Branston Pickle substitute

Best substitute

Any other sweet pickle or ploughman's pickle

Use the same amount as the branston pickle you are replacing

Best for cheese and pickle sandwiches

Close match

Supermarket own-label or rival-brand versions of the same chunky sweet-sour pickle. Use it straight from the jar. For sandwiches, spread it on the bread rather than piling it on the cheese, so it does not slide out.

Other branston pickle substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Apple, date or mango chutney
Different taste
Use the same amount plus ½ tsp malt or cider vinegar per tbsp
A sweet, thick fruit preserve cooked with vinegar, sugar and spice.
What changes
Stir the vinegar in and let it stand a few minutes. Chop any large chunks of fruit small so it spreads.
Best for
cheese sandwiches, cheese board, pork pie, cold meat, curry accompaniments, sausage rolls
The best widely available substitute, and the family resemblance is genuine, since Branston is essentially a vegetable chutney. What changes is the balance: chutney leans much harder on sweetness and fruit and much less on vinegar, so a cheese sandwich made with mango chutney tastes noticeably sweeter and more perfumed, and it loses the savoury malty backbone that makes Branston taste like a savoury condiment rather than a jam. The added vinegar is what corrects that, and a few drops of Worcestershire sauce helps too. Date chutney is the closest of the three because dates are in Branston already; mango is the most different, being fruitier and often warmer with chilli.
3Sweet pickle relish with dates and Worcestershire sauce
Close match
4 tbsp relish, 2 chopped dates, 1 tsp malt vinegar, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, pinch of allspice
A five-minute build using ingredients from an ordinary supermarket.
What changes
Chop the dates very finely first, then mash everything together with a fork and rest for an hour before using.
Best for
cheese and pickle sandwiches, burgers, cold cuts, pork pie, cheese board
The most convincing homemade approximation, and worth the five minutes because it hits all four of the things Branston does at once. The relish gives the vinegary chunky base, the dates give the specific dark sticky sweetness and the fruit character, the Worcestershire gives savoury depth and a tamarind note that is very much in the right direction, and the malt vinegar sharpens it. Mash it all together with a fork so the dates break down and the mixture darkens. It comes out lighter in colour and slightly coarser than the real thing, and it will not have the same long-cooked mellowness, so let it sit for an hour if you can. Keep it in the fridge and use within a week.
4Caramelised onion or tomato chutney
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
A dark, jammy, slow-cooked chutney of onions or tomatoes with vinegar and sugar.
What changes
Use straight from the jar. If it is very sweet, add a few drops of malt vinegar.
Best for
cheese sandwiches, cheese board, burgers, sausages, toasted cheese
Not an imitation, and a genuinely good choice on its own terms. It brings the same sweet-sour interplay against cheese and the same dark colour, and the slow cooking gives it a savoury depth that a quick substitute cannot match. The difference is texture and flavour focus: it is smooth and jammy rather than chunky, so you lose the little bites of crunchy vegetable that are much of Branston's appeal, and it tastes distinctly of caramelised onion or tomato rather than of the mixed vegetable-and-date character of a ploughman's pickle. On a cheese and pickle sandwich most people would call it an upgrade rather than a compromise.
5Piccalilli or chow-chow
Different taste
Use the same amount
A chunky mustard-and-turmeric vegetable pickle, bright yellow and sharp.
What changes
Use as is, or stir in a little brown sugar to soften the mustard sharpness.
Best for
pork pie, cheese board, cold ham, ploughman's lunch, sausages
The same role on the plate with a completely different flavour, and worth knowing about because piccalilli is often stocked where Branston is not. It has the chunky vegetables and the vinegar sharpness, so it cuts through fatty cold meat and strong cheese exactly as intended, but it is sharper, much less sweet, and dominated by mustard and turmeric rather than malt vinegar and dates. A cheese sandwich made with it is bracing rather than comforting. If you want to move it towards Branston, stir in a quarter teaspoon of brown sugar or a little date syrup per tablespoon, which softens the mustard edge considerably.
6Brown sauce or HP sauce
Different texture
About 1:2, so use half as much
A thin, smooth, dark sauce of tomato, malt vinegar, tamarind, dates and spice.
What changes
Use sparingly, and mix with chopped gherkin or relish if you want any chunkiness at all.
Best for
cheese sandwiches, bacon sandwiches, sausages, cold meat, when you have nothing chunky at all
Included honestly as the least-bad option when there is genuinely nothing else, because the flavour profile is closely related. Brown sauce and Branston share the malt vinegar, tamarind and date sweetness, so the taste is recognisably in the same family. What is completely absent is texture: brown sauce is a thin smooth pour, so a cheese sandwich made with it is wet and slippery rather than chunky, and it will soak into the bread. It is also more concentrated and more vinegary, so use about half as much. Stirring a tablespoon of it into a tablespoon of finely chopped gherkin gives you something much closer.

What is Branston Pickle?

Branston Pickle is the best-known British brand of sweet chunky pickle, sometimes called ploughman's pickle, made from finely diced vegetables such as swede, carrot, onion, cauliflower and gherkin plus dates, held in a dark, thick, sweet-and-sour malt vinegar sauce with warm spices.

Cooking tips

In a cheese and pickle sandwich, spread the pickle on the bread and the butter on both slices, then put the cheese on top. Butter forms a barrier that stops the vinegar soaking into the crumb, and pickle spread on the bread stays put, whereas pickle piled on top of cheese slides straight out at the first bite.
Branston is doing an acid-and-sugar job against fat, which is why it works so well with mature cheddar, pork pie and cold ham. If you swap it for something sweeter, such as mango chutney, add acidity back with a few drops of malt or cider vinegar rather than using less of it, or the sandwich will taste cloying.
Use the small chunk version, or chop a regular jar down, when the pickle needs to spread thinly or go into a sauce. The large pieces in original pickle are excellent on a cheese board and awkward in a toasted sandwich, where they slide about and can burn. A few pulses in a small food processor sorts it out.
It is very good stirred into hot things, not just cold. A tablespoon whisked into a cheese sauce for macaroni cheese, into gravy for sausages, or into the mince for a cottage pie adds sweetness, acidity and savoury depth in one move. Add it towards the end of cooking, since prolonged boiling flattens the vinegar sharpness that makes it useful.
An opened jar keeps for months in the fridge because the vinegar and sugar do the preserving, but it does dull with time as the vinegar aroma escapes. If a half-used jar tastes flat, stir in a few drops of malt vinegar and a pinch of salt to wake it up rather than throwing it out.

Frequently asked questions

What can I use instead of Branston pickle for a cheese sandwich?

The nearest thing on most supermarket shelves is a fruit chutney, and date or apple chutney is closest because dates are already in Branston. Use the same amount and stir in about half a teaspoon of malt or cider vinegar per tablespoon, since chutneys are generally sweeter and less sharp, which is exactly what makes them taste less savoury than pickle. Caramelised onion chutney and tomato chutney are also excellent on cheese, though smooth rather than chunky. For something closer in five minutes, mash sweet pickle relish with finely chopped dates, malt vinegar, a splash of Worcestershire sauce and a pinch of allspice.

What does Branston pickle taste like?

Sweet and sour at the same time, with a dark malty depth behind it. The malt vinegar gives it a sharp tang, the sugar and dates give a treacly sweetness, and warm spices such as allspice and cloves sit underneath, so it reads as savoury rather than jammy. The texture is the other half of the appeal: soft but distinct chunks of vegetable, mostly swede, carrot, onion, cauliflower and gherkin, in a thick brown sauce. On a plate its job is to provide acid and sugar against something fatty, which is why it is inseparable from mature cheddar and cold pork.

Is piccalilli a good substitute for Branston pickle?

It does the same job and tastes quite different, so it depends on what you want. Both are chunky vinegared pickles that cut through fat, so on a pork pie or a cheese board piccalilli works perfectly well. But piccalilli is bright yellow, much sharper, barely sweet, and dominated by mustard powder and turmeric, whereas Branston is dark, sweet and malty with dates and spice. Swapping one for the other gives you a noticeably more bracing plate. Stirring a quarter teaspoon of brown sugar into each tablespoon of piccalilli takes the edge off and brings it closer.

Can I just leave the pickle out?

You can, and a cheese sandwich will still be a cheese sandwich, but it will taste flat and dry in a way that is easy to explain: the pickle was supplying acidity, sweetness and moisture all at once against a rich, salty, fatty filling. If you have nothing suitable, get some of it back with a smear of any mustard for sharpness, a couple of sliced gherkins or pickled onions for acid and crunch, or a few thin slices of apple, which give sweetness and moisture. A grind of black pepper and a little butter also help more than you would expect.

Can I make something like Branston pickle at home?

Yes, though a proper long-keeping version is a preserving project rather than a weeknight one. For something usable the same day, finely dice swede, carrot, onion, cauliflower and gherkin, simmer them in malt vinegar with brown sugar, chopped dates, a little tomato puree, allspice, cloves and salt until the vegetables are tender but still distinct and the sauce has thickened, then cool and refrigerate. Treat that as a fridge pickle and eat it within two to three weeks. If you want jars you can store in a cupboard, follow a tested preserving recipe exactly and do not reduce its vinegar, since the acidity is what makes it safe; the National Center for Home Food Preservation is the right source for that guidance.

Related substitutes

More sauces & condiments substitutes

Branston Pickle substitute

Other branston pickle substitutes

2Apple, date or mango chutney

3Sweet pickle relish with dates and Worcestershire sauce

4Caramelised onion or tomato chutney

5Piccalilli or chow-chow

6Brown sauce or HP sauce