,

How to Make a Charcuterie Board as a Healthy Appetizer

Katie Wells Avatar

Reading Time: 5 minutes

This post contains affiliate links.

Read my affiliate policy.

Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » How to Make a Charcuterie Board as a Healthy Appetizer

Have you ever heard of a charcuterie board? If not, it’s simply a French word for a platter of cured meats and cheeses, and sometimes dried fruits, nuts, and pickles. I kept seeing them at events and on appetizer menus in nice restaurants and finally decided to try making my own.

It proved to be a lot of fun to put together and an easy way to make loads of veggies and healthy fats look beautiful and tempting!

How to Make a Charcuterie Board Appetizer

Charcuterie boards all contain a variety of cured meats and cheeses (although if you don’t eat meat, you could leave it off and still make a delicious one). Sometimes they also include a variety of pickled vegetables, dried fruits, nuts, crackers or bread, and a jam or two.

I like to add a selection of fresh fruits and vegetables too. Yes, they’re more frequently included on a crudité platter, but I’m all about offering a wide variety of fresh produce, especially if the charcuterie board is dinner.

Cured Meats

I like to have about three or four different meat options on my board — usually one that’s a little spicy and some more kid-friendly options. That way there’s something for everyone!

Here are some meat suggestions:

  • Prosciutto
  • Salami
  • Cured chorizo
  • Capocollo
  • Smoked turkey

I look for nitrate-free and pastured/grass-fed meats whenever possible. (A particular favorite I used on my board were the beef sticks from REP Provisions, paired with their pecan butter and some fresh fruit.)

Cheeses

There are so many amazing cheeses out there that it’s easy to go a little overboard. Keep in mind how many people you’ll be serving and try to stick with about five different cheese offerings. I try to pick a variety of textures and flavors and again, include a kid-friendly option.

  • A smoky cheese like a smoked cheddar or gouda
  • A creamy choice like brie or fresh marinated mozzarella
  • Something hard like Parmesan
  • An alternate milk cheese like goat cheese
  • Something familiar like Colby jack

Pickles

Pickled foods add a nice tanginess to the richness of the meats and cheeses on a charcuterie board. I love the health benefits of fermented and pickled foods so I usually have several options already on hand. Try some of these:

Dried Fruits

Dried fruits are a pretty straightforward category and also easy to find and select. Just choose whichever fruits appeal to you. Our favorites include dried apricots, mangoes, sun dried tomatoes, apple chips, and cherries.

Nuts

Optional, but they add a nice texture contrast to the numerous soft foods. Try pistachios, almonds, cashews, or Baruka nuts. I try to buy pre-soaked or soak my own nuts for best digestion.

Crackers

Crackers aren’t completely necessary, but they are handy for the softer cheeses like goat and brie. Since we don’t consume many grains I usually buy grain-free crackers like these. You can buy plain salted crackers or some flavored with herbs and spices.

Jams and Mustards

A grainy mustard is tasty with some of these meats, and fig or raspberry jam goes wonderfully with brie cheese.

Side note: fig jam is super easy to make. Just simmer dried figs in an equal amount of water, add a splash of lemon juice, and puree! Here are more detailed instructions.

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

I like the fresh, clean taste that fruits and veggies add to this board. I try to choose small, bite-size produce. For fruits I mostly use raspberries, blueberries, and grapes. For vegetables I use snap peas, thinly sliced radishes, and mini peppers.

Building a Charcuterie Board

Assembling a charcuterie board is actually a lot simpler than it looks. The first thing to do is to decide on what to use for a board. Any large platter or cutting board will work but they also make cheese boards with all the accessories that work great. (Just keep in mind that once you put all the food on it, it might be quite heavy and awkward to carry. Sometimes it’s easiest to put the board where you want it and then put everything on it.)

After choosing a board, I usually line up all my ingredients on the back of my counter. I group them by category and slice any hard cheeses, meats, and vegetables that need slicing.

If I have anything that needs to be served in a jar or bowl, such as jams, mustards, pickles, and olives, I put them in whatever I’ll be using as serving jars. They’re going to be the tallest components of the display, so I place them on the board first.

Next, I place the meats in piles here and there around and in between the jars. Keep in mind that you don’t need to put out the full amount of everything you have at once. Just put some of it out and refill the board later if need be.

After the meats, I do the same thing with the cheeses, followed by the nuts, dried fruits, and fresh fruits and veggies.

Add any serving utensils such as cheese knives (or butter knives) for the soft cheeses, small spoons for mustard or jam, little sets of tongs, or toothpicks.

And that’s it! It is a little time consuming to get the board ready, but the perk is that there is no cooking involved at all and very little clean up. I consider it a fair trade! Once everything is ready, I can just relax and enjoy.

Charcuterie Board Recipe

Make a healthy charcuterie board with cured meats, cheeses, pickles, and fruits.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Calories 515kcal
Author Katie Wells

Servings

6 people

Ingredients

  • 12 oz cured meats (chorizo, salami, prosciutto, capicola, turkey)
  • 12 oz cheese (Parmesan, goat, fresh mozzarella, smoked cheddar or gouda, Colby jack)
  • ¼ cup each pickles (choose 2 or 3: baby dills, kalamata olives, green olives, pickled onions, pickled beets)
  • ¼ cup each dried fruit (choose 2 or 3: cherries, apricots, apple chips, mango, sun dried tomatoes)
  • ¼ cup each nuts (choose 2 or 3: almonds, cashews, pistachios)
  • cup crackers
  • ¼ cup mustards and/or jams
  • fresh vegetables (choose 2 or 3: snap peas, cherry tomatoes, sliced radishes, mini peppers)
  • fresh fruits (choose 2 or 3: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes)

Instructions

  • Assemble all the ingredients on the kitchen counter and group by category.
  • Slice any hard cheeses and fresh fruits and vegetables that need slicing.
  • Put the jams, mustards, pickles, olives, and nuts in small jars or bowls.
  • Space the jars and bowls a few inches apart on the board.
  • Place the meats and cheeses around and between the jars.
  • Add the dried fruits, fresh fruits and vegetables, and crackers to the board.
  • Add knives and spoons to soft cheeses, jams, and mustards.
  • Serve and enjoy, replenishing as needed.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Charcuterie Board Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 515 Calories from Fat 351
% Daily Value*
Fat 39g60%
Saturated Fat 18g113%
Cholesterol 110mg37%
Sodium 1732mg75%
Potassium 115mg3%
Carbohydrates 15g5%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 4g4%
Protein 31g62%
Vitamin A 758IU15%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 455mg46%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

Feel free to use any other selections you’d like for this: the options listed are just suggestions!

Have you ever made a charcuterie board? Is there anything I missed that you love?

Sources

Become a VIP member!

Get access to my VIP newsletter with health tips, special deals, my free ebook on Seven Small Easy Habits and so much more!

Easy Habits ebook on ipad

Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

2 responses to “How to Make a Charcuterie Board as a Healthy Appetizer”

  1. Emily Benito Avatar
    Emily Benito

    This is great! Just found your site. Question- I stopped buying cured meats for my family because I learned they have carcinogens What are your thoughts on that?

    1. Katie Wells Avatar

      I look for natural and uncured/naturally cured options. For instance, I love Paleo Valley beef sticks since they are naturally cured and have probiotics.

4 from 2 votes (2 ratings without comment)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating