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Whether you’re planning a big 4th of July party or low-key family night at home, this red, white, and blue charcuterie board is an easy way to lean into the holiday festivities. Filled with all your favorite foods and as basic or complex as you want it to be, with no cooking at all!
A Note from Cheryl
- The specific foods listed below are just suggestions – feel free to use as many or as few of them as you like!
How to Make a Charcuterie Board
See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.
Arranging beautiful charcuterie boards gets easier (and faster) each time you do it, so don’t be afraid to get started! They’re honestly a lot of fun and there’s nothing quite like the proud feeling you get in the end.
Grazing Board Basics
This red, white, and blue charcuterie board strays a little from my usual charcuterie formula because we’re focused on the colors of the food here, but in general it still applies.
1-2 fruits.
1-2 meats.
2-3 cheeses.
A couple of sweet options.
A variety of vessels.
Balanced textures and a mixture of shapes for visual impact.
Decide on a Design
With a red, white, and blue charcuterie board, you actually have two design options. You could go with a color-blocked board, which is what I opted for this time, with defined sections of red, white, and blue foods.
The other option? A fully-edible American flag, with a square of blue foods topped with white star-shaped foods, next to alternating stripes of red and white foods.
Board Components
If you’ve made any of my other charcuterie boards, you already know how much I love their versatility. Literally anything and everything can go on grazing tray, so they’re perfect for absolutely anyone and absolutely any dietary need.
Here are a few of the components I decided to include on my red, white, and blue charcuterie tray.
Red Foods
- Slices of fresh seedless watermelon cut into star shapes with a small cookie cutter. Perfect for summer!
- Strawberries and raspberries. The fresher and more vibrant the better!
- Thin-cut pepperoni. Arrange the pep slices into deli meat roses or origami them into ribbons.
- Cherry tomatoes. Especially perfect if you decide to include a ramekin of ranch dressing in the “white” section of the board.
- Thinly-sliced red apples. I actually used red apples in both the red section and the white section on my board. Skins-up in the red section, skins-down in the white!
White Foods
- Cheeses! White cheddar, swiss, and a wheel of brie. You can use cracker cut slices or cubes depending on the visual you want. I even threw in some cheese curds, too! For the brie, I assembled it like a jam-filled linzer cookie. Slice off the top layer of brie, then cut out a star shape with a cookie cutter. Layer jam on top of the cut brie, then place the cut-out layer on top. Voila! A red jam-filled star in your wheel of brie.
- Pistachios. The shells camouflage the green interiors, helping them fit in perfectly.
- Saltine, water crisp, or any other type of pale-colored cracker you like.
- Yogurt or white-chocolate coated pretzels. Fun, easy, and a sweet option amid all the savory.
Blue Foods
- Blueberries. An obvious choice, sure, but look, they’re good, ok?
- Black or red grapes. Technically not blue, but blue enough for the look we want.
- Blue corn tortilla chips. Another “vessel” option, and especially great if you’re including a bowl of white queso in the white section.
- Blue frosted (or blue sprinkle) sugar cookies. You don’t have to go overboard, but they really pack a visual punch. You also don’t have to bake or assemble them yourself, which is a big win.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Red, White, and Blue Charcuterie Board
Equipment
- serving tray round or rectangular
- small bowls or cups, or ramekins
- Serving utensils cheese knives, cocktail forks, toothpicks, etc.
Ingredients
Red Ingredients
- watermelon cut into star shapes
- raspberries
- strawberries whole or sliced
- pepperoni or salami
- red apple slices
- red M&Ms
- jam or pepper jelly
White Ingredients
- 1 wheel brie with optional red jam insert
- white cheddar cheese cracker-cut or cubes
- swiss cheese cracker-cut or cubes
- yogurt-covered pretzels
- pizelle crackers
- star-shaped finger sandwiches
- cheese curds
- white M&Ms
Blue Ingredients
- blueberries
- red grapes or black grapes
- blue corn tortilla chips
- blueberry goat cheese
- blue sugar cookies
- blue M&Ms
Instructions
- Place small bowls on serving platter in desired spots. Fill bowls with desired ingredients.
- Arrange red, white, and blue ingredients on board in color-blocked sections or in flag pattern. Rearrange components as needed until desired design is achieved.
- When satisfied with arrangement, serve board immediately or cover board tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- All the specific ingredients listed here are just suggestions. Feel free to use as many or as few of them as you’d like!
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
Did You Make This Recipe?
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