Choosing Crisps for a Pub-Style Snack Board

Begin With the Board, Not the Packet

A pub snack board is not a meal pretending to be a snack. It is a slow graze — something to pick at while the conversation wanders and the drinks go down. That means everything on it should be easy to eat with fingers, nothing should need cutlery, and there should be a clear rhythm of salty, sharp, creamy and crunchy. Get that rhythm right and even a modest spread feels generous.

Start with the surface rather than the shopping. A large wooden board, two slate tiles or simply a couple of big plates will do. You want enough space that items sit apart instead of merging into one beige heap. Small ramekins and shallow bowls are your friends here: they keep wet things away from dry things, which is the single most important rule of a decent snack board.

Pick Four Crisps, Each With a Job

Four packets is the sweet spot for six people, and each one should do something the others do not. If you cannot say what job a packet is doing, leave it on the shelf.

• The plain one. Ready salted, ideally thick-cut, so it acts as the neutral base everything else plays against. This is the packet that disappears first, so buy more than you think you need.
• The sharp one. Salt and vinegar, properly bracing, not a timid version. It cuts through anything creamy or cheesy on the board.
• The rich one. Cheese and onion, or a sour cream and chive. This is the comforting, slightly indulgent note that makes the whole thing feel like a treat.
• The wildcard. Something smoky, peppery or faintly ridiculous. A smoky bacon, a chilli and lime, a prawn cocktail for nostalgia's sake. One odd packet per board is plenty.

Texture matters as much as flavour. Two thick, crunchy, hand-cooked packets, one lighter and thinner, plus one small, curiously shaped packet gives a far better mouthfeel than four bags of the same style in different colours.

The Supporting Cast

Crisps alone are a snack. Crisps plus a few companions are a board. Keep the extras to three or four and choose them for contrast rather than quantity.

• Roasted salted almonds or a mixed nut blend — buy them plain and warm them for five minutes in a low oven with a pinch of salt and a little smoked paprika. It takes almost no effort and people notice.
• Cheese straws or twists, which add a flaky, buttery crunch that crisps cannot provide.
• Pretzel sticks or a small bowl of salted popcorn for anyone who wants something lighter.
• Olives, drained and patted dry so they do not slick everything else on the board.

If you are feeding a crowd, add a packet of small savoury biscuits or a handful of breadsticks. If you are feeding four people, skip them and spend the money on a better packet of crisps instead.

Pickles and Sharp Things

This is the section most people leave out, and it is the one that makes the difference between a nice snack and something that genuinely tastes like a pub. Acid wakes up the palate and keeps you coming back, which is exactly what you want from a grazing board.

• Cornichons or small gherkins, drained well.
• Silverskin pickled onions — two or three per person is enough, and they are best served cold.
• A generous spoonful of chunky pickle or piccalilli in a small ramekin.
• Pickled walnuts, pickled chillies or a few slices of pickled cucumber if you want something gentler.

Serve everything in small dishes rather than directly on the board, and put a little fork or cocktail stick in each. Nobody wants to fish a gherkin out with their fingers while holding a glass.

Two Dips, Made in Five Minutes

Shop-bought dips are fine, but the homemade versions take almost no time and taste noticeably fresher. Two is plenty, three is the ceiling, and they should contrast with each other.

• Chive soured cream. A tub of soured cream, a good handful of snipped chives, salt, black pepper and a squeeze of lemon. Stir and leave it in the fridge for twenty minutes.
• Blue cheese and crème fraîche. Crumble a wedge of blue cheese into a few spoonfuls of crème fraîche or thick yoghurt with a teaspoon of mayonnaise. Mash roughly so there are still some lumps.
• Mustard mayonnaise. If you want a third, stir a teaspoon of Dijon and a splash of vinegar into mayonnaise. Sharp, simple, and excellent with cheese and onion crisps.

Putting It Out and Keeping It Going

Allow roughly 50g of crisps per person for a two-hour gathering, plus the nuts and extras. For six people that is about two large packets and two smaller ones — and one spare held back, unopened, for the inevitable top-up.

Open the packets just before people arrive. Crisps go soft within an hour of meeting the air, and a stale crisp undoes a lot of good work. Tip about half of each packet into a shallow bowl and fold the rest over, keeping it sealed until needed. Refill bowls rather than emptying every packet at once: a board that looks slightly depleted invites people to eat, whereas an overflowing one looks like effort and makes guests hesitant.

Finally, have cold drinks ready, including a jug of water. Salt makes people thirsty, and a board that dries out the room is a board that has stopped working. Add a stack of paper napkins, a small bowl for olive stones, and you are done.