Easy Mediterranean Charcuterie Board

What to Love About an Easy Charcuterie Board

• Casual entertaining made super easy
• Gathers people together in a fun and interesting way
• Easy to adapt to favorite foods and dietary preferences

I’m absolutely in love with charcuterie boards, whether they be as a holiday breakfast, an easy brunch charcuterie board throughout the year, or simply as snacks and appetizers.

Entertaining with a Charcuterie Board

Sharing food in a casual, yet fun way creates memories that live on for years. Cheeseboards are a simple way to present food with no pressure. Everyone can simply take as much or as little as they desire with no pressure. It’s absolute perfection!

A charcuterie board is perfect for last-minute entertaining. It’s a simple trip to your local market or a gathering of ingredients and simple recipes you may already have on hand.

Make it simple, combine flavors that complement, and gather savory foods that complement texture and flavors. And that’s it. You have a simple to make cheeseboard.

Cheese boards are perfect for picnics, outdoor dining, and casual entertaining. Celebrate holidays, milestones, birthdays, and more with an easy charcuterie board.

Here are some ideas to get started designing your own.

How to Design a Mediterranean Charcuterie Cheese Board

The following tips are summarized from one of my favorite cheese board cookbooks aptly named, “On Boards” by Lisa Dawn Bolton. It’s a great addition to any cookbook library and one filled with useful ideas and information.

While these are great starting points, be creative and have fun with your design!

I published these tips in the Brunch Charcuterie Board post, but it bears repeating here.

Tips for Making an easy Mediterranean Charcuterie Board

While easy and quick to throw together, planning ahead alleviates any stress when hungry onlookers are watching.

1. Begin layering the board by placing the biggest items, which are often blocks of cheese. Consider keeping them toward the edges of the board.
2. Layout the larger cuts of meat, like salami. Also, try to keep these at the outer edges of the board.
3. Anchor the board with bowls of condiments. This provides a structure for the display. You can add the contents just before serving but the bowls will be in place. For small jars (like the tiny fig jam I have displayed on the board, I used the small container it was packaged in.
4. Add the grapes. I seem to always have grapes on my boards because they’re juicy, offer color and texture… and almost everyone loves them. Snip the grapes into easy-to-handle clusters and pile them on top of each other for easy handling.
5. Arrange the meats and crackers to the board, tucking them in between the fruit and condiment bowls, considering color and texture.
6. Finish with small items like nuts, berries, fresh herbs, edible flowers, etc.

Cheese for a Mediterranean Charcuterie Board

On most cheese boards, I like to have a selection of 3 to 5 cheeses. While all of them don’t always make it onto the board, here are some ideas I particularly like for a Mediterranean cheese board:

• Feta, the most famous Greek cheese
• Graviera, a Greek cheese blend of cow, goat, and sheep milk
• Goat cheese
• Mozzarella cheese balls
• Manchego cheese
• Iberico cheese
• Cabrales cheese
• Parmesan wedges

Ideas for Building a Mediterranean Charcuterie Board

There are so many ways to build an easy Mediterranean cheese board. Here are some quick ideas you may like to add to yours. The elements I used are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Serving:

• Food safe serving board (This is a link to one I’m using in this post from Magnolia at Target).
• Cheese knives are helpful and fun
• Wooden picks (even toothpicks)
• Condiment or small bowls (even ramekins work beautifully)

Cheese:

• As mentioned above. Choose your favorites with interesting flavors and textures. 

Fruits and Seeds:

• Black grapes on the vine
• Green grapes on the vine
• Assorted Mediterranean olives
• Plums
• Marinated artichokes
• Berries
• Dates
• Pepita Seeds
• Assorted nuts (I love Quick and Easy Rosemary Spiced Cashews)
• Apricots
• Figs
• Cherry tomatoes

Bread and Crackers

• Crackers (homemade or store-bought)
• Sourdough slices
• Pita bread or chips
• Whole grain slices of crusty bread
• Parmesan crisps

Meats

• Italian salami
• Chorizo sausages
• Serrano ham, thin slices
• Prosciutto
• Salami al Tartufo (hard salami made with black summer truffles and white truffle oil)
• Smoked salmon

Toppings & Spreads

• Pimenton
• Fig jam
• Avocado hummus (or hummus of any flavor, I love red pepper hummus too)
• 2 Minute Greek Dill Yogurt Sauce

If you try this recipe, I’d love to hear your comments and consider giving it a 5-star rating. Explore the recipe index for more easy, delicious ideas, and stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter and following us on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube!