How to make a charcuterie board
Use Treats from Our Snack Boxes to Build a Tasty Mix!
If you’ve ever tucked into a charcuterie board, you know their draw. Not only do you feel like a fancy snacker, but you get to experience lots of flavors and combinations of flavors that please the palate.
Charcuterie beginners can follow a simple formula to build a board, or start easy with a focus on cheeses. Use one of these tried-and-true approaches to creating your very best charcuterie board.
The Basic Formula with the Best Care Package Snacks
If you want to build a full-fledged charcuterie board, follow this easy formula.
For starters, you’ll need a large wooden cutting board or a platter to hold all your ingredients. The larger the board, the more people it can feed.
Then, start with dips, spreads, and small items, like nuts from our Men’s Care Package, jam, gherkin pickles, or olives. You might even add something sweet, like chocolates from our Candy Care Package or honey from our Tea Lover’s Gift Set.
You’ll need small vessels to put each of these inside. Spread them throughout the width of the board, leaving gaps wide enough for other foods. This process creates structure for your board.
Next, place your meats and cheeses. You should choose multiple cheeses – no fewer than three – of different types: hard, soft, and bleu. This guarantees a variety of flavor profiles and textures. Your meat should be of thinly-sliced, cured varieties.
Lay them flat, or make loose rolls and stack them. Pâté is another great meat option, but it’s spreadable, so it might be wise to put it inside a small bowl to keep it contained and easy-to-serve.
Common charcuterie meats include pancetta, hard salami, prosciutto, mortadella, and more. Take a look at your local grocer’s deli section for inspiration.
Now you’re ready to add your crackers and bread. Soft spreadable cheeses work well on any cracker, but you’ll want multiple flavors to pair with cheeses, meats, and fruits. Look to savory crackers, or those with light flavors, like water crackers. Small toasts are perfect for heavier toppings. Amp up the flavor with potato skins and cheese crackers from our Snack Box Care Package.
Finish with fruits and veggies. These will fill in any remaining gaps on your board of platter. Choose produce that is easy to eat whole, or that you can slice. The crispness of veggies and fresh fruit pair well with smoother cheeses. Consider cherry tomatoes, sliced radishes and peppers, figs, apple slices, grapes, and more, or your board.
Make a Simple Cheese Board with Crackers from Our Premade Snack Boxes
Think of a cheese board as a charcuterie board for beginners. By eliminating a few ingredients, you pare down your shopping list and make the build a little easier.
For your cheese board, focus on curating a variety of cheeses, crackers, and a few other ingredients to complement the flavor and texture.
For example, sliced apples pair well with brie and gouda, so you might include both of those cheeses, apple slices, and your favorite crackers. Grapes taste great with asiago and Jarlsberg. Find your favorite combinations, and go with them.
Then, you’ll want to include crackers to eat with your cheese and fruit. You might want to pick out the rye chips from the Gardetto’s in our Men’s Care Package to go with swiss cheese, or use the pretzel sticks in our Gluten Free Dairy Free Vegan Care Package to dip into soft cheeses.
Use Snacks You Have on Hand!
The most fun and creative charcuterie boards are impromptu, made with ingredients you already have in your fridge and kitchen. If you’ve received one of our signature snack box care packages, you already have some fun ingredients to include on your charcuterie board.
Get inspiration from our Pinterest board. Then, show us what you build by tagging us on social media, @thecarecrateco.