Everything You Need for a New Year’s Eve Charcuterie Board

A charcuterie board is a great idea for New Year’s Eve and it’s fun to say! What better way to ring in the new year than by stuffing your face with a delectable selection of meats and cheeses. But contrary to what my lazy high school gym teacher used to say, a good charcuterie board takes some work. You can’t just throw any old sliced meats and cheese chunks on a board and call it a day. No, you need to curate a platter that will look good, taste great, and satisfy your guests. You need to find the perfect balance of meats, cheeses, spreads, accompaniments, and delivery devices. We want to make sure you have a happy new year, so we did all the work for you. Here is everything you need for a New Year’s Eve charcuterie board.

Foustman’s Fennel and Pepper Salami

If you’re going to only have one salami option on your charcuterie board, it needs to be this one. If you’re like me and obsessively look at fancy restaurant menus from places you can’t afford on Yelp, then you know that fennel is a classic pork pairing. That fennel gives this salami an old school, Italian sausage feel and the black pepper pops against its fatty pork backdrop. This salami is a little on the pricey side, so slice it really thin on your charcuterie board. It will probably be the first thing to disappear from your board. There’s a reason it was one of our favorite salamis.

Appleton Dry Cured Ham Prosciutto

A lot of charcuterie boards make the mistake of going salami and sausage heavy. While salami is good and a charcuterie board necessity, it can’t be the only thing on there. Every great charcuterie board is anchored by that dry-cured, hammy goodness that we call prosciutto. Out of all the choices out there, this Appleton Dry Cured Ham Prosciutto is our favorite. This prosciutto has a blast of savory and fruity sweet flavor that is followed by a luxe, fatty finish. It can be found at Aldi, so you know it won’t break the bank.

Raincoast Crisps Rosemary Raisin Pecan

Now we come to the delivery device of the board. Sure, you could just eat a bunch of cheese and meat by the handful. But if you want to retain a tiny shred of dignity, put those treats on a cracker! You need a base on which to pile things, and crunch to maintain textural variety. A lot of people will tell you to get a neutral cracker, but those people are wrong when it’s New Year’s Eve. You need some festive flavor! We tried a bunch of crackers and Raincoast Crisps Rosemary Raisin Pecan was amongst the cream of the crop. Each cracker has just enough flavor to be a snack all on its own while also perfectly complimenting the rest of your board.

Stonewall Kitchen Fig & Ginger Jam

We put our testers through the paces to find the best jam you could possibly put on a charcuterie board and Stonewall Kitchen Fig & Ginger Jam was the hands down favorite. This jam features big chunks of ginger and fig, making it a sweet, sharp, and tart compliment to the rest of your board, especially any strong tasting cheeses. A cracker topped with some jam and a crumble of cheese is always going to be a good call.

Creamy Toscano Cheese Soaked in Syrah

If you have ever stepped foot into a Trader Joe’s, then you know it is the place to go for good cheese. This cheese was our favorite in the store. As I keep harping on, you want to have a nice variety on your charcuterie board. Part of having a variety is putting a hard cheese out there. Now, I know that hard, parmesan-like cheeses aren’t up everyone’s alley and wine-soaked cheese can be divisive. But it’s New Year’s Eve, so even the cheese gets wine. And this wine-soaked hard cheese will make everyone at your get-together lose their mind. Seriously, if there is anyone that tries this cheese and doesn’t like it, they are probably an alien. This stuff has flavor crystals!

Supreme Brie Bites

Let me make this clear: Charcuterie boards need brie. If you ever go to a party and there’s a charcuterie board with no brie there, dump it into the trash then leave. That host has insulted you by not offering you brie. We tried as much brie as we could stand and these Supreme Brie Bites were at the top of the list. They are not made by the clothing company Supreme, this is a different Supreme, but they are still stylish. They come in individual bites, about the size of a ping-pong ball. So people can just take a whole mini wheel off your charcuterie board rather than dealing with sticky slicing.

Wickles Dirty Dill Cocktail Cornichons

It doesn’t matter if you don’t like little pickles. There’s going to be somebody at your New Year’s Eve party who loves them. Dirty Dill Cocktail Cornichons are our favorite Wickles pickle. They have a great snap with just the right amount of dill. These cornichons have a nice sour flavor that will compliment your meats and cheeses. And if you have any of them left when the sun comes out, you can throw them in your Bloody Mary.