Learn how to make a charcuterie board that will impress your guests. This comprehensive guide includes charcuterie board ideas, charcuterie board ingredient amounts and equipment needed to make the best charcuterie board ever!

There’s nothing I love more when I’m entertaining than putting out a charcuterie board that is as delicious as it is beautiful.

Holidays, girls’ nights, dinner parties, Tuesdays, there is always a reason for charcuterie.

So, I’ve created this detailed post with all my charcuterie board ideas like to how to assemble a great board, charcuterie board ingredients, and the tools I use to create a beautiful spread.

Charcuterie Board Equipment

• Cheese Board. I use a round, wooden cheese board when I make a charcuterie board. Or, you can use a rectangular board like this or this.
• Cheese Markers. I find these incredibly helpful when serving a board to a lot of people because no one has to guess what kind of cheese is being served! Or find on amazon.
• Cheese Knives. beautiful knives enhance the presentation of any charcuterie board. (Amazon knives).
• Small bowls. I prefer to use handmade pottery bowls from my favorite local artisans, but you can find inexpensive small bowls so many different places (including thrift stores).

Charcuterie Board Ingredients

I most often get all of my charcuterie board ingredients from Trader Joe’s.

• Cheese. I usually choose to serve gouda, Swiss, havarti, cheddar and one special cheese like a white stilton with dried fruit. I always include a spreadable cheese (like pub cheese) because it’s so good! The beauty of a charcuterie board is that you can pick your favorite cheeses and make it your own – this is just a guide.
• Meat. dry salami, summer sausage, pepperoni, again you can choose your favorites.
• Olives/Pickles. I usually choose one variety of olives and one pickle variety – but you can add more if you have guests who love these.
• Fruit. I suggest making sure fruit is served in individual portions. I.e. don’t put a whole bunch of grapes on a board – cut them up so someone can take a handful easily. This is why I love including fresh berries.
• Vegetables. Same principle applies for veggies – cut into individual servings.
• Dried fruit & nuts. Choose your favorite varieties, just be sure to serve the nuts in bowls so they don’t get soggy when they touch the cheese, fruit, etc.
• Apricot jam. This is my favorite addition to a charcuterie board. I love eating it spread over a piece of cheese on a cracker – yum.
• Crackers. Once again, choose your favorites. Sometimes I will serve the crackers separately (on a separate plate or board) to ensure they don’t get soggy.

How to Make a Charcuterie Board

There really is no wrong way to make a charcuterie board, and I truly mean that. A platter full of cheese, fresh fruit, meats, snacks and crackers will please any crowd. However, here are my tips on making a great board!

Prepare the Charcuterie Board Ingredients

Wash the grapes and blackberries. Make sure they are completely dry before adding them to your board. No one wants soggy crackers!

Then, drain and rinse the olives and pickles and pat them dry.

I recommend serving these items in individual bowls so their juices don’t leak onto other components of the charcuterie board.

Transfer the nuts and dried fruit to small bowls. Again, putting these in bowls ensures they stay crispy and don’t get soggy.

Next, cut the meats and cheeses into bite-sized portions. You could serve full blocks of cheese (with beautiful cheese knives) but I prefer to cut it up so it’s easier for people to put on their plates and enjoy.

Assemble the Charcuterie Board

Once all your ingredients are prepared, it’s time for the second best part (eating is the first, obviously) – assembly! You can assemble the board up to 1 hour before serving if you are cutting the cheese into cubes. Just store it in the refrigerator covered in plastic wrap until you serve it.

Start by evenly spacing the cheese varieties around the board. Try to make sure they don’t touch to avoid confusion when choosing which flavor to enjoy.

Then, arrange the meat around the cheese. I like to use it as a “barrier” between cheese varieties.

Then, add the bowls of ingredients (pickles, olives, jam, pub cheese, etc) in between the meat and cheese.

Next add the fruit, veggies etc. evenly spacing them around the board

Serve with the crackers on the board, or add a bowl of crackers on the side of the board if you run out of space.

Serve

Put some cute small plates or small paper plates nearby, add some cheese knives and let people dig in. We serve this as an appetizer to our favorite main dish recipes, or sometimes I just serve a charcuterie dinner (especially in the summer).

Store

If you have leftover charcuterie board ingredients, you can store them in individual airtight containers (glass containers with lids, silicone storage bags or plastic bags) in the refrigerator.

Charcuterie Board Recipe FAQS

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