This charcuterie board is absolutely perfect for your next party. A charcuterie board can be easily made when you are entertaining at home with friends and family. The best part about it - there is no cooking involved. You just need to simple pick up some delicious ingredients at your local grocery story, and you will be ready to go.
When can you serve a charcuterie board?
A charcuterie board can be served as an appetizer prior to dinner, or you can serve it during happy hour, a movie night or when you are having friends over to hang out.
What should I put on my charcuterie board?
Charcuterie means prepared meats in french, so a traditional charcuterie board will always have meat on it. Then, it is typically paired with a variety of cheeses, nuts, olives, mustards, spreads, ect. Below I detailed the meats, cheeses, nuts, and crackers I used for this board.
Meat
Beef Summer Sausage
Salami
Prosciutto
Cheese
Brie
Goat Cheese
Manchego
Crackers
Water Crackers
Parmesan Crisps
Croccantini
Other items
Olives
Cherry Peppers
Dates
Nuts
Mustard
Honey
These are just a few of my personal favorites, but you can always add any of your own favorite items to the board. Pro tip - drizzle some honey over the goat cheese and you are sure to impress your guests. If you want to take it up another level, serve honeycomb on your board. That is always a show stopper.
What type of platter should I use for a charcuterie board?
You can get as creative as you would like here! I am using a 16 inch wooden cake stand in these photos. I also love using marble boards or wooden boards. I have even seen the lovely Courtney Whitmore of Pizzazzerie uses a giant wooden board as a charcuterie centerpiece in her book Entertain in Style. I absolutely love that idea!
How to put together a charcuterie board?
There is no real rocket science here. You just need to play around with it, but below are a few tips you can use to get your board off to a good start.
Start by placing your cheese around the board. I always find that the cheese blocks take up the most room, so I like to get those laid out first.
After your cheeses are arranged add any bowls you will use for olives, mustard, pepper, jams, ect.
Now that your big items are on the board you can put your meats and crackers in place.
Then, add in any dates, nuts or other items to fill in the empty spaces.
Finally, add fresh herbs for a fun garnish.
Other styles of boards you can create
You can create boards that aren't focused on meat. I recently created a dessert board, which I will be sharing with you all next week. If you want to do a spread with veggies and dips you can do that, too. I am even thinking of creating a fall themed board to share with you all very soon, too.
I hope you are inspired to create a gorgeous charcuterie board of your own! If you do, make sure to share it on social media and tag @taebur so I can see it!
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xoxo,
Taebur