Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

Charcuterie boards are something of a weekly tradition for me and my friends. They are trendy and delicious, and assembling them is an activity in itself, as fun as it is tasty. Plus, nothing elevates a “Twilight” movie marathon quite like a charcuterie board.

While my friends and I splurge on certain cheeses and meats for our weekly creation, this week I gave myself the challenge of crafting our entire board for less than $20. If you’re dividing the cost, a well-designed — and budgeted — charcuterie board is an economical alternative to the Chipotle bowls that you may have purchased instead. Furthermore, like the devoted Trader Joe’s groupie I am, I pushed myself to purchase all items of the board from Trader Joe’s alone.

Upon our arrival at Trader Joe’s, I immediately headed to the cheese section. I wanted a decent assortment and decided on three purchases, which totaled to five different types of cheeses: “Light Brie” ($4.47), “TJ Goat Log” ($2.99) and the “Spanish Tapas Sampler” ($4.49) that includes Iberico, Cabra Al Vino and Manchego cheeses. The total cost for cheese came out to $11.95.

The goat cheese log had the most unique flavor profile, which varies depending on what you choose to pair it with, and turned out to be my favorite. It serves best with jam on a plain cracker.

Of the Spanish cheeses, the Manchego was by far the best. If you are trying to capitalize on the amount of cheese, definitely pick up the sampler. But if you are serving a smaller group, purchasing an individual Manchego may be better.

Cracker assortments are a great option if you are aiming to keep the board’s cost low. The assortment I chose — “Trader Joe’s Cracker Assortment” ($3.49) — had four different cracker types: vegetable, wheat, original, and pepper & poppy. If you are willing to splurge on crackers, the “Fig and Olive Crisps” are heavenly with goat cheese.

I have a personal affinity for prosciutto, especially when paired with brie. Fortunately for our purposes, Trader Joe’s has a great, cheap prosciutto packet, the “Sliced Prosciutto” ($3.99). There are also similarly priced salami packets next to the prosciutto section if you prefer.

In total, I spent $19.43 gathering the necessary ingredients for my board.

The final step toward a great board is jam. Whether you choose to spread it on a sole cracker or add it to a mix of cheese and meat, jam is sure to complete the flavor profile of your board. If you do not already have jam in your kitchen at home, Trader Joe’s has some great options to choose from.

For this board, I used the “Organic Raspberry Fruit Spread,” which happened to be the jam in my fridge already. The berry flavor added a sweet element to the saltiness of the board but, if you’re looking for a tart flavor, I recommend an apricot jam.

For even more sweetness, you can add your favorite fruits or berries to the board — I added raspberries and blackberries, but any fruit in your fridge could work. I found that the Manchego paired particularly well with the jam on a wheat cracker, whereas the brie paired better with the prosciutto.

When putting your board together, try to include as much variety as you have space for — empty space on your board takes away from the overall aesthetic. Always put down your cheese first. Having to sacrifice a specific cheese to make room for some much less exciting crackers would be a tragedy.

I always separate the meat from the rest of the board to account for my vegetarian charcuterie-enjoyers by rolling the prosciutto and placing it in a little bowl. The jam goes into a similarly sized bowl. To complete the board and add pops of color, I sprinkled raspberries and blackberries throughout the board to fill any remaining empty space.

Save time to play around with spacing and angles while you add to the board. Placing your board will definitely require trial and error, but don’t worry: there is no shame in moving things around until you are happy with your final product. Just make sure not to snack too much during the placing process, or you may end up with nothing left on the board.

Published on October 5, 2021 at 10:48 pm