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I love a good charcuterie board. They can be a really fun and easy way to make a gathering with friends feel fancy; I even like making one instead of a typical dinner. Paired with wine it can make for a lovely movie night!

Even though charcuterie boards seem simple, making them for the first time can be a bit daunting. Which meats should you choose? Do you want to add cheese and which ones should you add? How do you know which additional items to include? Where do you even get a board to put it all on?

How To Make A Charcuterie Board For Beginners

I’ll be sharing my four basic tips for making the perfect yet simple charcuterie board for beginners - no stress required! Here are my four basic notes:

• Where to find a charcuterie board

• The best meats and cheeses for a charcuterie board

• Charcuterie board wine pairing

• Arranging your charcuterie board

Where Can I Find A Charcuterie Board

When it comes to the board itself you have options. You can opt to use a standard charcuterie board, a cutting board, a sheet pan or even parchment paper. I love a good slate cheese board so you can write down what everything is (like this cute one from World Market), but I also have a beautiful marble board someone gifted me from Crate & Barrel similar to this one. Honestly, it’s about finding what matches the aesthetic you like and if you want it to feel more casual or upscale. Regardless, you don’t need to worry about finding an expensive board, especially since you’ll want the items going on the board to be the focus.

The Best Meats & Cheeses for Charcuterie

A charcuterie board can honestly be as simple or as elaborate as you want it to be. Typically it will consist of meats (charcuterie refers to cured meats), but I like to add cheese, sweet accompaniments (like dried fruits or fresh fruits) and savory accompaniments. I also like to add crackers or bread to make it complete.

How you build your board will probably depend on your guests. For instance, if you have some foodies coming over you’ll probably want to use specialty cheeses from a local market; if you have people who struggle with dairy you will want to opt for lactose free or lower lactose cheeses (like Gouda, Brie, or Goat Cheese - here’s a great article from Real Simple for reference). As far as the amount of cheeses to get, the basic rule of thumb is two ounces of cheese per person.

You can find items for your board at mostly any grocery store and local markets. I really like to opt for local options, as I think it’s fun to include a variety of Virginia meats and cheeses, in addition to accompaniments like local honey and house made crostini. When selecting cheeses I tend to go with a couple soft cheeses (brie, goat cheese), harder sliced cheese (slices make it easy for guests to plate), and always a blue cheese because I love blue cheese with honey on a cheese board. I’ll also usually pop on over to Trader Joe’s for any outstanding items I might not be able to locate at my local market.

For meats, I like to have a variety of at least three. My husband loves pâté so I will always include it and it’s a nice spreadable option. However…I don’t like it so I will also make sure to have thin slices of prosciutto for myself. Salami, pepperoni, and mortadella are also great to include. I like to make my third and fourth options something I know mostly everyone likes (like pepperoni) and then a spicy and unique option like chorizo. I do like to have a couple of sliced meats options, as that makes it nice for both decoration (more on that below) and easy of plating.

Once you’ve decided on what to include on your board you’ll then want to decide what to pair it with. I prefer the classic wine pairing and usually aim to get a crisp white with a lighter red. Others might want to go for a cocktail (like the classic Negroni) but even some beers can pair well - it’s really up to you the route you wish to take!

Charcuterie Board Wine Pairing

One of the very great things about living in Charlottesville is the access to wine - not to mention the access to wine experts! The Workshop at the Wool Factory is a great spot for wine. It’s a boutique wine & coffee shop offering wine tastings on Wednesday from 5:00 - 7:00. They also offer a featured wine every week showcasing their favorite small batch discoveries. Kylie Britt (teacher’s pet nat) is passionate about what she does and super knowledgeable, so I of course asked her to choose the wines for my charcuterie board. My only request was I wanted to feature local wines.

For the red, Kylie selected Glen Manor Vin Rouge, a Front Royal, Virginia wine and it’s a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. For the white, Kylie selected Plutot, a Joy Ting wine, which is a Petit Manseng from Madison, Virginia. Both wines were perfect for the charcuterie board.

Arranging Your Charcuterie Board

When it comes to assembling I think it all depends on how you like it; you can space the items out with labels or you can fill it up completely. Personally, I love the look of a really full charcuterie board because I think it’s visually very pretty, it photographs well, and I find it overall more enticing. I start with my largest items and then center everything else around them. Adding things like rosemary sprigs, nuts, olives and grapes helps to fill out any holes. If I have small bowls that look nice and decorative I’ll sometimes use those to hold the olives and nuts rather than having them loose.

How To Fold Meats For Your Charcuterie Board

As a charcuterie board is meant to highlight cured meats, it’s nice to make that the star. Technically a charcuterie board is a meat board, so it’s nice to make that the star. However, meat on it’s own sometimes isn’t the most attractive. That is where folding the meats comes into play; after all, what could be sweeter than a mortadella rose?

Some of the ways to fold meats can be super basic, like rolling the pieces or folding them in half and arranging them to fan out. If you want to feel really fancy, though, I suggest the rose as mentioned above. It looks cool but is actually fairly simple to do:

• You’ll need thinly sliced meat (thin slices are important for the layering), as well as a wine glass. If you want a smaller rose, you can use a champagne flute.

• Next you’ll take the thin meat and fold a piece over the edge of the wine glass. Half should be inside and half of the meat should be folded over the outside rim.

• Keeping layering the meat until the hole is closed on the glass. Then you’ll flip the glass onto your charcuterie board.

• Keep the glass on the board until you are ready to serve the charcuterie to keep everything in place; fan the rose slightly once you remove the glass.

• If you are a visual learner, check out this site for reference.

No matter what style you go with, the one thing you want to make sure you keep in mind is how easily your guests can grab individual slices of the meat so keep that in mind when plating.

There you have it - some nice and simple charcuterie board ideas! It’s the perfect way to share all of your favorite meats, cheeses, and wines with your guests. I hope you have fun creating your board.

Cheers and happy eating!