How to Make a Charcuterie Board

What is a charcuterie board?

The word “charcuterie” means cold cuts of meat. That’s French, but of course here in the states we’ve taken the idea of “laying out food on a board to look pretty” and run with it. Technically, there must be meat on the board for it to be “charcuterie.” And if there is just cheese it’s a “cheese board.” Tomato, toe-maht-o. These days, if you can have a pancake breakfast charcuterie board or a Dessert Charcuterie Board, or even a Soup Board, I say anything goes!

Why are charcuterie boards so fun??

Okay, I actually think ALL food is fun, but charcuterie boards definitely top the list of “fun food for adults.” Everyone loves them. Charcuterie boards make you feel So Cultured and Fancy. But really they are just glorified Lunchables, and a chance to eat with your hands. I’m here for it!

They make stunning centerpieces, and are often the star of the show. I just put one together for Thanksgiving last week, and at the end of the day my dad said to me, “All the food was so good Karen…but my favorite part of the whole day was the charcuterie board. I love all that stuff.” I’m telling you, if you want to win friends and influence people, buy them cheese and crackers.

Charcuterie boards are stupid easy

I’ve been working on getting better at building charcuterie boards for years. It did not come naturally for me! I struggled to get the hang of it for a long time.

Americans tend to feel a little insecure about charcuterie because most of us are not educated about fancy meats and cheeses. But I promise, you can do this. I will show you everything you need to know!

I will tell you my big secret: as long as you have a plan before you shop, and follow a few simple guidelines, you will find out just how incredibly easy charcuterie boards are to put together.

Charcuterie boards used to be overwhelming to me because there are literally infinite options. As someone who is already a little scatter-brained, walking into the fancy-cheese section in the deli and being bombarded with hundreds of options is super overwhelming. Which cheeses should I pick? I can only pick FOUR?? And there are rules about hard, soft, stinky, mellow? What even?

What I ended up doing for a very long time was going in with no plan, and waaay over buying. I’d walk out of the store with way more cheese than I needed for my party. And often I bought visually, meaning I bought the cheeses that were “cute”: adorable round rinds that look like they came fresh from a French dairy farm. There is nothing wrong with cute cheese, but often that meant I was buying 4 different kinds of Triple Cream cheese and nothing else.

All of these cheeses are adorable and look like they belong on a board right? I mean come on, look at that red checkered paper and wooden box. The problem is that they all serve the same purpose: all these cheeses are mild and soft. They serve as a buttery, fatty compliment to whatever you pair it with. This is DELICIOUS, but you only need one like this on your board.

Rules for an amazing charcuterie board

Here is a basic overview of what you need to know. I’ve got all the details below, so don’t freak out thinking of all the options! My recipe below tells you EXACTLY what to do if you are a beginner.

• You need a variety of types of cheese: at least 1 soft, 1 hard, 1 tangy. Variety of cheese, in my opinion, is more important than anything else.
• I tell people this whenever they start gushing about a board I’ve created: the main thing that’s impressive about a charcuterie board is that there is SO MUCH FOOD. It doesn’t matter what the food is, if you keep piling it on and adding MORE, it’s going to look very colorful and impressive. My goal is to cover every part of the board so you can’t see the wood anymore. But guys, that’s just my style! It doesn’t have to be that way. There are plenty of amazing boards that are more minimal. But if you have a big party, watch as people’s eyes pop out of their heads when they see the giant mound of food you have on your board. It’s so fun!
• Variety is everything when it comes to making your board feel special.
• Choose what you like. Don’t buy ANYTHING if you don’t think your guests will eat it. This trumps every other “rule” for charcuteries.

Meat is optional

Meat is tasty but optional! Seriously! People care more about the cheese than the meat. I said what I said guys. Fight me if you want. I have put together SO many charcuterie boards where hardly any of the meat was eaten.

This was the first board I ever tried to build, for a Christmas party back in…2018? I got SO confused and befuddled at the store and ended up buying way too much. And SO much meat leftover!

I know, no meat technically makes it a “cheese board” and not charcuterie, but go ahead and explain this to your guests and watch as their eyes roll into the back of their head from boredom over this technicality.

Not everyone feels meat is optional, though. One time a couple years ago my sister-in-law realized I didn’t have any cold cuts for the board and she actually went off to the store to get some. I thought it was so funny! Know your audience I guess! But most of all, choose what YOU like.

Also, people will eat more meat if your charcuterie is serving as a light meal rather than as an appetizer to a main course.

Your board is nothing without the sauce

A choice of fun and interesting jams, sauces, and savory spreads absolutely MAKE a charcuterie board. Don’t skimp in this area.

On that note: having even just one homemade item makes your board really special. It’s ALWAYS the star of the board. Here are some of my favorites to serve with a charcuterie board:

• Pesto (recipe in notes)
• Onion dip.
• Pimiento dip.
• Whipped ricotta.
• Whipped Feta.
• Cranberry Jalapeno Dip.
• Strawberry Jalapeno Jam dumped over a block of cream cheese.
• Chimichurri (pesto’s cheaper cousin).
• Garlic Aioli.
• Horseradish Sauce. (this goes best with meat)
• Balsamic Reduction.
• Olive Oil and Balsamic Bread Dip.
• Cinnamon Honey Butter.
• Lemon Curd.

Tips for the best charcuterie board: variety

The key to a great charcuterie board is providing an assortment of options that lends itself to mixing flavors to create an endless amount of delicious combinations.

• Provide a few different types of crackers and bread. Make them bite size so people don’t have to use plates. (Unless you want them to.)
• Make sure to choose a variety of ingredients based on texture: crispy, soft, chewy.
• Have something spicy and something sweet
• Serve cheese room temperature; it’s more flavorful than cold cheese. Get it out of the fridge about a half hour before serving.

Find a nice store to shop at. This is not a hole-in-the-wall moment.

• Do your shopping at a grocery store that is fancy enough that it has an olive bar. What’s an olive bar? read this conversation about Olive bars, wtf? for a good laugh. (“You can take my olives when you pry them from my salty, oily fingers!!”) An Olive bar is just what it sounds like: a variety of olives and other pickled-y type things that you can package up yourself and pay for by weight. They are SO good and have fresh, high quality ingredients. You will always find something great for your board at the deli olive bar.
• Last random tip: try to build your board when no one is around. My family acts like they have NEVER SEEN FOOD whenever I’m trying to put one together. They hover like actual vultures. It’s kind of hilarious and endearing that they get so excited actually, so I can’t complain! It’s easier to make placements on the board and decisions about where things go when you aren’t constantly losing ingredients. Maybe this is just common sense and I didn’t need to mention it?? 😆

How to keep bread from getting soggy on charcuterie board

This is a real issue! It’s so sad to realize an hour into your party that all the available dippers are soggy from the honey or oil from your olives. Be strategic in your placement, and arrange the crackers or bread in neat piles or rows, making sure they are not touching anything that will make them soggy.

To be honest though, these days I often don’t put the bread and crackers on the board itself. I usually have baskets and bowls of crackers nearby. I know, I know, this is not what Instagram says to do, but soggy crackers are annoying! Sometimes I will lay out an entire second board that ONLY has breads and crackers on it, arranging them nicely, to keep the dry dippers separate from the charcuterie board.

How much cheese per person on a charcuterie board?

As a general rule, you can plan on about 2 ounces of cheese per person. This is the amount you want if you are serving your board as an appetizer. If it’s serving as a light dinner, move up to 3-4 ounces per person.

Here is a very basic guide for how-much-cheese-to-buy, calculated as an APPETIZER, not dinner:

Cheese per person for a board serving 3-5 people

• 3 to 4 ounces hard cheese (total for the board)
• 3 to 4 ounces soft cheese (total for the board)
• 3 to 4 ounces tangy cheese (total for the board)

Cheese per person for a board serving 6-8 people

• 5 to 6 ounces hard cheese (total for the board)
• 5 to 6 ounces soft cheese (total for the board)
• 5 to 6 ounces tangy cheese (total for the board)

Cheese per person for a board serving 10-15 people

• 10+ ounces hard cheese (total for the board)
• 10+ ounces soft cheese (total for the board)
• 10+ ounces tangy cheese (total for the board)

Hard cheese examples include: Parmigiano, aged gouda, asiago, well-aged cheddar, gruyere.

When you cut into a very hard cheese, it will crumble like this:

If you look closely at this Pecorino Toscano cheese, you can see the white crystals (called Tyrosine crystals) that form as cheese ages. They are crunchy and SO flavorful. If you see any crystals like this, you know you are holding a very flavorful, hard, aged cheese.

Semi-soft or “firm”cheese ideas

Semi-soft or firm cheese examples: Havarti, not-as-aged cheddar, muenster, fontina, not-aged gouda, comte, manchego (my FAVORITE), colby.

Firm/semi-soft cheese is not as squishy and squeezable and spreadable as a soft cheese (think brie), but not as crumbly as a very hard cheese (think Parmesan). It’s somewhere in the middle.

Sometimes the best way to know what type of cheese you’re thinking about buying is just to squeeze it. Does it feel as hard as Parmigiano? It’s probably hard cheese. Does it feel soft like goat cheese? It’s a soft cheese by golly! Does it feel like your average cheddar cheese that you put on your sandwich yesterday? Then it’s “firm” or semi-soft.

Soft cheese

Soft cheese examples: Brie (or anything labeled “Triple Cream” or “Double Cream”), Boursin, burrata, mascarpone, stracchino, cream cheese, goat cheese, ricotta cheese, camembert, even cottage cheese.

Ricotta, cottage cheese, and cream cheese are all GREAT options to include if your audience might be a little nervous about eating soft cheese. (Kids, for example. And wimpy adults.) They are mild and accessible and still great for spreading on crackers. Fancy them up by sprinkling with salt and pepper or beating and then drizzling with olive oil.

“Stinky” cheese

These cheeses can range in softness to hardness, but they are all very strong.

Stinky cheese examples include Blue cheese, gorgonzola, dunbarton blue, marbled blue jack, goat cheese. Any cheese that has blue marbling in it goes in this category. I put goat cheese in this category (even though it is soft enough to be spreadable) because I feel like it serves the same purpose as a blue cheese: it’s tangy and very potent.

What type of meat goes on a charcuterie board?

There are endless options, but I like to keep it SIMPLE and buy what I actually like. My favorites include:

• thinly sliced Pastrami or sliced black forest ham from the deli
• Genoa salami or peppered salami
• Soppressata (is similar to salami)
• Calabrese Salami (spicy)
• Proscuitto
• Chorizo
• Mortadella
• any type of cured sausage

If you go to a nice store, often they will have meats packaged together, chosen specifically to go on a charcuterie. I find it so much easier to buy one or two of these prepackaged ones! That way you know you are getting a good variety, instead of accidentally buying 3 kinds of meats that all taste very similar.

How much meat per person on a charcuterie board

Meat per person for 3-5 people

• 3 to 4 ounces Genoa salami or Soppressata
• 3 to 4 ounces prosciutto, Mortadella, or pancetta
• 3 to 4 ounces spicy meat like Chorizo or Spicy Coppa

Meat per person for 6-8 people

• 5 to 6 ounces Genoa salami or Soppressata
• 5 to 6 ounces prosciutto, Mortadella, or pancetta
• 5 to 6 ounces spicy meat like Chorizo or Spicy Coppa

Meat per person for 10-15 people

• 10+ ounces Genoa salami or Soppressata
• 10+ ounces prosciutto, Mortadella, or pancetta
• 10+ ounces spicy meat like Chorizo or Spicy Coppa

Charcuterie board ingredients

Here are my favorite ingredients and must-haves! Remember, charcuterie boards are completely customizable, so make whatever changes you want. Because the sky is the limit, I used to find the prospect of choosing my own cheeses and garnishes very overwhelming, so for this post I have added in very specific ingredients, just to give you somewhere to start.

Exact instructions and amounts for these are in the recipe card below, but please remember this is about creating a board that YOU love, or that will really fit the theme or group you’re aiming for. Use these as a guideline and switch them up to meet your needs! 

How to make a charcuterie board

Here’s the basic order for how to make a charcuterie board. I’ll go into more detail below. All specific ingredients are just suggestions!

1. Add cheese: Place Brie, white cheddar, Manchego, and goat cheese on the board.
2. Add “anchor” bowls or jars. One bowl of pesto, one bowl of olives, one jar of fig jam.
3. Add meat: pastrami, peppered salami, and Capicola.
4. Add fresh fruit: add a sliced pear, apple, blueberries, strawberries, cutie oranges.
5. Add veggies: cherry tomatoes.
6. Add crackers or bread slices: baguette, Club crackers, Pretzel Crisps.
7. Add nuts, dried fruit, plus more spreads and sauces. Add pistachios or Marcona almonds, dried figs or apricots, and a tiny bowl of honey.

What to serve with a charcuterie board

Usually for me, snacking on a charcuterie board is a meal on its own (I can’t stop myself from going back!)

But it’s perfect to serve as an appetizer before a large holiday meal, at any kind of party. They are also fun at bridal or baby showers, or even a game night.

I mentioned above that one of my favorite things to do is have at least ONE homemade item on my board. Here are some other ideas:

• Quick and Easy French Bread Recipe >> perfect to make the day before and slice thinly and bake to serve as crostini!
• Southern Pecan Cheese Wafers >> homemade toasty cheese crackers. Perfect little one bite treats! my mom made these last week for Thanksgiving.
• How to make Balsamic Vinegar Reduction >> can you imagine drizzling some of this over cheese on a cracker? YUM
• How to Make Easy Chimichurri Sauce >> No cooking, and pairs SO WELL with all those cured meats
• Chunky Chex Mix Muddy Buddies Recipe >> chocolate peanut butter treats that would be amazing to spread out in little bits around your board, if you’re going in a sweet direction.
• 10 Minute Caramel Popcorn in the Microwave >> another awesome (and SUPER easy) thing to add to a fun charcuterie!
• The Easiest Sugared Cranberries >> perfect addition to any boards you make during the holidays! So sparkly and festive!
• Quick Pickled Vegetables from Feasting at Home
• Pickled Onions from Love and Lemon. (My brother Eric told me that no charcuterie is complete for him without pickled onions. SO good with cheese.)

How to store leftovers from a charcuterie board

If you know you’ll be snacking on it again soon, like later in the evening or the next day, you can remove all the crackers and bread, then cover the whole board well in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge where everything will be fine til you pull it out. Keep the crackers and bread in their original bags or in ziplock bags.

If you’ve made the charcuterie directly on parchment/butcher paper on a buffet table, you can leave it out and just cover anything that doesn’t need to be refrigerated. Put the cheeses and meats in their original containers or tupperware until ready to eat, then add back to the board later.

If you don’t plan on serving any of the leftovers together, just repackage each item in its original container or a new one if need be. Refrigerate cheese, meat, jelly, or veggie leftovers. Bread and crackers can stay in the pantry. Follow the best-by date on the package for how long each item will last. 

One thing to note. Sometimes, a charcuterie board can get messy, especially depending on the people you’re serving (ahem, like if any children will have access to it). Take a moment to judge your board when it’s all said and done. There may be some items that just make more sense to throw away if they were dripped on or picked at. Just use your discretion!

Can you freeze charcuterie board food?

Honestly, I wouldn’t even bother. Most of what you put out on your board, like cheeses, meats, pickled veggies, crackers, will all last a while in the fridge/pantry. If you have a lot of any single item and want to try to freeze it, then I would do a search online for how to freeze that specific item. (Meat is an exception. Cold cuts freeze beautifully.) In general, cheese is not a great candidate for freezing because it changes the texture so much (shredded cheese is fine to freeze though.)

How to use leftovers from a Charcuterie board

• Make the cheesiest best omelette of your life!
• Use meats and cheese for a Frittata.
• Slap all the ingredients on an epic Dagwood sandwich.
• Use as toppings for your next Homemade Pizza
• Wrap up the ingredients in this Easy Stromboli
• Add ingredients to an Italian Pasta Salad
• Make an amazing Quiche with leftovers

Lactose intolerant?

You can still enjoy a fun charcuterie board if you’ve got tummy issues. Avoid fresh cheese like mozzarella, mascarpone, ricotta, and soft, creamy cheeses. Instead stick to cheddar, parmigiano, and other firm and aged cheeses. Hard cheeses don’t have much lactose in them!

Frequently asked questions

More amazing appetizers to try

A charcuterie board is a great place to start if you have a lot of people to feed appetizers to. Make some of these recipes below if you need to have even more options for your party! These all pair well with charcuterie. Some of them you could even feature on the board itself.

• Extra Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Dip (Hot or Cold!) >> Smooth, creamy, and extra-cheesy
• Caprese Salad Skewers Appetizer >> Perfect year round! Summer tomatoes and basil, but also red and green for Christmas!
• Bacon Wrapped Pineapple with Honey Chipotle Glaze >> You can’t go wrong with bacon and pineapple, I mean really.
• Smokey Almond Cream Cheese Endive Bites >> A great addition to any board. These are low carb!
• French Onion Dip from Belly Full