Oh how I love my charcuterie boards! Any reason to eat some fine processed meats and all the fancy cheese is a good enough reason for me and of course a perfect pairing for your favorite glass of wine!

With all of us being mostly restricted to our home I find it’s a good reason to splurge on some nice cheese and have a fun treat at home, and again it goes with wine! Charcuterie boards make great lunches or dinner substitutes plus no cooking, which is kinda nice seeing as we are cooking 3 times a day right now. Make an excuse to have a fun date-night-in with your quarantine buddy, get out a nice wine, put on a movie or music and enjoy!

If you need help picking out a wine for the board you have lots of options as you are creating your own flavor palate and lots of wine go with even more types of cheese. White wine and rosès are an easy go-to, so if you feel like one of those, go for it! If you are more of a red wine drinker I would suggest something a bit more acidic and less tannic because the acid in the wine is really great for yummy cheese, try Pinot Noir, Barbera, Sangiovese, or Grenache. In the end, choose what you love with this one and you can’t go wrong.

Basic Guidelines

Cheese

I’d say start with a minimum of 4 cheeses, add more if serving a larger crowd. I suggest one fresh cheese, one creamy, a stinky or strong cheese, and one hard cheese. For fresh cheese, goat cheese and fresh mozzarella are great options. On my board I went with goat cheese. I also like to have at least one cheese be a little bit on the sweeter or fruiter side. This particular goat cheese was made with honey. You can always add a little honey directly to your board as well. For the creamy cheese I went with a class Brie cheese (absolute fav!) and I will never make a cheese board without one. If Brie isn’t quite your thing Camembert is another option. Next you are going to want a strong or stinky cheese. These cheeses tend to go better with reds. Since there are a lot of red drinkers out there you definitely want this one on your board. Examples of this are blue cheese, gorgonzola, or something with peppercorns. We actually found a cheese from Trader Joes, Cotswold Double Gloucester with chives and onions. Super tasty! Finally a hard cheese gives great texture to your cheese board, is convenient to find, and varieties we tend to be most familiar with. Some great choices for this are manchego, cheddar, or gruyere. Manchego is another one of my favorite cheeses and is usually always on my plate.  

Also it is nice having a variety of different cheese producers such as goat, sheep, and cow cheese which make for a more interesting board.

Charcuterie

Meats are always optional depending on your dietary preferences. We love them and love them on all our boards! Technically charcuterie refers to the preparation and cooking of the processed meats themselves and the term is now commonly used to refer to the plates with charcuterie, cheese, and other accompaniments.

With the actual charcuterie I also like having a variety and again just go with your favorites. If you are having 4 cheeses I would at least suggest having 3 meats. Here are my top suggestions: prosciutto, salami, sopressata, pepperoni, capicola, speck (yup!), and an easy one to find is summer sausage. Too many unknown meats for you? You could always do bacon! That one just needs cooking.

Now that we have the base of our board created it is always nice to add some additional accompaniments. While totally not necessary they really help round out your palate, are satisfying, and make for a beautiful presentation.

Sweet

I always like to have something sweet on the board such as fruit, dried fruit, fruit spread, or dark chocolate. Dried fruit is easy enough and usually something we have on hand. I had a few dried apricots and dried figs, these go amazing with some of the softer cheeses! Fresh berries or apple slices are also great for palate refreshers and can also go well with all things on the board. You can always add your favorite jam on the board as these too will add sweetness.

Salt

I love adding an extra salty component to my charcuterie boards. Olives are a great addition for this one. I usually have several jars of olives on hand cause I eat them regularly as snacks and always add them to salads. For something like this I like using big green olives and on this board in particular the olives were stuffed with garlic. It was a winner! The saltiness of the olives really goes with the wine and I loved it with our Barbera. No olives for you? You could always try a potato chip? Seem weird? Why don’t you try it and let me know!

Fats and Sauces

I always like to add some extra source of fats and possibly a sauce. Cause we need more fat with the meat and cheese right haha? I love putting out a nice high quality olive oil. Dipping breads, meats, and cheeses in olive oil is really tasty, rounds out the flavors, and also adds the presentation. Not your thing? Try a fancy mustard or have a little honey on the side, balsamic vinegar is also a great choice. A little variety goes a long way with this one. One item I strongly suggest adding are nuts. Nuts add tannins to the board so that means that they go great with wines, especially reds. I like to use raw nuts but roasted nuts with some salt or flavoring would also work. Use your favorite! I used a nut mix, again from Trader Joe’s, with walnuts, almonds, and dried berries.

You are nearing completion of your board! Last thing to add if desired are some good old carbohydrates. Again depending on your dietary preference this one can be skipped but nothing is better for me than fresh baguette dipped in olive oil served with the collection of meats and cheeses. It is just pure happiness! Crackers are also a great option for this. I limit the bread to one on the plate but if you love them then have both! If you’re serving for a large group or party I would at least have 2-3 options to choose from.

So there it is! My guide to putting the tastiest charcuterie board together. These make the best lunches, dinners, date nights, movie nights, and for me feels like I am eating somewhere else besides my home. They make great conversation starters and can give you something to do while we finish out our staying at home time. Put these items on your grocery list and put one together! Don’t forget to take a picture and share it! #wineandcharcuterie