Sourdough Toast: 12 Topping Ideas (and How to Toast It Right)

A piece of properly toasted sourdough is the most satisfying meal in any kitchen. Twelve toppings worth knowing — from the absolute classics to the slightly unexpected — that turn a slice of bread into a proper meal in under five minutes. All tested across countless breakfasts, lunches, and 4pm-when-you're-hungry-and-can't-be-bothered moments.

The toast itself

Before the toppings, the toast. Three rules:

1. Use proper sourdough. Long-fermented, ideally 1–2 days old. Fresh sourdough is too soft for crisp toast; stale sourdough is too dry. Two-day-old sourdough is the sweet spot.
2. Slice thick. 1.5–2cm. Thin slices toast all the way through and lose their tenderness; thick slices stay tender inside with a properly crisp shell.
3. Toast hot and fast. Highest setting on the toaster, or in a 220°C oven for 4 minutes. Slow toasting dries the bread out before it browns.

If you're doing something special, char one side under the grill instead of in the toaster — gives a smokier, more pan-toasted character that pairs better with strong toppings.

Topping 1: butter and Marmite

The least sophisticated, the most British, the most reliably good. Hot toast, generous butter, thin scrape of Marmite. The umami pairs with the sourdough's tang in a way that nothing else quite does. Best at breakfast or 4pm.

Topping 2: smashed avocado, chilli flakes, lemon

Mash a ripe avocado with the juice of half a lemon, salt, and pepper. Pile on hot buttered toast. Sprinkle with chilli flakes and flaky salt. The 2010s stereotype that's actually genuinely good when done well — and the lemon is what most cooks miss.

Topping 3: ricotta, honey, walnuts

Spread a thick layer of ricotta on toast. Drizzle with honey. Scatter with toasted walnut pieces and a few twists of black pepper. Ten minutes of work for a breakfast that feels like Italian holiday.

Topping 4: poached egg, hot smoked salmon, dill

Top toast with crème fraîche or thick yoghurt. Add hot-smoked salmon flakes. Top with a poached egg. Scatter with dill, lemon zest, capers, black pepper. The most elegant breakfast in your repertoire — restaurant-quality with five ingredients.

Topping 5: roasted tomatoes and ricotta

Roast cherry tomatoes with olive oil, garlic, and a pinch of sugar at 180°C for 30 minutes. Pile onto ricotta-spread toast. Drizzle with the roasting oil. Excellent with basil and balsamic.

Topping 6: mushrooms with garlic and parsley

Sauté chestnut mushrooms in butter with grated garlic and chopped parsley until deeply browned and reduced. Pile on toast. A poached egg on top makes it a proper breakfast; without it, perfect lunch.

Topping 7: white bean and rosemary mash

Drain a tin of cannellini beans. Warm in a pan with olive oil, grated garlic, chopped rosemary, salt, and a splash of water. Mash roughly. Spread thickly on toast. Drizzle with extra olive oil. The Italian peasant lunch that still feels luxurious.

Topping 8: peanut butter, banana, honey

Almost too obvious to mention but the proportions matter. Thin layer of butter on hot toast, generous peanut butter, sliced banana, drizzle of honey, pinch of sea salt. The post-run breakfast that actually keeps you full.

Topping 9: anchovy butter

Mash 4 anchovies into 100g of soft butter with a small clove of grated garlic and a pinch of dried chilli. Spread thickly on hot toast. The most underrated topping in this list — depth of flavour that completely transcends the simplicity.

Topping 10: chocolate, sea salt, olive oil

Hot toast, generous olive oil drizzle, finely-grated dark chocolate, flaky salt. Sounds odd, tastes brilliant. The Catalan classic. Especially good with a glass of red wine and a piece of fruit.

Topping 11: leftover-roast-chicken sandwich (open)

Mayonnaise on hot toast. Pulled roast chicken (the day-after kind). Watercress, slivers of red onion, sea salt, lots of black pepper. The single best Monday lunch from a Sunday roast.

Topping 12: bone marrow with parsley and capers

The fanciest item on the list. Roast a marrow bone at 220°C for 15 minutes. Scoop the soft marrow onto toast. Top with chopped parsley, capers, and flaky salt. A piece of restaurant cooking you can do at home for £5.

The savoury vs sweet rule

Sourdough's slight tang plays well with both, but pairs best with savoury richness. Cheese, eggs, anchovies, butter — all bring out flavours in the bread that sweet toppings don't. Sweet toppings work but should usually have a salty counter-note (peanut butter with banana and salt; chocolate with olive oil and salt; ricotta with honey and pepper).

The thickness test

If a topping is heavier than the toast (think: bone marrow, ricotta and roasted tomatoes), the toast must be thick — 2cm. If a topping is light (smashed avocado, butter and Marmite), the toast can be thinner — 1.5cm. The bread shouldn't disappear under the topping.

The bread choice

Different sourdough loaves suit different toppings:

• Plain white country loaf: universal — works with everything.
• Wholemeal sourdough: better with savoury, especially mushroom and bean toppings.
• Olive sourdough: needs minimal toppings. Just butter or olive oil; perhaps a slice of cured ham.
• Rye-based sourdough: classic with smoked salmon, pickled herring, hard cheese.
• Walnut and raisin: with goat's cheese and honey, or with strong cheddar.

Toast as a meal vs toast as a snack

Most of the toppings above turn toast into a proper meal. As a snack, simpler is better:

• Just butter and salt.
• Dripping of olive oil and a tomato rubbed across the surface (Catalan pa amb tomàquet).
• A slice of strong cheddar.
• Marmite.
• Honey or jam.

The simplest toppings let the bread itself be the star. If you've baked a great loaf, don't smother it.

Turning toast into a dinner

Three combinations that make toast a proper dinner:

The 'tartine'

French open-faced sandwich. Thick toast, ricotta or cream cheese spread, layered with smoked salmon, sliced cucumber, dill, capers. Served with a small green salad. Lunch or light dinner.

The 'soup-and-toast'

Bowl of warming soup (tomato, lentil, butternut squash) with thick sourdough toast on the side, topped with melted cheese. Hearty, autumnal, the most underrated weeknight dinner.

The 'breakfast-for-dinner'

Two thick slices of toast, mushrooms, poached eggs, avocado, halloumi, beans. The full vegetarian fry-up reimagined as toast platter. Brilliant on a Friday night when no one wants to cook properly.

Common mistakes

Toast goes soggy: topping was too wet (juicy tomatoes, very wet smashed avocado). Drain or pat dry.

Toast is dry: toasted too slowly. Hot, fast toasting locks in moisture.

Topping falls off: spread butter or oil first to act as glue. Cold toppings on hot toast also tend to slip — let them warm slightly.

Tastes bland: seasoning. Even simple toast benefits from flaky salt and pepper. Most home cooks under-season toast.

Storing for next-day toast

Sourdough toast is at its best when the bread is 1–2 days old. To get there reliably:

• Slice fresh bread on day one, freeze in a bag with parchment between slices.
• Toast straight from frozen — works perfectly.
• Don't refrigerate — fridge stales bread three times faster than the counter.

FAQ

Should toast be hot or cool when topped?

Hot, every time. The contrast between hot crisp toast and a cool topping is part of the appeal. Cold toast with a cold topping is sad.

Can I make toast in a frying pan?

Yes — a knob of butter in a hot pan, slice of bread, 90 seconds per side. Crisper, slightly richer. The 'fried bread' version.

What's the difference between toast and bruschetta?

Bruschetta is grilled bread (often over coals) rubbed with garlic and topped with tomato. Toast is bread heated in a toaster. Both are members of the same family.

How thick should toast be?

1.5–2cm. Thin enough to toast through, thick enough to hold a topping without getting soggy.

Why is sourdough toast different from regular bread toast?

Three things: the open crumb gives more surface area for caramelisation; the slight tang from fermentation balances rich toppings; the chewy crust gives textural contrast. Generic supermarket sliced bread doesn't have any of these.

What's the worst topping on this list?

Subjective, but bone marrow gets the most divided reviews. Some people love it, some find it too rich. Try it once before committing.

Can I freeze toppings?

Most don't freeze well — they're best fresh. But some do: pesto, anchovy butter, white bean mash. Make a batch, freeze in portions, defrost as needed.

The toast philosophy

Toast is one of the highest-leverage meals in any kitchen. Five minutes of work; one slice of bread; the right topping; you've made yourself something genuinely good. Most home cooks underestimate toast — they treat it as breakfast filler. Treated properly, with thick slices, hot toasting, and considered toppings, it's a meal that rivals anything else you'd cook in five minutes.

The flexibility is the point. Different toppings for different moods, different times of day, different people in the household, different leftovers in the fridge. Toast meets you where you are. The 12 toppings here are a starting menu — once you've worked through them, you'll start inventing your own, and the toast tradition continues.

The case for sourdough on toast specifically

If you're going to invest 24 hours in baking a sourdough loaf at home, toast is the meal that pays you back. Every morning for a week, you eat the loaf at its best — toasted, with whatever you've got. The labour amortises across 14–16 slices. Each slice transformed by toasting and a topping is a small reward for the work.

This is, more than any other use, why home bakers bake their own bread. Not for the dramatic country loaf to display on a board. For the daily toast that's better than anything you'd buy, eaten standing in the kitchen with a cup of tea.

The condiment shelf for serious toast

Most kitchens are under-equipped for serious toast. The shelf you want, broadly:

• Good butter — French if you can, salted and unsalted both.
• Marmite — for British classics.
• Honey — local if possible.
• Two jams — one bright (raspberry), one classic (strawberry or apricot).
• Marmalade — three-fruit or Seville orange.
• Ricotta or cream cheese — fresh, from the fridge.
• Tinned anchovies — for the anchovy butter and emergency umami.
• Decent olive oil — extra virgin, for drizzling.
• Flaky sea salt — Maldon or Cornish.
• A jar of capers — for the smoked salmon and bone marrow toasts.

Most of these are pantry items that last for months. With this shelf, you can produce 80% of the toppings on this list at any moment, with no shopping trip required.

The seasonal toast calendar

Different toppings suit different seasons:

• Summer: tomato bruschetta, ricotta and honey, smashed avocado.
• Autumn: mushroom on toast, white bean and rosemary, anchovy butter.
• Winter: bone marrow, melted cheese, cinnamon-sugar toast.
• Spring: peas and ricotta, broad beans and feta, smoked salmon and dill.

The toast format is genuinely versatile across the year. Once you have the bread sorted, the toppings can rotate with whatever's in season.