How to Create a Festive & Rustic Holiday Charcuterie Board

Charcuterie boards are probably my favorite appetizer item to serve at every party, gathering, and holiday. They are fairly easy to assemble, and the options are endless. With so many meats, cheeses, jams, and other treats to choose from, a charcuterie board is not only fun to make, but usually a crowd pleaser because it has a little bit of everything on it. Here is how I create a festive & rustic holiday charcuterie board to serve to family and friends at our parties and gatherings.

First, you need to have some kind of serving dish large enough to accommodate the charcuterie board you are creating. I like to serve my charcuterie platters on large rusting bread boards, but you could use any wooden board or serving platter. For my holiday platters I use an 18×24″ bread board. This gives me enough room to put a large selection of meats and cheeses and other items on the board. You want to fill the board for presentation purposes, so if you are making a smaller charcuterie board, use a smaller serving dish.

Selecting the items for your charcuterie board is the fun part! Typical items for a charcuterie board include:

• Cheeses
• Cured Meats
• Jams & Jellies
• Grapes
• Mixed Nuts
• Crackers
• Hummus, olive topenade, or other spread

I like to have at least 3 of each. For this board I have 3 hard cheeses, 3 soft cheeses, 3 cured meats, and 3 types of crackers. I also have grapes and mixed nuts. For this platter I used a pepper jelly on the brie cheese, but you could choose to serve the jam separately as well. I also served a dish of olive topenade. Everything that I used to create this rustic charcuterie board was found at my local Trader Joe’s, making this not only a beautiful spread but also an affordable one.

I try to alternate between cheese, meats and crackers so that similar items are not touching (but it is ok if they do!). Starting from the center I add one thing at a time in a spiral pattern, trying to balance the board so there are some cheeses on all sides, some meats on all sides, some crackers on all sides. Grapes make for great filler, so when you have empty spaces just add grapes.

Up to this point you have an everyday charcuterie board. To make it festive for the holidays I always add just two simple things: fresh sprigs of rosemary and fresh cranberries! Just take your fresh sprigs (4-5) and insert them randomly throughout your charcuterie board. I like to have mine all pointing away from the center. As for the cranberries, they make for a great filler as well so I just add heaps of them wherever there is blank spots, and let them fall all over the place.

It is as simple as that to create a festive holiday charcuterie board. Just add your favorite cheeses, meats, nuts, grapes, and jams/spreads and your guests are sure to enjoy the tasty nibbles at your next party!

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