If you grew up loving beans on toast, get ready… because this Cheesy Beans on Toast Bake takes that classic comfort and turns it into something even more irresistible. Think warm, bubbling beans… melty cheddar… smoky bacon, golden toast tucked underneath… all baked together into the coziest, most satisfying dish.
It’s simple. It’s budget‑friendly. And it’s exactly the kind of meal that makes a chilly day feel a little brighter. Perfect for busy nights, lazy weekends, or whenever you want something comforting without a lot of fuss.
This is comfort food with heart — familiar, nostalgic, and so delicious you’ll wonder why you haven’t been making it this way all along.
- 4 slices of bread
- soft butter for spreading
- 4 rashers of streaky bacon
- 1 (200g/14oz) tin of baked beans in tomato sauce
- 1 cup (115g) grated strong cheddar cheese
- a handful of crispy fried onions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a small casserole dish. (Mine is 7 by 11 inches.)
- Toast your bread and then butter it generously. Cut into bite sized squares and toss into the casserole dish. (Buttering it generously helps to prevent the beans from soaking too much into the bread and making it overly soggy.)
- Fry your bacon until it reaches your desired crispness. Drain well on paper towels and then break into pieces. (I don't like to make it too crisp as it loses it's flavor I find.)
- Top the toasted bread with the canned beans. Sprinkle the bacon pieces over top and then scatter on the cheese to cover. Sprinkle with a handful of the crispy onions. (The crispy onions add a lovely touch.)
- Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Uncover and bake for about 10 minutes more, until bubbling and golden brown. (Covering it for the short period of time helps it to heat through properly and then uncovering it helps to crisp up the topping.)
- Serve immediately to two lucky people.
- Read through the recipe several times before you start to make the dish. This will help to familiarize you with anything that you need.
- Assemble all of your ingredients before you begin so that you don't leave anything out.
- Make sure you use a good, sturdy white bread. You don't want anything that is going to go mush in the bake time.
- Butter your toast well.
- Make sure you use a good quality baked bean and do not drain. I used Heinz baked beans in tomato sauce and if you can get the British version of them, so much the better as they are not as sweet as the North American variety.
- Use a good well flavored cheese. I used a white cheddar.
- Don't over cook the bacon. Overcooked bacon loses it's flavor.
MUSHROOMS ON TOAST - This is mushrooms on toast the way it should be — rich, rustic, deeply savory, and absolutely bursting with flavor. Forget the soggy tinned version of years past. This recipe brings the mushrooms to life: sautéed until golden and caramelized, tossed with sweet red onions, crispy pancetta, fragrant garlic, and fresh oregano. A final knob of butter melts through the pan, creating a glossy, irresistible finish. Spoon that over thick slices of buttery sourdough toast and you’ve got a dish that feels both humble and indulgent. It’s quick, comforting, and perfect for evenings when you want something warm and satisfying without fuss. Earthy mushrooms, salty pancetta, herby brightness… every bite is a little moment of joy.
BACON & CHEESE ON TOAST - the kind of comforting, no‑nonsense food that never goes out of style — a golden, melty, savory treat that feels like childhood, cozy weekends, and late‑night cravings all rolled into one. Thick toast gets a flavor‑boosting schmear (think grainy mustard, marmite, or even mango chutney), then a generous snowfall of sharp cheddar, and finally ribbons of smoky bacon laid lovingly on top. A quick blast under the grill transforms everything into bubbling, crisp‑edged perfection — the cheese molten and rich, the bacon sizzling, the toast sturdy enough to hold all that goodness. It’s simple, it’s satisfying. Warm, nostalgic, and endlessly adaptable… this is comfort food at its most delicious.
Cheesy Beans on Toast Bake
A simple throw together of a much beloved dish. Sized for two. This is delicious. Cheesy, rich and hearty. True comfort food.
Ingredients
- 4 slices of bread
- soft butter for spreading
- 4 rashers of streaky bacon
- 1 (200g/14oz) tin of baked beans in tomato sauce
- 1 cup (115g) grated strong cheddar cheese
- a handful of crispy fried onions
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a small casserole dish. (Mine is 7 by 11 inches.)
- Toast your bread and then butter it generously. Cut into bite sized squares and toss into the casserole dish.
- Fry your bacon until it reaches your desired crispness. Drain well on paper towels and then break into pieces.
- Top the toasted bread with the canned beans. Sprinkle the bacon pieces over top and then scatter on the cheese to cover. Sprinkle with a handful of the crispy onions.
- Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Uncover and bake for about 10 minutes more, until bubbling and golden brown.
- Serve immediately to two lucky people.
This content, written and photography, is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.
If you love lasagna but don’t always feel like tackling the whole layered‑from‑scratch production, this Lazy Lasagna for Two is going to be your new weeknight hero. It has all the cozy flavors we crave — tender pasta, rich tomato sauce, creamy cheese — but comes together with a fraction of the time and effort. Perfect for smaller households, busy days, or those moments when you want something comforting without spending hours in the kitchen.
This is lasagna made simple, satisfying, and wonderfully doable… just the way cooking for two should feel.
- oven-ready lasagna noodles
- 1 1/2 cups (336g) cottage cheese
- 6 TBS of grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cups (375g) jarred Bolognese sauce (one with meat in it)
- 1/2 cup of water
- 2 cups (450g) grated Mozzarella cheese
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 3 TBS chopped flat leaf parsley
- Preheat the oven to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a small loaf sized dish. (Mine is a Pyrex dish that measures approximately 5 by 8 inches in size. It is also about four inches deep.)
- Mix the water together with the Bolognese sauce. (This isn't necessary if your sauce is more on the watery side. Mine was quite thick.)
- Spread a light layer of sauce on the bottom of the dish. Add a layer of noodles and more sauce. Add 1/2 of the cottage cheese spreading it out over the sauce, a third of the Parmesan cheese, 1/3 of the Mozzarella cheese, some Parsley, and some seasoning. Repeat the layers. (What you want is two filled layers and a top and bottom layer of noodles with sauce and cheese to finish off the top.)
- End with a top layer of noodles, sauce, Parmesan cheese, Mozzarella cheese and the remaining parsley.
- Cover tightly with some aluminum foil. (Grease the foil first if you don't want the cheese to stick to it.) Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes until starting to turn golden brown. (If you want you can turn on the grill/broiler to help with this, but do keep an eye on it.)
- Leave to stand for 15 minutes before slicing and serving. (Standing time means it is much easier to slice and to serve.)
Lazy Lasagna
This is as simple to make as layering a few things in a baking dish. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy and so delicious! Sized for the smaller family.
Ingredients
- oven-ready lasagna noodles
- 1 1/2 cups (336g) cottage cheese
- 6 TBS of grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cups (375g) jarred Bolognese sauce (one with meat in it)
- 1/2 cup of water
- 2 cups (450g) grated Mozzarella cheese
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 3 TBS chopped flat leaf parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a small loaf sized dish. Mine is a Pyrex dish that measures approximately 5 by 8 inches in size.
- Mix the water together with the Bolognese sauce.
- Spread a light layer of sauce on the bottom of the dish. Add a layer of noodles and more sauce. Add 1/2 of the cottage cheese spreading it out over the sauce, a third of the Parmesan cheese, 1/3 of the Mozzarella cheese, some Parsley, and some seasoning. Repeat the layers.
- End with a top layer of noodles, sauce, Parmesan cheese, Mozzarella cheese and the remaining parsley.
- Cover tightly with some aluminum foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes until starting to turn golden brown.
- Leave to stand for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
This content, written and photography, is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.
Hi everyone and welcome to my Sunday Meals of the Week post. Every Sunday I like to do a recap of all of the meals that I have enjoyed as my main meals over the past seven days, and from the feedback that I get from all of you, this is something that you also enjoy seeing!
I like to cook, and I like to eat, and I don't ever want any of it to be boring. Now, in my golden years, I find myself having had to go from cooking for a large family down to cooking for just myself. I also find myself having to live on a limited budget, so meal planning is something which really works for me.
When you live on your own, the temptation can be strong to want to eat only ready meals, or frozen dinners, or from cans. It can sometimes seem like too much effort to cook for only yourself. But, I am here to tell you, YOU ARE WORTH THE EFFORT! You really are.
Even if you are a smaller family, or a couple of empty nesters, cooking for yourself is so much healthier and cheaper. All of those processed foods are always high in salt, sugar and fat. Cooking for yourself helps you to control that and to eat much healthier and actually, cooking from scratch, you get a lot more bang for your buck as well!
Why waste time and money on highly processed foods when, with only a tiny bit of effort and a lot less dosh, we can cook simple, nutritious and healthy meals for ourselves. That is my goal. And in that process my goal is to also share them with you in an effort to inspire you to want to do the same!
Whether you cook for yourself, or a small family, or a large family. There are plenty of things here to tempt your tastebuds. And all of them are quite adaptable to cook for a large family or a small family or a singleton. Got questions about that? Just ask and I am only too happy to help!
As I have my daughter living with me at the moment, that is making things a bit more exciting. I have someone in the house to spoil besides myself and she enjoys helping me out where she can. Its also a great training for her for when she gets her own place. I am teaching her as much as I can about budgeting and yet still eating well. She has been prone to buying herself those really cheap cheap frozen dinners in the past as she lives on a very limited budget, but it really doesn't need to be that way.
Usually I will eat my main meal at noon. For breakfasts, I normally have a protein shake or some overnight oats, sometimes a bowl of oatmeal. My suppers are usually something light, such as a sandwich, or a salad, sometimes toast and occasionally a bowl of cereal.
Here are the main meals that we enjoyed over the past seven days. I truly hope that you will find something here to tempt your tastebuds to want to cook for yourself also!
SUNDAY, March 22nd - Family Dinner at Cindy's
On Sundays, most weeks, we will go to my sister's for a family dinner. This week was no different. We went to Cindy's and had a delicious Lasagna that she had made. She makes a lovely lasagna. We had garlic bread with it and salad and then for dessert lemon meringue pie.
I am sharing my recipe for a Traditional Lasagna. And this is a really, really REALLY good homemade Lasagna. A lot of people are afraid to make a lasagna. They think its really complicated and it really isn't. How to make lasagna is not a great mystery. Its just a combination of a really good meaty tomato sauce, some pasta, cheese, and in this particularly tasty version, a lush ricotta filling. I also have taken to adding a rich Béchamel sauce for on top in the European manner. I had never experienced this prior to going to Europe. It really adds a delicious touch. You can find a small batch recipe for the same thing here.
MONDAY, March 23rd - Oven Burgers
On Monday I made us Oven Burgers. This was a recipe I had seen online and that I wanted to try. They looked fabulous and I have to say we were not disappointed. They were juicy, flavorful and wonderfully easy to make. A bit messy to eat, I would call them a fork and knife burger.
We enjoyed with some cucumber spears and potato chips on the side. Tender, juicy and moist, these burgers were such a simple make. If you’re craving a reliable, family‑friendly meal that always hits the spot, these Oven Burgers are exactly what you need.
TUESDAY, March 24th - Sheet Pan Parmesan Turkey Tenders & Asparagus
I had picked up some early Asparagus at the shops and I had some Turkey tenderloin fillets in the freezer that I wanted to use up. I decided to make an easy sheet pan supper with them. I cut the tenderloin fillets into thick strips and coated them in a delicious Parmesan Crumb, roasting them for a short time on a baking sheet, flipping them over and then adding the asparagus to the tray. I also scattered them with some spring onions before roasting and then again as a garnish when they were done.
.jpg "Salmon & Broccoli Cakes")
I will put my hand up right now and admit to all and sundry that I am not fond of Nova Scotia Fish Cakes. They use salt cod to make them, or chicken haddie and it is not my favorite thing at all. If I am going to enjoy a fish cake I prefer to make my own and these Salmon & Broccoli Fish Cakes are a real favorite of mine. They are a delicious fish cake made from poached salmon, broccoli and potato, with dill and lemon. You can also use tinned salmon to make them in a pinch. (Which I did on Friday.)
They are lovely served with a wedge of lemon for squeezing. I also enjoyed some salad on the side. You know salmon and broccoli are beautiful flavor partners, and they pair beautifully in these delicious fish cakes.
.JPG "Air Fryer Hot Dogs")
SATURDAY, March 28th - Air Fryer Hot Dogs
Every once in a while, I get a real hankering for a hot dog. These days I like to cook them in my air fryer. It does a really great job! With all of my favorite hot dog fixings, mustard, relish and topped with some cheese and crispy onions.
Normally I would make some mac and cheese to enjoy with my hot dog. They go so well together, but this week I did air fryer chips. Not such a healthy meal I guess, but at least none of it was fried in the conventional way!
Eileen and I both enjoyed this meal very much!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
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