DIY Charcuterie Board

Charcuterie boards are all the rage right now! While you can get a gorgeous lookin’ ‘cute board at just about any restaurant you can imagine, my favorite thing to do is make them at home. Why? Well, for one there’s this little thing called a pandemic happening right now and making them at home is our only option for awhile, folks!

But also, because…

1. They’re easy to make

2. You can literally go wild with your cheese, meats and accoutrements

3. They’re a great entertaining piece or, in the case of quarantine, a no-cook dinner option for your quaranTeam!

4. It’s fun!

So while there’s zero cooking involved in this recipe, I’m here to show you what I think are the perfect ingredients to a gorgeous, at-home charcuterie board that’s sure to wow your friends and family, and be the star of your next social media post!

Step 1: Cheese Selection

Let me be clear: there is no wrong answer to choosing cheeses for a charcuterie board because all cheese is good cheese, if you ask me! However, I have a few rules of thumb when it comes to choosing cheeses for my at-home boards:

• Generally, I select 1-2 cheese options per person who will be enjoying the board.

• Choose one cheese that is sharp/basic - like a sharp cheddar or white cheddar. My favorites include Beechers’s Flagship or the Dubliner white cheddar. This type of cheese will “anchor” your board and also be your crowd-pleaser!

• Choose 1-2 cheeses that are a bit more pungent/interesting. Even though I’m a blue cheese lover and will feature a Cambazola or stinky blue all day every day, I know to only feature these when I know I’m in fellow blue cheese lover company. However, all boards need something a bit stronger, sharper and more interesting! For non-blue cheese lovers and/or to compliment, I love a drunken cheese, aged Gouda or even something fun like the Italian truffle cheese you can find at Trader Joe’s.

• Cheese 1-2 cheeses that are soft and subtle. This is where you’ll want to feature your triple cream brie or Camembert for something creamy yet not too overpowering. In line with this type, I almost always feature Boursin cheese on my charcuterie boards because it is absolutely perfect! Soft, creamy and herbaceous, it’s the cheese on the board that always gets multiple compliments.

Step 2: Meat Selection

While you could totally skip step #2 if you’re vegetarian or just want to keep your board cheese-centric, I’m a firm believer that a charcuterie board is only a charcuterie board when cured meats are involved. My favorite cured meats include prosciutto, dry or pepper salami, capicola and coppa which you can easily find at most grocery stores. I love snagging a variety pack with 2-3 of these meats in one, like at Costco or Trader Joe’s, to get the most bang for your buck.

Step 3: Accoutrements Selection

No charcuterie board is complete without some delicious accoutrements to highlight the strong flavors of your featured meats and cheeses. I like to feature a combo of accoutrements that offer a balance of sweetness, tanginess and nuttiness. Here are just a few of my favorites:

• Mustard - whole grain or Dijon

• Cornichons

• Marcona almonds

• Fig jam

• Dried apricots

Step 4: Carbs!

Sure, you could eat the meat and cheese with accoutrements as is, but…why? Any good charcuterie board has to feature some good carb vehicles! If going the cracker route, choose at least one if not 2-3 cracker options. Many grocery stores sell a variety pack to kill two birds with one stone.

If you’re pickier than that, I love choosing one “basic” cracker - something plain like a butter or rice cracker that won’t interfere with the more flavorful cheeses and meats. Then, I love featuring a more “interesting” cracker. My favorites include a seedy cracker like Raincoast Crisps or raisin rosemary crisps from Trader Joe’s.

Step 5: Assemble!

Now that you have all your ingredients in hand, what the heck to do with them? How do you go about making them so pretty and Instagram worthy?! I’m here to help!

First things first: let’s talk charcuterie vehicle. I am lucky to have a husband who also enjoys enjoying homemade charcuterie boards. So much so that he bought us an exceptional wood charctuerie board. Obviously getting yourself a dedicated board via Etsy or pretty much everywhere is ideal (because there are a plethora of options out there), but using a large cutting board or platter will also work fabulously.

Next, I start by assembling my cheeses, equally spaced in the corners of your board. If you have a brie or Boursin, those can be left on the board as is. For your sharper/harder cheeses, I like to cut these into rough pieces in advance so you don’t find yourself with guests awkwardly cutting hard cheese and to help with variety and dimension.

Then, I assemble my meats tucked around my cheeses. I like to fold a sturdier salami, bunch of prosciutto into a rustic pile and roll up a capicola or coppa into cigar-like shapes.

For your accoutrements, I do a rustic smear of your wet ingredients like mustard and fig jam right in the middle, or you could also put into small ramekins. Sprinkle nuts, dried fruits and cornichons on the outskirts.

Finally, if you have room on your board, nestle crackers in spare spots or you could house them on a separate plate. Serve your completed, gorgeous board with a few knives, some good adult beverages and you are guaranteed to have one amazing time!

P.S. check-out the TikTok for the abbreviated/visual version of my DIY charcuterie tips!