Pub Garden BBQ Sharing Board — Recipe for 20 Covers

A BBQ sharing board for pub gardens — sticky-glazed beef short rib, smoked chicken thighs, slaw, charred flatbread and two sauces. 20-cover commercial recipe.

By On The Pass Consultancy | Category: Weekly Recipe | Serves: 20 (10 sharing boards of 2) | Prep: 90 min | Short Rib: 4 hrs | Chicken: 45 min | Skill Level: Intermediate | Keywords: pub garden BBQ sharing board, BBQ menu for pubs, beef short rib recipe, smoked chicken thighs, big-screen pub food

Why These Dishes— and Why Now

This weekend is the first proper run of BBQ weather we've had in 2026, and it's landing at the same time as a major European final on the big screens. Every pub garden between here and Bristol is going to be heaving from Saturday lunchtime onward. The question isn't whether the trade is coming — it's whether your kitchen is ready to serve food that holds up under that kind of pressure without collapsing into chaos on the pass.

A sharing board is the right answer for a day like this. It plays to the table — people are sitting in groups, eyes on the screen, drinking, picking. They don't want individual plated mains. They want something to share, something that looks generous, something that arrives at the table fast and keeps them at the table longer. Sharing boards also make sense commercially: prep is front-loaded, plating is fast at service, and the food cost lands well when you build it around the right cuts.

What's on this board is built around two things you can prep ahead and finish to order — sticky-glazed beef short rib (low and slow, then glazed on the grill) and smoked-paprika BBQ chicken thighs (brined, grilled, basted). Alongside: a sharp buttermilk slaw to cut the richness, warm charred flatbreads to scoop and wrap, and two sauces — a smoky house BBQ and a quick chimichurri for lift. One board feeds two. Ten boards feed twenty.

This is pub garden food done properly. Big flavour, real technique, holds its shape across a long service.

Serves 20 (10 boards of 2) | Prep: 90 min | Short Rib: 4 hrs (day before) | Chicken: 45 min | Boards plated to order

Ingredients

Sticky-Glazed Beef Short Rib

Sticky BBQ Glaze (for the ribs)

Smoked-Paprika BBQ Chicken Thighs

Buttermilk Slaw

Charred Flatbreads

Chimichurri (the lift sauce)

Method

Stage 1 — Beef Short Rib (cook the day before service)

1. Preheat your oven to 140°C (fan 120°C). Combine the salt, pepper, smoked paprika, brown sugar, garlic powder and onion powder in a bowl — that's your dry rub. Pat the short ribs dry, then rub the spice mix all over, pressing it in firmly. Leave to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes while the oven comes up.

2. Place the ribs in a deep gastronorm tray or heavy roasting tray, bone-side down, in a single layer — do not stack. Pour the beef stock and cider vinegar into the base of the tray (not over the ribs — you want the rub to stay on). Cover tightly with a double layer of foil, sealing the edges well.

3. Braise in the oven for 3 hours 30 minutes to 4 hours, until the meat is yielding and a probe slides in with no resistance. Don't rush this — short rib at 4kg in one tray needs the time. Remove from the oven, leave covered for 30 minutes, then transfer the ribs carefully to a tray, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Strain the cooking liquid, chill it separately, and skim the fat the next day. Hold the liquid — it goes into the glaze.

4. For the glaze (make on the day of service): combine the brown sugar, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, cider vinegar, English mustard, smoked paprika and garlic in a saucepan with 200ml of the skimmed braising liquid. Bring to a gentle simmer over a medium heat and reduce for 12–15 minutes until thick and glossy. Taste and adjust — it should be sweet, sharp, smoky and balanced. Hold warm.

5. At service, cut the cold short ribs into sharing-sized chunks — roughly 150–180g per chunk, two chunks per board. Place on a tray, brush generously with glaze, and finish on a hot grill, barbecue or salamander for 4–5 minutes per side until the glaze is caramelised and sticky and the meat is hot through. Brush with more glaze just before plating. Rest 2 minutes before going to the board.

Stage 2 — Chicken Thighs (brine the day before, cook to order)

6. Make the brine: dissolve the salt and sugar in the water in a large container. Add the bay leaves and peppercorns. Submerge the chicken thighs fully — weight them down with a plate if they want to float. Refrigerate for 4 to 8 hours (overnight is fine, but no longer than 12 — they'll go too salty).

7. Remove the thighs from the brine, pat completely dry with kitchen paper, and lay skin-side up on a tray. Mix the smoked paprika, sweet paprika, garlic powder, oregano and brown sugar. Rub the rapeseed oil over the thighs first, then dust generously with the spice mix. Refrigerate uncovered for at least 1 hour — this dries the skin and helps it crisp on the grill.

8. To cook: get your grill, BBQ or chargrill plate properly hot. Place the thighs skin-side down first and cook undisturbed for 6–7 minutes — you want deep colour and crisp skin. Turn and cook for another 8–10 minutes on the bone side. Probe for 75°C internal at the thickest part. If colour is building too fast before they're cooked through, finish in a 180°C oven for 5 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes before plating. Slice each thigh in half on the bone for sharing presentation if rack space on the board is tight.

Stage 3 — Buttermilk Slaw (make 2–3 hours ahead)

9. Combine the shredded white cabbage, red cabbage, carrots, red onion and parsley in a large bowl. Salt lightly and toss — let it sit for 10 minutes, then drain off any excess liquid. This step keeps the slaw from going watery on the board.

10. Whisk together the buttermilk, mayonnaise, cider vinegar, Dijon mustard and sugar in a separate bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over the vegetables and toss until everything is evenly coated. Taste and adjust — it should be sharp, creamy and seasoned generously. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before service. Holds well for 6 hours in the fridge; don't make it the day before — it loses its crunch.

Stage 4 — Charred Flatbreads (make the dough ahead, cook to order in batches)

11. Combine the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together the warm water, yoghurt and olive oil. Pour the wet into the dry and bring together with a wooden spoon, then turn out and knead for 8–10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and prove for 60–90 minutes until doubled. The dough can be made in the morning and held in the fridge until service — knock back and bring to room temperature 30 minutes before using.

12. Divide the dough into 20 even pieces (approximately 100g each — gives 2 flatbreads per board). Roll each piece into a rough oval about 5mm thick — they don't need to be uniform, character is good here.

13. At service, heat a chargrill plate, heavy frying pan or BBQ to a high heat. Brush each flatbread lightly with olive oil. Cook for 60–90 seconds per side — you want char marks, blistered surface, and a soft, pliable interior. Stack and wrap in a clean cloth to keep warm. Cook in batches as boards go out — flatbreads that sit lose their character fast.

Stage 5 — Chimichurri (make 1 hour ahead)

14. Combine the chopped parsley, oregano, garlic and chilli in a bowl. Stir in the red wine vinegar and let it sit for 5 minutes to take the raw edge off the garlic. Pour in the olive oil and stir well. Season with salt and pepper. Taste — it should be vivid, herby, sharp and warm with garlic, not aggressive. Hold at room temperature. Do not refrigerate before service or the oil will solidify and the flavour will dull.

Plating the Board

Each sharing board (serves 2):

• 2 chunks of glazed short rib, glistening, bones up where possible
• 3 halves of grilled chicken thigh (1.5 thighs per person)
• A generous spoon of buttermilk slaw to one side, mounded
• 2 charred flatbreads, warm, torn or folded
• A small dish or pool of warm BBQ glaze for dipping
• A small dish or pool of chimichurri for spooning
• A wedge of lemon and a few sprigs of parsley for finish

Use wooden boards or large stoneware platters. Send out hot. Brief your front of house to deliver the board, name what's on it, and tell the table what each sauce is. Boards eat better when guests know what they're looking at.

Chef's Notes

On the short rib cut: Ask your butcher for English-cut bone-in short rib, not Korean-cut (which is thin-sliced and a different dish entirely). You want thick chunks, roughly 4–5cm deep, with the bone running through. Costs less per kilo than premium cuts and eats like a much more expensive piece of meat after a proper braise.

On the brine for chicken thighs: Don't skip this. Brining is the single thing that takes pub-garden BBQ chicken from acceptable to memorable. The salt seasons all the way through, the sugar helps the skin colour, and the meat stays juicy under hard heat. 4 hours minimum, 8 ideal. Overnight is fine if you stay under 12 hours total.

On running this at volume on a big day: Front-load everything. Ribs braised and chilled the day before. Chicken brined and dry-rubbed the day before. Slaw made by 11am. Flatbread dough made by 11am, proved and held. Chimichurri made by midday. BBQ glaze reduced and held warm. By the time the kickoff crowd lands, your kitchen only has three things to do: glaze and grill the ribs, grill the chicken, char the flatbreads. Everything else is plate-and-go.

On the GP: Built right, this board lands sensibly on food cost. Short rib at wholesale, chicken thighs (one of the strongest GP cuts in the kitchen), cabbage and carrots, and a flour-based bread. You're investing labour, not ingredient spend. Price the board for two as a premium sharing item — pub gardens with screens running a major final this weekend will sell every board they can put out.

On the screens: Set yourself a cut-off. Have boards ready to fire from 30 minutes before kickoff. You don't want to be plating sharing boards during the first ten minutes of the match — get the food on the tables before the whistle, top up drinks during, send dessert and coffee after the final whistle. The flow of service follows the flow of the game.

Make-ahead summary: Short rib — day before. Chicken — brined day before, rubbed day of. Slaw — 2–3 hours ahead. Flatbread dough — morning of service. BBQ glaze — morning of service. Chimichurri — 1 hour ahead. Cook the proteins and char the flatbreads to order.

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