The Definitive Guide to the Newfoundland Cold Plate Artwork

Newfoundland Boy

Newfoundland Boy is about the Canadian province of Newfoundland. There's a new episode every Saturday, available (with transcripts) wherever you get podcasts. Logo art: Untitled painting by Wayne Jones ››› Music: "Spirit Blossom" by RomanBelov, via Pixabay ››› © 2025 by Wayne Jones

All Episodes

Newfoundland Boy

The Definitive Guide to the Newfoundland Cold Plate

November 22, 2025 • Wayne Jones • Episode 55

—SHOW NOTES—

◘ Wayne and his friend Gwen have the scoop (or two scoops) on the famous Newfoundland cold plate ◘

—SOURCES AND PHOTOS—

◘ Barry C. Parsons, “Newfoundland Cold Plate: A Traditional Post Christmas Favourite,” July 7, 2025, https://www.rockrecipes.com/newfoundland-cold-plate/. ◘

◘ “Feeding of the 1,400?!,” Newfoundland Churchman 35, no. 8 (January 1889): 5, https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/nlchurchman/id/6486/rec/8. ◘

◘ Gwen Pittman, “St. Mary the Virgin, St. John’s … Cakes for Christmas Online Auction …,” Facebook, November 5, 2025, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1238127455029152&set=a.486750776833494. ◘

◘ Tara Massouleh McCay, “Why Southerners Will Always Love a Cold Plate,” Southern Living, May 3, 2025, https://www.southernliving.com/why-southerners-love-a-cold-plate-11727752. ◘

◘ “Traditional Newfoundland Cold Plates,” Lord Byron’s Kitchen, February 5, 2020, https://www.lordbyronskitchen.com/traditional-newfoundland-cold-plates/. ◘

◘ Wayne Jones, Google Photos Album, “NLBoy: The Definitive Guide to the Newfoundland Cold Plate,” https://photos.app.goo.gl/HNgxLRnnBcMNKFCu8. ◘

If you asked any Newfoundlander what is the food that defines the province, they’d probably say baloney. You might get the same answer from someone outside the province. But if you asked what is the definitive meal in Newfoundland, one of the contenders, alongside fish and chips and Jiggs dinner and what is called the “cooked dinner,” would have to be what Newfies call the cold plate.

I’m going to talk in some detail about what’s on a cold plate, what the ingredients are—and I discovered that lots of people have lots of different ideas about it—but first I wanted to say a little bit about what the word means and whether it is something unique to Newfoundland. The cold plate developed in the houses of thousands of Newfoundland families over decades. It was a way to save money and still to provide everyone with a full and tasty meal. Essentially it was often the leftovers from the Sunday noontime meal, but with a few things added. Certainly in my home in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and well before that in other Newfie homes, the Sunday dinner (many Newfoundlanders to this day refer to the noontime meal as dinner and the late meal as supper) was a special treat. There would be a roast chicken, some salt beef, maybe a peas pudding, and of course all the traditional vegetables: potatoes, carrots, turnip, cabbage. And gravy: for God sake, don’t forget the gravy! Apart from the chicken in the oven, the rest of the food would be boiled in one big pot, and it provided a good feed (a scoff, as we say here) for the family.

Come supper time, what was left over was served cold. The potatoes were used to make one or more salads. The leftover chicken would sometimes be supplemented with a canned meat called Klik or Kam (one was beef and the other was pork), and there might be some coleslaw and what are called mustard pickles (regular pickles but in a sweetened mustard). Sometimes there might be a slice or two of ham too, and then also whatever was left over from dinner, like the peas pudding, now cold. It made for a good and full meal and was economical, in that, as they say, you got two meals out of the chicken.

This tradition still continues in many Newfoundland homes. But the cold plate itself has become a meal of its own, a staple, and there are many stores and restaurants on the island where you can just buy a cold plate any time. And the beloved cold plate has even gone beyond that: it’s often used by churches and other organizations for fundraisers. The parishioners might make, say, a hundred of them and then sell them at a market or at the church on Saturday at a decent price, and make a profit because often the food is donated by the same parishioners. There’s a story in the October ’89 issue of the Newfoundland Churchman about a fundraiser where they made 1,400 cold plates in a single day, requiring 800 pounds of turkey. Check out the photo in the show notes of some of the women (yes, it was always the women doing the work!) getting the plates ready for delivery. It was a joint effort of various congregations of the parish in the town of Meadows, on the north shore of the Bay of Islands in western Newfoundland, about 25 km from Corner Brook.

The cold plate is still often used as the main dish at wedding receptions as well. There’s a funny example here, where someone has mocked up a supposed invitation to the reception of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Again, take a look at the photo in the show notes.

So I’ve divided this list into the items according to the replies to a question that my friend Gwen asked on Facebook: In your opinion, what makes a good cold plate? What are absolute musts? What are some different things that you have seen or like on a cold plate?

Gwen got almost 70 responses to the question on Facebook, and we’ve divided them into three categories: items that are essential, those that you see often on a cold plate, and those that you just see now and then. The food item that got the biggest response, and this is no surprise to anyone who’s eaten a cold plate, is the potato salad, sometimes plain, and sometimes with vegetable, apple, egg, or onion. It was mentioned by 30 people. Following closely were the macaroni (or pasta) salad at 29, the mustard potato salad at 27, and the beet potato salad at 21.

Real turkey, another basic on any cold plate worthy of the name, was listed by 28 people, and rolled-up deli ham was listed by 16.

Other essentials that people gave were dressing or stuffing, 21; a bread roll, 19; coleslaw, 16; tomato (sometimes with lettuce), 14; and cranberry sauce, 11.

There were about 20 other items mentioned, with votes from 9 people to just 1 person. If you’re interested in all the numbers, check out the table in the show notes.

| WHAT MAKES UP A COLD PLATE?

We also had a look around for some websites that have articles about cold plates. One of the best ones was Lord Byron’s Kitchen, a food website, where they have a long article about the cold plate, complete with photos and even recipes.

Check out also RockRecipes.com where again you can find an extended article about the cold plate, and with the author’s recommendations and recipes. Everyone has their own ideas about what makes up a cold plate! And cold plates are not limited to Newfoundland either. Believe it or not, they’re pretty common in the southern United States, too.

I found the Facebook survey fascinating. You could probably also find, and I think you saw hints of this, that the contents of a cold plate vary from one part of Newfoundland to the other. Many thanks to Gwen for doing that: this episode would be missing a lot without all the input and help she provided. Please see also in the show notes the link to the auction of various foods being carried out at Lynn’s church.

And that’s all for this episode. Thanks for listening. If you enjoy the show, consider giving me a like or adding a comment on Spotify or Apple. Thanks again to Gwen. And please join me again next Saturday.

—SHOW NOTES—

◘ Wayne and his friend Gwen have the scoop (or two scoops) on the famous Newfoundland cold plate ◘

Wayne Jones

Host