Ploughman’s Lunch Recipe: A Traditional English Pub Lunch
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This ploughman’s lunch recipe is a cold plate of crusty bread, cheese, pickled onions and chutney. If you’ve had one in an English pub, you’ll recognise those basics straight away, although the extras vary from place to place.
This ploughman’s lunch has tomatoes and green onions (spring onions) too, with ham, eggs, radishes and apple as optional additions. I like being able to put everything on the table and let people choose what they want. Cider is my drink of choice with it, though real ale is another traditional pub pairing.
Ploughman’s Lunch at a Glance
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Cook time: None if any optional eggs are already prepared
- Total time: 15 minutes
- Servings: 2 lunches
- Cuisine: English
- Main ingredients: Crusty bread, butter, cheese, pickled onions and chutney
- Best cooking method: No cooking; arrange the cold ingredients on a platter or plates
- Storage: Keep the components separately and assemble shortly before eating
Why You’ll Love It
- Lunch takes 15 minutes: There’s no cooking if you start with ready-to-eat ingredients.
- Everyone can choose their extras: Put out the bread, cheese and pickles, then offer ham, egg or fruit if you have them.
- It’s filling enough for lunch: Each serving has bread and a generous portion of cheese.
- You can take it on a picnic: Pack the bread separately and keep the chilled ingredients cold until you’re ready to eat.
What is a Ploughman’s Lunch?
A ploughman’s lunch is an English cold meal built around bread and cheese. Pickled onions and a spoonful of pickle or chutney are common accompaniments. Pubs may add ham, an egg, apple or salad vegetables, so there’s no single fixed ingredient list.
The bread-and-cheese meal has a long history. The familiar name and its place on pub menus became especially well known through efforts to promote cheese in British pubs during the 1950s and 1960s.
Ploughman’s Lunch Ingredients
- Crusty bread and butter: Use thick slices, part of a baguette or large crusty rolls. Choose bread you enjoy eating on its own.
- English cheese: Mature cheddar is an easy choice. If you want 2 cheeses, try it with Red Leicester, Cheshire, Lancashire, Wensleydale or Stilton.
- Pickled onions: These give the dish a sharpness that works so well with cheese. Small pickled onions are fine if you can’t find large ones.
- Pickle or chutney: Branston Original Pickle is a chunky British vegetable relish, not a pickled cucumber. Fruit chutney is another good choice with cheese.
- Tomatoes and green onions (spring onions): Wash and dry them before adding them to the plate.
- Optional extras: Ham, a ready-made Scotch egg, a hard-boiled egg, radishes and apple all fit. You can also add a couple of wedges of Spanish omelet if you have some left over or take a peek in the crisper drawer to see if anything needs to be used up.
How to Put Together a Ploughman’s Lunch
Give each person bread, cheese, pickled onions and some of the fresh vegetables. Put the pickle or chutney in a small bowl so people can help themselves and the bread doesn’t get soggy. Add whichever optional extras you’re serving and bring the platter to the table.
Cheese and Other Variations
For a cheese ploughman’s, divide the cheese quantity between two varieties. Mature cheddar and Red Leicester make an easy pairing; Stilton gives you a stronger second cheese. One cheese is enough if you’re putting ham or a Scotch egg on the plate as well.
Leave off the optional ham and Scotch egg for a vegetarian lunch and/or check that the cheese is made without animal rennet if that matters to you. Apple wedges, radishes or a hard-boiled egg are easy ways to add more to the plate. Customizing this dish is half the fun!
Handy Equipment
- Serving platters: This set of 3 wooden platters are a rustic way to present a ploughman’s.
- Small ceramic bowls: Put the pickle or chutney in one to keep it separate from the bread.
- Chef’s knife: For slicing the bread, cheese and any fruit or vegetables.
- Cutting board: Gives you room to prepare the ingredients before arranging the plates.
- Freezable lunch bag: Useful for carrying the chilled ingredients to a picnic. The linked bag has built-in cooling packs.
How to Store
A ploughman’s lunch is best assembled shortly before eating. Keep the bread wrapped separately so it doesn’t pick up moisture from the vegetables or pickle. Refrigerate the cheese, butter and any ham or egg, and follow the package dates for ready-to-eat ingredients. Put perishable leftovers back in the refrigerator promptly. For a picnic, carry the chilled ingredients in a cool bag and keep them cold until serving.
Ploughman’s Lunch FAQs
They can look similar, but a ploughman’s lunch is a meal centred on bread, cheese and pickled accompaniments. Meat is optional, while cured meat is usually the main feature of a charcuterie board and cheese is the main feature of a cheese board.
No. Branston Pickle is a chunky vegetable relish in a sweet-and-sour sauce. A dill pickle is a small pickled cucumber. You can serve either with cheese, though they taste quite different.
Yes. If English cheddar isn’t available, choose a sharp American cheddar to serve with the bread and pickles.
It’s served cold. The bread, cheese and pickled accompaniments need no cooking.
Traditional English Ploughman’s Lunch
Ingredients
- 4 thick slices crusty bread, ½ French baguette or 2 large crusty rolls
- 2 ounces (60g) butter
- 8 ounces (230g) English cheese
- 4 large pickled onions
- 2 small tomatoes or 4 cherry tomatoes
- 4 green onions (spring onions)
- 4 tablespoons (60ml) Branston Pickle or fruit chutney
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- 1 ready-made Scotch egg, halved
- 1 hard-boiled egg, halved
- 4 radishes
- 2 small wedges prepared Spanish omelet (tortilla Española)
- 4 Slices ham or other ready-to-eat deli meat
- 1 apple, cored and cut into wedges
Equipment
- Large platter or 2 dinner plates
- Small bowl
- Cutting board
- Sharp knife
Method
- Butter the bread and arrange it on a platter or divide it between 2 plates.
- Slice or cut the cheese into chunks and add it to the platter.
- Wash the tomatoes and green onions. Arrange them with the pickled onions.
- Spoon the pickle or chutney into a small bowl and put it on the platter.
- Add any optional ingredients that are already prepared. Serve the salt and black pepper on the side.
Notes
- If serving 2 cheeses, divide the 8-ounce (230g) total between them. Mature cheddar goes well with Red Leicester, Cheshire, Lancashire, Wensleydale or Stilton.
- Keep refrigerated ingredients cold until serving, especially if packing this lunch for a picnic.
A Tasty Pub Lunch to Make at Home
Start with bread, cheese and something pickled, then add the bits you’re in the mood for. A ploughman’s lunch can be as simple as that. I’ll take mine with a pint of cold cider, especially if the weather’s good enough to eat outside.
More British Recipes to Try
If you’d like to try more British meals, try my British beef and ale pie, bangers and mash or fish and chips. For afternoon tea, you can’t go wrong with some homemade English scones with jam and clotted cream.
