Do you need to feed a group of energetic, hungry little humans? Why not try a kid-approved charcuterie board? They look fancy and fun and taste even better. To help you create a child and teen-friendly snack board, we’ve put together this post with tasty ideas for a kid-approved charcuterie board. Let’s go!
What is a Charcuterie Board?
A charcuterie board is a board filled with finger foods, which traditionally consists of various kinds of meats, cheeses, and sometimes fruit or pickled vegetables. The name comes from French, and literally means “pork butcher’s shop.” That should give you a clue as to the main components on the board – traditionally including cold meat cuts and pâtés. Luckily, today people like to put together all kinds of charcuterie boards – salty, sweet, vegetarian, seasonal, or festive.
The point of a modern charcuterie board is to arrange and serve food in a fun and unusual way on a board or platter. With pops of color and eye-catching snacks and finger foods, kids simply love a fun charcuterie board.
There’s no limit to what you can put on a charcuterie board. Let your imagination run wild and come up with a fun board that incorporates your kids’ favorite finger foods.
You can serve one of these boards at a birthday party, Sunday play date, a sleepover, or any kids’ gathering. You might even notice the grown-ups at your get-together enjoying your child-friendly snack board!
What Can You Put on a Charcuterie Board?
Anything that’s served cold and is easily eaten with the fingers can be put on a charcuterie board. The most common charcuterie boards contain meats, crackers, pickles, and cheeses. If you want to wow your little judges, you’ll have to be creative. Even if you decide to serve meats and cheese on the board, you can do it in a fun way. We’ll offer some more tips about this in our next section.
For now, let’s look at all the types of foods you can put on a charcuterie board:
Cheese
Cheese is always a winner on a charcuterie board and kids love its soft creaminess. Try cheddar, string cheese, mozzarella, or creamy gouda. For kids, avoid strongly flavored cheeses like blue cheese.
If your family has a favorite cheese that you eat regularly, why change something that works? Serve the one that you know your family and visitors will love!
Plus, you can put different kinds of cheese together – you don’t have to only stick to one. If time allows, cut it into fun shapes. A cookie-cutter is a great tool for this.
Meat
The next most used food on a charcuterie board is cold meats. You can go for turkey, salami, ham, pepperoni, sausages, chicken breast strips, or chicken nuggets. Get creative by folding the meat slices into some interesting shapes or cutting the cooked meat into small bites. Serve them with a dip like sweet chutney or make a cream cheese dip.
If you’re going for a vegetarian kids’ charcuterie board, you can replace the meat with soy-based alternatives, or simply add cooked mushrooms or more veggies.
Crunchy Snacks
Snacks are the maker or breaker of a kids’ party! So, make sure to include them on your board. Crackers, pretzels, crisps, goldfish, popcorn, or anything else you can think of – everything goes. You could place them in small containers and place them on or around the board on the table if you start running out of space.
Experiment with shapes, types, and sizes, so you have a variety and you know that you’ll catch everyone’s attention.
Dips
Kids love dunking bits of food into various dips. Try guacamole, BBQ sauce, salsa, white sauce, cream cheese dips, or hummus. Pour the dips into small containers and spread them throughout the table.
Yes, it might get a little bit messy, but at least it will be fun. If the party isn’t situated in the middle of your dining room carpet, you can just leave kids to be kids. They will make a mess, I promise you that, but they will have an incredibly good time doing it.
Fruits
Fruits can also be a fantastic addition to a charcuterie board. They can add pops of color, flavor, and of course sweetness. Berries work well, but so do watermelon slices, bananas, kiwis, grapes, oranges, or anything else you can think of – go for it!
Again, make it fun with various shapes and colors. For example, you can cut the watermelon into cookie-cutter shapes; add a few grapes here and there, serve strawberries dipped in a little chocolate, or cut fun orange semi-circles. Also consider using dried fruits as these combine well with cold cuts and cheese.
Veggies
Yes, veggies might not be a kid’s favorite food, but they are the healthiest.
One remarkably simple trick to “lure” your party attendees towards veggies is to make them in fun shapes. Tempt them with clever tricks like rolling cheese or meat slices around the veggies. If you’re feeling creative, make vegetable sushi. Serving veggies in a fun way will increase the likelihood of kids eating them all.
Sweets
All kids have a sweet tooth, so allow them the pleasure of a few sweets at the party.
Small cupcakes, sweet treats, marshmallows, or hard candies will certainly do the trick. If you want, you can also provide more healthy alternatives with oats, dried fruits, peanut butter bars, or dark chocolate. Kids will be ecstatic!
Other foods
Snacks and dips might be tasty, but they don’t feed a child completely. So, if you want to add something more substantial to the table, you can also experiment with other foods.
Go for mini pizzas, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bite-sized croissants, or dumplings. That way, you can ensure that all the kids eat enough food – not just a few snacks.
Things to Consider When Arranging a Charcuterie Board
- Choose different flavors and provide several types of food.
- Don’t be afraid to combine sweet and salty on the same board.
- Experiment with colors and make the charcuterie board eye-catching.
- You don’t have to put all these kinds of foods on it. Experiment and go by availability or likeliness.
- Ask your family what they would like.
- Consider the age of the kids when you choose the foods you want to include.
- You can include appetizers like nuts. However, make sure that there won’t be any allergy or choking risks.
- And most importantly – have fun while creating your charcuterie board. Kids may enjoy helping you put it together as much as they enjoy eating it!
Conclusion
Charcuterie boards can be fun and interesting for kids. Almost all types of meat, cheese, fruits, veggies, and sweets are appropriate for a charcuterie board. It comes down to you to decide what you want to serve.
Experiment with assorted sizes, colors, types, and flavors, and you’ll create a charcuterie board your kids will request over and over. Most importantly – find the kid in you while doing it!