In a recent blog, I talked about my love of charcuterie boards and one of the tips I shared is to ensure you have a variety of items on your board. But that can get expensive, very expensive. Either you have a puny little meat & cheese tray or you spend a small fortune on a beautiful charcuterie board. Or do you? I will show you how to create a killer charcuterie board on just $30.
And by the way, I’m not putting cheese trays down, I freaking love cheese trays. Give me a piece of Colby Jack and a Triscuit and I’m a happy lady!
This large board could easily serve 8-12 people and it only cost $29.43 before tax! There are 5 steps to make this happen!
- Focus on items that are sold by weight.
- Apples and/or pears are essential. And you only need one! They are sweet on their own and also go great with cheese, fig jam, and a cracker. The perfect bite! I suggest buying medium-sized fruits here – when cut thinly, you end up with a lot more than expected. On this board, I actually had leftovers of both apple and pear even though I only purchased one of each.
- Broccoli – find a crunchy vegetable. Avoid bagged items like baby carrots as they are sold by the package. In this case, I found broccoli crowns for $1.99 a pound and picked one on the smaller side.
- Meat and cheese – did you know you can get a small amount of meat or cheese in the deli section? I have literally purchased 3 slices of ham before for a small dinner of chicken cordon bleu. In this case, I bought ¼ ob of two different meats that were on sale and asked for thin slices.
- Cherries – some fruits come in special bags like cherries and grapes, and most of us buy the entire bag. But you don’t have to – you can purchase a small amount. Did you know that? You may want to ask someone working in the produce department if you don’t want to dig into the bags. In this case, I literally bought 6 cherries. I know what you are thinking – why in the world would I bother buying 6 cherries? I needed the color and a pop of something special. I knew I didn’t need a large amount so I purchased as many as I could without going over $1.
- Apples and/or pears are essential. And you only need one! They are sweet on their own and also go great with cheese, fig jam, and a cracker. The perfect bite! I suggest buying medium-sized fruits here – when cut thinly, you end up with a lot more than expected. On this board, I actually had leftovers of both apple and pear even though I only purchased one of each.
- Let the sales dictate what is on your board.
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- Kiwi – I was super excited to find kiwis on sale, 4 for $2. I only needed one to add some flair and a sweet element.
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- Crackers were surprisingly the hardest item to find in a cost-conscious way. Especially if you want two different types and don’t want to go with a standard Triscuit or Wheat Thin. I found a crisp that was BOGO and just purchased one bag so I only paid half-price. I only used about 1/3 of the bag and used the rest another day.
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- Cheese – Grocery stores with nice cheese sections such as Whole Foods often have an under $5 section – the pieces of quality cheeses that are too small to add to the normal cheese section. You can find some great options giving you an opportunity for variety without going over budget.
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- And remember – when items are on sale, they are often trying to get you to buy more but you don’t have to. You can buy just one kiwi and just one bag of crackers even if they are buy one, get one free.
- The salad bar is your friend. While the salad bar can be expensive per pound, it is very helpful for the items you cannot purchase in small quantities.
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- Tomatoes & olives are on most grocery store salad bars. This is the only way to get items like this on a board without going overboard. We don’t really eat olives in our house so if I purchase a full jar, whatever I don’t use on the board often ends up in the trash. Side note: Where I live, the salad bar at Harris Teeter is $8.99 a pound and $11.99 a pound at Whole Foods.
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- Hummus – some grocery stores have spreads and dips, a huge find. 4 oz of hummus – about ½ cup – is the perfect amount for a board. You won’t find smaller sizes anywhere else in the store. So while this is more expensive per ounce, it is cheaper overall. The other option is to purchase a container and save some for lunch or a snack.
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- Crackers – I checked several types of stores to find small bags of crackers – grocery stores, drug stores, and convenience stores – with no luck. One exception was the soup bar – I found small bags of crackers that could be purchased individually.
- Stop by a convenience store for snack-sized options.
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- Almonds – Unless you can find nuts sold by weight, your best option to include nuts on your board is a convenience store. They almost always have individual packages of nuts.
- Get creative.
- Candy – a fun surprise to include is some candy. Some convenience stores sell individual pieces of candy. Another option is Party City – they often have color-coordinated candy at 10 for $1.
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- Ciabatta – I really wanted a second cracker item but didn’t want to spend $3.00. When I was walking through Whole Foods looking for options, they had single ciabatta rolls for $1.25. A little butter, salt & pepper, and garlic powder in the oven – Hello Crostini!!
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- Cookie Cutters – use cookie cutters to cut fun shapes in cheese, bread, and fruits. Watermelon is perfect for this! Avoid intricate shapes as they will break easily: stars, dog bones, and daisies work well.
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- Cucumbers – they have a neutral taste and they are cheap, so they are perfect for my charcuterie board. To give some variation, I cut them two different ways: coins and sticks.
My Shopping List: $29.43
- 6 cherries: $.90
- 1 apple: $1.70
- 1 pear: $1.70
- 1 kiwi: $.50
- 1 cucumber: $.89
- 1 crown of broccoli: $1.25
- Tomatoes: $1.69
- 3 oz of olives: $1.25
- 3 oz of olives: $1.25
- 10 pieces of candy: $1.00
- Ciabatta: $1.25
- 4 oz of hummus: $2.50
- 1 bag of almonds: $2.09
- 1 block of cheese: $4.99
- 1/4 lb of Capicola: $3.50
- 1/4 lb of Genoa Salami: $2.00
- 1/3 bag of crackers: $1.00
- 1/4 jar of fig jam: $1.66
- Flowers: free, thank you neighborhood garden club!
What are some of your favorite tips? How do you deliver a killer appetizer on a budget?
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