The 15-Minute Comfort Meal I Rely on When Winter Feels Endless

While I generally find winter to be a charming time of year, by February I start dreaming of spring blossoms, warmer weather, and fresh produce. This often translates to feeling pretty tired at the end of the day, with minimal motivation to cook an involved dinner. As a result, I rely on quick, easy comfort recipes to warm me from the inside out with very little effort.

One of my go-to meals includes a host of pantry staples to produce a delicious, filling meal in under 15 minutes. Hint: it includes bread and canned beans.

My 15-Minute Comfort Meal

One of my very favorite quick comfort meals is an easy take on “beans on toast.” The recipe is pretty self-explanatory and just as simple to put together.

First, I open a can of baked beans and heat it in a saucepan over medium heat on the stove. While that’s happening, I put two slices of hearty bread into the toaster. To continue maximizing my short time window, I then start frying an egg over easy in a sauté pan. This order of operations usually means the bread, beans, and egg are all ready around the same time, so I can stack my loaded toast while everything is hot.

If I have any veggies that are nearing expiration in the fridge I’ll add those too, but that’s not required.

I love this meal because I regularly have all three ingredients in my kitchen. Plus, it's super satisfying, offers meaningful nutrition, and is absolutely delicious. It's got all the textures and flavors I love: crunchy, creamy, savory, and ever-so-slightly sweet. It also requires minimal effort and is out-of-the-box enough to feel interesting and exciting—especially after a cold February day.

Tips for Trying Beans on Toast

If this easy winter meal has caught your eye, here are my top tips for making it perfectly at home:

• Toast well: It’s up to you whether this dinner is a handheld or knife-and-fork endeavor, but either way it’s crucial that you get a good toast on the bread, otherwise the dish will quickly become a soggy mess.
• Choose wholesome ingredients: To make this recipe as nourishing as possible, I love to choose a whole grain, seeded bread—like anything from Dave’s Killer Bread. Then, when it comes to the baked beans, I usually opt for a low-ingredient option like Amy’s Organic Traditional Baked Beans. The flavor is fantastic and the added sugars aren’t sky-high like other brands.
• Create endless veggie options: While most veggies work here, for this recipe I love adding leftover roasted veggies, leafy greens, or even jarred roasted red peppers and/or banana peppers.
• Jazz it up: I also love to dress up my toast right before serving with a condiment or two. My go-to right now is hot honey (Local Hive's raw and unfiltered Original Hot Honey is my absolute favorite) as it adds another layer of sweetness with the perfect amount of heat. Other times, I’ll drizzle over hot sauce, honey mustard, or spicy mayo depending on my mood.