How to Make a Vegan Ploughman’s Lunch
A traditional ploughman’s lunch is common sense on a plate! It’s cold, sturdy and meant to satisfy without faff: bread, cheese, pickle and a few crisps. No theatre or gadgets, just a proper pub lunch! Serve with a glass of Dunkertons organic cider.
Keep pickled onions (choking hazards) away from children. Read more on food safety for people and pets (many foods are unsafe for children, pregnancy/nursing and animal friends).
Just bin onion scraps as acids could harm compost creatures (same with rhubarb, citrus, tomato and allium scraps – garlic, shallots, leeks, chives). For tinned ingredients, fully remove lid or pop ring-pull over holes before recycling, to avoid wildlife getting trapped.
The English Ploughman’s dates back to 1394 (bread, cheese and a pint) and became popular in the 1950s, when the Milk Marketing Board promoted it to increase sales of cheese, after rationing ended in World War II.
It’s best to make your own. Tesco’s ‘Ploughman’s Sandwich’ contains ingredients that ancient farmers would not recognise: mono-and-diglycerides of fatty acids, mono-and-diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono-and-diglycerides of fatty acids and palm oil – all wrapped in plastic.
The main star: vegan cheese
Kinda makes a nice vegan cheddar
Choose something firm and sliceable, with a tangy edge. Super-creamy vegan cheeses can feel wrong here, because they blur into the bread and don’t give that clean “cheese bite”.
Look for:
- Mature-style vegan cheddar blocks for a classic pub feel.
- Smoked vegan slices when you want depth without extra extras.
- A soft herby vegan “cream cheese” if you also bring crackers and celery.
The sweet-sharp bite: pickle, chutney, or onions
This is the centre of the plate. Without a sharp-sweet bite, the lunch turns flat. Branston-style pickle gives dark sweetness and tang. Piccalilli adds mustard heat. Pickled onions bring clean, cheeky sharpness that cuts through richness.
Bread and ‘butter’ that make a proper lunch
Choose something with structure like a crusty loaf, sourdough, rye, wholemeal rolls or simple (palm-oil-free) crackers and oatcakes. Keep slices thick enough to carry a spread without tearing.
Spread with palm-oil-free vegan butter (Lurpak or Flora) or alternatively add hummus or English mustard. Or even herby oil if you’re using tomatoes and olives.
Salad bits, apples, and something briny
Classic sides include crisp (organic) apple slices, celery, radishes, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and a handful of mixed leaves. Apples brown fast, so coat slices with a little lemon juice.
Add something briny to sharpen the edges. Gherkins, olives, capers, or a spoon of sauerkraut all work. These also stop vegan cheese from tasting too mild.
Build your board: how to avoid soggy bread!
Use a plate to build your Ploughman’s in a steady order:
- Start with small pots for pickle, chutney, or quick-pickled onions.
- Add your vegan cheese n slices or chunky pieces.
- Place bread or crackers next, kept dry and away from pickles.
- Tuck in briny bits (olives, gherkins, sauerkraut) in their own corner.
- Add salad and veg last, and pat tomatoes or cucumber dry first.
- Finish with fruit, like apple, placed on top so it stays crisp.
Keep flavours separate. A good vegan ploughman’s lunch has clear boundaries. For travel, wrap bread separately. Pack pickle in a sealed pot and juicy veg in their own section.
Flavour themes (pub classic, Italian, spicy)
Try one of these sets when you want direction without a strict recipe:
- Pub classic: Mature-style vegan cheddar, Branston-style pickle, crusty wholemeal roll, apple, celery, pickled onions.
- Mediterranean: Smoked vegan slices, olive tapenade or chutney, sourdough, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, a spoon of sauerkraut.
- Spicy twist: Peppery vegan cheese or tofu with mustard, piccalilli, rye bread or crackers, radishes, gherkins, extra black pepper.
