Dishing Up: Six Charcuterie Board Ideas

An Insta-worthy spread of your favourite things, charcuterie boards have made their way into our own kitchens and have taken the world by storm over the past couple of years.

Traditionally made up of bread, cheese, cured meat and plenty of complementing wine, charcuterie boards are completely customisable and brimming with possibilities. The perfect serving solution for when you want to make something out of everyday meals, charcuterie boards can be used any time of day for any meal. All you need is a big board or two, ingredients you've already got in the cupboard and a little imagination to get started.

Don’t believe us? Take a look at these neatly-arranged boards that are so much more than cheese and crackers.

The most important meal of the day, a breakfast charcuterie board is a fun way to get your household around the table to start their day off a little different. Taking Instagram by storm, this delectable mix of pancakes, fresh fruit, bacon, and waffles is hard to resist.

Our top tip? American-style pancakes work best due to their stackability. The point of charcuterie is to graze, so making them smaller will ensure the meal isn’t too heavy. Slicing up fruit and adding more berries will encourage the table to get in some of their five-a-day and don’t forget a bowl of syrup for drizzling.

Why not create a board in loving memory of every millennial’s favourite Sunday past-time, brunch? The perfect way to spend some time with your household, a lazy afternoon at-home brunch is a varied and fun way to get everyone around the table.

Start your board off with warm bread, pastries, and cakes, they make the perfect base for slathering on jams and spreads. From here you can get creative with your favourite fruits to add some zest, slicing up avocado and sourdough or even adding cured meat for a traditional charcuterie edge. Don’t forget mimosas for a true brunch experience or better yet why not make it bottomless?

Getting your five-a-day? Not a problem with a fruity charcuterie board. Perfect for encouraging little ones to pick up and try new fruit, a rainbow mix of different types of citruses, melon, berries, and pomes is bound to prove popular with the whole family.

Start off by arranging your fruit into different sections and split by colour, it’ll make an eye-catching display that even the pickiest of eaters won’t be able to refuse. The burst of colour will help encourage little ones to pick up fruits they’ve never tried before, you could even turn it into a fun activity for everyone to try each colour. For extra points, add smaller bowls of honey, yogurt or even chocolate if you’re feeling a little indulgent.

The best part of any meal? It’s certainly debatable. A hodgepodge of different dessert treats is perfect for an afternoon tea or special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries as well as sweetening up the mid-week slump.

Arrange cupcakes, doughnuts, sweet pies, pastries, and anything else you can think of into neat piles across your boards and trays. The sweeter, the better. The perfect solution for when you can’t choose just the one dessert. Where’s the fun with just one anyway?

One for the sweetest in the family. A candy charcuterie board is bound to be a big hit with the little ones. It’s also perfect for an at-home celebration, whether that’s a birthday, school success or just for grazing in front of the TV over the weekend.

Fill bowls or glass jars with your sweet-shop favourites, such as strawberry laces, chocolate covered pretzels, pastel sherbets, or rainbow lollipops. The bolder and brighter the better. Whether you arrange by colour or type, it’s bound to look like the sweetest thing.

When all else fails, a traditional grazing board is always a great choice. There are absolutely no rules when it comes to building these, but tradition calls for cured meats, tangy pickles, sweet jams, fruit, cheese and complementing tipple.

A real choose-your-own-adventure culinary story, the best thing about charcuterie is the versatility, however there is a handy formula you can go by: pre-sliced, thinly cured meats such as prosciutto or Serrano ham bring a salty flavour; unsliced hard meats like salami and smoked sausage, or hard cheese will add texture; pâté, terrine, spreadable cheese, or veggie alternatives offer richness; pickles, olives, spreads, and crackers will encourage diners to mix and match flavours; and finally a selection of tipples to complement the spread will finish off the whole thing perfectly.

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