5 Tips for Stunning Charcuterie 

Whether you have holiday parties coming up or have to bring a dish over for Thanksgiving, you can’t go wrong with a charcuterie spread full of meats, cheeses and fresh produce. 

The other day at a birthday party I went to, I was captivated by the vibrant arrangement of vegetables, cheeses, herbs and more that one of the guests brought. It was simple, rustic and everyone kept raving about it. 

 I can’t take credit for arranging this beautiful basket of goodies but I did snoop around to notice what made it so special and wanted to share the serving hack that made this appetizer a showstopper. I’ve picked apart the 5 steps that made this a great dish to bring to a party so read below to see how to recreate this for your next gathering. 

1. She used an interesting serving vessel. Instead of a classic glass platter or slate, I loved how she used a large basket. This let her fit a lot more in it to serve a larger crowd and also lended a fun rustic and effortless look to the presentation. 

2. She lined the basket with lettuce. This way it still blended in with all of the other foods and created a buffer between the wicket basket and everything else. She drizzled the tomatoes with olive oil and balsamic and the lettuce kept a barrier so she didn’t have to worry about anything dripping. Plus she didn’t have to bring oil and vinegar because it was already on the things that needed it. 

3. She included bunches of herbs. I don’t think I’ve seen a spread like this with fresh basil and green onions anchoring the display before. With burrata and tomatoes in the basket guest could do a DIY caprese salad, or add some green to whatever they chose to plate. 

4. There were tons of fresh veggies. It is easy to stand by one of these at a party and fill up on cheese and bread but since there were kids of fresh vegetables you didn’t feel guilty about eating too much before the main course. 

5. She went easy on the meat. Sometimes prosciutto or salami can get kind of slimy if it sits out for a little while. Since there wasn’t a lot of it in the basket that wasn’t something to worry about and it made this charcuterie arrangement more vegetarian friendly as well. 

I can’t wait to throw one of these together using these tips!