A canned corned beef sandwich is an all-time favourite, my perfect grown-up version uses seeded bread and loads of mustard-heavy piccalilli.
This delicious sandwich is super quick and easy (15 minutes max), involves no cooking and is packed full of store cupboard essentials!
Tinned Bully Beef Sandwich
As I have aged my love of food nostalgia has been turned up to 11!
Corned beef played a huge part in my childhood diet, probably because it was cheap and would last forever.
Now I cook with it because I love the memories that it gives me. I use it in everything from corned beef and potato pies to corned beef and baked bean stew and an old school panacalty and corned beef pasties to corned beef hash… of course!
Growing up a corned beef sandwich would have consisted of cheap white bread, a scrape of margarine, bully beef and loads of tomato ketchup.
This version is a little bit more “grown-up”! The white bread is replaced by some malty seeded brown bread and the sarnie gets a bit of salad.
But the real change, and it’s genius even if I say so myself, is the addition of piccalilli. An old-school British condiment that is a lurid yellow colour, it’s loaded with veggies and pickles in a wonderfully fiery mustard sauce.
I genuinely can’t image a corned beef sarnie with anything else on it now!
Frequently Asked Questions
What type of bread do you use?
I like to use a seeded and malted multigrain bread for this sandwich. The robust flavours are perfect with the salty corned beef and the sharp mustard flavours of the piccalilli.
Can I make homemade piccalilli?
Yes, homemade piccalilli is easy to make and tastes fantastic. I don’t eat it often enough to justify making it from scratch.
Just make sure that you make small chunk piccalilli for it to be a viable sandwich filling. I use Tracklements in this recipe.
Do I have to use piccalilli?
I understand that it is an acquired taste but the flavours are perfect in this recipe. The sharp mustard flavour is very much tempered by the rest of the ingredients in the sandwich.
But if piccalilli is not your thing you can replace it with a good chutney or pickle. Branston pickle would be ideal!
Serving Suggestions
This corned beef sandwich is pretty loaded with fantastic flavours and it makes for a hearty lunch.
If I were to add anything on the side it would likely be some extra pickles, which will pick up on the flavours of the piccalilli.
My first choice would be cornichons and sweet pickled onions, but you could go with anything.
Cracking open a good bag of crisps is also a must with this fantastically retro sandwich.
Equipment Used
I only mention specific brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But, if you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.
- Chopping board.
- Kitchen knife.
- Butter knife.
- A combination of weighing scales, measuring cups and spoons. These are not essential unless you want to match the calories!

Canned Corned Beef Sandwich Recipe
Growing up a corned beef sandwich would have consisted of cheap white bread, a bit of margarine and a whack of tomato ketchup... my grown-up version dumps the marj for butter and out goes the ketchup to be replaced with the majesty of mustard-rich piccalilli all on a seeded wholegrain bread.
Ingredients
- 4 Slices Seeded Wholegrain Bread (165-180g total)
- 35-40g (2-3 Tbsp) Butter
- Handful of Shredded Lettuce
- 340g (12oz) Tin Corned Beef
- 150g (5oz) Small Chunk Piccalilli
- 1 Medium (125g) Tomato
- 50g (2oz) Cucumbers
Instructions
- Shred the lettuce as finely as you can.
- Slice the tomato into thin slices.
- Thinly slice the cucumber.
- Remove the corned beef from the tin and cut it into 8 evenly sized slices. This should give you four slices (over 2 layers) in your sandwich.
- Generously butter the bread.
- Divide the lettuce on the bottom layer of bread.
- Add a couple of slices of corned beef followed by half of the piccalilli.
- Top with the sliced tomato and cucumber and add the top piece of bread.
- Slice and serve immediately.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 838Total Fat: 42gSaturated Fat: 17gSodium: 3260mgCarbohydrates: 58gFiber: 12gSugar: 25gProtein: 58g