SummaryA two‐plate microbiological method to screen residues of the most commonly used antibiotics in animal production, named new two‐plate test (NTPT), has been optimised and validated, according to criteria derived from the European Commission Decision 2002/657/CE. This screening method used two media at different pH seeded with a single bacteria strain (Bacillus subtilis). The method consists of a simple extraction, followed by the application of the extract on Petri plates. The method detected, in pork and chicken muscles, most of the antibiotics from six groups (tetracyclines, (fluoro)quinolones, penicillins, macrolides, aminoglycosides and sulfonamides) and florfenicol at concentration very close to maximum residue limits used in the EU. The screening capacity of the NTPT was compared with another screening technique, the Premi‐Test®, by analysing spiked samples as well as real samples of meat from pork and chicken sold for local consumption, in the Red River Delta region (Vietnam). The NTPT described here appeared to detect more samples than the Premi‐Test®, showing its interest for Vietnamese control laboratories, as a screening method to monitor antibiotic residues in chicken and pork meat, before sending the suspected samples to the confirmatory step.