What’s better than a charcuterie board, a huge charcuterie board, and that’s exactly what a grazing table is! Perfect for entertaining and celebrating, this grazing table guide will show you how to wow your guests!
This post is all about creating the perfect grazing table.
What You’ll Need
The Supplies
Obviously the most important part of a grazing table is the food, BUT there are a few other things you’ll need to make a successful grazing table.
The first order of business is your base for your table. The easiest way to cover a large area so that it’s ready for all the food is a roll of food safe butcher paper. This roll is perfect for covering your surface! One of the other fun aspects of using paper as your surface is that you can also write and make designs on the grazing table!
The other thing that I think is essential to a fun grazing table is a variety of accessories for the different food components. Cheese knives for the cheeses, spreaders for different sauces and spreads, ramekins for the spreads, tongs and spoons, etc. Having all of these at your fingertips will help when you are building the board, making it easier for your eaters! This charcuterie set is a great place to start if you don’t have some of these items on hand already.
The Shopping
Shopping for all of your grazing table ingredients could pretty easily get out of hand expense-wise. If you have unlimited funds, by all means head over to Whole Foods and get all the goods. But if you’re like me and want to cut cost but not quality, there are a few places I always try to do my shopping first.
TRADER JOE’S is obviously number one on that list. If you are one of the blessed few to live close to a TJ’s, do not sleep on shopping there. Trader Joe’s has an exceptional cheese section specifically. But they also have so many amazing options for accoutrements, produce and more.
ALDI’S is one that you might not immediately think of, but if you are looking for good deals there is no denying that they have those! They generally have a pretty good variety or meats and cheeses as well as some interesting accoutrements. Just remember to bring your own bags!
LOCAL FARMER’S MARKETS are another great way to find good (sometimes) more affordable products. Plus, then you will also have the added benefit of the products being local. Near me there are several farmer’s markets that have local cheeses, breads, produce, sauces and more. So don’t be afraid to go looking, you can always fill out anything missing with a regular grocery store!
If all else fails, your regular grocery store will absolutely do the trick, so don’t worry!
The Food
Now on to the most important bit, THE FOOD! When it comes to filling up your grazing table, there are a couple of categories that it’s good to try to hit. This includes cheese, meats, spreads, produce, something crunchy, the accoutrements and something sweet!
Cheeses
When it comes to cheese, it’s sort of hard to go wrong in my opinion. But there are a few principles that I try to stick to to make sure I have a variety. Luckily there are so many varieties of cheese that there is usually something that can make everyone happy.
My first rule of thumb is that I try to get any cheese that I know is a guests favorite. Usually if even one person loves it, chances are more will too! Second, I try to get a variety of cheeses that hit different feels. This could include firm, semi-firm, soft, semi-soft, sweet, nutty, spicy and more.
I try to get a few that can be easily served cubed or sliced for easy grab-n-go. But I also think it’s good to have soft cheeses that can be spread onto crackers. And a cheese that crumbles is also another good one to have like an apricot Stilton.
Meats
Unless you are going vegetarian, meat is another essential aspect of a grazing table. Sometimes good charcuterie meats can be hard to find. There are so many options, but they often come in charcuterie packs with a couple of different varieties. These are a great option if you aren’t sure exactly what you like!
But in general I recommend finding something like prosciutto, salami, soppressata, capocollo, and anything else that is calling to you!
Spreads
When it comes to spreads for a grazing table, there are some classics that should be on every board. But, there is also plenty of room for creativity, so don’t be afraid to add something if it looks good to you!
Traditional spreads can include honey, fig jam, fruit spreads, bacon jam, hummus and more. Then there are also spreads that stray into more creative like elote dip, spinach dip, onion dip, chocolate hummus, etc.
Produce
When meats and cheeses and crackers get heavy, produce comes to the rescue with something fresh! Now many charcuterie boards will usually have some fruit like grapes, berries, apples, etc. But for a grazing table, I like to add in some other fresh produce for people to snack on. This can include carrots (rainbow if you’re fancy), cucumbers, celery, peppers, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes or anything else that looks good to you.
Accoutrement
While the heading for these items may be vague, they are actually one of my favorite parts of a grazing table. This accoutrements to me are those little special items that give a grazing table some dimension. This includes olives, stuffed olives, pickles, pickled vegetables, marinate veggies and more!
One of my all time favorite additions are these marinated olives. They are my ALL TIME favorite and oh so craveable. They are the perfect addition to any table.
Something Crunchy
Now that you have your spreads and cheeses and more, you need something to have them with. The “something crunchy” can include so many different things. But the first and most important in my opinion is crackers! I love a good cracker variety on my grazing tables. From pretzel crisps, to a classic Ritz, or even some pita chips and more.
If you want more than just crackers, a variety of breads can also be an awesome addition. A good crusty bread, pita bread, baguettes, anything your heart desires. The other essential crunchy item that you can find on most boards are nuts! Plain, roasted, candied, seasoned and more. Plus the number of nut options is practically endless.
Something Sweet
No meal is complete without a little something sweet. And no grazing table is complete without a little something sweet too! Most usual charcuterie boards don’t have something inherently sweet, but I find with a grazing table it’s good to hit a wide variety of flavors and tastes. This rounds out the food, making it more of a full meal that just snacks.
For sweets you can go for anything from cookies to chocolate pretzels, candies, and more.
Building the Grazing Table
Now that we have assembled all of our components, it’s time to prep and place our grazing table!
Prepping
Once you have all your components assembled, it’s time to do the prep work. This is where we cut the cheese (lol), dish up our dips and spreads, toast our bread, etc.
Placing
This is the part that I think worries people the most about building a grazing table. If you follow these few guidelines, you’ll be filling your table in no time.
- First thing I do is treat the cheeses like anchors throughout the board. Space them out sporadically through the board. I usually also try to think of the table as most savory on one end and most sweet on the other.
- Spreads and accoutrement is next. Place these dishes around the table with the same principles as above, savory to sweet. Make sure to leave space between the cheeses and the dishes so we can build in between.
- Next, follow it up with the meats. There are all kinds of way to fold and arrange the meats. One of my favorites is folding salami in half around the lip of a round glass repeatedly, then when it is flipped out it makes a beautiful meat rose! However you decide to arrange them, place them throughout the table, hugging dishes, bordering cheeses, etc.
- Next we have the produce, crunchies and sweets! These are all the “filler” of sorts. With all of these, fill in any blank spaces between the already placed items. Remember to keep the sweets more clustered together on the sweet end. In general I also try to place things nearest what they go best with.
- Lastly, don’t be afford to move things around if need be. No matter what it looks like (and I’m sure it’ll look gorgeous) it will at least taste delicious.
I hope this grazing table is perfect for your next party or family function!
Enjoy!
For more tips, tricks and party ideas, check out more posts in the Entertainment and Food sections of the blog!
This post was all about creating a grazing table!
