How to make a crowd-pleasing charcuterie board, complete with cheese and meat selections, wine pairings, and suggestions for incorporating seasonal ingredients to make a winning wine and cheese board any time of year!
Cracking open beers and tossing burgers on the grill has always been my ultimate go-to for get-togethers.
However, as my girl friends and I get older, we’ve been dipping our toes in slightly more sophisticated fare, like meat and cheese boards.
We’re investing our evenings in chilled glasses of wine and sharing plates of tapas and appetizers (or “apps”, if you’re feeling bougie).
Being the person in charge of appetizers can sometimes feel stressful since you never know what your friends are in the mood for, and you aren’t always familiar with everyone’s tastes.
Well, the perfect solution is whipping up a legit charcuterie board, complete with a variety of meats, cheeses, spreads, fresh produce, and drinks for the pairing.
If you’re anything like my friends and I, you’ll get a kick out of discussing who came up with the perfect bite.
What is a Charcuterie Board?
We’ve got the French to thank for charcuterie (pronounced shar-kood-eree, if you’re new to the game)!
It was originally used as a term for the art of preparing and assembling cured meats. But these days, charcuterie describes a platter or board of meats, cheeses, and mouthwatering accompaniments like jams, fruits, and pickles.
There’s a fun DIY element here, as party guests love mixing and matching their own favorite combinations. Plus, it makes for a great conversation starter!
In my book, a charcuterie board is an all-year-round dish. You can add in seasonal produce to keep your platters fresh and exciting for every get-together. So, you can get creative!
It’s also wonderfully stress-free. Prepare your homemade charcuterie board ahead of time, then leave it on the side with a few plates and enjoy your party. There’s no need to rush back and forth to the kitchen with this one.
What’s more, the choice of ingredients means you don’t have to cater to your guests’ different tastes. If they don’t like a specific ingredient, there’s lots more to choose from!
Let’s dive in!
How to Make a Charcuterie Board
While putting together a charcuterie board may seem overwhelming, it’s actually quite easy and enjoyable!
Here’s a list of super helpful tips that’ll help you pull together the ultimate charcuterie board without the need for any expensive ingredients or specialty shops.
Select a variety of meats and cheeses
Some people prefer softer, mild meats and cheeses, where other folks love big, bold flavors. Be sure you have options for both mild and bold flavors and you’ll surely please everyone!
Meats for Charcuterie Boards
Offer 2 to 4 different kinds of meats.
There’s no need to go to a butcher or an expensive natural food store. Most grocery stores have a deli section with a complete selection of aged meats and cheeses.
Look for packages of pre-sliced meat to save yourself some hassle.
Aged meats tend to be my go-to because they’re full of flavor and are very easy to pair with cheeses and spreads.
Prosciutto, pancetta, and Genoa salami are great places to start!
Charcuterie Board Cheeses
I typically select at least three cheeses: One mild, one medium, and one sharp.
It’s helpful to include a non-dairy option, or an alternative milk option like sheep or goat cheese. Goat chevre is my go-to mild cheese and seems to always be a favorite among my friends.
Gruyere or gouda are fabulous medium-strength cheeses that pair well with red wine, white wine, and most beers.
There are always brie cheese lovers in every crowd, so provide a wedge of brie or get sophisticated with my awe-inspiring Maple-Spiced Pear Walnut Baked Brie.
I also provide a milder blue cheese (some are VERY blue!) since it pairs so well with bold meats and heavy red wines.
Add seasonal fruit to the mix
The cured meat is the star, but some fresh in-season fruit adds some much-needed sweetness to balance out all that salt.
Easy-to-grab fruits like berries or chunks of melon are a great place to start. You can even roast or grill some fresh fruit if you’re feeling fancy!
Jams or preserves
Include 1 or 2 jams or preserves for some added flavor and sweetness to balance out the dry and salty meat and cheese. Fig spread goes marvelously with many cheeses and meats, so I always like to include it. I also like to include apricot jam, but raspberry or grape jam works, too.
If you do want to go the extra mile, check out my homemade Bacon Jam, Strawberry Chia Jam or Raspberry Chia Jam recipes.
Trust me, nothing impresses party guests like casually mentioning that the jams are homemade!
Provide something briny
Pickled vegetables, such as gherkins, olives, or pepperoncini are great on a charcuterie board.
The saltiness pairs fantastically with bold meats like salami or soppressata.
Try pickled peppers or pickled jalapenos if you want a spicy option on your board!
Other savory spreads for charcuterie boards
Think ground mustard, olive tapenade, paté, sun-dried tomato pesto or hummus. If it goes well on a slice of crusty baguette, it’ll be a hit.
These spreads are great for smearing on sliced baguette for stacking meat and cheese on top.
Think outside the box
Get creative by including anything else you think your friends would enjoy.
How about a chocolate fondue to dip fresh fruit in? Or piles of roasted or raw nuts? Squares of dark chocolate? I love including my Maple Candied Pecans for some extra spunk.
You’re only limited by your imagination (and your budget!)
Crackers and bread
While it’s not a requirement, an assortment of crackers or some sliced baguette are great caravans for assembling the perfect bite.
Go for crackers that don’t have a huge amount of extra flavor of their own, so as not to overpower your cheese and meat!
It’s a great idea to provide some gluten-free crackers, too, to look after your GF friends.
Wine Pairings
If your party calls for booze, spend a bit of time choosing drinks that pair well with the items on your charcuterie board.
Generally speaking, you want to pair bold-flavored meat and cheese with bold-flavored alcohol.
For instance, bold flavors like salami, cheddar, and blue cheese go great with a deeper bold red wine such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Malbec.
Smoked salmon and goat cheese are made for a dry, crisp white such as Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc.
Any middle of the road flavors (neither mild nor bold) pair well with Rosé wine, or any medium-bodied red such as a Merlot, Tempranillo, Shiraz, Sangiovese, or Pinot Noir.
Don’t pair white wine with blue cheese or it will ruin your day.
My Favorite Charcuterie Meat & Cheese Selections:
Here’s a breakdown of everything on the charcuterie board pictured in this post. Feel free to copy me if it’s your first time, or swap out any ingredients you can’t find or don’t like!
- Meat: I choose prosciutto, pancetta, soppressata, and Genoa salami. They’re just what my grocery store had on offer!
- Cheese: Creamy goat chevre, gouda cheese, brie cheese, firm Gruyere, and strong English blue cheese cover all the flavor bases.
- Fruit: Fresh red grapes, figs, blueberries and dates added sweetness and color to my board.
- Spreads: I used a fig spread and apricot preserves, both of which I already had on hand. Because preserves and jams last a long time, this is a great opportunity to use up whatever you’ve got in the cupboard!
- Briny Elements: I went for brown mustard and olives for this platter. A great tapenade is amazing too!
- Drinks: My fridge was stocked with a variety of white and red wines, as well as beer for those who wanted it!
Final Tips:
Before your friends begin digging in, take a quick minute to explain to them what everything is.
Just give everyone a general run-down of what everything is called.
It takes the guesswork out of making selections, and it elevates your charcuterie board to a magical experience.
Your friends will have a blast figuring out what flavors they like best together!
One of my favorite parts about getting friends together to enjoy a DIY charcuterie board is we all inevitably end up discussing our favorite flavor profiles.
Simple conversations like these are sometimes the most relaxing and memorable.
For this round of charcuterie, my favorite combo was goat cheese, prosciutto and fig spread on top of a cracker, followed by a sip of white wine.
Looking for more party food inspiration? Here are some classic crowd-pleasing appetizers.
More Appetizer Ideas:
- Swedish Gravlax Recipe
- The Best Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Classic Hush Puppies Recipe
- Cream Cheese Stuffed Baby Bell Peppers
- Bang Bang Shrimp
- Air Fryer Steak Bites
Drop a comment below letting us know what you include in your delicious meat and cheese boards!
How to Make a Charcuterie Board
Ingredients
Meat & Cheese:
- 10 to 12 oz soft cheeses of choice blue cheese, brie cheese, goat cheese, marinated feta etc.
- 10 to 12 oz aged cheeses of choice parmesan, Gouda, Gruyere, aged cheddar, etc.
- 10 to 12 oz cured meat prosciutto, pancetta, roast beef, turkey deli meat, black forest ham, etc.
Spreads:
- 10 to 12 oz spreads of choice tapenade, pate, mustard, hummus, fig preserves, jam, jelly
Nuts, Dried Fruit, Fresh Fruit:
- 2 cups nuts of choice raw or roasted almonds, pecans, walnuts
- 1 to 2 cups dried fruit of choice dried cranberries, figs, dates, etc.
- 2 to 3 lbs fresh fruit grapes, peaches, apples, blueberries, strawberries
Etc.
- 4 oz dark chocolate
Crackers/Bread
- 1 large baguette toasted and sliced
- 1 to 2 boxes crackers of choice gluten-free, nut and seed crackers, etc.
Instructions
- Arrange the meat and cheese on a large cutting board with knives for slicing the cheese and/or meat. Fill in the board with your spreads of choice, fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, jams, dark chocolate, etc.
- Serve with choice of wine pairings and/or alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages of choice!
Great information. I learned a lot from this post, especially the wine pairings.
Aww thank you! I appreciate you saying that. I try to make recipe guides like this as helpful as possible to cut out the troubleshooting. Happy to help!
The correct pronunciation is “shar koo tree”. No d sound
Technically all cheese is considered dairy but sheep and goats milk can be easier to digest. My doctor tells me to read the labels as I can handle sheep and goats milk but not cows milk. Nice for people to consider this as well as gluten free items as there are many to choose from now.
Brought this as an appetizer for our family Thanksgiving last night and it was a huge hit! Thanks for breaking it down so easy.
Last I checked, sheep and goat’s milk cheese are not non-dairy. Milk is dairy, regardless the source.
Living in spain for so many years this brings back memories 🙂
That has to be the prettiest shar-koo-deree board I’ve ever seen! I love the extra little touches of seasonal fruit. The figs, dates, and bloobs make it look very sophisticated. Perfect to pair with Snoop Dog Pandora Radio, haha! 😉
You are the charcuterie board MASTER. I feel like there is really something for everyone on this platter.
UMMMM so much yes. This looks beyond epic!!
Mmmmm this looks so yummy, my friend. And yes I totally agree with you when you say that Appetizers are the new dinner party!!! I love to make appetizers and invite my friends over to eat, drink and talk 😉 Hope you have an awesome weekend!!
Seems legit! Thanks so much for sharing! Pinning this for later 🙂
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This looks so good! I want to come to a party at your house! You have the good cheese and meats. 🙂