Simple Charcuterie Board For Spring

Share now or save for later

With spring in full swing, here’s how to create a simple charcuterie board that really looks the part, yet only takes around 30 minutes to prepare from scratch using artisan cured meats, British cheeses and fine accompaniments from Harvey and Brockless, paired with seasonal ingredients.

Spring is one of my favourite seasons of the year. From the blooming spring bulbs brightening up our gardens and green spaces, to the cotton wool lambs frolicking in the fields, and the sunlight flooding our early mornings and late evenings, there’s lots to love about springtime.

That’s not forgetting seasonal spring produce, of course. As the temperature gets milder and the days grow sunnier, fresh British fruit and vegetables is in it’s prime, with my favourites being new potatoes (especially Pembrokeshire Earlies), purple sprouting broccoli, leeks, aubergine, artichokes, asparagus, radishes, beetroot, rhubarb and spring onions.

Seasonal springtime produce can make for a charming addition to any charcuterie or cheese board. Following the success of my Autumn cheeseboard and festive winter cheeseboard, I’m teaming up with specialty food producer and distributor, Harvey and Brockless, to create a simple charcuterie board for spring.

While my spring charcuterie may look impressive – and it’s bound to wow all your friends and family this spring – you’ll be surprised at just how quick and easy it is to prepare!

Based in the UK, Harvey and Brockless work with artisan food producers all over the world to supply small farm shops, restaurants, food manufacturers and consumers with authentic specialty foods. Although cheese is their biggest passion, they also stock a variety of British, Italian and Spanish cured meats, condiments, accompaniments, oils, butter, yoghurt and more.

With free delivery available throughout mainland UK on all orders above £50, products usually arrive within 3-5 days of ordering, securely packed into a sturdy cardboard box along with ice blocks and eco-friendly Woolcool thermal insulated packaging, ensuring everything stays chilled until it arrives.

What are the basics for a simple charcuterie board?

The typical charcuterie board consists of a selection of meats, cheeses, crackers and/or bread, at the very least.

However, you can also include other accompaniments on your charcuterie board. For example:

• Chutney, jam and/or relish
• Fresh and/or dried fruit
• Fresh veg
• Nuts and/or seeds
• Pickles (e.g. cornichons, pickled onions)
• Olives, or other briny accompaniments like sun-dried tomatoes or anchovies

What kind of jam goes on a charcuterie board?

I love a dollop of tangy chutney or sticky jam on a charcuterie or cheeseboard. In fact, I’d never serve a charcuterie board – or a cheeseboard, for that matter – without at least one chutney, jam or relish on the platter. Not only do they add colour and texture, but they also help to balance out any particularly dry, salty or briny flavours on your cheeseboard.

I rave about rhubarb and, as field-grown rhubarb is in its prime throughout mid-spring to early summer, I couldn’t resist making some rhubarb jam for my board. While many rhubarb jam recipes call for vanilla pods, I made mine using a simple mix of chopped rhubarb, jam sugar with added pectin, and freshly squeezed lemon juice, and it tastes divine.

However, there are lots of jams that work well on charcuterie boards, from traditional fig jam and quince jelly, to more innovative options like bacon or chilli jam.

Tips for styling & serving a simple charcuterie board

Having considered what kinds of cheeses, charcuterie and accompaniments we may want to include on our charcuterie boards, let’s now consider the question of, ‘What makes a good charcuterie board?’

While you may think we’ve just covered this, there is more to a good charcuterie board than meets the eye. It’s not simply a matter of choosing the right kind of meats, cheeses and accompaniments, and placing them onto a board.

While the ingredients you add to your cheeseboard are incredibly important, you’ll also need to consider how many people you’ll be feeding, the size and material of the board you decide to opt for, and how you choose to style and arrange the cheeses, meats and other ingredients.

A good charcuterie board should:

• Be served at room temperature (especially the cheese)
• Include quality ingredients
• Offer a variety of accompaniments, including different flavours and textures
• Be arranged in a neat, aesthetically pleasing way (more tips below)
• Be presented on a board or platter made using either non-porous hardwood (like teak, hard maple and acacia), slate or marble (the latter of which tends to keep ingredients cooler for longer).
• Be arranged on a board big enough to hold all the meat, cheese and ingredients, without becoming crowded (less is often more)
• Include cheese forks or knives, and perhaps some cocktails sticks, so people can cut their cheeses and pick up ingredients without touching them directly

Styling a spring charcuterie board

If you really want to give your spring charcuterie board that added edge, consider styling it with some seasonal flowers and foliage.

I’ve presented my spring charcuterie board on a couple of artificial grass table runners I picked up in my local Flying Tiger store.

Of course, you could go all out if you really want to. Here’s a photo I took of the board on artificial grass, surrounded by spring flowers. In the end, I chose to go with the photo without the flowers; less is often more, I feel. Which version do you prefer?

How do you organise a DIY charcuterie board?

Before assembling your charcuterie board, take the cheeses out of the fridge and allow them to come up to room temperature for at least an hour, although two hours is best for some cheeses. That said, if you’ll be using any particularly soft cheeses, half an hour is often enough (especially during the warmer months); I used Fen Farm Dairy’s Baron Bigod on my board (bottom left on the vertical photo of my board) and, as you can see, it does get rather oozy after sitting on the board for a while.

Next, choose your board. Consider how big you’ll need it to be and what material you’d prefer to use (see above for more tips on this).

Begin by adding the cheeses to your board. Arrange them in a way that makes them easy to access and nibble on; cut the cheese into wedges or triangles beforehand, and fan them out or arrange them in a row for easy access.

Next, add the charcuterie. If using salami or pepperoni, charcuterie roses can make for a pretty addition. Alternatively, charcuterie meat can be arranged in overlapping slices, folded into halves or quarters, or wrapped around other ingredients (with cheese being a popular one). Take a look at the video below to see what I mean.

Then, gradually arrange the other ingredients and accompaniments around the cheeses. Start with the larger ingredients like jars of jam, chutney or relish, and elongated ingredients like spring onions and chives, which can be placed diagonally across your board before arranging other ingredients around them. Don’t be afraid to tuck ingredients in and move them around to ensure they fit neatly onto the board.

Finally, place your crackers and/or bread onto the board; you don’t want to add them at the beginning, or they could dry out and soften while you’re arranging the rest of the board. Small, flimsy ingredients like nuts and seeds should be added to your board right at the end – use them to fill any gaps, and introduce variety and texture.

To finish, add a few cheese forks or knives to the board, along with some spoons for chutneys, jams and/or relishes.

What meats go on a spring charcuterie board?

So, which meats should you include on your spring charcuterie board? Generally speaking, charcuterie boards comprise of cured Italian and Spanish meats like salami, Parma Ham, prosciutto, pastrami, chorizo, ‘nduja and sopressata, alongside traditional French pâtés, ham, sausages, bacon and more.

However, feel free to experiment with any meats you like; if you happen to have any leftover meat laying around after dinner, a charcuterie board can make for a great way to use it up!

Charcuterie for spring

When choosing charcuterie for a spring cheese board, the key is to opt for lighter, subtler flavours. Think delicately spiced salami or wine-cured breasaola, versus spicier varieties like chorizo, sobrassada, pepperoni, pastrami and ‘nduja, which are more suited to the colder autumn/winter months.

My spring charcuterie board includes two types of charcuterie, both sourced via Harvey and Brockless:

• Tempus Achari Salami – a delicately spiced pork salami based on an Indian recipe for pickling going back hundreds of years, infused with fennel seeds, talicherry black pepper and fenugreek
• Dorset Air-Dried Coppa – free-range Dorset and Devon pig pork neck fillet, dry cured with pepper, coriander, junipier and mace, then air-dried

What cheese is good for a simple charcuterie board?

When preparing a charcuterie board (or a cheeseboard, for that matter), aim to include at at least one of each of the following kinds of cheeses:

• Aged (e.g. Manchego, Gruyere, Parmigiano Reggiano)
• Blue (e.g. Stilton, Gorgonzola, Roquefort)
• Soft (e.g. Brie, burrata, soft goat cheese)
• Hard (e.g. Cheddar, Gouda, Comté)

However, you could include more cheese if you’ll be making a larger board, or have several mouths to feed.

How much cheese should I allow per person?

Although it will depend on how big your appetites are, and whether you’ll be serving your charcuterie board as an appetiser, main course or perhaps even a dessert, you should aim to include around 85 – 100g cheese per person.

Cheeses for a spring charcuterie board

When preparing a simple charcuterie board or cheeseboard for spring, try to include cheeses that are light and fresh in flavour.

My spring charcuterie board comprises a range of fine artisan British cheeses, all sourced via Harvey and Brockless.

The selection includes:

• Caws Cenarth Perl Wen – an organic, soft rind cheese made by Pembrokeshire-based Caws Cenarth, with the creamy, buttery texture of Brie, and a lemony, slightly salty centre more akin to Caerphilly
• Baron Bigod – the UK’s only traditional raw milk Brie-de-Meaux style cheese, made to an authentic French recipe using milk from Fen Farm’s herd of Montbeliarde cows, aged for up to eight weeks
• Wookey Hole Cave-Aged Cheddar – a traditional, tangy West Country cheddar, aged in the caves of Wookey Hole in Somerset
• Isle of Wight Blue – a soft and creamy blue cheese, with blue-green natural rind and blue veins
• Oxford Isis – this strong, washed-rind cheese is washed in honey mead to produce a velvety consistency and pungent, floral aroma, hailing from Oxfordshire and named after the alternative name for the River Thames, where it flows from the Cotswolds to Oxfordshire

Condiments and accompaniments for a spring charcuterie board

Having carefully chosen your cheese and charcuterie, it’s time to start thinking about which condiments and accompaniments to include on your spring charcuterie board.

Naturally, you’ll be looking to feature a range of seasonal produce, with a variety of textures and tastes.

Here’s what I’ve gone for:

Crackers and/or bread

• Peter’s Yard Sourdough Crackers – a great go-to cracker for any cheeseboard or charcuterie board, crunchy and well-textured
• Millers Damsels Cranberry & Raisin Toast – crisp, miniature pieces of toast, studded with cranberries and raisins; this is the first time I’ve tasted these, but it won’t be the last – they’re delicious!

Chutney, jam or relish

• Homemade rhubarb jam
• Tracklements Country Garden Chutney

Fresh and/or dried fruit

• Dried apricots

Fresh veg

• Beetroot
• Radishes
• Spring onions

Nuts and/or seeds

• Pistachios

Pickles

• Balsamic onions – sweet, crunchy Italian Borretane onions, steeped in balsamic vinegar

Briny accompaniments

• Italian Semi-Dried Tomatoes – fully ripe, field-grown and hand-picked, slowly roasted and marinated with garlic and oregano
• Marinated artichokes

Step-by-step guide to crafting a spring charcuterie board

Print Pin

5 from 9 votes

DIY Simple Charcuterie Board For Spring

Discover how to assemble a simple charcuterie board for any occasion, right through from which cheeses, charcuterie meats and accompaniments to include, to what kind of board or platter to use, how to arrange your ingredients, and how to style your board to make for a striking finishing touch.

Brimming with fresh, locally sourced produce, this seasonal charcuterie board is ideal for spring grazing. However, it could easily be adapted for a seasonal cheeseboard for summer, autumn or winter – take a look at my autumn and winter cheeseboards (linked in this blog post) to for inspiration on how to tweak your cheeseboard according to the seasons.

Course Appetizer, Dessert, Dinner, Lunch, Starter

Cuisine British, French

Keyword charcuterie, charcuterie board, Cheese, cheeseboard, crackers, pickles

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Styling time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Author Kacie Morgan

Cost £5

Equipment

• wooden, slate or marble cheeseboard a large wooden chopping board or platter also works
• Cheese forks and/or knives
• Cheese wire/slicer optional

Ingredients

• 80 g Caws Cenarth Perl Wen
• 80 g Baron Bigod
• 80 g Oxford Isis
• 80 g Wookey Hole Cave-Aged Cheddar
• 80 g Isle of Wight Blue
• 75 g Tempus Achari Salami
• 80 g Dorset Air-Dried Coppa
• 100 g rhubarb jam or any jam, chutney or relish of your choice
• 30g fresh chives, with flowers attached
• 4 spring onions (or one very large one, as I've used here)
• 30g wild garlic, with flowers attached
• 100 g dried apricots
• 100g fresh whole baby beetroot, or sliced whole beetroot
• 4 radishes
• 100 g Balsamic onions
• 100 g Semi-Dried Tomatoes
• 100 g marinated artichokes
• 105 g Peter's Yard Sourdough Crackers
• 100 g Millers Damsels Cranberry & Raisin Toast
• 100 g pistachios

Instructions

Cheese

• Remove the cheeses from the fridge and allow them to reach room temperature for at least an hour.
• Slice your cheeses into wedges or segments, and arrange them on the board.
• Add the Achari Salami and Dorset Coppa. Either place it onto the board whole or, to save space and make it look pretty, fold it into halves or quarters.
• Add the rhubarb jam to the board; you can either place it directly onto the board in its jar or, to save space, use a smaller serving dish instead.
• Arrange the fresh chives and spring onions on the board, placing them at diagonals.
• Add the wild garlic leaves and flowers to the board, placing them wherever you feel they might be needed, like around the corners or edges of the board, for example.
• Add the beetroot, radishes, balsamic onions, semi-dried tomatoes and artichokes to the board. The radishes can go on whole as they are, but you'll probably want to use small serving dishes or bowls for the beetroot, balsamic onions and tomatoes, to avoid staining your board or making a mess.
• Place your crackers onto the board, along with any bread you might be using. Aim to place some crackers at either end of the board, so people can get at them easily, without having to reach over, or across the board.
• Finally, add the pistachio nuts to the board, using them to fill any remaining gaps or spaces.
• To finish, add a few cheese knives or forks to the board for serving.
• If you like, you can decorate your board with spring flowers and artificial grass/foliage, to further reinforce the spring theme (totally optional, though!) Find more styling tips in my blog post.

Notes

• Make sure you read all of this blog post, not just this recipe widget – you WILL miss out on vital assembly tips if you ignore this advice… 
• You can experiment with different cheeses, but aim to include at least one aged cheese, one blue cheese, one soft cheese and one hard cheese
• Similarly, feel free to use any charcuterie you like on your charcuterie board
• Try out different seasonal ingredients and accompaniments to find out what works best for you. You can find some more suggestions in this blog post, but check out my autumn and winter cheeseboards for further inspiration for seasonal cheeseboards. 
• Always add the cheeses to the board first, then work around them 
• Crackers and bread should always be added to your board last, to prevent them from getting soft, or hardening 
• Finish with the smallest ingredients, like any nuts and seeds, which are ideal for filling up any gaps or spaces 
• To style your spring cheeseboard, try to pick up some artificial grass and look for seasonal spring flowers like daffodils, tulips and irises (be careful when picking bluebells, as you could be committing a crime if you do it in the wild – check out my blog post for further advice!) A spring posy bouquet from your local florist will work wonders. I also added a few little Easter chicks to my board.

Unique charcuterie board ideas

Like the look of my simple charcuterie board for spiring? Take a look at what I came up with for autumn and winter last year – be sure to bookmark or pin these links so you’ll be able to find them when the season changes!

Autumn cheeseboard

Festive winter cheeseboard

Do you enjoy making your own DIY cheeseboards at home? Which of my seasonal charcuterie/ cheeseboards do you like the look of most – spring, autumn, or winter (the summer version will be coming soon!) Leave a comment below to let me know.

Like the look of my charcuterie board? PIN this post now so you’ll never lose it; it can be a nightmare trying to hunt down a recipe online once you’re ready to shop for ingredients and get cooking!

I have linked this recipe to #CookBlogShare run by Sisley & Chloe, which was which was hosted by Jo at The Family Food Kitchen.

Share now or save for later