Do you love hosting parties at your home? Or are you more known for attending parties but bringing the best dishes or snacks to share? Either way, fancy cheese and snack displays are crushing the party game lately. Charcuterie boards are a great snack for everyone to enjoy as they typically offer fresh fruits and vegetables, dips, crackers, meats, and more. Building the ultimate charcuterie board requires a variety of ingredients, some planning, and even some creativity. Here are some tips to help create a board that everyone will be talking about.
- Pick a Theme
First, decide if there is a theme to this party or gathering. Are you celebrating a birthday, holiday, or something else? If so, there may be a way to incorporate a theme into your board. If it’s a birthday, you can include some dessert like snacks like mini cupcakes. Or a few birthday candles in blocks of cheese. The options are endless when you get creative!
- Examine the Guest List
Next, you want to look at who will be attending the party. How many people will be there to serve? Make sure you have enough to satisfy everyone and enough variety as well. You should also take any dietary restrictions into consideration when building your display. If someone is vegetarian, vegan, or gluten free make sure to have enough options for them as well.
- Decide on Ingredients
When deciding on ingredients make sure to have a wide variety of snacks that will appeal to everyone and satisfy the sweet, salty, and savory cravings.
Here’s a great rule of thumb to follow when building your display:
- 1-3 carbs such as crackers, bread, or pretzels
- 1-3 fruit options
- 3-5 cheeses
- 1-3 toppings such as jam, dip, mustard
- 3-5 meats
- Display
Lastly, the key to a show stopping charcuterie board is how you display it. Grab a nice statement tray or cheeseboard to display it on. You can get creative and use multiple tiers as well. Then, start in the middle with your largest snacks and work your way to the outside of the board. Try to mix up the board and to not place things that are too alike next to each other. Fill any bare spots with nuts, chocolate, or candy to make the board look full. You can try to implement a design if you are feeling creative or build a display of organized chaos.