Tomato Toast
Toasted bread rubbed with garlic and ripe tomato, drizzled with olive oil and salt. Two servings in 8 minutes.
Don't Make These Mistakes
Use ripe tomatoes; hard ones give no juice.
Rub the garlic once; it is strong.
Serve at once before the bread goes soft.
Cooking Tomato Toast
Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.
-
Toast the bread until crisp and golden at the edges.
-
Rub one side of each slice with the cut side of the garlic.
-
Rub the cut side of a tomato half over each slice, squeezing so the pulp soaks in. Discard the skin.
-
Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with the salt and serve at once.
Why the Method Works
The tomato is the sauce, and it is applied by rubbing, not by slicing. Cut a ripe tomato in half, press the cut side onto the toast and squeeze: the flesh and juice soak into the bread, and the skin is left in your hand.
The bread has to be rough and crisp. Thick slices of a country loaf, toasted until the edges are hard, are best, because the surface grabs at the tomato.
Rub the toast with a cut garlic clove first. One pass is enough: garlic on hot toast is powerful.
Olive oil and salt come last. A good flaky salt gives crunch, and a decent oil, used generously, makes the dish. It needs a ripe tomato. A hard, pale one gives nothing. The dish depends entirely on the quality of the tomatoes, so make it in summer when they are ripe and cheap. Out of season, a tin of good chopped tomatoes drained and spread on the toast is an acceptable second choice.
Leftovers, Reheating and Keeping
Best eaten straight away.
Changing the Recipe
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the usual stand-in when you are out of fresh garlic — it will not caramelise the same way, but it carries the flavour.
Serving Tomato Toast
- Fried egg
- Serrano ham
- Coffee
- Olives
Questions and Answers
How long does Tomato Toast take to make?
About 8 minutes in total — 5 minutes of preparation and 3 minutes of cooking. The recipe serves 2.
What are the key tips for making Tomato Toast?
Use ripe tomatoes; hard ones give no juice. Rub the garlic once; it is strong. Serve at once before the bread goes soft.
What should I serve with Tomato Toast?
Fried egg; Serrano ham; Coffee; Olives.
Is Tomato Toast suitable for a special diet?
This recipe is vegetarian and no added sugar. Those labels are checked against the ingredient list, so a dish is only marked when nothing in it contradicts the claim.
How many calories are in Tomato Toast?
About 312 kcal per serving, with 7 g protein, 35 g carbohydrate and 16 g fat. The figures are calculated from the ingredient list and are an estimate.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Treat these as an estimate — brands and cuts vary.
Reader Reviews
Cooked this? Leave a review
Written and tested by Turab
One person, one kitchen — no test kitchen, no team. How every recipe on this site is checked before it goes up.
Related Recipes
More Spanish cooking and breakfast ideas from Weekly Delight.
Paella Valenciana
The Valencian original, with chicken, rabbit and beans rather than seafood, cooked flat in a wide pan until a…
Tortilla Española
Potatoes and onion confited slowly in olive oil, then bound in egg and cooked until the centre is barely set and…
Red Wine Sangria
Spanish red wine steeped overnight with brandy, citrus and stone fruit, topped with soda only at the moment of…
Patatas Bravas
Twice-cooked potatoes with a shattering exterior and a fluffy interior, under a smoky brava sauce that carries…