Branston pickle substitutes

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.

Best for

cheese and pickle sandwiches, ploughman's lunch, pork pie, cheese on toast, cold ham, sausage sandwiches

The obvious answer if you are anywhere it is sold, since Branston is a brand rather than a style and every British supermarket makes its own. The differences between them are matters of degree: some are sweeter, some carry larger chunks, some are noticeably more vinegary, and the small chunk versions are much easier to spread in a sandwich while the original has pieces you can identify. Any of them will do exactly the same job. If the one you buy tastes flatter than you expect, a few drops of malt vinegar and a small pinch of salt sharpen it up.

A sweet, thick fruit preserve cooked with vinegar, sugar and spice. 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.

A five-minute build using ingredients from an ordinary supermarket. 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.

A dark, jammy, slow-cooked chutney of onions or tomatoes with vinegar and sugar. 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.

A chunky mustard-and-turmeric vegetable pickle, bright yellow and sharp. 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.

A thin, smooth, dark sauce of tomato, malt vinegar, tamarind, dates and spice. 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.