A charcuterie board is the perfect way to entertain during the holidays.  Today I am sharing how to make the perfect holiday charcuterie board using simple ingredients right from the grocery store.  Using a combination of cheeses, meats, seasonal fruits, nuts, and crackers you can have a stunning charcuterie board that your guests can enjoy!

Who doesn’t love a good cheese board?  It’s the ultimate way to host a gathering of friends and family and really feeds a crowd for little effort on your part.  To make your board extra stunning, it’s all about using a combination of textures, shapes, flavors, and colors.  I tend to switch this up based upon the season, which is why this board has jewel tones throughout based on the fruit I selected.

It’s also important to have a variety of cheeses on your board.  I always like to mix some hard cheeses like a cheddar, a soft brie with honeycomb on top, goat cheese with jam, a “stinky” cheese like blue or camembert, and a couple of wild cards depending on the selection at the store.  Feel free to get creative here and use your favorites, but just make sure you have a variety of flavors and shapes!

In addition to cheese, a charcuterie board isn’t a charcuterie without some meats as well.  I like to use prosciutto, salamis, sopressata, or any other cured meats that you might enjoy.  You can use whichever meats that you like here.  Crackers are also essential and you will need a few varieties of olives, and nuts too. Dried fruit is another great addition to any board.

I tend to keep a variety of these ingredients on hand for spur of the moment entertaining because a cheeseboard can be put together fairly quickly if need be! I always have a few cheeses, a little salami, fruit, and a few pantry items ready to go if I need to whip up a board with little notice!

As far as assembly goes, I like to place my cheeses first, then my bowls of olives and nuts, next I fold my meats in half and layer them in for texture, followed by the fruit, and then I fill in the gaps with extra nuts and fresh herbs to make it feel a little fancy.

Serve it up with your favorite wine or bubbly and enjoy! Not so hard right?

Ingredients:

Cheese/Meats:

• Dill Havarti

• Merlot Cheese

• Cheddar

• Brie with Honeycomb

• Goat Cheese with Fig Jam

• Genoa Salami

• Peppered Salami

• Prosciutto

• Sopressata

Other:

• Grapes

• Pomegranate

• Oranges

• Apples

• Castelvetrano Olives

• Mixed Olives

• Pistachios

• Wasabi Almonds

• Cracker Variety

• Fresh Herbs for Garnish

Directions:

Arrange ingredients onto a large board and serve with bubbles or wine.

Note: Feel free to mix up all of the ingredients for your favorites.

I hope with these tips, you can feel confident in making your own beautiful board for your family and friends this holiday season! Cheers!