by Dr Deborah Lee, Dr Fox Online Pharmacy
Photo by Scott Eckersley on Unsplash
Who doesn’t love a cheese toastie? But what do we know about them? Who first invented them? Are they healthy? Read on and find out.
Who invented the cheese toastie?
The Romans may well have eaten something like a cheese toastie, but In France, the croque monsieur has been around since the early 1900s. However, sliced bread was only invented in 1920.
The first ‘tostwich’ was developed by Charles Campion, who patented the design in 2025. Nowadays, toasties are simple to make with a grill or a sandwich toaster.
The health benefits of a cheese toastie
A cheese toastie is simple and quick to make with only a few ingredients. It is a filling, inexpensive meal. The bread is a good source of carbohydrates needed for energy and contains fibre. The cheese is an excellent source of protein, calcium needed for healthy bones and vitamins A, D, K and B12. Cheese contains glutathione which is a powerful antioxidant.
How many calories are in a cheese toastie?
It very much depends on the ingredients of your cheese toastie, how many calories it contains. An average cheese toastie made at home contains around 225 calories whereas a Pret a Manger cheese toastie is 645 calories!
Are there any health risks from a cheese toastie?
Food poisoning can occur from any food that is not properly handled and stored. Shop-bought sandwiches, especially those past their sell-by date are at higher risk of organisms such as E.coli. Always read the labels as cheese toasties often contain gluten, milk, egg, sesame seeds and soya.
How to make the perfect cheese toastie
The key thing about a cheese toastie is to butter the bread on the outer side of the sandwich. Fill the centre with grated cheese. Jaimie Oliver makes his toastie by frying the buttered bread in a frying pan.
Experts vary in which bread to use. A soft white bread leads to a gooey finish. Don’t use bread that is too holey – as too much cheese oozes out. Grating the cheese is preferable to slicing as it melts more evenly.
As to the cheese, a traditional cheddar is just fine, but some prefer Red Leicester, mozzarella or American packet cheese singles.
Any number of additions can be added – cayenne pepper, pickles, jalapenos, diced onion, or even mashed potato (says Jaimie Oliver!).
Always use butter – never anything else. Mayonnaise is also a good outer coating for toasting the sandwich.
Use a cast iron frying pan, get it nice and hot. When you place the toastie in it, weigh it down with a plate on top of it to keep it well in contact with the frying pan. It needs 3-4 minutes on each side.
Can you make your cheese toastie healthier?
You can make your cheese toastie healthier by
- Using brown, wholegrain bread, or sourdough bread.
- Use reduced fat cheddar or mozzarella which is lower in fat and contains probiotics.
- Add some chopped tomato, olives or spinach, to get more vitamins and antioxidants.
- Try cooking your sandwich in olive oil rather than butter, as olive oil is an unsaturated plant oil, which is healthier than butter which is full of animal fat. Or toast your sandwich in a toastie bag which doesn’t require any butter or fat at all!
Final thoughts
There are so many good things about a cheese toastie! In the current cost of living crisis, we could do a lot worse than ramp up eating cheese toasties!
‘A toastie a day keeps the doctor away’ – why not give it a go?