Everything you need to know to make the perfect Charcuterie Board including food ideas, recipes, and pro tips for assembling and displaying your charcuterie board.
Cheeses (Chose 3, 5, or 7, depending on party size):
Hard cheeses: manchego, cheddar, swiss, gouda, gruyere, parmesan etc.
Soft cheese: brie, triple cream, goat cheese, havarti, burrata, cream cheese with pepper jelly on top. Could also you blue cheese or gorgonzola, or anything you like!
Meats:
Cured Meats likeprosciutto, salami, ham, chorizo, capricola, soppressata, summer sausage is a good inexpensive option
Sweet spreads: Fig butter, orange marmalade, blackberry jam or other sweet spreads.
Chocolate: a few pieces of quality dark chocolate or chocolate covered nuts.
Crackers:
Pita crackers, whole grain crackers, croccantini, or your favorite kind of crackers
Toasted baguettes or mini toasts crackers
Instructions
Choose your board, depending on your party size. You could always use multiple boards if needed. See my notes in the post for more board ideas and links.
Start with the cheese: I start with the cheese because it anchors the board. Work in odd numbers, so, depending on the size of your party, choose 3, 5, or 7 types of cheeses to place around the board.
Fold and add the meats: check out my video below for a visual on fun ways to fold cured meats before placing them on the board, like folding them in half and fanning them out like a dec of cards, or folding them in half twice, so they are easy to grab. For thin meat (like prosciutto) fold them in a light and airy ribbon.
Add savory and sweet accompaniments. Fill in some of the gaps with savory and sweet. Separate colors in a way that allows the brightest colors to stand out and place foods together that pair well together. For example, mustard, briny foods and nuts near salami and sopresseta, and sharp cheeses like parmesan. Pair sweet accompaniments like fresh fruit, jams, and candied nuts, near the brie cheese or goat cheese. Cheddar cheese pairs well with savory and sweet.
Fill in extra space with crackers, and then any extra gaps with nuts or fruit.
Video
Notes
Keep it simple! This may seem obvious, but design your board based on the people who will be eating from it and fill it with simple foods that people actually LIKE! When in doubt, avoid fancy and expensive cheeses, nuts, crackers or condiments that the people you’re serving may not care for.
Make it COLORFUL! I love to add color through fruit, like bright red apples, green and red grapes, strawberries, raspberries or blueberries.
Where to Shop: I find most of my favorite charcuterie items at Trader Joes, Kroger, and Costco (if it's for a large group). Kroger and Trader Joes have great, fairly priced, cheese options and they are cut into smaller chunks, which is a fun way to try a few different flavors. I like the briny foods (like green olives with feta) from Kroger as well. Trader Joes has great crackers, peppered salami and fig butter. Costco is great for salamis and cured meats in bulk, as well as large portions of favorite charcuterie cheese.