Looking for Charcuterie Board Ideas? From Meats to Fruits & Desserts, 16 Ways to Do It

Regardless of the party type, charcuterie boards have been on trend for a long time and are indeed a crowd-pleaser. You can do an all-meat charcuterie board as well as you can go for desserts all the way.

And the interesting fact is that, if you look you will find never-ending ideas for charcuterie boards. Some will be exotic, some will be fruity-delicious, and some will be mouth-watering desserts-charcuterie board ideas.

Let me help you if you are confused about what to add to your board.

How to Choose Items for Your Charcuterie Board

Before jumping to the cutting and cooking process, fix your charcuterie board’s menu. For this, you need to consider 3 things.

• If any of your guests are allergic to anything, place items according to that. It’s important because you sure don’t want to turn your happy moment into a panicked one.
• Consider your party theme. You should select the items for the charcuterie board based on your theme. Make sure the presentation of your included items goes well with your party theme.
• Avoid using ingredients that melt soon. If your gathering or party is an outdoor event in summer, it’s better not to include any ingredients that melt very quickly.

6 Delicious Ideas for Meaty Charcuterie Boards

1. Serve your charcuterie board with pork jerky, roasted or candied nuts, Irish cheddar, apricots, grapes, raisin, and vegetable checkers.
2. Make your charcuterie board super tasty with smoked ham, beef biltong, feta, brie cheese, prosciutto, chicken pâté, olives in a side little bowl, and water crackers.
3. Some calabrese salami, gouda, manchego, green apples, raspberries, Ritz crackers, and dried figs on the charcuterie boards can never go wrong!
4. A charcuterie board decorated with beef jerky, brie, chorizo, dates, pistachios, strawberries, green apples, cherries, carrot, celery sticks, and water crackers will surely be the star of your party.
5. Want to try something different? Go for mint lamb biltong, prunes, cranberries, cherry tomatoes, pomegranates, rosemary crackers, and goat cheese.
6. You can also serve biltong, duck pâté, blue cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano, apricots, walnuts, honeyed pears, and water crackers on your charcuterie board.

10 Mouth-watering Dessert Charcuterie Board Ideas

1. No feast can end without dessert. So, for your charcuterie boards mix and combine different delights such as pancakes, waffles, oreo biscuits glazed with white chocolate, and strawberries.
2. Believe me when I say the combination of oreo biscuits, cinnamon cookies, and chocolate bars is heavenly.
3. You can place some truffles, fresh berries, and chocolate bars on your charcuterie board and serve it with Champagne.
4. If you want to arrange your charcuterie board to celebrate Valentine’s Day with your partner, you can select ingredients like heart-shaped candies and cookies, sugar hearts, and chocolate.
5. You can follow the french style to make your charcuterie dessert board. Use raw almonds, dark chocolate bars, and dried fruits.
6. For Easter, surprise your family with a board full of chocolate bunnies and eggs with some other favorite desserts of your family.
7. You should try Dutch biscuits if you haven’t already. It is crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and goes perfectly with a cup of tea. So, Dutch biscuits on the charcuterie board will be perfect for a tea party.
8. Though ice creams melt quickly, if you and your people love ice cream, it will be finished in no time. So you can also place different flavors of ice creams on your charcuterie board and win people’s hearts.
9. If you are tired of serving chocolates on your charcuterie board, you can go for the caramel apple slices with dried apricots and salty sticks instead. Or you can add a cheese board next to your chocolate charcuterie board.
10. If you or your guest are health conscious and are counting calories, go for healthy dessert boards with lots of colorful fruits.

What Can you Use Instead of a Charcuterie Board?

If you don’t want to spend a lot of money on a beautiful serving board for one occasion, simply line the top of your kitchen counter with butcher’s paper. If you are entertaining a large group, this is a great way to offer a large charcuterie board.

You can even serve your cured meats and cheese platters on marble boards, regular chopping boards, cool tea towels, a Lazy Susan, or some smaller boards or separate tiers or close to each other.

How to Create Dessert Charcuterie Board

1. Arrange your ingredients so that people can see their sizes, colors, and shapes.
2. Begin at the center of the board and design a form with each element that groups them near together.
3. Make sure to mix up the flavors and colors so that items of the same color don’t end up close to each other.
4. Pile up some items high to add additional depth to the board.
5. To place smaller foods, use small bowls.
6. Evenly distribute the color and shapes on the board.
7. Keep your plates and cutlery close by.
8. Enjoy the food with your guests.

Wrap Up

A charcuterie board is a new trend and a great way to serve your guest’s different food items, from meats to sweet treats. You can arrange it the way you want.

I hope you will try experimenting with the above ideas for meaty and dessert charcuterie boards. if you can think out of the box, you will be able to come up with creative ideas to entertain and win your guests’ hearts with your charcuterie board.