Charcuterie boards are perfect for any gathering or holiday. Charcuterie, by the definition of its very name, is “meat centric”. Charcuterie boards are built of cured, smoked or processed meats, and occasionally some of those fancy-molded meat creations like pâtés, terrines and galantines. A charcuterie board provides an enormous variety of additional accompaniments.
Let’s dive into some of the best accompaniments to this meat-centric dish and how to pair them for your best charcuterie board for the holidays or any other gathering.
Pickled Varieties on Charcuterie Boards
Thankfully, one of the typical and most flavorful ingredients on a charcuterie board are pickles and pickled vegetables. We love a good opportunity to showcase our pickled veggies that only took us three days to create with our easy-to-make pickling pouches, but taste like they took much more effort on our part.
One of the primary reasons pickles are the perfect accompaniment for charcuterie boards for is that the meats on this tray, however they’re prepared or made, are on the savory side and often smoked, spiced, and rich in fat. Salami/Salumi, Mortadella, Capicola, Prosciutto, and especially creations such as pâtés are very rich and have a good deal of natural fat in their recipes. The acidity and tartness of pickles and pickled vegetables cuts right through that; as do artisanal mustards and chutneys which are commonly seen on charcuterie boards.
There is no limit to the pickled varieties you can choose from, making this even more fun. You can offer anything from classic pickles to other pickled vegetables and fruits like red onions, peppers, carrots, blueberries, cherry tomatoes, to your favorite olives.
Cheese Varieties on Charcuterie Boards
In addition to the featured meats, a variety of cheese is also a must. We recommend covering basic cheese groups from hard cheeses such as Parmesan; to medium firm and soft cheeses, such as a Gouda (sometimes the smoked version) or for the soft cheese, Brie is a popular choice. Goat cheese can often be a surprising accompaniment that is loved by many. For your dairy-free friends, there are many dairy free cheese varieties now available at most grocery stores as well.
Sweet and Salty Varieties for Charcuterie Boards
Other delicious accompaniments you’ll want to add to your charcuterie board this holiday season include fresh fruits (usually grapes), dried fruits such as apricot or mango, a premium nut assortment, jams. Top it all off with Artisanal crackers, toasted baguette bread slices, pretzels, or any other favorite salty, but carb-centric snack.
How to Make Your Charcuterie Board for the Holidays
Charcuterie boards are often put together and displayed on a wood butcher block board, flat wicker platter or even a large marble or ceramic tile such as the ones you can pick up quite reasonably at the local home improvement or flooring stores. Our first and primary tip with displaying your smorgasbord of offerings is to have fun!
Another important tip when making a charcuterie board is to give each of the meats and cheeses their own shapes. This can be done in a number of ways: either by cutting them into different size shapes, or rolling/folding them into a variety of shapes. All of these options add to the unique artistic presentation.
When it comes to your pickles or pickled vegetables, it will be especially important with a charcuterie board to place them into their own vessel when nesting them into the composition. This will prevent the brine juices from soaking into whatever meats, cheeses or other edibles adjacent to them.
Any of the Great Lakes Pickling Company pouch flavors are good candidates for pickling vegetables for this platter. The most popular flavors/choices for charcuterie boards include Polish Dill, Spicy Garlic Dill, or our Granny’s Bread & Butter for cucumbers, any pickled vegetable, or even a medley of bell peppers, carrots, cauliflower, etc.
You may wish to consider using one of the popular mini-cukes on the market nowadays. If you can find the ones that are only thumb size, just slicing them in half lengthwise can give you a perfect size to place them standing up in a small ramekin or souffle cup.
Charcuterie Board for the Holidays Guide
Below is a general guide to the products we most recommend considering to make a beautiful and tasty charcuterie board for your next gathering.
When it comes to amounts, a general rule of thumb would be 2 to 3 ounces of total meats and the same for the cheeses.
MEATS (Choose a minimum of 3)
- Salami, Artisanal Salumi or Serrano Ham
- Capicola (Sweet or Hot)
- Mortadella (with or without pistachio nuts)
- Prosciutto
- Sopresetta
- Liver pâtés (Duck or Goose liver preferred)
- Cured Chorizo or Summer Sausage
CHEESES (Choose a minimum of 2 from different categories)
- Parmesan, Asiago or Gruyere Cheese (Hard)
- Gouda or Aged Provolone
- Brie or Camembert
- Sharp Cheddar or Pinconning
- Stilton or Roquefort or Bleu
PICKLES (Choose 2, see comments above)
- Cucumbers (aka classic pickles)
- Peppers
- Carrots
- Olives
- Vegetable Medley
- Pickled dips
CONDIMENTS (Choose a mustard and a minimum of 1 additional)
- Whole Grain Mustard or Dijon Mustard
- Fig Spread
- Mango Chutney
- Caponata (Eggplant)
- Apple Butter
- Pepper Jelly
- Corn Relish
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes (in Oil)
- Orange Marmalade
FRESH FRUITS (Minimum of 1)
- Green or Red Grapes (both if possible, this is the top fruit choice)
- Sliced Fresh Pear or Honey Crisp Apple
- Kiwi
- Strawberries or Raspberries
DRIED FRUITS (Choose 1)
- Apricot
- Mango
- Dates or Figs
- Pineapple
OTHER
- Premium Nuts and or Candied Nuts (Almond or Pecans)
- Crackers (Flats are best)
- Toasted Baguette Slices
- Grissini Sticks (Make a nice vertical addition)
WHAT NOT TO INCLUDE
- Beef Jerky
- Dinner Rolls
- Typical Deli Ham
- No Cheap Lunch Meats (Bologna, etc.)
- Chicken, Turkey or Poultry Meats
- Yellow Salad Mustard
Enjoy preparing your charcuterie board for the holidays! Let us know how it turns out.
As an alternative, we recently shared with you an article about making relish trays. In that article, we defined a traditional Relish Tray as primarily a pickled vegetable assortment, with the more modern versions occasionally adding fresh vegetables (crudité), and perhaps some cheese or a dip/spread. It is the “cousin” to the charcuterie board, where the focus is on the pickled varieties rather than the meat.
