Easy Charcuterie Board

00100lrPORTRAIT_00100_BURST20200425172754088_COVER.jpg
00100lrPORTRAIT_00100_BURST20200425172841296_COVER.jpg

How was your weekend? Zach and I spent ours working in the yard, doing some light packing (16 days until our house is officially ours!!) and cooking a lot, as usual. Zach came home from the grocery store with these incredible raspberry oranges, so we decided to put together a little charcuterie board to enjoy Saturday evening. I snapped a quick photo and posted it on Instagram not thinking much of it, and WOW. Little did I know it would become my most liked post to date! Guess you guys really like cheese boards :)

That got me thinking about creating a go-to guide for throwing together a spread of your own. Charcuterie boards can be as extravagant or as simple as you like, depending on what you have on hand and how many people it’s for — even one! Who says charcuterie boards need to be shared anyway?

A general rule I like to follow is a little bit of sweet and a little bit of savory, that way you can mix them up and not get overloaded with too many sugary or salty things. I usually like to have two cracker and cheese options for a little variety, but one of each will work just great or you can go all out with multiple options. The sky’s the limit!

To make things easy I’ve broken down my favorite charcuterie board items into categories, that way you can pick a few different things each time for a new experience. Yes, I’m now calling your cheese board an “experience.”

CHEESES

  • Brie

  • Camembert

  • Goat (herb, honey, etc.)

  • Cheddar

  • Gruyere

  • Gouda

  • Manchego

  • Parmigiano-Reggiano

  • Blue

MEATS

  • Prosciutto

  • Salami

  • Smoked sausage

  • Smoked salmon

  • Paté

  • Any cured meat you like

CRACKERS

  • Table Water Crackers

  • Cranberry Crisps

  • Crispbread

  • Flatbread Crackers

  • Sea Salt Crackers

FRUITS

  • Apples

  • Grapes

  • Pears

  • Citrus

  • Berries

  • Pomegranates

  • Figs

  • Dried fruit (apricots, cherries, etc.)

NUTS

  • Almonds

  • Cashews

  • Walnuts

  • Pecans

  • Pistachios

PICKLES

  • Cucumbers (pickles)

  • Olives

  • Carrots

  • Green beans

  • Onions

SPREADS

  • Honey

  • Jam (fig, strawberry, blackberry, etc.)

  • Mustard

  • Tapenade

  • Hummus

Hope this helps inspire some delicious combinations! Let me know if you try any of them out :)