15 English Sandwiches You Should Know About

Legend has it that in 1762, during a 24-hour gambling marathon, John Montagu, the 4th earl of Sandwich, had servants bring sliced meat and bread to the table so he could continue to play. The story is almost certainly apocryphal – the addition of meat to bread probably dates back over 10,000 years – but one thing is clear: Montagu so popularized the method of consumption that the dish was named after him, or rather, after his title. As the years passed, the sandwich lost its scandalous reputation and became less associated with gambling and more of a convenience. 

Across the globe, unique takes on existing recipes jostled for attention with brand new inventions. Creating the perfect sandwich became something of a national obsession, finding the hands-down best Reuben an epic journey worthy of a Greek legend. Back in the U.K., sandwiches reached new heights of popularity, with some 56% of Brits consuming at least one sandwich per day. Such ubiquity led to an inevitable perfection of form, and while British sandwiches tend to be less extravagant than their American counterparts, they are no less tasty for it. Here are 15 English sandwiches you should know about. 

The cucumber sandwich is a delicacy that the people of the U.K. take almost to the point of ritual. The cucumber must be peeled and then seasoned. Both the bread and pepper must be white, the butter unsalted, and any thought of tarting things up with some kind of condiment is deeply frowned upon. A poorly constructed cucumber sandwich is most assuredly a bland affair, but if done correctly, it can make for a deliciously refreshing bite.

Most Brits only encounter this sandwich during an afternoon tea. This quasi-ceremonial tradition involves sandwiches served finger-style with tea, cakes, and scones on a three-tiered stand and often eaten in a prescribed order: Bottom to top, starting with the sandwiches and ending with the cakes. Cucumber sandwiches may also show up at buffet events, especially during the warm summer months, but are rarely consumed at home or sold prepackaged in shops.

Although egg and cress finger sandwiches are also a fixture at most afternoon teas, Brits consume them whenever they feel like it. The base mix consists of chopped, boiled eggs added to swirls of mayonnaise. In some cases, Dijon mustard is stirred through the blend to give it a little extra kick. In others, a little salt and white pepper are all that is required. The omission of cress, however, is non-optional.

The type of cress that finds its way into the sandwich may be unfamiliar to those more used to the large peppery leaves of watercress. Although related to its riverside brethren garden, garden cress is composed of many small leaves bunched together and is less pungent overall. The aesthetically pleasing scattering of green complements the milder flavor profile. The sandwich is sold in shops across the nation, and there are few cafes that don't offer some version of it. Homemade varieties are popular too, although most Brits tend to buy tubs of premade egg mayonnaise — as it is called in the U.K. — and simply add the cress as an afterthought.

The ploughman's sandwich is one of those quintessential British meals that remains somewhat opaque. Much like the classic British Bubble and Squeak, its name fails to divulge what it consists of. Regardless, this classic British sandwich is a relatively simple construction of bread, cheese, and pickle. The idea of a ploughman's lunch sprang from a marketing push by the 1950s-era Milk Marketing Board. It evoked a late-medieval picture of rural idyll using imagery of farmers taking a break from ploughing their fields and tucking into a hearty lunch. 

The cheese of choice was, of course, of English origin, with cheddar and Stilton usually taking center stage. The pickle element of the sandwich also draws confusion. The traditional ploughman's includes a slathering of Branston Pickle, a spicy, somewhat sour condiment that is more of a relish than anything a North American would consider a pickle. Still, although any relish will do, adding a dill pickle or some sliced pickled onions to sliced cheese might make for a delicious sandwich, but one referred to by Brits as cheese and pickle, never a ploughman's.

During the summer of 1953, the national mood in the United Kingdom centered around a zenithal moment in the nation's history: the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The last vestiges of wartime rationing were still in situ, and reconstruction of Britain's bombed-out cities was far from complete. Around the country, people looked forward to the street parties and festivities that would earmark the event. In kitchens, people began to practice making a commemorative dish created by London's famous culinary school, Le Cordon Bleu.

Tasked with creating something that represented the nation's imperial past, the school eventually settled on a simple dish of boned chicken served with a curry cream sauce, accompanied by a salad of rice, peas, and pimentos. Today, the dish is usually enjoyed as a sandwich. The bread takes the place of the rice, leaving diners with what is essentially a cold, curried chicken sandwich. When shop-bought, the creamy sauce is invariably substituted for mayonnaise, but the overall experience does not seem to suffer too much.

In the United Kingdom, the term butty refers colloquially to any kind of sandwich, but its correct usage is near-impossible for visitors to master. It tends to wed itself to specific sandwiches, the bacon butty being one of them. A request for a coronation chicken butty, for example, would be understood, yet sound odd to British ears. As a rule of thumb, the word butty is only ever used after a short, succinct noun.

The name itself gives some clue as to what you'll get when ordering a bacon butty: buttered bread, fried bacon, and some kind of sauce. Those looking for a truly traditional version, however, might need to dig a little deeper. To start with, the bread might come in the form of what the English refer to as a muffin or barm. Distinct from what Americans think of as an English muffin, British muffins more closely resemble a burger bun.

Sauce is optional, although encouraged. Ketchup is a definite go-to, but so too is HP Sauce. The HP stands for House of Parliament due to its popularity at the private restaurant, hidden within the building. Regardless, it ranks as one of the U.K.'s most beloved store-bought steak sauces and pairs exceptionally well with slices of crispy bacon. Both sweet and sour, it is somewhat comparable to A1 sauce. However, since no description can really do it justice, a try-it-if-you-get-the-chance approach is probably for the best.

It is perhaps inevitable that in an increasingly connected world, some crossover inevitably occurs when it comes to national favorites. Such is the case with the tuna mayonnaise sandwich. As the name suggests, it is a combination of mayonnaise and tuna fish, although sweetcorn is often added for good measure. Reminiscent of the deli classic tuna on rye, its origins are less mysterious than the U.S. tuna melt, a sandwich that is virtually unknown in the U.K. 

A typical tuna mayonnaise sandwich is usually served on buttered, white, or brown bread or a French baguette of some sort. Still, the basic recipe is sometimes enhanced via the addition of salad leaves, slices of cucumber or diced bell pepper, and healthier options that substitute mayonnaise for low-fat or Greek yogurt definitely exist. Regardless, for the most part, a shop-bought version of this sandwich is a popular choice for the lunchtime crowd.

The chip butty is as much a British institution as it is a sandwich. A carb-on-carb delight of epic proportions, its simplicity hides hidden complexities that often take first-timers by surprise. As a consequence, some explanation is required. To start with, the definition of a chip needs examining. A British chip is broadly similar to a French fry but tends to be much thicker. They contain far fewer ingredients than you'd find in a McDonald's French fry, are never subjected to a sugar wash, and form half of that most defining of British street foods, Fish and Chips.

When purchased from a shop, the chip butty is served on an open muffin and covered in generous amounts of salt and vinegar. At home, it is more common to use two slices of white bread. Sauce is optional and, in some cases, frowned upon, as is the use of other traditional chip shop condiments such as gravy or mushy peas. Such additions would make the bread soggy, thus rendering the whole point of ordering a butty somewhat moot.

England may lay claim to the invention of the sandwich, but the BLT is almost certainly an American invention. The clue is, of course, in the title. Post WWII, America saw an explosion of diners crop up across the country. To save time, waiters tended to use shorthand when taking orders. The combination of bacon, lettuce, and tomato worked well enough for the name to stick, and although debates on whether the perfect BLT sandwich begins with toasted bread or not continue to rage, the classic design has remained unchanged ever since.

The myth that British food is dreadful is one of those misnomers that the island nation cannot seem to shake. In truth, British food used to be awful. Back in the windswept tides of history, some combination of meat and potatoes ruled the day. Modern British cuisine, however, takes a leaf out of its multicultural roots, adopting a policy of welcoming, with open arms, anything that takes its fancy. Such is the case with the BLT. Despite its pan-Atlantic origins, it is, today, Britain's best-loved sandwich.

There are few people in the world who are unaware of the American love of a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Less familiar, however, is that Brits also enjoy the concept, albeit without one essential ingredient. Over in the U.K., they tend to hold the peanut butter. In truth, they don't add jelly, either.

The adage that Britain and America are two nations divided by a common language holds true here. To Brits, jelly is a gelatinous dessert, something that Americans refer to as jello. To complicate things, British jam and U.S. jelly aren't interchangeable either. Jam uses the whole fruit, whereas jelly is made from fruit juice so as to offer a more homogeneous texture. All of which leaves residents of the British Isles with what is considered the humblest of sandwiches. Slices of bread, a smear of butter, and a generous dollop of a jam of choice. The short noun means that the term jam butty is used freely here, and the sandwich is often enjoyed as a late-night snack or a supper with a glass of milk.

Fish finger is the British name for fish sticks, and they are identical to their cross-Atlantic brethren in every way. Little surprise then that they have fallen victim to the British propensity to put anything they can get their hands on between two slices of bread and call it a sandwich. At its most basic level, the sandwich consists of slices of bread, butter, and two or three fish fingers with perhaps a dollop of tomato ketchup for good measure. 

Fancier versions exist and can include mayonnaise, capers, a squeeze of lemon, and some lettuce. Still, such variations are not the norm. The fish finger sandwich is considered a quick, budget-friendly way of wolfing down some calories, and trying to tart it up into a gourmet experience is, to many Brits, a waste of time and effort. Indeed, the fish finger sandwich is very much a home device. You are unlikely to find them on restaurant menus, and even less likely to find them prepackaged, as most people prefer to eat them hot.

In England, it is traditional to gather round the dining room table on weekends to enjoy what is known as a Sunday roast. This dish is, as you'd expect, consumed on a Sunday and consists of roast meat — usually beef or pork — roast potatoes, vegetables, and other accompaniments such as stuffing and Yorkshire pudding.

The meal is somewhat excessive, and, as families invariably end up with a mountain of leftover meat at the end of the dinner, the roast beef sandwich is as ubiquitous in the U.K. as a post-Thanksgiving turkey on rye is in the United States. Still, despite its status as a way of using up scraps, the sandwich is much beloved. To make one, all you will need are cold cuts of beef, bread, and a condiment of your choice. There are, however, two main contenders when it comes to a favorite dressing for a roast beef sandwich: horseradish or English mustard.

Horseradish is perhaps less popular in the USA, where it is often used to give tuna salad a hint of spice or swirled into a Russian dressing, than it is in the U.K. For those unfamiliar, it is reminiscent of wasabi, although it lacks the vibrant green aesthetic. English mustard is often added for the same reason people reach for the horseradish jar — it provides a spicy kick to the proceedings. Dijon can be substituted at a pinch, but regular hot dog mustard won't do for anyone attempting to replicate a traditional version of the sandwich.

Chicken salad is another one of those recipes that exists in many forms all around the world. Variations aside, the basic concept is to suspend pieces of chicken in a creamy mayonnaise sauce along with some seasoning, chopped herbs, and, if you're lucky, a few spices. Indeed, Americans visiting the U.K. might struggle to distinguish their home-grown version from the one presented to them during their stay. 

Even so, subtle differences do exist. To start with, an American chicken salad sometimes includes a little dill, whereas in the U.K., you are just as likely to encounter chopped tarragon. Brits also have a habit of adding a squeeze of lemon juice to any mayonnaise-centric dish as the added tartness seems to suit their palate. Aside from that, though, the chicken salad sandwich is exactly what you would expect it to be and all the more delicious for it.

Another sandwich and yet another foray into linguistic drift. In the U.K., a crisp refers to what most Americans think of as a potato chip. There are some flavor variations across the pond, and packet sizes tend to be smaller in England, but in almost every other way, the two items are identical. With one exception. Brits love to put their potato chips in sandwiches.

There are two basic types of crisp sandwiches. The first of these involves an au naturel approach. Simply take two slices of buttered bread, empty a packet of crisps — which in the U.K. is about a one-ounce serving — onto the bread, slice in half, and eat. The second method is to use crisps to bring some added crunch to almost any other sandwich you can imagine. Crisps have been inserted into jam sandwiches, wedged between the bread and filling of a ploughman's, and, at times, even found themselves sitting atop a fish finger butty or two. There are seemingly no rules when it comes to their addition, although care might be taken to pair flavors with the parent sandwich so as not to create a finished product that is too incongruent.

Marmite is so famously divisive that people in the U.K. often use the word as an adjective denoting something liable to cause disagreement. For those unfamiliar with the product, Marmite is a tarry residue left over from the production of beer that identifies itself as yeast extract. It has a pungent and salty flavor and is most often spread in minute quantities across buttered toast to add a burst of intense umami.

There is a market for simple Marmite sandwiches, although the substance is so sticky that any attempt to apply it to dry bread is liable to cause tearing. One solution is to apply a thick layer of butter first and then smear the Marmite on top. A more common method is to make a cheese sandwich and then spread a thin layer of Marmite directly onto the slices of cheese. The cheese and Marmite sandwich often arrives in a toasted form, whether purchased out and about, or eaten at home, and is perhaps the best way to ease yourself into consuming the yeasty condiment if you are unfamiliar with its unique taste. For novices, treat it as you would English mustard or wasabi, using only a thin scraping when applying it to your sandwich.

Pot Noodle is a brand of instant ramen that has been around since the 1970s. Sold in tall plastic cups for ease of preparation, it requires little more effort than boiling a kettle and the ability to wait three minutes before eating. Unlike packets of instant noodles, this British variety comes with a thick sauce, as opposed to a broth, and is peppered with a scattering of dried vegetables and a flavor packet designed to be added once the noodles have cooked through. Flavors are a mix of curry-inspired variations and old English standbys such as chicken and mushroom or beef and tomato.

The sauce's very viscosity seems to have inspired the creation of a pot noodle sandwich. The noodles are forked over bread, leaving most of the sauce in the pot, and then eaten as you would any other sandwich. It's a messy affair most often associated with student life, and washing down mouthfuls of the sandwich with swigs of the leftover sauce is a must.