This quick and easy snack board is the perfect way to throw together a fun lunch you can nibble on! Use a combination of leftovers, crackers, cheese, snacks, fresh fruit or dried fruit! Anything goes with this easy lunch charcuterie board idea! Use what you have available to create a quick snack board loaded with easy bites…
I put everything from pizza to salsa and hummus! To make little thin pizza sticks, I sliced up skinny pieces of pizza and tucked them in between crackers and snacks. I added a few dips I already had on hand as well…
Add Dips To Your Charcuterie Board!
I added tomato salsa and some corn chips for dipping! The salsa adds a nice bright pop of flavor and the corn chips add a little crunch! I also added hummus which you’ll see below.
Add Some Crunch
If you have some hummus, add some to a little bowl and surround it with little crunchy pita chips! Additionally, you can also lay out basic crunchy crackers that would taste great with everything else!
Break open a bag of sun chips, tortilla chips, wheat crackers, or water crackers. Any of these will work nicely with assorted charcuterie and snacks.
Related: Easy Chicken and Hummus Naan Flatbreads
Add Something Sweet
For a sweet touch, I kept it healthy by using dried fruit. I added dried raisins and dried cherries. These bring in a sweetness to the choices on the board and they also complement the saltiness! Plus, dried fruit will pair super well with the cheese! Take it a step sweeter and add chocolate-covered cherries, chocolate-dipped blueberries, or chocolate raisins…
Bring On The Cheese
Here I added a merlot-flavored cheese by Sartori BellaVitano which is actually a delicious blend of cheddar and parmesan that tastes amazing with dried fruit, fresh fruit (and of course red wine). There are literally so many cheeses to choose from.
Ideas For Cheese…
If you’re not sure where to start, go with popular choices such as Gouda, Mozzarella, or Provolone. I’ve gotta tell ya though, my all time favorite is rough cut cubes of simple aged parmesan. It’s creamy and nutty and so flavorful. It brings everything it touches to life!
Include Cured Meats
Examples of cured meats…
Tuck in some folded thin pepperoni slices to complement the cheese and fruit! Maybe you’ll add other tasty charcuterie meats such as prosciutto or salami! Pop on of a bowl of your favorite Greek olives! Any of these will add a tasty selection of things that will make your easy lunch charcuterie board a big treat!
Add more salty bites like nuts or olives!
I actually didn’t have any available at the time, but mixed nuts are also a huge favorite for us when we throw these quick snack boards together. Lot’s of times we’ll add a bowl of mixed nuts such as pecans, pistachios, or even chocolate-dipped cashews! Try adding Greek olives or your favorite stuffed olives… My mouth just waters thinking about it! I called this a lunch board, but you can throw this together and snack on it any time!!!
When is a good time for a charcuterie board?
Make it for a movie night, make it a shareable platter of midday snacks, make it for holidays, or parties!
As you can see there are no hard rules when it comes to charcuterie or snack boards. I have created what is probably the simplest one out there. Add your sweet and salty favorites, add snacks, add cheeses, add cured meat, add fruit (dried or fresh) and you’ll have the basic backbone of an easy and tasty charcuterie board!
What other snacks or ideas can I add to my charcuterie board?
- Dried fruit such as apricots or tasty Medjool dates (chocolate-covered dried fruit is amazing too!)
- Fresh fruit such as berries, grapes, apples
- Different cheeses such as Cheddar, Parmesan, Gouda, Mozzarella, or Provolone! Anything goes…
- Crackers or chips such as wheat Sun Chips, butter crackers, corn chips, water crackers, sweet potato chips, or beet chips!
- Charcuterie meats such as Prosciutto, Salami, Calabrese, Soppressata, or Mortadella. For more ideas, check out this quick picture guide to cured meats!
- Roasted Nuts such as pistachios, cashews, pecans, or any of your favorites!
- Olives such as green olives, stuffed olives, greek olives (the ones marinated with olive oil, herbs, and feta are the best!)
Can I pair it with wine?
Yes, yes, and yes! If you’re serving these as a platter, party, or holiday appetizer, you could totally pair this with white or red wine. I would leave the pizza slices out (which makes it more lunch like) and replace with olives, more cured meats, or nice cubed cheese. Consider foods that are easy to pick up with a skewer or toothpick.
Pair with Sparkling:
If you add fresh berries or chocolate-covered fruits, I find that those pair especially well with sparkling wines or Champagne.
Pair with Red Wine:
Dry red wines such as Pinot Noir, Merlot, Malbec, or Shiraz! Any dry red wine with character will stand up nicely to the medley of flavors happening on a charcuterie board.
Pair with White Wine:
Such as Pinot Grigio, Pinot Gris, or Sauvignon Blanc… These are all simply flavored whites that make an excellent back drop for foods, especially fresh fruits. The minerality of a Viognier would play out nicely with this as well. I mean, when it comes to whites…sky is truly the limit because they lend themselves so well to food. If you serve Riesling, choose a dry or Demi-sec (semi-sweet) variety as it will do a better job of pairing with a wider variety of things to nibble.
What is your favorite combo when you’re putting a snack board together? Do you always include must-have items or do you switch it up? Here we usually peek at what we have available and map out fun combinations based on that!
