Are you looking for an awesome Charcuterie board idea for an upcoming party or gathering?
Great, I can’t wait to share this one!
I’m going to show you how to assemble this large charcuterie board/table you see above, step by step.
Don’t worry if you’re not looking to assemble something this large, it can easily be scaled up or down to fit your size of gathering.
This large butcher paper charcuterie table was perfect for our annual ugly sweater Christmas party.
And of course, that goes without saying that I had Christmas decor as far as the eye could see, plenty of mixed drinks, and a fun loving group of friends.
I also love that this charcuterie board required zero time stirring crock pots or fussing over hot dishes and the oven.
This was one of the easiest party spreads I’ve ever entertained with which made for a fun and stress free night for me too.
It fed roughly 30 people, and I was pleasantly surprised to see this spread almost gone by the end of the night.
Let’s get down to the details…
This Post May Contain Amazon Affiliate Links (Paid Links)
Charcuterie Board Planning
Hands down, one of my favorite parts of a ‘charcuterie board’ is that you can include absolutely anything and everything you want.
Don’t stress over what to include.
Simply pick your favorite things and go from there!
I had planned to include the traditional charcuterie ingredients:
- Assorted Meats (pepperoni, salami, prosciutto, etc.)
- Assorted Cheeses
- Pickled items (pickles peppers, sun dried tomatoes, olives
- Starch (crackers, baguettes, pretzels, wafers, etc)
- Fresh fruits & Vegetables
- Jams & Spreads
But because this was a Christmas inspired charcuterie board, I wanted to add some holiday touches.
I decided to include my favorite Christmas cookies, my favorite jalapeno cranberry dip, and peanut brittle/toffees/nuts.
My husband also made a hard last minute appeal for chips, salsa, and guacamole.
How could I turn that down? It’s always a party favorite.
With those items on the brain, I started plotting layout.
Charcuterie Board Assembly
This charcuterie ‘board’ begins with a wide swath of butcher paper run length ways down the center of our kichen table.
I purchased the butcher paper from Amazon, shown below.
Because I was looking to feed a larger group, I decided to lay two pieces side by side and overlap them a bit down the center to allow for plenty of room.
You can easily adjust your butcher paper, cutting board size, or platter to fit your party.
Because your eye eats first, you’ll want to assemble your dishes and shapes in an offsetting pattern to keep your eye moving down the display.
I began by placing my circular serving dishes in a zig zag pattern down the table.
These held my relishes, cranberry dip, salsa, guac, and hummus and really helped anchor the design.
Next up, I created a fun contrasting linear angles with my cookies!
These included raspberry almond thumbprints, chocolate chip, and snickerdoodles.
I should also tell you that I always prep way ahead when I’m planning to throw a party.
That way I’m not scurrying around and stressed out just before guests arrive.
For this spread, that simply meant that I utilized a few spare hours during the week leading up to the party to bake my cookies.
I simply popped them in the freezer after they cooled and pulled them out a few hours before party time.
No one would know they weren’t baked fresh that day! 😉
After those were in place, my focus turned to the remaining savory items that needed a good amount of space.
That being mainly the meats and cheese.
I made these adorable salami and pepperoni roses by simply repetitively folding oversized circles over the edge of a wine glass/champagne glass.
Here is a tutorial that you can check out if you need a visual.
Inverting the glass with folded meat onto a plate makes a stunning rose design that is also easy to pull apart and eat.
These lovely salami and pepperoni flowers needed to be in the center of the table.
I simply complemented them with smaller groupings of meats, cheese, and caprese skewers down the length of the table.
It’s also a good idea to add in skewers and toothpicks along the way so that guests can snag their tasty morsels without using their hands. 😉
Charcuterie Board Fillers
The final step to completing this spread is filling in the holes with fresh ingredients.
This part was so much fun!
I tried to keep colors in mind, by alternating color patterns down the length of the table.
Adding color, variety, and texture with fresh ingredients really creates a beautiful appetizing finish.
You also have my complete permission to take as much help from the store as you need! 😉
I focused on creating a couple really yummy home made items, and then purchased a bunch of other filler items at the store.
I couldn’t have been more pleased with how it turned out!
Just before my guests arrived I had a few minutes to snap a few close ups.
However I quickly abandoned my camera in exchange for a mistletoe kiss cocktail as guests were starting to arrive. 😛
Oh, and I almost forgot!
Along with my cookies, I also made some really delicious german chocolate brownie bites!
I made my favorite sheet pan brownies and cut them into very small squares.
Then I glued two pieces together with my favorite from scratch german chocolate frosting (recipe coming soon).
So yummy!
Cheers my friends!
I hope you found some fun charcuterie board ideas that you can entertain with.
If you want to see more ideas beyond what’s shown here, as well as some practical advice on wine/cheese pairings, check out this post!
