How To Make A Charcuterie Board

Everyone loves to order a beautiful charcuterie board at their favorite restaurant.  But have you ever thought about making your own?  But the question is “How To Make A Charucuterie Board” or platter or plate.  And What is typically on a charcuterie plate?

How To Make A Charcuterie Board

First you have to ask “What Is Charcuterie”? Charcuterie, pronounced /SHärˈko͞odərē/, is any kind of cured meat.  As Americans we often think of it as meat and cheese board with extras like pate, crackers, toasted baguette slices, mustard and sweet and savory accompaniments.

The best thing about a charcuterie board?  Everyone loves them and the appetizer can be made in under 10 minutes.  You can also buy the meat, cheese and other ingredients and hold them for quite awhile.  I like to keep charcuterie board type ingredients around for when unexpected guests drop by.

The meat and cheese board is impressive and delicious.  The key is to balance flavor, texture and temperature.  Most people don’t think of the temperature part, but warming a soft cheese or a sausage is a nice contrast to the cold and/or room temperature ingredients.

Keep your smoked meats and cheeses to just one, even if smoked is your favorite kind of charcuterie.  Smoke can overpower the rest of your platter, so it’s best to keep it to just one smoked ingredient.

Personally, I don’t like to overload the platter to the point that there is no “white space”.  By white space I don’t literally mean the color, but rather some open space on the board.  It keeps the food presentation simple and I think looks better than a crowded board.

Even better, make several smaller charcuterie boards and place them throughout your guests.  Your guests won’t feel as intimidated to help themselves versus a large platter on the central table.

What Kind of Meat Goes On A Charcuterie Board?

Any kind of cured meat, often artisanal in nature.  But if all you have around is good deli meat you can certainly make a platter out of that too.

Some of my favorites for a charcuterie platter is chorizo for a robust flavor, peppered salami for a bite, prosciutto for a mellow flavor and softer color, and soppresatta or bresaola.

Salami and other logs of charcuterie are best sliced when they are cold but best served at room temperature.

You can find sliced charcuterie meats in packages.  I like to buy prepackaged sampler packs like the ones at Trader Joe’s.  They have a great sampler with spicy coppa, soppresatta and capocolla.  It’s labeled spicy but really just has a nice little kick to the cured meats.

If you have any charcuterie meat leftover use it in a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich, here’s our recipe.

You can also buy the salami and other meats in logs which are shelf stable.  The labels will tell you if you need to remove the casing or not.  Most grocery stores will at least carry the Boar’s Head brand which is typically available in the deli or gourmet cheese section.

What Kind Of Cheese For A Charcuterie Board?

Again, keep in mind texture, color and temperature.  You’ll want spreadable, like Brie or goat cheese and hard cheese like gourmet cheddar or gruyere and for the more daring a great blue cheese like gorgonzola or Stilton.

A creamy brie is loved by all.  If you want to get decadent buy a double or triple cream brie.  MMMM MMMMM!  You can serve brie room temperature or warmed up.  Leave the brie plain or top with chutney or sweet preserve like fig butter or jam.

Take your vegetable peeler and make some Parmesan shavings.

How to make a charcuterie board with different cheeses?  You’ll want some color.  If all of your cheeses lean on the white side don’t worry, you can bring color in with jams, mustards and charcuterie meat.  Ask your store’s cheese monger, they love you to use them for their in-depth knowledge.  There’s more to cheese than you realize.  My Publix has “a cheese guy” and he steers me right every time.  Price isn’t always an indicator of what’s best.  If you have an expert at your disposal then by all means use them.

You can try a low or no-fat cheese if calories and fat are a concern. LiveStrong compares whole milk mozzarella (100 grams, 300 calories, 13 grams of saturated fat) with no-fat mozzarella (100 grams, 150 calories), the low-fat also packs an extra 10 grams of protein (builds muscle and bones) and double the calcium (good for bone mass). But………there is a difference in taste.

How Much Meat And Cheese For A Charcuterie Board

The amount of meat seems to be universally 2 ounces per person as an appetizer.  If the charcuterie is the main attraction, then up it to 5 ounces per person.  Same goes for the cheese and make sure to have plenty of bread, crackers and accompaniments to fill your guests stomachs.

Charcuterie Boards are elegant and trendy hip. Most ingredients can be kept for lengthy time so you can be ready at a moments notice with an appetizer.

Once opened, most of the ingredients will need to be used within a few days.  See my gourmet grilled cheese with charcuterie recipe for inspiration on how to use these leftover ingredients in new ways.  The meats and cheeses are delicious made into sandwiches, cut up into pasta dishes or added to salads.  Have fun with it.

What Kind Of Cheese Board Is Best For Charcuterie

Natural wood or marble are favorites. 

Wood options run from traditional oak to more rustic olive wood in irregular shapes.  Sometimes the cheese boards have marble inset in the wood.

Slate is another popular option.  The great thing about using slate for charcuterie is that you can write in chalk the types of meat and cheeses.

Upscale kitchen shops typically have a great choice of cheese boards. Try Crate & Barrel or here in Atlanta Cook’s Warehouse. My son bought his girlfriend a board at Cook’s warehouse that was mixed wood and slate on a turntable like lazy susan. Very cool.

The boards in the picture above were all bought at discount at HomeGoods.

Besides Meat & Cheese, What Are Good “Extras” For the Charcuterie Board?

The meat gives robust flavor, the cheese gives creamy texture and the other “extras” balance all of this out.

Mustards are great spread on the platter or in a small dish to dip the meats in.

Jams offer a nice sweetness, especially to soft brie.  I bought a Jalapeno Raspberry Jam from Whole Foods for my cheese board.  One of my favorites is Fig Jam from Trader Joe’s.

Pate, rillette or mousses offer another meat alternative that is spreadable and rich tasting.  Taste a little bit of the pate, it may get value by drizzling just a bit of good olive oil, grind some fresh pepper and maybe some course salt.  But taste first before doing this, your spreadable may not need any enhancement.

Cornichons, little tiny gherkin pickles, add a nice sour taste and good crunch.

Fruit offers a nice flavor and texture balance, especially red grapes or unpeeled apples or pears.  Figs are elegant.

Nuts add crunch and, well, a nutty taste!  Favorites are almonds, you can splurge on Marcona for their soft silky texture and taste.  Macadamia and cashews are good too.  Look in the deli or fresh food section of your grocery store for flavored versions too.  Pistachios are delicious and add color too.

Pickled or roasted peppers are nice too.  Either make them yourself or save time and buy them like this.  Usually in your deli section or bottled with the pickles.  I found these fun tear drop shaped red peppers at the store and had to try them.

Any kind of olive is welcome at my party.  I used a garlic stuffed jumbo green olives.  Some stores have an olive bar that includes several different varieties and flavors of olives.  Along with Peppadew peppers, roasted and pickled peppers and pickled okra.

And of course, you need a vehicle to get these yummy bites to your lips.  Buy light crackers or make toasted baguettes.  Slice a French bread baguette into ¼” – ½” slices, spread one side with olive oil and toast in a 325-degree oven for about 10 minutes or until one side is golden brown.  A nice added touch is to rub a cut garlic clove over the warm bread.

You can also drizzle a little olive oil over your soft cheese or even honey can make a nice touch, depending on the cheese.

Appetizers For Kids

Don’t forget the kids, they like appetizers too, especially cheese and crackers. Where do you think the idea for Lunchables came from?

You can make a simple kids cheese board with ingredients you probably already have around. See this post for ideas for a kid’s cheese board.