One Overlooked Canned Meat Gives Toast Double The Deliciousness

With a longer shelf life than fresh foods and plenty of versatility, canned goods are an essential addition to your pantry. You can use them as the building blocks for a full meal or as accents to simple snacks and other treats. One typically undervalued canned meat that will upgrade your boring toast instantly is a breakfast and deli classic: corned beef.

Give your toast a taste that's resemblant of a piled-high sandwich without the need for fresh cold cuts. Though this savory and salty canned meat doesn't bear the same firm texture as slices of cooked corned beef, it's nonetheless tender, with a pleasing consistency that is closer to that of corned beef hash. What's more, the meat is fully cooked, making it convenient to simply pop open a can, and add it atop your toast — that is, after the crucial step of rinsing canned corned beef to remove any excess salt. 

If you wish to improve the texture before using it as a toast topping, you can always fry the meat up in a pan first for double the deliciousness. Mix a little mustard into the corned beef while it's cooking to add a deli-inspired flavor, or chop and saute onions to combine with the corned beef for a more delightful crunch. There are endless ways to enjoy this oft-overlooked canned meat with your favorite type of toast.

Serving the ingredient on toast is one of the best creative uses for canned corned beef and opens up a great deal of opportunities for adding complementary ingredients. For example, if you're preparing toast topped with the canned meat for breakfast, consider including a poached, scrambled, or fried egg on top for extra nutritional value. After removing the corned beef from the can and rinsing it, you can even try using some of the residual fat to cook your eggs as a means of better tying flavors together and preventing food waste.

As a quick snack, a simple slice of toast with either rich butter, creamy mayonnaise, or even a spread of tangy Greek yogurt, makes a perfect base for a topping of savory canned corned beef, particularly if you've fried and crisped it first. Use smashed avocado as your base instead for additional fiber, potassium, magnesium, and other beneficial nutrients. Otherwise, crumble up feta cheese and sprinkle this on top for a briny accent, or use sun-dried tomatoes to enhance the beef's umami.

You can also take inspiration from the old-school diner food people barely seem to eat anymore, chipped beef on toast, and give it a twist by using canned corned beef instead. Any way you choose to customize your toast topped with canned corned beef, it's sure to be a delicious dish.