6+ Tips for Making a Successful Charcuterie Board

My good friend, Kristin, once made a gorgeous charcuterie board while we were visiting them back in Reno and I have wanted to make one ever since. I had been waiting for the right time, but then realized a platter of delicious foods all smushed together is pretty much always welcome, so I decided to go for it this past weekend when we had some friends over.

And I’ve got to say, I absolutely LOVE how it turned out! I think there was a good variety of meats, cheeses, fruits, nuts, and veggies to make it appealing to everyone.

While I was putting this together, I found myself doing a few things which I think helped make it all work and have included those “rules” below:

Six Tips for a Successful Charcuterie Board

1- Separate the meats and cheeses somewhat evenly throughout the tray. This allows people to access the main ingredients from all points of the tray.

2- Try folding the meats differently to add some dimension. Examples might include rolling the meat, folding in half, or folding in fourths.

3- Stack crackers and veggies in rows; it just looks nicer than in piles.

4- Use small bowls to contain jams, items that may “leak” like olives, or smaller items, like yogurt raisins

5- Save the small items for last, and fill in any open spaces with those items. Nuts and dried fruits work perfectly for this.

6- Include items that you can layer; cracker/meat/cheese, veggies/hummus, /crackers/jam/soft cheese

Below is everything I included in case you are wanting to make one, too, but aren’t sure what to include.

(Starting with the cucumbers and going clockwise, with each food only being mentioned once)

Cucumbers

Brie Cheese

Dried Cherries

Pistachios

Salami

Dried Apricots

Hummus

Jalapeno Stuffed Olives

Colby/Monterey Jack Cheese Slices

Baby Carrots

Strawberries

Pepperoni Slices

Banana Chips

Almonds

Grapes

Dried Mango

Sharp Cheddar Cheese Slices

Cranberry Almond Crackers

Apricot Jam

Summer Sausage

Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives

Cheddar Nut Thins (a type of Gluten-free cracker)

Salted Nut Thins

Yogurt Covered Raisins

I  think these are such a fun thing to serve when having guests over and make it a low-key way to serve food. Once it’s made, it’s made, and the snacking can continue throughout the day whenever people are hungry and there isn’t a need to take any time away from guests to prepare and cook other food.

I think I am a huge charcuterie board making fan!

If looking for a board similar to mine, I have listed a few options below! Be sure to check out the sizes, as well as the prices, to see which one fits your needs best.

Bamboo Cutting Board 

Acacia Cutting Board

Stone Cheese Board

I LOVE how you can write on this one to label your foods!

Bamboo Cheese Board

It’s fun how the serving utensils slide out on this one

Acacia Cutting Board

Thanks for stopping by, friends!

<3 Shannon