Baked Beans on Toast

At a Glance 

Baked beans on toast is a simple comfort meal that’s a staple in British cuisine. Crisp toast is topped with warm, seasoned beans for a filling and affordable dish that’s ready in minutes. Using only a few ingredients, this recipe can be customized to suit flavour preferences and dietary needs. 

 

Baked Beans on Toast 

Warm, wholesome, and satisfying, baked beans on toast is an easy, customizable dish that’s suited for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Frequently served as part of a full English breakfast, this simple recipe is just as good as the star of the show.  

Serve with a hot cup of tea for the full effect and enjoy! 

 

Benefits of Baked Beans on Toast 

Full of fibre. Navy beans are an excellent source of fibre. No matter what flavour of canned baked beans you choose from Farm Boy’s Private Label items, you’re receiving eight grams of fibre for every half-cup serving. That’s about a third of your daily recommended amount. Adequate fibre in your diet can help aid digestion, promote gut health, and keep you feeling fuller for longer. 

Packed with protein. Another vital nutrient to keep you feeling full is protein—and navy beans are full of it! Each half-cup serving of any of our baked beans contains between seven to eight grams of protein. Protein is essential for building muscle tissue, supporting bone health, and helps balance blood sugar levels, among many other nutritional benefits. If you’re seeking to add more protein to your diet, beans are an easy, plant-based, and wallet-friendly way to do just that. 

Rich in iron. This vital mineral can be found in red meats and leafy greens, but did you know that it’s abundant in beans, too? The same half-cup serving size nets you 20% of your recommended daily iron intake. Iron helps strengthen the immune system, transports oxygen throughout the body through the manufacturing of red blood cells, and helps keep energy levels up. Consider baked beans on toast a tasty (and quick) way to start your day off on the right foot. 

Budget-friendly. Canned foods are easy on your wallet, thanks to their longer shelf life and relatively low cost. Having budget-friendly recipes and meal ideas can make all the difference in many households. This flexible and affordable recipe can be made again and again with only a few staple ingredients and works for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  

Quick and convenient. In about 10 minutes, you can have breakfast on the table or dinner served. For a quick bite—or when you can’t think of what to make—this recipe offers hearty, wholesome comfort. You don’t have to be a chef to make it, so long as you can toast bread, heat beans, and grate cheese. If you have bread and a tin of beans, you always have something delicious and nourishing to eat. 

 

Ingredients for Baked Beans on Toast 

Baked Beans: The meat (figuratively speaking) of this recipe is the baked beans. For the most authentic British flavour – and greatest ease and convenience – we used canned beans. Farm Boy™ Sugarbush Baked Beans are the variety we chose for this recipe. Slow-cooked with brown sugar, fancy molasses, pure Canadian maple syrup, and tomato paste, they’re sweet, tangy, and the perfect choice for this toast. 

Other options of baked beans under our Private Label are our Campfire Baked Beans. They have a smooth, smoky flavour with the addition of Canadian whiskey. Alongside brown sugar, molasses, mustard, spices, and tomato paste, these navy beans have a slight kick and a whole lot of warmth. 

The third baked beans flavour in our lineup is our Maritime Baked Beans. Slow-cooked in a robust molasses sauce crafted with blackstrap molasses, brown sugar, and spices, they’re rich, deep, and a classic choice for this recipe. 

Bread: The toast that makes up our baked beans on toast recipe is our Sourdough Batard. One of the perennial best-sellers in our Bake Shop, it has a crisp, crunchy crust and a soft, tender interior with that signature sourdough tang. This bread holds up incredibly well to the weight and bold flavours of our baked beans without going soggy under the pressure. 

Cheese: For a melty twist of the classic baked beans on toast, we’ve added some shredded cheese. For this recipe, we used Farm Boy™ English Cheddar Cheese. Handcrafted using traditional methods, this imported cheese is rich and tangy with a smooth, firm texture. Made with milk from grass-fed cows, it’s a delicious addition to the traditional dish. 

Butter: Help your bread get to all its toasty glory by spreading a bit of butter. This helps the surface of the bread crisp up nicely, giving you that crunchy canvas you need upon which to spoon your baked beans. Unsalted or salted butter is fine, depending on your preference, dietary restrictions, and what you have on hand. 

 

Nutritional Swaps, Substitutions, and Additions 

Go dairy-free: Cheese isn’t a must-have for this recipe, as it’s really all about the baked beans and toast. If you’re dairy-free, you can omit the cheese or swap it out for a dairy-free substitute. If lactose is the issue, try substituting our Farm Boy™ Organic Old Cheddar Cheese. Made in Canada from 100% organic unpasteurized milk, it’s also free of animal rennet, GMOs, and lactose. Its age gives this cheese a deeper flavour without getting too sharp. 

Make it gluten-free: Part of the comfort of baked beans on toast is, of course, the toast. If you’re following a gluten-free diet, however, you don’t have to miss out on this quintessentially English dish. Instead, opt for a gluten-free bread. At Farm Boy stores, you’ll find a wide variety of gluten-free breads, bagels, English muffins, and more. Choose a sturdy loaf that can hold up to the weight of the beans. (Any of our three baked bean flavours are also certified gluten-free.) 

Add more protein: Baked beans on toast is already a good source of protein, but sometimes you want a little extra, just to keep you going longer. If you don’t have time to tuck into a full English breakfast, you might want to spare a few extra minutes to cook an egg. Poached, soft-boiled, or fried – however you like your eggs, they’ll add an extra bump of protein and some tasty omega-3s to this dish. Serve the egg right on top of the beans and dig in. 

Amp up the flavour with onions: Another surefire way to add flavour to this dish is to include onions. Sauté onions (red, yellow, or white onions would work) with a sprinkle of salt and pepper until they’re browned and beginning to caramelize before adding your canned beans. Cook until the beans are warmed and spoon onto your toast as directed. 

Make it vegan: The easiest way to make this dish vegan is to remove the cheese and butter. Of course, going plant-based doesn’t have to mean sacrificing what you enjoy. At Farm Boy, we’re committed to hand-selecting items we think you’ll love, and that includes our expanding line of vegan Private Label products. Instead of dairy-based butter, choose Farm Boy™ Unsalted Plant-Based Butter. Made from simple ingredients, it bakes, cooks, melts, and spreads like regular butter.  

For cheese, instead of our English Cheddar Cheese, we recommend Farm Boy™ Vegan Cheddar-Style Shredded Cheese Alternative. Pre-shredded for your convenience, it has an amazingly similar texture and flavour to the dairy version. 

Switch out the bread: We like our Sourdough Batard best for this baked beans recipe. Its crispy, crunchy crust and slight tang means that it holds up both structurally and flavour-wise to the other ingredients. However, you don’t have to be limited by your bread choice! We also like our Wide-Loaf Sandwich Breads for this recipe. With a strong crumb structure, a decent amount of fibre, and a good amount of protein, we suggest our Tuscan White Loaf or Multigrain 9 Grain and Seed Loaf, depending on what you like best. 

 

Tips for the Best Baked Beans on Toast 

Serve immediately. No one wants soggy toast. While our Sourdough Batard can handle a decent amount of toppings, baked beans can still seep into the bread if left for too long. The best tip to enjoying baked beans on toast is to serve them immediately. This will allow the toasted bread to remain crisp and the beans to stay warm and tasty. 

Don’t boil the beans. You only want to heat the beans to a simmer, not until they’re bubbling. Boiling your beans can compromise the flavour and texture. Stir the beans as they heat to ensure none of them burn. 

Use canned beans. Sometimes a trick really is this simple: use canned beans. Canned beans in this recipe captures the essence and the flavour of this classic dish. Our line of Canadian-made beans strikes the perfect balance of sweet and tangy, making them the ideal choice for this dish. While we’ll rarely tell you to purchase pre-made over from-scratch in our recipes, this dish is all about simplicity, convenience, and affordability. Using high-quality baked beans from a can checks all those boxes. 

 

More Bean Recipes from Farm Boy 

Looking for more recipes starring beans? Check out any of the dishes below!  

Black Bean Tostadas 

Tuscan White Bean Stew 

South of the Border Black Bean Salad 

Mediterranean Bean, Kale, and Quinoa Salad 

Tex-Mex Egg Boat Bake 

 

More Toast Recipes from Farm Boy 

Looking for more toast recipes or recipes to serve on toast? Check out any of the dishes below! 

Spinach Tofu Scramble 

Mushroom Duxelles Crostini 

Apple, Brie, and Cheddar Grilled Cheese 

Toasted Brisket Sandwich 

Herbed Ricotta Spread