How to Make a Charcuterie Board
Whether for easy entertaining, elevated snacking or a simple meal, learn how to make a charcuterie board! Get tips for the best cheese and charcuterie board, including cheeses, meats, and sweet and savory bites!
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Safeway. All opinions are 100% mine.
Whether for easy entertaining, elevated snacking or a simple meal, learn how to make a charcuterie board! Get tips for the best cheese and charcuterie board, including cheeses, meats, and sweet and savory bites!
There was a time when a charcuterie board was reserved only for the most special occasions — when an abundant display of delicious charcuterie, cheese, and fresh fruits and vegetables were only to be shared in the company of guests, lingered over with a glass of wine.
It may be my absolute favorite way to entertain, but why keep this treat only for precious occasions? As I wrote to my son on his recent school promotion, we need to enjoy not just the special days, but each special day!
When summer’s bounty brings with it all the sweet, plump fruit and vegetables, my favorite way of eating is simply grazing by a cheeseboard. Besides, during this time of year, I like to keep the counter full of fresh fruits and vegetables to encourage healthy snacking all day long anyway, so why not make it a little more special by elevating summer snacking with delicious charcuterie?
With a charcuterie board, there’s bound to be something to make everyone at the table happy! My husband and son happily dive into the ribbons of prosciutto, while my daughter and I aim for the cheese, between nibbles of fruit and nuts and everything in between.
How to Make a Charcuterie Board with Primo Taglio
To create an epic charcuterie board, I turned to Primo Taglio® quality meats and cheeses. Primo Taglio is made with the finest ingredients, using traditional, time-honored preparation methods, and no artificial flavors or colors. Many of the Primo Taglio meats use whole muscle meat with no binders or fillers and the cheeses are made with the highest quality milk and old-world recipes, which can be naturally aged up to 2 years.
I shop for Primo Taglio products here in the Bay Area at my local Safeway, but you can also find Primo Taglio exclusively at the Albertsons Companies family of stores, including Albertsons, ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Vons, Randalls, Shaw’s Supermarket, Star Market, Tom Thumb, and Vons.
I love that everything I could possibly need or want for a cheese board can easily be found at my Safeway! It’s perfect for snacks and grazing – or if you’re like my family (and need a break from cooking), make a meal out of it!
How to Make the Perfect Cheese and Charcuterie Board
The key to a perfect cheese and charcuterie board is twofold, in my opinion: variety and harmony. Here’s how to achieve balance so that there will be something for everyone!
Cheeses
I always build my cheese boards starting with a trio of cheese. To me, this is the foundation of the board, and I like to select three of the following:
- A soft, creamy cheese, such as Brie, Camembert, or Goat cheese. A fresh cheese, like burrata or mozzarella, is wonderful, too!
- A firm cheese, such as a Parmigiano-Reggiano or Manchego.
- An aged cheese, such as lovely aged sharp Cheddar or Gruyere.
- A blue cheese, such as Gorgonzola, Roquefort, or Maytag Blue.
Charcuterie
Now for the charcuterie! Charcuterie includes the whole umbrella of meat products from sausages and terrines to pates and confit. Mild ribbons of prosciutto or jamón (ham) are a great addition, as well as a selection of salami such as soppressata or coppa.
Bread and Crackers
Bread is a must when it comes to your board, but it doesn’t just have to be slices of a baguette! I especially love crackers, including those with cranberries and seeds which complement most cheeses so well. Water crackers and buttery crackers are other favorites, as well as breadsticks (I have olive breadsticks you can try!). You can also slice up some naan or pita!
Sweet Bites
Sweet bites add so much depth of flavor the cheese and charcuterie. I love adding honey or honeycomb (so delicious with pungent cheeses), dried fruits such as apricot and cranberry, candied lemons, quince paste, and fig spread!
Savory Bites
Savory bites are a must to balance the sweet so definitely include your favorite olives, pickles, and nuts to your board! Quicos (large Spanish style corn nuts) are also a great addition! You can also add dukkah or pesto!
Fresh Bites
Add whatever is in season! I love how fresh bites add balance to the indulgence. In summer, that means all the fresh fruits and vegetables such as plump berries, cherries, snow peas! In the fall and winter, crisp apples, grapes, pears, carrots all do beautifully.
Dessert Bites
No meal is complete without dessert! Add bites of good quality chocolate, nougat, cookies, or petit fours, for example!
More Recipes to Pair with a Charcuterie Board
Summer Sangria with Rum
Blueberry, Feta and Honey-Caramelized Onion Naan Pizza
Garlic Parmesan Bagel Chips
Sweet and Spicy Wasabi Popcorn
Disclosure: This post was created in partnership with Safeway. Thank you for supporting brands that matter to me; sponsored posts such as this help behind the scenes at Kitchen Confidante. All opinions in this post are, as always, my own.
How to Make a Charcuterie Board
Ingredients
Cheeses
- A soft and creamy cheese such as Brie, Camembert, or Goat cheese. (A fresh cheese, like burrata or mozzarella, is wonderful, too!)
- A firm cheese such as a Parmigiano-Reggiano or Manchego.
- An aged cheese such as lovely aged sharp Cheddar or Gruyere.
- A blue cheese such as Gorgonzola, Roquefort, or Maytag Blue.
Charcuterie
- salami/sausages such as soppressata or coppa
- ham such as prosciutto or jamón
- pate
- confit
- terrine
Bread and Crackers
- Baguette
- Crackers
- Crisps
- Breadsticks
Sweet Bites
- Honey or honeycomb
- Dried fruit such as apricot and cranberry
- Candied citrus
- Quince paste
- Fig spread
Savory Bites
- Olives
- Pickles
- Nuts
- Quicos (corn nuts)
- Dukkah
Fresh Bites
- Sliced fruits
- Berries
- Grapes
- Carrots
- Sugar snap peas
- Tomatoes
Dessert Bites
- Chocolate
- Noguat
- Cookies
- Petit fours
Instructions
- Begin building your board by selecting a trio of cheeses. I like to select three of the following: a soft creamy cheese, a firm cheese, an aged cheese, or a blue cheese. This is your foundation.
- Add the charcuterie includes the whole umbrella of meat products from sausages and terrines to pates and confit. Mild ribbons of prosciutto or jamón (ham) are a great addition, as well as a selection of salami such as soppressata or coppa.
- Arrange your sliced baguette, breadsticks, crackers or crisps.
- Fill in the rest of the board with sweet bites, savory bites, fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Optional (but nice to have) – dessert! Add some bites of good quality chocolate, nougat, cookies, or petit fours!
Notes
How to Make a Charcuterie Board FAQs
- Where did you get the wooden board? The board pictured is the Acacia Serving Tray from Target.
Comments
COOKBOOK
Where did you get the round board?
Hi, Katie! The round board is from Target! It’s the Acacia Serving Tray
Where did you get your charcuterie board?
Hi, Kaila! I bought that board at Target! It’s the Acacia Serving Tray ☺️
This is a perfect charcuterie board to me. What a good idea for my party this weekend! Thank you so much!
Thank you, Rosanna! I hope you have fun making it!
wonderful inspiration, I’ve made charcuterie boards but by comparison, very basic compared with this one, so many ingredients to choose from!
I love all kinds of boards, from simple to epic — they’re all a treat! Thank you, Sabrina!