Our Best Charcuterie Tips for Any Size Gathering - Amorepas Kitchen (2024)

Throwing a party and stumped about what to do for food? Build a charcuterie board and impress your guests with abundant savory nibbles without being stuck in the kitchen all night.

Charcuterie boards are easy to make and even easier to pass around. They are also the perfect option for gatherings of all sizes.

To create the charcuterie dream spread, you’ll need professional guidance – which we have!

From planning your spread to visual appeal charcuterie tips, here’s everything you need to know about mastering charcuterie boards and wowing your guests.

How many charcuterie boards will you need? How do you figure out ingredient amounts? What is the meal context?

Don’t stress! The first step to mastery is figuring out your headcount and the event needs.

Here’s how to do that.

First up, determine how many guests you’re feeding. Are you hosting a small at-home gathering or is this for a big event with a couple dozen people? Are guests bringing plus ones to the event?

Determine a rough estimate of the headcount. It’s always a good idea to round up and prepare for a few extra people, just in case.

The type you choose, and its main components, depend on your event, your budget, and, of course, personal taste. If you have an event theme, that could also influence your final product.

Keep your meal context in mind when deciding on ingredients, ingredient amounts, and visual focal points. It’ll offer much-needed guidance when faced with the dozens of food and placement options out there.

Once you know your headcount and the meal context, you can determine how much meat, cheese, crackers, bread, etc. you need to buy.

If served as a light appetizer, plan for guests to take around 3 ounces each of meat and cheese. Up those portions to a hearty 6 ounces per person if the charcuterie board is the focal point. There should be at least one cracker or piece of bread for every slice of meat on the board.

Pro tip: it’s better to have leftovers than run short, so grab extra of every item you’re offering.

Also, prepare a few extra vegetarian and vegan options. Fruits and vegetables are affordable, so having more for people with dietary restrictions won’t be a big budget biter.

Prepared meats are integral to charcuterie boards. They’re delicious and filling and are a striking visual component among the fruits and cheeses.

When shopping, seek out a diverse mix of cured meats and textures from smooth pâtés to dry salamis and flavors from mild prosciuttos to spicy chorizos. Look for meats that pair well with cheese and spreads.

Snag an assortment of cheeses such as aged goudas, soft goat cheeses, pungent blues, and nutty Swiss. Consider every palate.

Allow for 2-3 ounces per guest. Also, remember to provide cheese knives for slicing logs.

You can also prepare vegan cheese options for vegan guests. There are many delicious modern options to choose from, ones even your non-vegan guests will enjoy.

Offer an abundance of neutral crackers, toasts, and baguettes to transport all those tasty toppings.

Good crunch is key! The goal is to play with the cheeses, meats, and spread textures, and offer an immersive culinary experience that engages more than just the taste buds.

As much as charcuterie is about the flavors, it’s also about the visual appeal. We eat with our eyes.

So, elevate your charcuterie presentation with decorative butcher paper or wood boards. You can also use smaller individual charcuterie boards that guests can grab and nosh from as they move around and chat.

Bonus if you have fancy spreader knives, ramekins, pretty toothpicks, and napkins. There are so many beautiful, eclectic charcuterie utensils out there – investing in a set or two is guaranteed to win your guests over.

A large reason charcuterie boards are so popular is because they look good. The colors, the textures, the utensils – it’s an adult food lover’s kryptonite!

To ensure your charcuterie board has the same captivating visual appeal, use these styling tips.

Use these placement guidelines to nail that Instagram-worthy charcuterie board vibe:

• Go From Large To Small: When placing your ingredients around the charcuterie board, put down the large items first. Then the medium bites. Finish it off with the small food items. This ensures you have enough space for all the food bits on the board and the yummy items are easy to grab and go.
• Alternate The Savory Flavors: Alternate the meat and cheese placement to offer a variety of options on every charcuterie board and provide a feast of flavors.
• Cluster The Accents: Cluster the jams and spreads in the middle of the charcuterie board. Or, if your board has a unique design, toward the edge. But keep the accents together.
• Provide Separate Spreaders: To prevent flavors from mixing and practice good food hygiene, include a spreader for each spreadable component on the charcuterie board. Also, provide small tongs for attendees to pick up meats and cheeses without touching other foods on the board.

For that extra elevated touch, consider these visual appeal tips when packing your charcuterie boards.

• Play With Shapes And Textures: Part of the visual appeal of charcuterie boards is how they engage the senses. To create a masterful board, play with the shapes and dimensions of the food. Vary the placement by playing with the shapes, colors, textures, and sizes of the food components. Get creative and don’t hesitate to experiment.
• Use Open Space For Emphasis: Emphasize certain meats and cheese by leaving space open. Not sure how to do it? Look up charcuterie boards online and study how professionals place their boards and where they leave artfully placed open spaces.
• Embrace Abundance: Humility is an important character trait, one we should all strive for. This applies everywhere except for charcuterie boards. Embrace your inner maximalist. Guests should think “wow!” when they see the charcuterie boards. That’s how you know you succeeded.

Scale up your base with multiple matching charcuterie boards lined up. Allow ample room for many hands sampling treats side-by-side.

If the group is too large or your budget doesn’t support that many charcuterie boards, line a table with rustic butcher paper and place the charcuterie items on the table. Combine it with the next tip.

As delicious as fruits are, meat and cheese are the first items to go with charcuterie meetups. It makes sense. Meat and cheese are delicious. They’re also packed with protein, which satisfies appetites better and faster than carbs and fats.

But stocking enough cheese and meat to satisfy a large group can overwhelm the charcuterie board balance and take a bite out of your budget.

To maintain a balanced mix of food items and satisfy your guests, offer an assortment of delicious nuts, like pistachios, dark chocolate-covered almonds, and ginkgo nuts alongside the other charcuterie bits.

Nuts are filled with protein, more satisfying than fruits, and your options (whether raw, coated, or caramelized) are endless.

With so many people moving around the food, touching the food, and moving around the room, food safety is of utmost importance at charcuterie events!

Before the event, properly disinfect and season your charcuterie boards. You don’t need to sand down the board when seasoning it. Just wipe it thoroughly, remove any surface imperfections, and rub it down with oil or beeswax to prevent bacteria growth and facilitate smooth cutting.

Next, provide a variety of tongs and spreaders to prevent any cross-contamination.

Lastly, offer napkins and even wipes to ensure everyone stays clean while handling the food.

With large groups, there’s guaranteed to be people with alternative lifestyles who need different charcuterie options. If you provide nuts, crackers, fruits, and cheese, then your vegetarian guests will be sorted.

For vegan guests, you’ll have to go a step further. Luckily, vegan food options have increased drastically and improved in taste in recent years. Create a small section on your charcuterie table for vegan guests and provide an assortment of vegan options, like vegan cheese and vegan spreads.