10 ideas for what to put on toast

From eggs to tinned fish and everything in between, read our top tips for what to put on toast to really make a meal of it.

M&S Food copywriter

Laura Goodman

Where would we be without toast? From the perfectly simple to the luxuriously complex, toast is always there to serve its eater. When thinking about what to have on toast, it’s almost harder to come up with an ingredient that wouldn’t work – if the toasting person really wanted it to. But when the options are this infinite, it can be overwhelming, so let’s refine some toast ideas and up our game for good.

Bread recipes

What is the best bread for toast?

You probably have a favourite everyday bread for toast, but if you’re looking for something that will carry multiple toppings without caving under pressure, you’ll want something more rustic. Many of the recipes in this piece recommend a slice of sourdough, and we've got a range of slow-proved sourdoughs to choose from. Sliced sourdoughs like this one are perfect, but you might also want to try a spelt sourdough or a seeded sourdough for more robust flavour and extra nutrients. A boule or a ciabatta are good alternatives. And these nutrient-packed fibre toasts call for our fibre-rich Nutrient Dense Super Seeded Oaty Bread. If you’re looking to make a sweet toast, you can’t beat the warm, sweet smell of brioche (very gently) toasting in the morning. It also makes fantastic French toast (more on that later).

Browse bread

What to have on toast: navigating endless options

If we quickly move beyond chocolate spread and jam (most of us have the spreads side of things covered) and delve into the realm of the ‘topping’, we have a few classic starting points.

Eggs

A fried or poached or boiled egg on toast is an already perfect thing, but it’s also something of a blank canvas. For instance, what if the toast that the egg was placed on was already a chilli-cheese rarebit? Or what if you added a few M&S ingredients to create kippers florentine on toast for Sunday brunch? Just as toast is a versatile vessel, an egg is a versatile topping; put one on this spiced avocado.

Mushrooms

Another breakfast classic and a perfect example of how serving a vegetable unfussily on toast is a great way to let it be its true self. Mushrooms on toast as a dish requires little interference but if you are looking for breakfast toast ideas, these particular garlicky mushrooms are cooked with sweet onion and topped with an unexpectedly panko breadcrumbed egg. Or, this mushroom on toast recipe is for M&S Collection mixed exotic mushrooms (a fun medley of shiitake, oyster and enoki), with a merry trio of extras: creamy mascarpone, aromatic tarragon, golden halloumi.

Cheese

We referenced the rarebit already, but we’ve got plenty more cosiness where that came from. This rarebit recipe is the rich, oozy original, made with our 5 Year Old Cornish Cruncher Vintage Cheddar for full, nutty flavour, plus golden ale and Worcestershire sauce. And this rarebit is topped with charred spring onions. You could even put a fried egg on this truffle mushroom and cheese toast to achieve the decadent holy trinity of toast toppings.

Soft, creamy cheeses

The brilliance of a swirl of soft white cheese as a base must not be understated. Here is creamy ricotta doing its gentle, creamy thing in summery pea and ricotta sourdough toasts. You can take it one step further with these English garden ricotta toasts which also feature prosciutto, thinly sliced radish, lemon zest and Parmesan. The cold-weather alternative needn’t be less bright and zingy: here’s a recipe for winter citrus and whipped ricotta toast. Also in white cheese, here’s a viral recipe from Emily English (@Emthenurtitionist) for a high-protein helping of avocado, cottage cheese and hot honey.

Tinned fish

A really good tinned sardine needs little more than a squeeze of lemon, salt, pepper and a flutter of parsley to be its best self, on toast. But this chilli sardines on toast recipe shows us how we can elevate the dish just a little, with a bonus beetroot dip, a crunchy topping, and a handful of lemony pea shoots. Meanwhile, these herby tomato and anchovy sourdough toasts are spectacularly simple and make for a thrilling snack with a glass of wine – it’s our Collection Cantabrian anchovy fillets that bring the pep.

Beans

Beans on toast, but not as you know it. Caesar beans on toast combine creamy, flavourful, protein-packed giant butter beans with Caesar dressing, those Cantabrian anchovy fillets again and a cloud of Parmesan. If you favour an earthy, fibre-rich kidney bean, you might like these Mexican-inspired beans on toast, which are flavoured with chipotle paste and served with limey avocado and chimichurri.

Pâtés and rillettes

This category is useful if you’re looking for a simple snack to serve with drinks, or a starter that won’t distract the cook from the main event. Browse our pâté selection online for something that captures your imagination. Or, for further inspiration, these smoked salmon open sandwiches are essentially M&S Collection Smoked Salmon Pâté on robust rye with a few uplifting additions. And these duck rillette and chutney toasts are even simpler, but look (and taste) like something you’d get in a restaurant.

Sweet toppings for toast

The thing one must respect about ricotta is its ability to bring out the best in sweet and savoury ingredients. Strawberry and ricotta toast is a perfect snack or breakfast toast – the sweet strawberries are sautéed with butter until syrupy. This formula can pretty much be replicated with any fruit. See these honey, ricotta and Pink Lady apple toasts which have a little cinnamon through the ricotta, and then some simple sliced, raw apple on top.

An honourable mention: French toast

It’s more accurately a custard-soaked toast than something you put on toast but it would be remiss to discuss sweet breakfast toast ideas without mentioning the queen of them all: French toast. This is a high-protein cinnamon French toast from Emily English (@emthenutritionist). This is a salted caramel French toast made with brioche and M&S salted caramel sauce. And this is a Boxing Day French toast you’ll make once and then never, ever forget: panettone French toast with clotted cream.

More Cooking Inspiration with M&S Food

There’s no food you can’t make exciting if you put your mind to it – it’s not just toast that can be reinvented with the right spread, the right idea, the right final flourish. At M&S, we’re always here to help you find ingredients in the Foodhall that will bring joy to your cooking with minimal additional effort and to provide cooking inspiration to keep you trying new recipes. If you’ve been buoyed by this article, try these breakfast recipes next.

Published 25/09/2026