How to Build a Charcuterie Board | Holiday Entertaining

This post is sponsored by Meijer. All opinions expressed are my own.

A Charcuterie Board is such a fun way to share all those delicious cheeses, meats, nuts, and fruit! Get all the details on how to make one!

The holidays are upon us and I wanted to share a fun way to serve your friends and family during the season of holiday entertaining. My family LOVES finger foods. Have you ever seen the movie "Mermaid" with Cher and Winona Ryder? I think my kids could totally get on board with her meal choices ;)! Today I want to walk you through how to Build a Charcuterie Board with the ingredients I picked up at my local Meijer! It can look a little overwhelming, but I promise it's extremely hard to mess up!

You can make a Charcuterie board with pretty much anything! I've seen them made with desserts, candy, veggies, and even a red neck version! This is a pretty basic version including meats, cheeses, crackers, dips, etc. But let's walk through the ingredients for a perfect holiday charcuterie board!

How to Build a Charcuterie Board Perfect for Holiday Entertaining

I created a little visual aid for you above, but we can dive in a little deeper for some of my tips and suggestions.

Step 1: The Base

The very first think you will want to do is find the proper size cutting board, a few small dishes for dipping, and even some utensils for spreading or cutting.

Step 2: Dips & Finger Foods

I like to use ramekins and small metal containers for anything that could spread liquid (olives, pickles, etc) and dips. This keeps your board nice and clean! FYI I found the best fresh pickles at Meijer, definitely check those out!

Step 3: Meats and Cheeses

When you get to the meat and cheese portion is when it gets fun and your board begins filling up. For cheese I like to pre-slice some things, and then leave some solid for visual aesthetics. You can certainly slice everything ahead of time. You can also leave full blocks. My personal opinion would be if it's a more intimate setting (with less people), just slice a few pieces. If you're entertaining a large group, go ahead and slice everything because the food is more likely to go fast!

For the meat, folding each piece up so that they are easy to grab, is both more efficient and pretty! If your using deli meat you might want to cut some pieces in half or even quarter them depending on what type of charcuterie board you're serving up.

Step 4: Crackers and Bread

Next up comes the crackers and bread. This is essentially the base for creating your little mini appetizers from all the goodies on your board. You want to make sure you have enough for all the other ingredients to be used up. I like to offer multiple different crackers for different flavor profiles. These will also be used for the dips so don't forget about matching those flavors up!

Step 5: Fruit

Fruit is what starts to make this Charcuterie Board really come together and look pretty! Grapes are always a win, they just add a totally different dynamic than anything else layered on your board! Other good options are strawberries, blueberries, apples, and pomegranates.

Step 6: Finishing touches for your Charcuterie Board

Once you have the bulk of your food on the board its time to fill in the gaps. You will definitely have little holes here and there and that's totally ok! Because we are going to fill those with candied nuts, fresh herbs, and leafy vegetables. Meijer has some delicious nuts and those were such a fun element to add! Something I didn't use here today, but I think would be gorgeous is whole carrots with the stems still attached!

I hope this post helps you be able to Build the Perfect Holiday Charcuterie Board and I look forward to creating more of these throughout the different seasons!