Get creative with a charcuterie board!

I’m sure you’ve seen these gorgeous “buffet on a board” creations in magazines and on social media. Meat and cheese (and more) artistically arranged to be appealing to the eye as well as the tastebuds. Perhaps cooking isn’t an area you feel is creative. What’s creative about following someone else’s recipe? Well then here’s your answer…anyone can get creative with a charcuterie board!

From the French, meaning literally “cooked flesh,” a charcuterie board traditionally contains cold sliced meats, cheeses, crackers/breads, spreads, and maybe fruits or vegetables. The key is mixing a variety of flavors, textures, and colors out of things you enjoy.

You might be thinking, “Well, a meal where everyone puts their grubby little hands in to grab some isn’t very COVID wise!” No, it’s not…unless you’re just doing it to serve your own family at home…then I say GO FOR IT…and let the kids help!

A close friend and her daughter really love putting together a charcuterie board just for their own supper. She’s sent so many beautiful pictures, she inspired me to try it, and I included my 21-year-old daughter as well. But then of course, I also challenged myself to try for a Whole30 (or very close to it) version. Here’s how our adventure turned out…

Our traditional charcuterie board

Our first round was more traditional with more focus on prepared meats and cheeses. Here’s what we used clock-wise (starting top left):

• Cranberry White Cheddar wheel
• Multi-seed flatbread
• Smoked Gouda
• Cracked pepper wafers
• Blackberry Lime jam (thanks Marcy Jams!)
• “Everything” Pretzel Crisps
• Pepperoni
• Town House crackers
• Pesto
• Muenster
• More Cranberry White Cheddar
• Tropical Storm jam (thanks again Marcy Jams!)
• More Pretzel Crisps
• Hard salami
• And of course, an edging of kale just for the color (we’re having kale chips later!)

You know I’m all about saving as well, and knowing this one might be pretty expensive, I saved where I could. I purchased everything at Aldi or Kroger, even finding the Pretzel Crisps on a BOGO sale and the Town House Crackers on a sale WITH a digital coupon. For the actual board, we used about half the package of most items. Adding up half of each then, the total for this board was $21.69 before tax for the 3 of us.

Our Whole30 charcuterie board

For Round Two, we had to get creative. Compliant meats are a little challenging to find, and many of our other options had to be homemade. So, yes, overall time preparing for this one was more extensive…but SO worth it! Even forgot a couple of things I might use in a future post. Here’s what we used (again clock-wise starting at top left corner):

• A mix of almonds, cashews and sunflower seeds
• Wellshire Turkey Andouille sausage
• Southern Grove dried Mission figs
• Raw Jicama slabs
• Carrot sticks
• Paleo Buffalo Chicken Dip and Tostones (thanks paleorunningmomma.com!)
• Homemade Microwave Potato chips (thanks @blogilates)
• Homemade Ranch dressing (thanks 5dollardinners.com!)
• Patience Fruit & Co. dried cranberries (only sweetened with apple juice – from Sprouts)
• Orange bell pepper strips
• Zucchini sticks
• Cooked Butcher Shop uncured applewood no sugar Paleo friendly bacon pieces (I believe this may be a Sprouts store brand)
• Chipotle ranch dip (another from paleorunningmomma)
• Aidell’s Chicken Apple sausage
• Southern Grove dried apricots
• More homemade potato chips
• English cucumber slices
• More pepper slices, tostones, and bacon pieces
• Sunshine sauce (this one’s in Whole30 cookbook!)
• And more carrot sticks and cucumber slices

(Both ranch dips used homemade Basic Mayo – see my mayo adventures here)

I’m listing the brands here not as an ad, but so you can more easily find things that I had to really look for to be compliant. Again, I tried to save as much money as possible and got most things from Sprouts, Aldi, Publix and Kroger. The Aidell’s sausages were on sale AND I had a paper coupon, and I bought coconut milk and cream at Publix because their daily price is better than Kroger’s on these. And honestly, any of these veggies or fruits or nuts could have gone on the traditional board as well.

Because I used some ingredients that were already in my pantry (and who can really estimate the cost of 1 tsp of a spice in a recipe), this total cost is much more of a guess, but again I only included the portion of the packages we actually used on the board. Total was approximately $27.05 for the board for 3 of us.

Honestly, I thought this would be cheaper, but when I realize how many things we put on here, we probably went overboard. Next time I would cut back a bit and save myself some time and money. But it sure was a fun experiment!

How kids can help with charcuterie

Of course, they can go shopping with you and choose items to include. If you have multiple kids, maybe each one gets to choose a meat and cheese and cracker. Or maybe one kid covers cheese, one covers meat, and one chooses spreads. Do it however it makes sense for your family and the kids’ ages.

Challenge them to maybe try a new thing or look for things that cover all the colors available. Some meats and cheeses can get pricey; so maybe tell each one the amount they need to stay under per item. Good practice for reading prices and making decisions (I struggled with this myself!)

If they’re big enough, they can help with cutting, folding, rolling or whatever else creative you want to do with your meat and cheese. The oldest ones can be in charge of arranging everything on the board (or tray or platter or plate – use what you have) as this sometimes takes a little more coordination.

Let’s see YOUR charcuterie board!

That’s right…I’m challenging you to make your own charcuterie board and let us SEE it! (New Year’s Eve supper maybe???) Post your pic on Instagram and tag @missmelliecooks OR email your pic to me at missmellie@missmelliecooks.com and I’ll add a few to this post!

Here’s some of the fun submissions so far…great work! Thanks for sharing!