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Home-made Sizzler Toast
This pan-fried Sizzler toast is my homemade take on the iconic cheesy, buttery bread I grew up loving. Made with thick white bread, a cheesy butter spread, and pan-fried to golden perfection, it’s crisp on the outside and soft in the middle – just like the original. I whip it up for everything from lazy weekend breakfasts to the perfect side for pasta or soup. It’s nostalgic, indulgent, and completely impossible to stop at just one slice.
Ingredients
- 75g salted butter, very soft
- 75g grated pecorino cheese (or other hard italian cheese)
- 4 slices of thickly sliced bread
Instructions
- Mix together the soft butter and cheese until well combined.
- Thickly spread the cheese butter on one side of each slice of bread.
- Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat.
- Cook the toast butter side down for about 45 seconds, or until the cheese has turned golden. Flip and toast for 15 seconds on the other side to warm through.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
I highly recommend using a non-stick frypan or skillet for this recipe! Otherwise the cheese may stick to the pan and ruin your toast and cause a bit of a mess.
What I Cook With
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 290Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 541mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 9g
Please note, this nutrition information is to be used as a guide only. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
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Homemade Sizzler Fried Cheese Toast
A Toast to Sizzler (Literally)
Pan-fried Sizzler Toast is one of those nostalgic comfort foods that feels like a blast from the past int he best way possible. If you grew up in Australia, you already know the deal. That gloriously golden, buttery, cheesy slice of heaven that came with your all-you-can-eat salad bar trip at Sizzler? Iconic. Honestly, I think most of us went there just for the toast. And the potato skins, obviously. The rest was incidental. And now that nearly every Sizzler has closed its doors, we’re left with the memories… and cravings. Luckily, this cheesy toast is stupidly easy to make at home. A bit of butter, a bit of cheese, a hot pan, and boom – you’ve got the magic.
I’ve been in a bit of a cooking depression lately, which is probably obvious from the lack of new recipes on the blog. It’s not that I don’t want to cook – I do! But the last couple of years have been, well, a bit shit. It started slowly, like most things do. The kind of tired that isn’t fixed by sleep. A slow decline into exhaustion that ran deeper than just my body. Holding up a facade of happiness while my marriage quietly disintegrated in the background took a toll I didn’t fully realise at the time. Smiling through dinners, planning weekends, keeping up appearances, all while knowing deep down I have to get out. That sort of pretending leaks into everything else, even the kitchen. Cooking used to be a place of joy for me. Now? Most days it feels like a chore as I cook for a man who shoves food in his mouth like a Titan, swallowing without chewing.
Still, I’m doing my best to just get through. This cheesy toast isn’t a new creation – I’ve been making it for years as a little treat when I need something fast and comforting. But it felt like the right time to finally share it.
I’m also posting a creamy roasted garlic and chicken fettuccine recipe tomorrow, another oldie I never got around to sharing. That’s where I’m at right now – digging through my recipe archives and leaning on the ones that don’t ask too much of me. The spark for new ideas will come back. Maybe. Hopefully…
It’s Not Fancy, It’s Just Fabulous
Let me be clear: this pan-fried Sizzler toast is not fancy. It’s not trying to be. No artisan loaves. No ten-dollar wedges of cheese. Just everyday ingredients, a non-stick frying pan, and a desperate need for something warm and cheesy. I make this when I can’t be bothered, but still want to feel like I’ve treated myself to something nice. Which, frankly, is most days right now. I’m tired, it’s winter, and I want the sort of food that feels like a hug and takes under ten minutes.
It also happens to be the perfect thing to make when you’re trying to look like you’ve put in way more effort than you actually have. Golden cheesy toast does that. Serve it with an egg, some greens, or just eat it shamelessly on its own. Just like me. Personally, I’ll eat it standing up in the kitchen, plate balanced on one hand, phone in the other, pretending I’m only going to have one slice.
What I love most is that it’s basically fail-proof. Got slightly stale bread? Even better – it crisps up a treat. Don’t have the exact cheese I use? Use what you’ve got. Burn the first slice? You’re in good company. The next one will be perfect. Cooking doesn’t need to be performative – it can just be you, in your dressing gown, with crumbs down your front, flipping toast in a frying pan, drinking wine, and calling it a win.
Cooking in a Funk
Lately, cooking has felt like a chore. And not just the normal kind of chore, but the sort of emotional drain that comes from years of making meals for someone who expects it, demands it, but never actually says thank you. The heaviness isn’t just in the grocery bags or the stack of dirty dishes. It’s in cooking for someone who never once offered to help, who waited with a fork in hand while I juggled five things at once. It’s hard to love cooking when it became a job I never applied for. When your efforts are swallowed without a second thought, it chips away at the joy. Slowly, quietly, until all that’s left is resentment and fatigue.
So now, instead of forcing myself to be clever or inspired, I’m going back to the recipes I know by heart. The ones that don’t feel like work. Like this toast. Or that fettuccine I keep mentioning. Nothing groundbreaking, just food that fills the gap without taking too much from me. Sharing them feels like the most honest thing I can do right now. Because the truth is, I’m still climbing my way out of that place. Of always giving, always serving, and never feeling seen.
Maybe by February I’ll feel that familiar spark again… Maybe I’ll share that plan with you before it all kicks off… And maybe I’ll find it simmering in a pot of soup or baked into something slow and tender. But for now, it’s just me, quietly trying my best in my own kitchen, one piece of cheesy toast at a time.
Ingredients Breakdown
Pan-fried Sizzler toast is delightfully simple. You need good white bread – nothing too fancy, just something thick-cut and soft enough to crisp up beautifully in a pan. Sourdough and fancy grain breads don’t hit the same. This is a nostalgia recipe, and it calls for that classic, supermarket-style white loaf that toasts up golden on the outside and stays fluffy inside.
Butter is non-negotiable. Real butter. None of that margarine or olive spread business. Salted is best, and leave it out for a bit to soften so it doesn’t tear your bread to bits. Trust me, soft butter equals happy toast. As for cheese, I use a combo of mild cheddar and grated parmesan. It gives you that rich flavour and that golden crispy edge. And no, before you ask – there is no garlic in Sizzler toast. I don’t know where that rumour started, but it’s a lie. Just butter and cheese. That’s it.
Once your bread is buttered and cheesed up, pop it in a frying pan on medium heat and let the magic happen. You’ll know it’s ready when the bottom is gorgeously golden and the cheese is all melty and irresistible. Try not to burn your mouth because you couldn’t wait for it to cool. Or do. I do. Every time.
