How to Make a Charcuterie Board {Meat and Cheese Board}
Learn how to make a charcuterie board full of meats, cheeses, and other nibbles to give your guests the finest grazing experience.
Prep Time20 minutes mins
Total Time20 minutes mins
Course: Appetizers, Snacks
Cuisine: French
Servings: 10 people
A large serving board
Cheese knives
Serving spoons
An assortment of meats. Examples:
- Soppressata
- Calabrese
- Mortadella
- Capicola
- Prosciutto
- Genoa Salami
Cheeses. Examples:
- Aged cheese: Cheddar, Gouda, Gruyere, Manchego, and Parmesan/Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Soft cheese: Goat, Brie, Camembert, Feta
- Firm cheese: Manchego, Edam, Parmesan/Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Blue cheese: Stilton, Roquefort, Gorgonzola
Crackers and crunchies. Examples:
- Wheat crackers
- Breadsticks
- Seedy crackers
- Buttery crackers
- Water crackers
Extras.
- Nuts flavored, roasted, or glazed; I typically go for savory almonds and sweetened-up pecans
- Fruits dried apricots, fresh figs, or fresh grapes
- Honey
- Olive tapenade
- Chutney
- Stone ground mustard
- Hot peppers
- Olives
- Pickles
- Pickled vegetables like these spicy quick-pickled radishes
- Fresh herbs simply for show/adding some green to your board
Pick out your platter. If you have a legitimate cheese board, awesome. But if not, no worries! You can use a cutting board, marble slab, or any flat serving platter.
Artfully place your cheeses on the board or platter, and build around the cheese by adding your meats (layered or rolled up), crackers, and extras. I typically keep the nuts and fruits for last and use them to fill in any little empty spaces.
Lastly, add sprigs of fresh herbs to fill in the last of any empty spaces and to add some greenery, as well as fresh aromatics.