Meat Cheese Board
This easy and delicious Meat Cheese Board combines my favorite variety of DeLallo olives with cheeses, meats, crackers, and fresh fruit. It’s the ultimate interactive appetizer or light meal for any casual gathering or holiday spread!
Turning budget-friendly charcuterie ingredients into an entire spread has never been easier or more fun! Just assemble your favorite olives, cheeses, meats, and toppings in the center of a large board and watch as everyone builds their own perfect bite.
What is a meat cheese board?
This olive charcuterie board is no different from the old-fashioned appetizer platters that our Mom’s made. You can rely on inexpensive ingredients to assemble this interactive spread, allowing you to satisfy a hungry crowd and get appetizers or light meals served with little effort. You’ll also spend minimal time cleaning up once the hosting is done!
I’ve included a variety of olives, cheeses, meats, and toppings that you can arrange from scratch, or you can enjoy the convenience of using store-bought crackers, pickled vegetables, and other ready-to-serve items.
Why you’ll love this charcuterie board
- Everyone can get stuck in and serve themselves.
- Adapt your board with your favorite selection of ingredients.
- Perfect for hosting over holidays, for special occasions, or just when you have a hungry crowd to feed without the dreaded cleanup afterwards.
Ingredients needed
- Olives: You’ll need your favorite variety of olives. This board includes DeLallo Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives, Colossal Calamata Olives, Pitted Olives Jubilee, and Pitted Olives Gigante.
- Cheese: A selection of cheeses like mixed cheese slices (Cheddar, Swiss, Colby Jack, Pepper Jack), a small round Brie, a small triangle Gorgonzola, and mozzarella balls sprinkled with red pepper flakes.
- Meats: Mixed meats such as Capocollo, Del Duca, Calabrese, or Salami.
- Toppings: Fresh fruit like sliced oranges and strawberries, plus spiced pickled green beans.
- Crackers: Baked crackers and 34 Crisps Crackers.
- Garnish: Several pansy flowers for an optional beautiful touch. Of course, you whatever else is in season and non-toxic.
How do you make a meat cheese board?
Prepare the toppings and assemble the board:
- On a large board or large round platter dish, arrange the olives in small bowls in the center.
- Around the outside, place the crackers and sliced cheeses.
- In small bowls add the pickled green beans and mozzarella balls.
- Arrange the meats, Brie, and Gorgonzola.
- Place the sliced oranges and strawberries around the board.
- Garnish with pansy flowers!
Serve and enjoy:
- Right before serving, ensure all cheeses are at room temperature for the best flavor and texture.
- Place the board on the table and serve!
- Invite family and friends to customize their bites and enjoy!
Serving
I love that this olive, meat, and cheese charcuterie board can be enjoyed as a party appetizer option or light meal without you having to add anything else to the mix. That’s the whole point, anyway!
That said, feel free to check out a variety of fresh side salad recipes if you’re looking for something else to add to your meat cheese board. A slice of hot herb bread or potato cheese bread would also be an excellent pairing.
Complete the experience with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup!
Sandy’s tips and substitutions:
- Storage: Store leftover olive board ingredients in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Keep the olives, cheeses, and fresh toppings separate for the best flavor and texture.
- Make ahead: The olives can be drained and placed in small bowls the day before and stored in an airtight container in the fridge, ready to be arranged just before serving. The cheeses, meats, and fresh toppings can also be prepped the day before if you prefer. Keep the fresh fruit for assembling just before serving for the best flavor and texture.
- Reuse leftovers: Use any leftover meats and cheeses to make delicious omelets or frittatas for breakfast alongside scrambled eggs and crispy bacon! They’re also ideal for making Shepherd’s pie or a hearty breakfast bake.
- Drain the olives: Make sure to drain the olives well and place them in small bowls so they don’t make the crackers soggy.
- Presentation is key: Since this olive charcuterie board is very straightforward, you want to focus more attention on the visual presentation. Uniform-sized fruit pieces and neatly arranged meats will not only look great on the assembled board but also make it easier for guests to serve themselves!
- How to keep the board fresh: Assemble the board with all the ingredients just before serving. Let each guest build their own perfect bite to keep everything nice and fresh!
Variations:.
- Different ingredient ideas: Easily switch up your meat cheese board with your favorite snacks. You could also add dips like Cottage Cheese Dip or Fried Pickle Dip.
- Arranging the food: Feel free to use any shape of board as long as it is large enough to comfortably hold all of the ingredients without them falling off.
- Decoration: I love to add fresh pansies as pretty decoration, but this is completely optional and you could use fresh herbs or other flowers instead.
If you’re looking for another cute way to serve charcuterie-inspired snacks, consider trying my Charcuterie Cups. Such fun!
More tasty charcuterie boards you may want to try:
- Summer Snack Board
- Burrito Bowl Board
- Frog Sandwich Board
- Cheese and Cracker Board
- Protein Style Burger Board
Get the Recipe:
Meat Cheese Board
Ingredients
- 1 7 oz DeLallo Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives
- 1 8 oz DeLallo Colossal Calamata Olives
- 1 8 oz DeLallo Pitted Olives Jubilee
- 1 7 oz DeLallo Pitted Olives Gigante
- 1 12 oz mixed cheese slices, Cheddar, Swiss, Colby Jack, Pepper Jack
- 1 6 oz small round Brie cheese
- 1 4 oz Gorganzola cheese
- 1 8 oz mozzarella balls, sprinkled with Red Pepper Flakes
- 12 Baked Crackers
- 34 Crisps Crackers
- 10 oz Mixed meats, Capocollo, Del Duca, Calabrese or Salami
- 12 oz jar spiced pickled green beans, drained
- 2 oranges, sliced
- 1 cup fresh strawberries
- Several pansy flowers, garnish, optional
Equipment
- charcuterie board
Instructions
- On a large board or large round platter dish, arrange the olives in small bowls in the center.
- Around the outside, place the crackers and sliced cheeses.
- In small bowls add the pickled green beans and mozzarella balls.
- Arrange the meats, Brie, and Gorgonzola.
- Place the sliced oranges and strawberries around the board.
- Garnish with pansy flowers!
- Right before serving, ensure all cheeses are at room temperature for the best flavor and texture.
- Place the board on the table and serve!Invite family and friends to customize their bites and enjoy!
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
So elegant and festive!! I hope you’re surrounded by your kids for Mother’s Day, Sandy. Wishing you all the best, I love this serving idea. xo
This is beautiful I love the flower and orange touch!