Technically, a charcuterie board is a platter full of just meats. Charcuterie is just too fun of a word to not say so from here on out I will refer to any type of meat and cheese boards as charcuterie boards. Now that we got that out of the way, let’s talk about how to create an Instagram worthy charcuterie board!
Our friends recently hosted a wine tasting day at their house and we made a few boards. I bought items for my own board and my friend bought a lot of items for multiple boards so there could be even more of an array of meats, cheeses, jams, etc.
There are sooo many food options that could go together on boards but below is what my husband and I ultimately put together.
For my board, I planned to design it with salty and sweet items. My husband and I went to Trader Joes and found some various crackers and chocolate s’mores morsels that I knew would be perfect for it. I needed to balance that sweetness out with some other types of sweet flavors so I went for raspberries, green apples, and some authentic peach ring gummy candies from a local candy shop. The green apples, raspberries, and peach rings also made for a great pop of color! For the meats, I focused on them being salty so I went with a stick of salami and freshly sliced prosciutto from a local deli. I wanted one cheese wedge for the board and we went with brie because it is creamy with a mild flavor so it wouldn’t be too overpowering for all the other foods on the board. Full disclosure- I am extremely lactose intolerant so I don’t really know cheeses but I Googled that LOL.
My friend and I had no idea how much of everything we would need but we definitely got way more than needed. There was a total of 10 people at the wine tasting and we got 1lb of prosciutto- we had more than half left over. We got 2 sticks of salami and only finished 1. Had 2 apples and only fully sliced/used 1. Used 1 small container of raspberries and didn’t even have room to put them all out. We did have so many different types of foods on several boards which aided in the left overs but wanted to give some insight into how much may be needed!
The assembly of the board is the fun part but also equally overwhelming. We found that while visualizing and having some sort of a planned helps at first, winging it winds up making it come together to have that effortless look. In the end, the look of having everything touch, various heights, and balanced colors and foods is what is most important. I started with the ceramic bowl and worked by way around the board from there. The sliced apples were great to plop in multiple different places to break up either too much of the same meat or crackers. For my board, the prosciutto looks best being rolled almost like a rose rather than rolls laying flat/straight across like you probably had with lunch meat growing up. Rolling it in a rose type shape also helps to add some more height and dimension to the board. And there you have it- an Instagram worthy salty and sweet charcuterie board perfect for anytime of the year but especially great for wine tastings at home! I can’t wait to see your version of this salty and sweet charcuterie board!
Don’t forget to save this post to remember how to make a beautiful, Instagram worthy charcuterie board for your next gathering!
