Jazz up your beans and cheese on toast – a campers guide

Did you know that two million cans of beans are consumed in the UK every day? And that the UK eats more cans of beans than the rest of the world combined.

Although beans on toast is one of the easiest, go-to camping meals of all time, perfect to whip up in 10 mins and then eat on your lap around the campfire, you can also make your own baked beans to enjoy for a delicious camping brekkie.

Jazz up your beans and cheese on toast.
Did you know that two million cans of beans are consumed in the UK every day? And that the UK eats more cans of beans than the rest of the world combined. Although beans on toast is one of the easiest, go-to camping meals of all time, perfect to whip up in 10 mins and then eat on your lap around the campfire, you can also make your own baked beans to enjoy for a delicious camping brekkie.

Although canned beans on toast is easy, this doesn’t mean it has to be a boring. There are loads of little things you can do that take minimal effort and will upgrade your camping beans on toast. If you’d like some more ideas for camping breakfasts, check out Family Breakfast over the gas stove - no problem.

Start from the beginning- toast

Making toast when camping isn’t quite as easy as it is at home, given that you won’t have a toaster. But there are a few ways to make toast when camping. If you have a cast iron skillet then just fry the bread in a tiny bit of oil in the centre of the skillet, keep moving it around the pan until the bottom turns brown and then flip it once its toasted to your liking, and repeat on the other side.

You could also invest in some kit to make perfectly toasted bread on your camping trip. There are lots of different styles of camping toaster to choose from, and they are often very inexpensive. You can buy the types that go over the campfire or your camping stove. Or you could buy a toaster that also acts as a toastie maker, clamping the bread in its centre, to feed your need for cheese toasties. This also means you don’t have to turn the bread halfway through cooking.

Another way to make toast when camping is just to toast it over a campfire in the same way you would a marshmallow. This is a great way to make camping toast if you’re feeling lazy, or if you don’t have any special equipment. Although you do need a camping fork or prongs with a long handle to avoid burning your hand.

The best bit- beans!

To make beans and toast in its most basic form, just heat however many cans of beans you need in a pan (there are around 2 servings in each can), spoon over the toast, and top with some grated cheese!

Or eat the beans out of a bowl and use your toast like dippers.

Both easy and yummy.

There are a few ways you can boost your beans on toast. We love to add a dash of Worcestershire or tabasco sauce to the beans, some black pepper or even a bit of thyme to take it that bit further. You could also serve the beans on toast with a fried egg or two, this makes for a great easy camping brunch.

Or instead of having beans on toast you could combine two iconic camping meals and have your baked beans with eggy bread. If you’d like an eggy bread recipe, check out Campfire Breakfast in style. Another way to add some health benefits to this meal, is to add some veggies. Just finely chop an onion, and chop up some peppers and/or mushrooms then fry them in a tbsp of oil, before adding to the baked beans.

Another super easy camping dinner is an omelette, which takes very little time to prep and cook. If you’d like a fool proof omelette recipe, and loads of filling ideas, go to Omelette or Frittata and wake up your loved one with a breakfast feast.

Fancy beans on toast

If you have a bit more time on your hands, but still want to enjoy some beans on toast, then you could make it from scratch. This makes for a fantastic, one-pot camping breakfast and is a great way to feed loads of people on your camping trip. To make it veggie, just omit the meat in this recipe, or replace with veggie sausages/ quorn chunks or tofu ‘meat’. This recipe serves two people, but you can scale it up depending on how many are in your camping group. If you’re using multiple cans of beans, then why not use a mixture of different kinds of beans.

Heat a few tbsp oil in a pan and add a few springs of rosemary.

Then remove the rosemary and fry four chipolata sausages (vegan for those not wanting meat) for 5 minutes until golden, then push to the side and add 4 rashers of bacon (try vegan or leave out) to the pan, cooking until golden and crisp. When both are cooked through, remove them from the pan and place on a plate. Add four large, sliced mushrooms to the pan and fry until golden.

Next, tip in a can of cannellini beans (you can also use borlotti or haricot beans), including the liquid from the can, along with a can of plum tomatoes (you can also use chopped tomatoes or I prefer passata for this step), one tsp of garlic powder (or fresh garlic, if you’re not feeling lazy - though I pack a jar of pre chopped lazy garlic for these moments) and half a tsp of thyme.

At this point you could also add some bbq sauce if you’d like.

Bring to a simmer and break the tomatoes up with a spoon if necessary, then add 1 tsp paprika, a bit of sugar, seasoning, and a dash of vegetarian worcestershire sauce.

Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the mixture has reduced slightly and thickened.

Then add the sausages, and make two wells in the mixture, cracking eggs into the wells.

I would recommend using around one egg per person you’re serving.

Then you can cover with a lid or tinfoil and cook on a low heat for around 10 minutes until the eggs have set.

Finally serve with some toast and enjoy!

Although canned beans on toast is easy, this doesn’t mean it has to be a boring. There are loads of little things you can do that take minimal effort and will upgrade your camping beans on toast. If you’d like some more ideas for camping breakfasts, check out Family Breakfast over the gas stove – no problem.

Start from the beginning- toast

Making toast when camping isn’t quite as easy as it is at home, given that you won’t have a toaster.

But there are a few ways to make toast when camping. If you have a cast iron skillet then just fry the bread in a tiny bit of oil in the centre of the skillet, keep moving it around the pan until the bottom turns brown and then flip it once its toasted to your liking, and repeat on the other side.

You could also invest in some kit to make perfectly toasted bread on your camping trip.

There are lots of different styles of camping toaster to choose from, and they are often very inexpensive. You can buy the types that go over the campfire or your camping stove. Or you could buy a toaster that also acts as a toastie maker, clamping the bread in its centre, to feed your need for cheese toasties. This also means you don’t have to turn the bread halfway through cooking.

Another way to make toast when camping is just to toast it over a campfire in the same way you would a marshmallow.

This is a great way to make camping toast if you’re feeling lazy, or if you don’t have any special equipment. Although you do need a camping fork or prongs with a long handle to avoid burning your hand.

The best bit- beans!

To make beans and toast in its most basic form, just heat however many cans of beans you need in a pan (there are around 2 servings in each can), spoon over the toast, and top with some grated cheese!

Or eat the beans out of a bowl and use your toast like dippers.

Both easy and yummy.

There are a few ways you can boost your beans on toast. We love to add a dash of Worcestershire or tabasco sauce to the beans, some black pepper or even a bit of thyme to take it that bit further. You could also serve the beans on toast with a fried egg or two, this makes for a great easy camping brunch.

Or instead of having beans on toast you could combine two iconic camping meals and have your baked beans with eggy bread. If you’d like an eggy bread recipe, check out Campfire Breakfast in style. Another way to add some health benefits to this meal, is to add some veggies. Just finely chop an onion, and chop up some peppers and/or mushrooms then fry them in a tbsp of oil, before adding to the baked beans.

Another super easy camping dinner is an omelette, which takes very little time to prep and cook. If you’d like a fool proof omelette recipe, and loads of filling ideas, go to Omelette or Frittata and wake up your loved one with a breakfast feast.

Fancy beans on toast

If you have a bit more time on your hands, but still want to enjoy some beans on toast, then you could make it from scratch. This makes for a fantastic, one-pot camping breakfast and is a great way to feed loads of people on your camping trip. To make it veggie, just omit the meat in this recipe, or replace with veggie sausages/ quorn chunks or tofu ‘meat’. This recipe serves two people, but you can scale it up depending on how many are in your camping group. If you’re using multiple cans of beans, then why not use a mixture of different kinds of beans.

Heat a few tbsp oil in a pan and add a few springs of rosemary.

Then remove the rosemary and fry four chipolata sausages (vegan for those not wanting meat) for 5 minutes until golden, then push to the side and add 4 rashers of bacon (try vegan or leave out) to the pan, cooking until golden and crisp. When both are cooked through, remove them from the pan and place on a plate. Add four large, sliced mushrooms to the pan and fry until golden.

Next, tip in a can of cannellini beans (you can also use borlotti or haricot beans), including the liquid from the can, along with a can of plum tomatoes (you can also use chopped tomatoes or I prefer passata for this step), one tsp of garlic powder (or fresh garlic, if you’re not feeling lazy – though I pack a jar of pre chopped lazy garlic for these moments) and half a tsp of thyme.

At this point you could also add some bbq sauce if you’d like.

Bring to a simmer and break the tomatoes up with a spoon if necessary, then add 1 tsp paprika, a bit of sugar, seasoning, and a dash of vegetarian worcestershire sauce.

Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the mixture has reduced slightly and thickened.

Then add the sausages, and make two wells in the mixture, cracking eggs into the wells.

I would recommend using around one egg per person you’re serving.

Then you can cover with a lid or tinfoil and cook on a low heat for around 10 minutes until the eggs have set.

Finally serve with some toast and enjoy!