Branstons now make a cheaper and suitable equivalent. Asda and Tesco own brands are also equivalent, but depend on what you add.
Baked beans in tomato sauce alone are bland – the added butter makes a big difference. Essential is the addition of pepper.
Other good mixes are chilli powder or curry powder, depending upon taste and time of day.
The options are all there, of course, and personal taste is the most important.
Dear Bob in Wales, this post is meant for the US audience where Heinz are not available in most stores and Branston, Asda and Tesco are NEVER an option. Thanks for the notes, but it’s a general piece on what Beans on Toast is as a dish, and that making it from scratch is just not-on. :)
Growing up in Massachusetts, US we always ate white bread and butter with canned beans. I still love it.
Can’t beat the simple things!
Lovely post! As a low-calorie, low-carb alternative, try baked beans on rice cake – sacrilege to some, I know, haha, but tastes surprisingly good!!
Thank you, and thanks for the idea! It might be a great option for some! :)
I simply had to comment on this post. Being a 69 year old Yorkshire lass I’ve eaten beans on toast, practically, all my life, so I’ll share with you how we made it way back when. We had a ‘black lead’ cooker in the kitchen and our grill was a coal fire. The beans were poured into a frying pan that had bacon fat in it. This gave the beans a terrific flavour. The toast was a thick slice of my mothers homemade bread, on a toasting fork held against the hot coals of the fire, ( another unique flavour for toast). Once the bread was toasted, on went the butter then the beans. Various toppings were on offer but my favourite was either grated cheddar or a fried egg.
Oh lucky you to have these golden memories, Kare!! How wonderful that must have been, especially with the bacon fat! I can only imagine!! Thank you for sharing!
Beans were a “souvenir” I brought back with me the first time I visited England in 2019. I was at an airbnb in Canterbury and jet lag had me awake at 0400, starving but with nothing open yet. There were cans of beans and a loaf of bread in the cupboard and I ate the beans straight from the tin with toast and jam. Not how you’re supposed to do it, I know, but it was so good that morning, seasoned with hunger! I have since developed a small beans at breakfast addiction and eat them all the time, though they can be hard to find here. I still do it wrong. I like them on their own with a side of bacon or sausage and toast with jam. They’re a good replacement for eggs, which I don’t always want in the morning.
That’s too funny, Deana!! Thanks for sharing :)
What is the proper cheese to top it with ? Haha
A good Scottish cheddar if you ask me, but honestly anything like Cheddar is a good choice!
English Heinz beans are a bit on the bland side for me, but OK.
The sausages there are another story entirely, some meat, a lot of added cereal and almost no spices – blah.
I’d guess there are some real quality sausage makers there, but I’ve not run into them. Wrong, at one time, a top London hotel in Mayfair had venison sausages that were excellent.
Clearly, you need to try more and different British sausages, George! Start with this recipe for Cumberland style! :)
This is the way. My grandmother is English, and even though I have never seen her eat beans somehow this got passed down. My Mom made beans and toast for our breakfast and sometimes for dinner. Still one of my favourite comfort foods, and definitely different from the US bbq style beans. The can is a must.
Glad you’re still doing it the right way, Maggie! Well done!