Are you from a Connecticut family that grew up eating Toad in the Hole? If so, you probably know it as a quirky breakfast dish — an egg cooked right in a hole cut out of a slice of bread. Just to be clear, no toads were harmed — I simply couldn’t resist using an actual toad photo. But the story behind the name and the dish is a little stranger than you might think.

The original Toad in the Hole comes from England, where it’s a savory meal of sausages baked in Yorkshire pudding batter. No eggs, no toast, just sausages popping out of golden, fluffy batter — the name supposedly comes from the way the sausages peek out like toads in a pond.

When English families settled in New England, they brought culinary traditions with them, and over time, the dish evolved. In the U.S., particularly in some Connecticut households, Toad in the Hole became the breakfast version we know today: an egg nestled in bread, sometimes cooked in a skillet or baked. It’s a far cry from the original sausages-and-batter dish, but it kept the playful name and sense of whimsy.

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What’s fun is that the U.S. version is sometimes called “egg in a basket” or “egg in a hole” in other parts of the country, but in many Connecticut homes, it proudly keeps the Toad in the Hole moniker. For families with multi-generational ties to the state, this little breakfast dish is a taste of history, a nod to old English roots, and a perfect reminder of just how weird and wonderful Connecticut’s food traditions can be.

Before researching this, I’d never heard of it, but you’d better believe I’m making one of these this weekend — both the UK and U.S. versions.

Sources: Wikipedia & Food Science Institute 

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