Elevate Your Super Bowl Spread with a Charcuterie Board

The Super Bowl is about more than football. If you’re not a Chiefs or 49ers fan you are probably most looking forward to the halftime show, commercials, and the snacks. Every year you host or attend a Super Bowl party the unspoken expectation is to bring a little something along. You cannot show up empty-handed, whether it’s a few of your buddies’ favorite beers, a dip, or a box of cookies decorated with your team’s color and mascot. This year, why not up your snacking game by creating and bringing a handmade charcuterie board? Follow along with these tips and tricks to make sure your charcuterie is the MVP of this year’s snack table… 

The Art of Charcuterie

Meats: Start by selecting a variety of high-quality cured meats such as prosciutto, salami, chorizo, ham, summer sausage, and coppa. 

Cheeses: When choosing cheeses it is best to have a variety of both hard and soft cheeses. Hard cheeses are ones like cheddar, swiss, gouda, and manchego and soft cheeses are brie, havarti, goat cheese, and creme cheese. When it comes to the creme cheese you may want to consider adding pepper jelly on top for an extra flavor and texture.

Extras: The perfect charcuterie is both savory and sweet. To elevate your board, add a mix of both! 

Some mouth-watering savory accompaniments are nuts, dips and spreads, something with a bit of tang and cold cut veggies. Popular savory add-ons are almonds, pistachios, pickles, olives, pepperoncinis, hummus, ranch and a balsamic dip. For a pop of color be sure to add veggies like carrots and bell peppers. 

After all the savory, you can’t forget about the sweet! As a light and sweet touch be sure to add fresh fruits and berries like strawberries, grapes, apples, blueberries, and blackberries. Some people also like to include dried fruits like apricots, mangos and figs as well as a sweet spread like fig butter, marmalade or jam. 

Crackers: Crackers are an absolutely essential item to any charcuterie. Choose a variety of crackers with different shapes, flavors, and sizes. The type of cracker is up to personal preference but some of my favorites are mini baguette slices, pita chips, and Club crackers. 

Building the Perfect Board

This is where you can either keep it simple or elevate your board. Depending on how many people you want your board to feed, use a large wooden board or decorative tray, maybe even a football-shaped one, as the canvas for your masterpiece. If you are looking for another option, consider covering a counter or table top with butcher paper to build your board on. You can draw fun designs and phrases on it to show support for your team and it makes for an easy clean up!

After you have decided how you would like to display you items, arrange them in a visually appealing way. Make sure that there is a balance of shape, color, and size. I recommend that you put your cheeses down first, spread all about as the foundation of the board. From then stagger your meats about the board, surrounding the cheese. To add a little bit of flare, fold and roll some of your meats into cylinders and skewer them with toothpicks. Next up, you want to add your sweet and savory extras. When making additions to the board, add the items in clusters. Then lastly, fill all of your empty spaces with your crackers. For a little extra sprinkle of team spirit, add festive napkins, paper plates and utensils around the board. 

When in doubt, keep it simple! A Super Bowl Sunday doesn’t always have the same audience that your wine night may have, so make sure the items you’re choosing for your board are ones that everyone will enjoy. Shop your local markets and grocery stores to find all the elements you need and get to building! Elevating your Super Bowl party with a handmade charcuterie board is sure to make everyone a happy snacker, even if the game doesn’t end the way they hope.  

I had an entry into the world of charcuterie when I met Stephanie Bryant, the owner of The Blonde Kitchen in 2019. Her work caught the eye of At Home In Arkansas magazine and they asked me to photograph her for their feature, Grazing Boards Galore. For more inspiration, check out her Instagram @the_blonde_kitchen. With the Super Bowl around the corner, this felt like the perfect time to showcase them as a guide for building your own charcuterie board!