Patriotic Charcuterie Board

This red, white, and blue charcuterie board is great for all of the summer holidays: Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day. A patriotic charcuterie board is easy to make and will be a hit at any party!

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A charcuterie board, or grazing board is totally customizable and a delicious appetizer or main dish for any gathering. It is enjoyed by both kids and adults. The beauty of a charcuterie board is that you can scale it to any sized crowd. Both large and small gatherings will enjoy this seasonal grazing board. They only take 15-45 minutes to put together, depending on the size of the gathering and how many guests.

What you Need

• Cheeses: A selection of cheeses. Choose cheeses with different textures and shapes for a beautiful presentation. Sharp cheeses, semi-hard cheeses, spreadables, soft cheeses, and sliced cheeses will all work well. You should choose at least one from each category. This board contains a strawberry jalapeño gouda, horseradish gouda, sharp white cheddar, medium cheddar, Lorraine Swiss cheese, and mozzarella balls. We also cut out small stars with a metal cookie cutter to make the stars that will decorate the blue side. See our article on How to Cut Cheese for a Charcuterie Board.
• Meats: Your favorite sliced deli meat or dried or leftover roasted meat works well. Salami, ham, prosciutto, and capicola are incorporated into this board. Other meat that would work well is sliced chicken or turkey (arrange them in the white area), mortadella, bologna, liverwurst, and more.
• Produce: Different fruits and vegetables are nice to add. Stick with those colors since this is a red, white, and blue charcuterie board. For the blue side, use blueberries, blackberries, plums, and red grapes. For the red side, use strawberries, radishes, red peppers, cherry tomatoes, raspberries, watermelon, and red grapes. Put the meats on the red side, too. We also found a rare strawberry jalapeño gouda to place in the red section.
• Bread and crackers: Use sliced baguette, broken Italian or French bread, and assorted crackers, and white cheeses for the white area in the middle.
• Condiments: Use condiments that will pair nicely with your chosen foods. Mustard, or a fancy jelly or jam, pickles, olives, hot peppers, nuts, and even pickled radishes are all good choices to add diversity to your board.
• Board: Use a single board or multiple boards, depending on the size of the crowd and the logistics of the space where you are serving. In other words, having multiple boards scattered around the area outside or in a large room may be easier.

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Red Ingredients

• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Watermelon slices
• red grapes
• Radishes
• cherry tomatoes
• red pepper
• pickled peppers
• pickled radishes
• meats like salami, ham, prosciutto, and pate
• Individually wrapped Babybel cheese
• Strawberry jalapeño gouda cheese

White Ingredients

• White cheddar
• gouda
• Swiss cheese
• Mozzarella balls
• Cheese spreads and dips
• Thinly sliced turkey or chicken
• pickled cauliflower
• crackers
• bread
• nuts

Blue Ingredients

• Blueberries
• blackberries
• Stanley plums, cut into chunks
• Bing cherries
• Blue corn chips
• Blueberry jam

How to Make a Red, White, and Blue Charcuterie

• Planning: The first step in making any charcuterie or grazing board is planning. Decide how you would like the finished product to look. With this board, we chose to make it simple, but you could alternate the red and white colors and make stripes like an actual American flag. Then, put a block of blue in the top corner with cheese stars placed on the blue fruit.
• Quantity: Buy enough to feed your crowd. Plan on 2 ounces of meats and/or cheeses per serving. Then, 8-10 pieces of fruit per person for an appetizer.
• Preparation: Cut up the cheese. Arrange the meat. Cut the fruit into appropriate bite-sized sizes. Cut up the fruit that will brown easily last. For step-by-step photos and suggestions, see our How to Cut Cheeses article.
• Arranging: Arrange the food on your board according to your plans in step one.

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How to Store Leftovers

Store leftover meat and cheese in separate airtight containers. Any meat or cheese that is left out of the refrigerator for more than two hours should be discarded because of the risk of foodborne illness. Fruits can be stored in separate airtight containers. Fruits that brown quickly, like sliced apples or pears, can be discarded when they become too brown to be appetizing.

What if I Don’t Have a Large Board?

If you don’t have one large board, use multiple smaller boards. Other common household tools that are useful are baking sheets, platters, large plates, and more. Use what you have in the house. There is no need to buy specialty equipment.

Helpful Tools

• Set of Cheese Knives
• Wire Cheese Slicer
• extra large bamboo cutting board
• charcuterie board utensil set
• Star cutter

More Seasonal Charcuterie Boards

• Thanksgiving/Fall Charcuterie Board
• Christmas/ Dessert Charcuterie Board
• Easter/Spring Grazing Board
• Seafood Grazing Board
• Cheese Board

Give a charcuterie board or grazing platter a try for your next get-together. No matter the occasion, you can make a fun, festive board that will impress your guests, both young and old. This Patriotic Board is the perfect food for Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day.

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I hope you enjoyed the recipe today.

Enjoy. And have fun cooking!

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