Welsh rarebit is a type of open-faced grilled cheese sandwich with so much flavor, and it comes together in minutes for a quick lunch anytime.

Have you ever heard of Welsh rarebit? I remember eating it as a little girl growing up in Scotland, and loving it, but I don’t think it’s a very well-known dish in the US.

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So allow me to introduce you to this delicious dish you can easily prepare for a quick lunch, dinner or even a snack.

What is Welsh Rarebit?

Welsh rarebit is simply a lightly toasted piece of bread with a melted cheese concoction poured on top and then broiled/grilled until golden brown. As the name denotes, it was created in Wales and is known as a “poor man’s dish” rather like Italian cucina povera. It usually contains a type of melty cheese, like Cheddar, a liquid and few other ingredients to flavor the mixture. Years ago, I shared my recipe for Irish rarebit which includes bits of cornichons.

Irish rarebit overhead shot with clover — Irish rarebit with cornichons

How do you Pronounce Rarebit?

There are now two ways to pronounce the word “rarebit”. I grew up saying “rabbit”, but now I have read (and heard) that pronouncing it as it is written, as in “rare-bit” is acceptable. I heard it pronounced this way recently by Ryan Reynolds (who happens to co-own a Welsh football team).

Why was he talking about Welsh rarebit? Because Wrexham AFC has published its own official cookbook! I thought I was prolific with two rarebit recipes, but clearly I’m a loser because this cookbook is called 20 Ways to Make Rarebit by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

Hopefully these two jokers don’t put out a recipe book for Welsh cakes next!

Note: read carefully before purchasing the rarebit cookbook because every recipe is exactly the same except for the garnish 🤣 However, it’s all for good as all proceeds go to Wrexham Foodbank.

While Welsh rarebit is basically a glorified cheese on toast, it’s a great option for St. David’s Day (March 1st) and obviously anytime you want a quick and unique cheesy meal! Make it authentically Welsh by using a Welsh cheese. Once you make it a few times, you can tweak it to your liking and you won’t even need to refer to a recipe–it’s that easy!

Can I make Welsh Rarebit without Guinness or Beer?

Of course, you can omit the Guinness or beer and use water, milk or even hard cider when making Welsh rarebit.

Note: you can use any type of savory bread you choose. I used a country loaf from Tartine.

Welsh Rarebit Recipe

adapted from Great British Cookery cookbook by Lucy Knox, et al. Serves 1 (or 2 smaller portions)

FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW

Ingredients

strong/mature Cheddar cheese or another similar cheese
butter
Worcestershire sauce
English mustard
flour
white pepper
Guinness (or another stout or ale)
bread

Toast the bread on one side only (use a broiler/grill if your toaster doesn’t have this function).

Put all of the ingredients, except for the toast and Guinness, into a pan, with the butter at the bottom, and place over a low heat.

Add the Guinness, then stir to combine the ingredients. Don’t worry if you think it’s too dry, the cheese mixture won’t be very wet.

Preheat the broiler/grill at this time.

melted cheese mixture — Sorry for the poor quality photo, but you can see what it looks like when the mixture is ready.

Continue to stir the cheese mixture until a smooth paste forms, then pour over the untoasted side of the slices of bread. It turns into a rather fun consistency!

Place on a baking tray and put under a preheated broiler/grill for a minute or so or until golden brown.

Serve immediately.

If you love cheese check out all my other cheese-y recipes!

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Love melty cheese? Don’t live one more day without discovering Swiss raclette! It’s such a dreamy cheese, honest!