Full English Breakfast
Craving a breakfast that’s both hearty and satisfying? Let’s make a full English breakfast! This hearty spread, also called a British breakfast or a fry-up, consists of a satisfying meal made of breakfast staples, and for those of us in the US, a few interesting components, like back bacon and black pudding. It’s delicious, savory, super-filling, and relatively easy to pull together. There isn’t anything complicated about but it’s more of a frying pan juggle as you have to cook everything up separately.
The US meets English Breakfast 🇺🇸x🏴
This is more like the American version as I found it difficult to track down a few of the traditional components, so I used ingredients more readily available in the US.
Traditionally, the Full English breakfast includes bacon, sausages (and typically black pudding), fried, poached, or scrambled eggs, fried or grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, beans, and toast. A large mug of tea is included. Don’t be alarmed by the long instruction list! It is all easy to cook, you’ll just need a few pans to make it all come together at the same time. It’s…
🍳 Packed with flavor: There are so many deliciously savory flavors going on in this meal. Salty, sweet, crunchy, soft, bite is a perfect combination of savory, crispy, and juicy flavors.
😋 Seriously delicious: The bacon, hearty sausages, and rich eggs make it irresistible.
🛒 Made with simple ingredients: Most of the items (in the US version at least) are easy to find, if you’re looking for the authentic components, you might need to do some deeper digging.
⏱️ Quick to prepare: Ready in under 40 minutes, I love serving this as a breakfast for dinner or a slow weekend brunch.
🌱 Customizable: Easy to serve everything separately (for the kids!) and also to add extras like hash browns or avocado to make it your own.
You’ll also want to try creamy scrambled eggs, bacon egg bagel, breakfast charcuterie board, and sourdough French toast.
Ingredient Notes
You’ll need some fresh ingredients, pantry staples, and a few specialty ingredients (especially if you’re wanting an authentic version): bacon (or back bacon), Heinz beans, butter, mushrooms, sausage (or black pudding), tomatoes, eggs, and toast.
- Bacon – If you’re going for a traditional version, look for back bacon. I couldn’t find it, so I used classic bacon strips. Back bacon is not made from pork belly, so it’s quite different from the bacon we usually see.
- Heinz Beans in Tomato Sauce – The beans for a full English breakfast are especially important! They are in a teal container and have a tomato sauce base, so they are more savory than baked beans. You might be able to find them in your store, or you can order online. (I had to!)
- Sausage – The sausage can also vary based on what you have access to. I used our favorite pork sausage (Jones Dairy Farm!), but the traditional version includes black pudding. Use that if you’re a purist and you can track it down. But really, any kind of sausage will work.
Emily’s Tips & Tricks
- Pro tip: Cook everything separately! While it’s a bit annoying to dirty the dishes, to ensure everything cooks properly, you’ll need to cook it separately.
- Shortcuts: Use precooked bacon that just requires a quick warm up if you want to cut down on a bit of cooking time.
- Variations: You could swap out the toast for hashbrowns (I think both might be too much, but you do you!), add sliced avocado on the side, or serve the tomatoes raw if you prefer them that way.
Full English Breakfast
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: English
Description
Start your day with a hearty full English breakfast. This traditional meal features eggs, bacon, sausages, beans, tomatoes, and more!
Ingredients
- 8 slices thick-cut bacon
- 15 oz. can of Heinz beans in tomato sauce
- 2 Tbsp. butter, divided
- 8 oz. sliced white mushrooms (baby bella)
- 8 oz. breakfast sausage (about 12 links)
- 4 small or roma tomatoes, sliced in half
- 4 eggs
- 4 slices toast
Instructions
- Cook bacon. Add bacon to a cold pan and cook over medium heat, flipping frequently, until fully cooked. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels.
- Heat beans on the stove in a small pot over low heat. Keep warm until it’s time to eat.
First batch of pans. (You need two non-stick skillets)
- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat in a large non-stick skillet and add mushrooms to pan. Season with sea salt and black pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are tender and golden brown, about 4-7 minutes. Remove mushrooms from the pan and keep warm in the microwave. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel.
- While mushrooms are cooking, add sausages to a second non-stick skillet and cook according to package instructions. Remove sausages and keep warm in the microwave. (Save oil in skillet!)
Second batch of pans.
- Start toasting bread while you’re cooking the eggs and tomatoes.
- Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in the large non-stick skillet and cook eggs according to preferences. Season eggs with salt and pepper to taste. (I did sunny side-up for adults, scrambled for kids.)
- Heat the sausage skillet over medium heat and sprinkle the cut side of the tomatoes with sea salt. Add tomatoes, cut side down, to the skillet and cook for about 4-5 minutes, until softened and lightly charred.
- Assemble your English breakfast on plates, including desired components or serve family-style at the table.
Notes
- Storage: This meal is best served immediately, but all of the leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Reheat components on the stovetop or in the microwave.
- Ingredient notes: Use high-quality ingredients for best results. Some of the authentic ingredients are hard to find in my area, so I used items that are easily accessible in the US. If you don’t love the texture or flavor of cooked tomatoes, leave them raw and serve them on the side!
- Special tools: Two nonstick skillets are especially helpful, and I had to order Heinz beans in tomato sauce.
Serving Suggestions
This is a full, hearty breakfast so besides a drink and maybe some fresh fruit, you don’t need much of anything!
- Black tea – if you want to stick with the traditional English breakfast theme
- Coffee – Latte, cappuccino, dirty chai, or sweet cream cold foam
- Fresh fruit
- Orange juice
More Breakfast and Brunch Recipes
If you like this traditional full English breakfast, you might also like some of these other breakfast and brunch recipes:
About the Author
Emily Dingmann is a recipe developer, nutrition expert, and founder of My Everyday Table. She specializes in creating easy, healthy recipes that help busy parents feed their families well every single day, without the stress. With a degree in Nutrition and over 20 years of experience, Emily shares family-friendly meals that are practical, nourishing, and full of flavor. Learn more about Emily’s approach to everyday cooking and nutrition here.
Food styling and photography by Loren Runion.
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I am from England so I loved seeing this! One very important thing to note with a full English is that American baked beans and British baked beans are very different. Proper baked beans for a full English are Heinz beans in a tomato sauce, more savory than the sweet American baked beans. They come in a turquoise colored tin and I get them from my regular grocery store!
Oh I’m so happy to now know this! I have to check my local store to see if I can find the British Baked Beans. Do you like that version better?
I wasn’t even aware America had a different type of tinned beans in sauce, Heinz are good, for the unhealthy and original version some bacon and fried slice along with black pudding if you can stomach it. Your version definitely is healthier though…
Yes, but we call them baked beans. I would definitely add bacon to my english breakfast! Black pudding I’m not sure. HA
Ate you trying to start a war here? The Full English has english back bacon with it in some regions black (blood) pudding too. You may also see fried left over potatoes but hash brown is a decent substitute
I love those additions, Clive!
Full English Breakfast:
Black Pudding is a must
Fried Eggs
Smoked Bacon (definitely not that european streaky thin stripe shite)
Sausages
Mushrooms
Hash Brown
Baked Beans (traditionally Heinz but i’m afraid since lowering salt content flavour has gone so use HP or Crosse and Blackwell)
Tinned Tomatoes or Fried Tomatoes
Toast with butter
COFFEE
Yes! This is the English breakfast PLUS! Love it. I’ve never had black pudding, do you love it?
Not 100% authentic, but a super tasty and easy meal!
Dear Emily,
You have a lovely website here, with lots of wonderful recipes. I’ve just been reviewing your recipe for a ‘Full English Breakfast’, and whilst it is sumptuous, it is missing one vital ingredient. Now, this ingredient might not be fashionable, as it is no doubt calorie laden, but I can vouch for the fact that it transforms the usual English Breakfast into something sublime! The ingredient in question? Well, it’s… fried bread! By which I mean standard sliced white bread (probably thick sliced), fried in whatever oil takes your fancy – I would favour sunflower oil. I cannot conceive of an English breakfast without it! Please feel free to disagree, though I’ve been cooking Full English breakfasts for more years than I care to remember, and I cannot conceive of a ‘Full English’ without fried bread. Yours truly, an Englishman!
Ged, thanks so much for this insight, I’m always for fried bread as it is the BEST kind of toast! I will be trying this next time for sure. 🙂