The perfect charcuterie board has an unexplained power to wow any guests that you have over for dinner. Luckily, it’s also a surprisingly easy appetizer to throw together! There’s usually no cooking involved – really, you just need to buy some delicious ingredients, place them nicely on a pretty cutting board, and you’re good to go!

A bit of inspiration never hurts, so I’ve put together two options to guide you in building the perfect “wow-worthy” charcuterie board: an omnivore board and a vegan version. You can also mix and match your favourite elements of the two to appeal to multiple guests.

OVERALL TIPS FOR BUILDING A CHARCUTERIE BOARD:

1. Use colourful foods. What makes a charcuterie board so appealing is the array of colours. You can even choose colour themes – for example, on the omnivore board here, I chose pink and red foods as an overall theme.
2. Don’t underestimate your fruits and vegetables. They will add tons of colour, not to mention make the board just a little bit healthier. If you have time, you can roast some vegetables for dipping, instead of using raw…raw works well too though!
3. Save time by purchasing quality dips. If I have time, I’ll make some of the dips, but it’s much faster to visit a health food store and grab some pre-made dips. I found a delicious beet cashew dip that was bright pink, so added a lot of colour and saved me time.
4. Try to visit a food market for high quality fresh ingredients. Items like your olives, cheeses and meats will likely be fresher and have more flavour if purchased from a quality store versus simply buying your olives from a jar in the grocery store.

THE OMNIVORE BOARD

What You’ll Need:

• A large cheese board or cutting board
• A couple of small dishes or ramekins
• 2 different smoked or cured meats – I used an ethically raised pork prosciutto and salami
• 1 smoked fish – I used smoked salmon
• 3 different types of crackers – I used rice crackers, a seed cracker, and Nud Fud crackers
• 2 different fruits – I used strawberries and kiwi
• 2 different veggies – I used roasted red peppers and sliced cucumber
• Olives – I used Spanish green olives
• 1-2 types of cheese – I used a goat cheese
• 1-2 dips – I used Spread ‘Em beet cashew dip but hummus works well too

How To Arrange The Board:

You can really do this however you like, but I like to put a few things in their own ramekins or small bowls, and then arrange everything around the ramekins. I split up some of the ingredients and place them in a couple different spots on the board, like I did with the strawberries, the seed crackers and the smoked salmon.

THE VEGAN BOARD

What You’ll Need For The Vegan Board:

• A large cheese board or cutting board
• A couple of small dishes or ramekins
• Some dark chocolate, cut into squares
• 2 crunchy finger foods – I used Hippie Snacks coconut chips and veggie chips
• 3 different types of crackers – I used Mary’s crackers and Terra chips and seed crackers
• 2 different fruits – I used apples and dates
• 2 different veggies – I used orange bell peppers and sliced cucumber
• Olives – I used Spanish green olives
• 1-2 types of vegan cheese – I used a vegan cheese called Nuts For Cheese chipotle cheddar
• 1-2 dips – I used a sweet potato hummus because I loved the colour!

How To Arrange The Board:

Similar to the omnivore’s board, you can really do this however you like. It’s nice to add texture by using the ramekins or small bowls and then building out the other ingredients around it.

You really can’t go wrong when making a charcuterie board. It’s all about adding texture, colour and delicious ingredients. Get creative with it, and feel free to share your ideas here!

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