Works For Me: Open-Faced English Muffin Sandwiches

Here’s a fast, cheap and easy dinner idea your family will love.

(Did I just sound like a Kraft commercial?  That was weird.  Anyway.)

I get English muffins (for some reason, I’ve noticed the refrigerated ones tend to be much cheaper than the ones in the bread section) and cut them in half, forming something resembling a little mini-pizza crust.

Lay them out on a baking sheet and cover them with any one of the toppings listed below.  Heat in a 350 oven until heated (maybe 8-10 minutes) and you have yourself a main dish.

(Unless you are a gourmet cook.  In my house, if it’s heated and contains protein, it qualifies as a main dish.)

Here are some of the variations you can try on your open-faced muffins:

SLOPPY JOE
Mix barbecue sauce with cooked ground beef, and spoon some onto the muffins.  Cover with cheddar cheese.  Heat until melted.

HOT DELI STYLE
Spread mayo and mustard on your muffins.  Cover with your favorite lunch meat and cheese.  Heat until melted.

MEXICAN
Spread salsa on muffins. Cover with cooked chicken, onions and Monterrey Jack cheese.  Add beans, unless you’re serving it to me, in which case, please omit the beans {shudder}.  Heat until melted.

ASIAN
Spread teriyaki sauce on muffins.  Cover with chicken, green peppers, onions, carrots, and whatever other veggies float your boat.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Heat until warm.

HAMBURGER
Mix cooked ground beef with ketchup.  Spread on muffins, and cover with mustard, LOTS of onions and cheese.  Heat until melted.  Take some Tums.

Get the picture?  Can you think of any fun variations I might be missing?

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113 thoughts on “Works For Me: Open-Faced English Muffin Sandwiches”

  2. $5 Dinner Mom says:
    Reply

    Love all your fun English muffins ideas!!! Breakfast style…with a poached egg, slice of canadian bacon and some hollandaise sauce. I’m starving now…must go to bed before I cave in to a midnight snack!

  5. Blue Castle says:
    Reply

    Now I’m hungry. Thank you for that. 🙂
    My Grandma used to make these as tuna melts.
    You take tuna, add some mayo and some relish, spread it on the muffin and top with a slice of (kraft?) cheese and then put them in the oven. Yummy.
    Your other variations sure sound good too.

  6. Toni says:
    Reply

    I just posted and linked to my English muffin recipe for WFMW! They are really easy to make, you should try them sometime! I love the sloppy joe idea, I will have to try that sometime, this week we are doing pizzas!
    Toni

  12. Jack's Mommy says:
    Reply

    am I the only one that can’t see Mister Linky? 😦 I thought it would come up, but I’ve been waiting for 10 minutes now and I still can’t see it. I had my WFMW all ready to go too.

  14. Holly says:
    Reply

    Jack’s Mommy…I couldn’t see Mr. Linky with Firefox, switched to Google Chrome and there it was. Don’t get it, Firefox has always worked before.
    The English muffins sound good!

  16. Catherine says:
    Reply

    I usually get the pizza sauce and add some of that, some motzarella ( I know its not spelled right) but then I add either cooked hamburger, ham and pineapple or pepperoni
    YUMMM mini pizza’s

  18. Rachel says:
    Reply

    I love English Muffins, and these recipes are wonderful! I can’t wait to try the Asian version…
    One thing I have found with muffins is that the white flour ones taste best (of course!), and if I buy whole wheat ones they cannot be honey wheat! The honey flavor makes most savory muffin toppings (like for pizza) taste really bad!

  19. Jack's Mommy says:
    Reply

    Holly – just downloaded & installed Google Chrome to give it one last try. Couldn’t see it in that one either. It must be one of Mr Linky’s servers that serves the south east that is down or something. I dunno.
    ok…now i’m for real going to bed yall. lol Hopefully I’ll be able to see everyone’s tips tomorrow. I love reading all the WFMW’s. 😀
    night.

  28. Stretch Mark Mama says:
    Reply

    I put a dollop of mayo and a couple of tablespoons of Italian dressing in a skillet. Throw in some deli ham. Mix and fry until the meat is slightly crisp. Then put that on the buttered muffins (or buns), top with cheese, and heat until cheese melts. You will have thought you died.

  29. Liz C says:
    Reply

    Or, spread them with a garlicky dressing, a bit of cooked chicken, some chopped marinated artichoke hearts, and shredded parmesan and either mozarella or montery jack cheese, then heat them through. OH MY, so goooooood!
    My big accomplishment the last three months has been learning to make English muffins from scratch at home. $2 of ingredients makes about 50 of them. It’s rare they last long enough to be frozen at our house. They’re dirt simple, which shocked me.

  37. Jen says:
    Reply

    Love these ideas and can’t wait to try them! We like these with spaghetti sauce, mozzerella cheese, and pepperoni. Yum.
    I’ve noticed the same thing about the refrigerated bagels…they are much cheaper than the ones in the bread section. Weird! 🙂

  38. Tracey says:
    Reply

    Wow! I have been wanting to join in on the WFMW fun for months now and finally got the chance this week. I am amazed to be #117 and it’s only 7 am. These people are die hard.
    We love English muffins but have only done pizzas and tuna melts. Thanks for opening my eyes to the possibilities!

  40. Niki says:
    Reply

    Shannon, have you ever tried homemade english muffins. They are a little bit of work but very tasty. Thanks for the reminder on these, many nights I just don’t feel like cooking and these are great fast cheap ideas. PS sorry I linked twice by accident (it was 4 in the morning)

  41. Sheila Gregoire says:
    Reply

    I love these English muffins! These are one of our staples for lunches, since we homeschool.
    That’s one of the best parts: the kids love hot lunches. So we do the eggs and hams thing with cheese on it, and they gobble them up.
    We also make mini pizzas on English muffins. Just spread pizza sauce, top with whatever you want, and sprinkle with cheese! Yummy!
    Visit To Love, Honor and Vacuum today!

  43. Amy from Texas says:
    Reply

    I just posted about how I teach my kids about money. My kids are 5 and under and it’s working great for my 5 year old.
    Love looking through all the links. What a fun idea for Mr. Linky!

  51. Hayley says:
    Reply

    It’s fun to see all the comments, but I miss Mr. Linky! Mr. Linky, come back soooon! BTW Shannon, you are so kind to host WFMW. It’s fun and helpful. I hope your morning improves!

  55. Rainy @ More Gravy says:
    Reply

    We make these frequently when we have little friends over to visit for lunch or dinner. We call them smiley pizzas, because we usually make a smiley face with the toppings.
    One trick we found when we were making these when *I* was a kid is that they turn out even better if you toast them before you put the toppings on. It keeps them a little firmer and less floppy after you top and re-cook them. Great idea, I love all those topping ideas!

  56. MemeGRL says:
    Reply

    This sounds ultra-strange, I know, but I heard a Nigella Lawson interview on NPR where she described “Breakfast Bruschetta.” I couldn’t work with the tomato one, but I have found that an avocado smooshed with lime and spread on one of the toasted hearty grains muffins gives me what I ned in the morning. Enough fat and carbs to keep me feeling full, a little kick with the lime juice, but mostly just a nice, smooth start. An expensive one too, alas, with the price of avocados around me right now but when I find them on sale, this is my new favorite breakfast.

  57. Barclay Domier says:
    Reply

    I ground up just regular sausage, mix it in pizza sauce, lay a slice or two of mozzarella cheese over the top, and put it in the oven on Broil for just a couple minutes. Fast and delicious!
    Sorry not sure how Mr. Linky works
    password:domier – for my site

  59. Sarah says:
    Reply

    There’s another variation that kind of tastes like pizza, but no meat.
    You spread it with olive oil and italian seasoning, a slice of mozzarella and a tomato slice. Yum.

  66. Barbara H. @ Stray Thoughts says:
    Reply

    We’ve done the deli style, tuna (tuna mixed with Miracle Whip, topped with a variety of cheeses — each of us has his favorite kind of cheese) and pizzas (pizza or spaghetti sauce, pepperoni, and mozzarella or provolone) but not some of these others. I’ll keep these in mind! These are some of my favorite quick meals for “those nights.”

  67. Donnetta says:
    Reply

    WOW! I am so enjoying all these fabulous recipes for english muffins.
    I haven’t purchased any in quite some time because the prices were going up and they never seem to be on sale anymore. Of course I have been watching the ones in the bread section.
    I never even thought to look in the fridge section. Guess where I’m headed next time I’m shopping for groceries?!! 🙂

  74. Renee says:
    Reply

    Mr Linky must be pretty upset today! I keep reloading this page and still haven’t seen ANY links. Darn it all, this is my favorite Wed. activity. I look forward to reading WFMW all week long. Any ideas how to see the links??? Thanks.

  75. christina says:
    Reply

    we love “open faced sandwiches”
    My kids were addicted to those for a solid 3 weeks this summer. Tomato, ham and cheese was the popular combination.
    How about sliced apples and cheddar on a toasty english muffin!

  78. jen says:
    Reply

    Can’t see the links in firefox either. SO SAD! I had a good one today 🙂 (Would it be bad to resubmit next week if it gets squirrly?)
    I loooove English muffins though, so those were super good tips

  99. Madridmom says:
    Reply

    I wish I could get English muffins here in Spain. The best I have for open face sandwiches like you describe is to do them on hamburger buns. I may have to try some of your ideas. We usually just do pizza sauce and pepperoni and cheese. (on nights i am too lazy or time constrained to make homemade crust) here’s my link, it’s part of my series “Holiday Bites” but it is something that works for me too. http://madridmom.blogspot.com/2008/11/holiday-bites-10.html

  112. TRS says:
    Reply

    I use English Muffins for hamburgers instead of typical burger buns.
    Burger buns are all fluff and no substance. They’re not even tasty. English Muffins totally ROCK a hamburger!
    Also, there’s a little concotion I stole from a chef at our commissary – involving provolone cheese, portabello mushrooms marinated in basalmic vinegar ON an english muffin. Yum, yummity yum!

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