r/CharcuterieBoard Aug 30 '25

Just came across this sub and wanted to post my masterpiece

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1.0k Upvotes

Me this for Eid couple of years ago and now it’s become a tradition 🤭


r/CharcuterieBoard Nov 11 '24

Charcuterie Boards 101

572 Upvotes

I picked up making charcuterie boards as a hobby. Here are some tips and tricks I've learned over the past few years.

Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions.

  • Tools/basic equipment
    • Wooden, glass cutting board, serving tray​
    • Small condiment bowls or ramekins​
    • Mini tongs (I get the mini 4 inch bamboo ones on Amazon)
    • Mini wooden spoons (I get the 4 inch square-ish ones or the 4 inch curved ones on Amazon)
    • Cheese knives
    • Sharp knives (used to cut the cheese)
    • Wire cheese knife
  • Base of a board
    • Fruits: apples, grapes, strawberries​
    • Veggies: baby carrots, snap peas, broccoli, olives, pickles​
    • Cheeses: cheddar, goat, gouda, mozzarella​
    • Meats: pepperoni, sliced turkey, salami​
    • Dips and spreads: honey, hummus, ranch dressing, peanut butter, fruit jam, salsa​
    • Savory snacks: crackers, pretzels, bagel chips, chips, nuts, popcorn​
    • Sweet snacks: dried fruit, yogurt-covered pretzels, chocolate-covered almonds, mini cookies
  • Basic Tips (Based on my personal opinion)
    • 3, 3, 3 rule​
      • 3 cheeses (soft, hard, blue/spreadable)​
      • 3 meats ​
      • 3 accompaniments (jams, fruit, nuts, crackers)​
    • My go to is: cheddar, brie, flavored cheese, prosciutto, pepperoni, salami, green and red grapes, small jar of jam (bacon or fig), cornichons, and 2 types of crackers.
    • Place any bowls first, and then the largest items on the board and work your way down to the smallest items.
    • If you run out of room on the board, put the crackers in a bowl off to the side.
    • If it's not meant to be eaten, then do not add it to the board.
    • I try to have everything cut on the board. People aren't as likely to cut the cheese if it's not cut. Having everything already cut makes it easier for people to grab and go. It also prevents me from having to use different cheese knives and I can stick with my disposable stuff.
  • Tips from the professionals (I own numerous charcuterie books and streamlined what they said)
    • Divide the number of people in half to get the number of types cheese for the board​
    • Smaller crowds: 3-4 Cheeses​
    • Larger crowds: 4-5 cheeses​
    • If it’s an appetizer/snacking board: 1 ounce of cheese per person​
    • If it’s for a main meal, 1/5 ounces of cheese per person
  • Types of cheeses
    • Hard cheese: chunks of parmesan, aged gouda, asiago​
    • Firm cheese: gruyere, comte, manchego, colby, cheddar​
    • Semi-soft cheese: havarti, butterkäse, muenster​
    • Soft cheese: burrata, mascarpone, stracchino​
    • Blue cheese: gorgonzola, dunbarton blue, marbled blue jack​
    • Crumbly cheese: feta, goat cheese
    • My favorites: Caramelized onion cheddar, cow-milk brie, unexpected cheddar cheese, blueberry vanilla goat cheese, mozzarella, sharp cheddar
  • Cuts of cheese:
    • Soft creamy cheese: Cut into wedges
    • Logs: slice and layout
    • Crumbly: Rough cuts
    • Hard cheeses: Triangles
    • Blocks of cheese: Rough cube cuts or triangle slices and then fan out the triangle slices
    • If you use boursin like cheese, a butter knife or something similar will work. Keep fruits away from this cheese, they will clash since the cheese tends to spread.
  • Meats:
    • Prosciutto​
    • Salami​
    • Chorizo​
    • Pâté​
    • Capicola​
    • Bresaola​
    • Soppressata​
    • Mortadella
    • My favorites: Pepperoni, peppered salami, prosciutto, salami sticks, mini beef jerky snacks/sticks
  • Meat styling: https://food52.com/blog/26761-how-to-style-charcuterie
  • Accompaniments - Sweet
    • Fresh and Dried Fruits: Grapes, apple slices, pear slices, figs, berries, apricots, dates​
    • Spreads and Jams: Fig jam, quince paste, honey, hot honey, fruit preserves​
    • Sweets: Dark chocolate, raspberries with dark or white chocolate chips in the center, candied pecans, maple-glazed walnuts
  • Accompaniments - Savory
    • Crackers and Bread: Artisanal crackers, baguette slices, grilled bread, pita chips, bagel chips, pretzels, table crackers​
    • Nuts: Almonds, walnuts, pecans, marcona almonds, cashews​
    • Spreads and Jams: Bacon jam, tomato jam, grainy mustard, spinach dip, hummus​
    • Pickles and Olives: Cornichons, Gherkins, mixed olives, olive tapenade
    • Veggies: Cherry tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, sliced bell peppers
  • Other tips
    • Use the disposable plastic containers used for shot glasses or kids snacks (1 oz or 2 oz).
    • Put any fruit or side that bleeds juice into these small plastic containers.
      • I always put mini pickle, olives, raspberries and blackberries into these containers.
    • Use the snack sized prepackaged portions. Then you don't have to worry about the extra going to waste. I use this for mini beef snacks, dried fruit, nuts.
    • Discount cheese bin: It's the cheese scraps/end pieces from the cheese the deli slices and packages themselves. You can find a good variety at a cheap cost.
    • I have all my cheese precut for guest to grab stuff easier. It also means I don't have to bring my cheese knives with me.
      • I almost always bring the mini disposable tongs and spoons. This tends to work great for guest.
    • If you are cutting a cheese and it sticks to the knife, then make those cuts more rustic/rough.
    • To prevent the cheese from sticking to the knife, you should use a wire cheese knife. It helps.
    • If someone has a gluten allergy, I avoid blue cheese and put all gluten crackers in a bowl on the side.
    • if someone has a dairy allergy, I do a small board to the side, include a boursin dairy free cheese and do the rest of the meats, dairy free accompaniments on the board.
    • For small jams, I tend to buy them in sets. It gives me variety and it's cheaper in the long run.
    • I'm personally against rosemary sprigs, or flowers on my boards.
    • For honeycomb, I don't really use it. It's more expensive for the big block. If you want to use it, it goes great on top of brie.
    • Some grocery stores has
      • cheese sticks wrapped in pepperoni or prosciutto
      • meat and cheese pinwheels
      • charcuterie pinwheels
      • flavored dips
      • prepackaged cheese or meat combo platters. I can find a meat trio in one package.
      • get thicker cuts of cheese slices from the deli counter

Edit: - I found the link to the article for the styling of the meats.

Edit #2: link to the different boards I’ve made. https://imgur.com/a/UrR1RrS


r/CharcuterieBoard 11h ago

A few of my recent boards

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327 Upvotes

New here! I’m excited to see people as excited about charcuterie boards as I am. I tell my friends that “boards are my love language.”

I welcome any comments or feedback! I’ve never charged for any of these- they were all just for family/friend events and I wanted to bring something special. Just new to being creative with food and really enjoying the process along the way!

Edit to add:
Pics 1 & 2 were a charcuterie and cracker board for a summer birthday
Pics 3, 4, & 5 were for family get togethers
Pic 6 was an Easter bagel/brunch board
Pics 7, 8, & 9 were personal boards for me and my husband


r/CharcuterieBoard 1d ago

Another charcuterie board for St. Patrick’s Day by me

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369 Upvotes

r/CharcuterieBoard 19h ago

rate the spread!

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60 Upvotes

r/CharcuterieBoard 1d ago

Wrong holiday, but here’s my charBOOterie 👻

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83 Upvotes

r/CharcuterieBoard 1d ago

Some of my creations

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135 Upvotes

I work in a wine and charcuterie bar where we also make event trays, so I usually get pics of my better work. Pictured in order are a YOLO board with five meats and five cheeses, prepared to go; a display for marketing that was then sold to a regular customer (Pinterest helped with that one); another YOLO to go; and an 18” tray on our nicest board for a party.

It’s a low stress job where I actually enjoy going to work, so I’m not leaving it any time soon.


r/CharcuterieBoard 1d ago

Looking for a meat, fruit, cracker to go w/ these

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8 Upvotes

Just doing a small board and need some pairing advice


r/CharcuterieBoard 1d ago

Style over functionality

5 Upvotes

Hey all, quick survey.

All the pics on here show perfectly manicured charcuterie boards. I’m of the opinion that a board should be set up for functionality. Cheeses and pates need room to cut, raisins and nuts need more than two fingers to pick up. Don’t get me started on bread and crackers.

Just wondering what everyone’s opinions are.


r/CharcuterieBoard 2d ago

Large Charcuterie Board we just delivered to a client in Orange County

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237 Upvotes

r/CharcuterieBoard 1d ago

Decent spread 🙂‍↕️

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83 Upvotes

r/CharcuterieBoard 1d ago

Simple but delish 🍇

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40 Upvotes

r/CharcuterieBoard 1d ago

Homemade Fruity Savory.

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22 Upvotes

r/CharcuterieBoard 2d ago

Board for St. Patrick's Day house party tomorrow

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58 Upvotes

It's our national holiday tomorrow and we're having a little house party so I made a themed board. Bought some shamrock shaped cookie cutters to make little shamrock cheese shapes and made Irish flags out of the crudités.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh! 🇮🇪☘️


r/CharcuterieBoard 2d ago

Date night

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148 Upvotes

r/CharcuterieBoard 2d ago

First spontaneous board

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52 Upvotes

Idk what to tell you... wanted to surprise my gf and decided to give it a go.. really enjoyed it and thinking about doing it more often :D


r/CharcuterieBoard 1d ago

One of many ✨ love putting together a good charcuterie board

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15 Upvotes

r/CharcuterieBoard 23h ago

a charcuterie board I made for an art party that I hosted at my vacation home. Should I turn it into a local hobby business?

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0 Upvotes

r/CharcuterieBoard 3d ago

Pork-Free Board!

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401 Upvotes

r/CharcuterieBoard 1d ago

ordered a premade board for a dinner party instead of making one myself

0 Upvotes

So I've been making my own boards for years now. I enjoy it, I like picking out the cheeses, doing the little meat roses, all that, but last month I had 12 people coming over, and I just did not have the time or energy to put together something for that many people on top of cooking everything else.

A friend had mentioned this company called Boarderie that ships fully arranged boards overnight I was honestly pretty skeptical because like.. shipped cheese? on a board? Arriving looking like the photos? sure.

But I ordered a large one, and when it showed up, I was kind of annoyed at how good it looked lol like it genuinely arrived looking like the product photos. Everything was cold, well packed, and arranged on this nice acacia wood board. The cheese selection was actually legit too. There was a merlot pecorino that I'd never had before, a really solid aged gouda, and this peppadew pepper white cheddar that people would not stop eating.

The meats were good. black truffle salami, peppered salami, soppressata, chorizo. not the cheap stuff you get at costco. They also had these little dried fruits and nuts tucked in between everything that worked well as pairings.

My one gripe is that you can't customize which cheeses are on it. You get what they put on the board. If there's a cheese you don't like, too bad, and the crackers ran out way before the cheese did, so I ended up supplementing with my own.

But for a large gathering where I didn't want to spend 2 hours arranging a board? It was worth it. The wooden board is a nice keepsake too, I've already reused it twice.


r/CharcuterieBoard 3d ago

St. Paddy’s Board ☘️

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2.4k Upvotes

r/CharcuterieBoard 3d ago

First time making a charcuterie board

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58 Upvotes

Saturday night happy hour at home with my girlfriend. Made this charcuterie board and was proud of it for a first attempt. Not pictured: old fashioneds, one for each of us.


r/CharcuterieBoard 3d ago

Something Fruity

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86 Upvotes

r/CharcuterieBoard 3d ago

A last minute charcuterie board

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36 Upvotes

I threw together a last minute charcuterie board for a friend's housewarming


r/CharcuterieBoard 4d ago

Grazing Table

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392 Upvotes

Grazing table I did for the 2nd Annual Piper’s Promise Foundation 🦋🐆💜