Are you having guests over and wondering what to serve as an appetizer? This quick charcuterie board for 6-8 people is the perfect way to please everyone with a variety of crackers, cheese, deli meat, olives, fresh and dried fruit, and spreads. It takes less than 5 minutes to prepare a beautiful platter. I include a shopping list in this post, so it’s easy to pick up the ingredients on your next trip to the store.
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What Is A Charcuterie Board?
In case you’re not familiar with the topic of this post, a charcuterie board is a preparation of meat products such as salami, smoked ham, sausage, terrines, pâtés, and confit.The French word for a person who practices charcuterie ischarcutier, translated as pork butcher. However, a charcuterie board may contain a variety of preserved meats.
The board I prepared for this post is a hybrid charcuterie-cheese board since we prefer cheese over cured meat. That’s the beauty of this type of board. You can customize it to your family and your guest’s individual preferences.
Presentation
For the presentation of this board, you will need a large stone or wooden board. I used a rectangular slate board with handles, but you could use a round or square board made of another type of stone (marble, granite, or quartz) or a wooden cutting board. As long as the board is food-safe and the appropriate size, you’re all set. You may also want some small glass or ceramic containers and mini spoons to hold jams, spreads, and items with a high moisture content like olives and preserved artichokes. Cheese knives and forks for serving charcuterie meat are also a nice touch.
What To Buy For The Quick Charcuterie Board For 6-8 People
Variety pack of crackers (with 4-5 different kinds of crackers)
2-3 different types of cheese or cheese spreads
Olives
A fresh pear or two and/or a small bunch of red grapes
Deli meat (salami and/or prosciutto)
Dried fruit (apricots, figs, or cranberries)
One or two spreads (mango chutney, grainy mustard, and/or red pepper jelly)
Fresh herbs for display (tarragon, oregano, or thyme)
Placement Of Charcuterie Ingredients
I like to start by placing little stacks of crackers in a few places on the board. Then I fill in with the cheese, meats, and other ingredients. I add the fresh herb sprigs at the end. All of our ingredients and the slate board were sourced from The Real Canadian Superstore.
Where To Place The Charcuterie Board When Entertaining
The board is best placed near where everyone will be gathered. It could be casually located on a dining room sideboard, coffee table, or kitchen island. If you’re serving the board as the first course of your meal rather than a snack or appetizer, then go ahead and place it in the centre of the dining table. Wherever you place the board, ensure you have a stack of small plates and napkins nearby so guests can choose a selection of items for themselves.
Extras For Snack or Appetizer Time
If the charcuterie board will be a snack or appetizer, then you may want to serve it with a plate of something fresh-baked, like crostini, focaccia slices, muffins, cookies, or scones, and a speciality beverage or co*cktail. I made some currant scones and cranberry punch with ice to go with this particular board.
I recommend my lemon cranberry scone recipe or my crusty french bread recipe as an accompaniment to this platter.
Summary
I hope you have enjoyed reading about how to prepare this quick charcuterie board for 6-8 people. It really is such a quick and easy way to entertain. Take this handy list with you to the grocery store the next time you are expecting guests. This platter also makes a great addition to a potluck gathering as there will likely be something to please everyone.
Are you having guests over and wondering what to serve as an appetizer? This quick charcuterie board for 6-8 people is the perfect way to please everyone with a variety of crackers, cheese, deli meat, olives, fresh and dried fruit, and spreads. It takes less than 5 minutes to prepare a beautiful platter.
Are you having guests over and wondering what to serve as an appetizer? This quick charcuterie board for 6-8 people is the perfect way to please everyone with a variety of crackers, cheese, deli meat, olives, fresh and dried fruit, and spreads. It takes less than 5 minutes to prepare a beautiful platter.
3-4oz cheese and meat combined per person, as an appetizer. OR 6-8oz cheese and meat combined per person as a meal. 2-3 pieces of fruit per person. 3-8 oz bread/crackers per person (3-4 as an appetizer, 6-8 as a meal)
2 ounces of charcuterie per person. It's pretty rich. If you're doing it for a co*cktail party, where the charcuterie is the majority of the food people are eating, you're going to double the amount of meat and serve it with plenty of bread. So about 5 ounces per person.
What is the 3-3-3-3 Rule for Charcuterie Boards? No matter the style of the wood charcuterie board, you can always follow the 3-3-3-3 rule. Every charcuterie board should have three meats, three cheeses, three starch options, and three accompaniments, such as fruit, nuts, or veggies.
No worries! Here is the estimated amount of an ideal charcuterie per person serving: 2-3 oz meat, 4-5 sliced cheeses, and fewer additional accompaniments while presenting as an appetizer. 5-6 oz meat, 6-7 sliced cheeses, and plenty of additional accompaniments while serving as an entire meal.
Ryan Culver, a co-founder of Platterful, a premade charcuterie board business, recommends a board that is 12 x 8 for a more standard charcuterie board. If you are looking for something bigger or to feed a larger crowd, a board around 20 x 12 inches should do the trick.
As with everything else, we're shooting for variety in flavor and texture so aim to include at least three types of cheese. To please palates of all kinds, you can start with a milder choice like our mozzarella or provolone.
There are endless options for what to include on a charcuterie board. Here are a few ideas to get you started: Cured meats: Prosciutto, genoa salami, chorizo, sopressata, ham, and cured sausages are all classic choices for a charcuterie board.
Salami, ham, prosciutto, pastrami – there's just no end to all the delicious possibilities! And that's what makes cold cuts such a practical choice. Not only do they provide plenty of flavor and texture, but they also can make your charcuterie board look downright stunning.
To make things easier, she generally recommends following the simple rule of three – three types of cheese, three types of meat, three types of crackers, and so forth. "A good rule of thumb is to work in threes," she said. "As long as you have three of anything on a board then I think it has enough variety."
I have a marble surface that is 16x24 inches and a bread board that is 18x32 inches. They're both great party boards, perfect for serving 8 to 10 people. They offer plenty of space for lots of fun ingredients, but aren't so big that you go over budget filling them.
Plan for about 1-2 ounces of cheese per person. As with your meat selections, have your cheese sliced thin (at a 1-2 thickness) to make layering easier. If you'd like to incorporate cheese cubes, or have guests cut their own pieces, have those sliced at an 8-10 thickness.
Introduction: My name is Barbera Armstrong, I am a lovely, delightful, cooperative, funny, enchanting, vivacious, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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