Your Guide For The Perfect Grazing Platter

Your Go-To Guide For The Perfect Grazing Platter! What cheeses, meats, spreads, and other accoutrements to make your charcuterie next level.

Thank you to Président Cheese for sponsoring this post! All opinions are 100% my own.

I’ve partnered with Président cheese to bring you tips and tricks for making your own epic grazing platter! Below are a few rules for consideration, however, you can read the whole guide (including EXACTLY what you should include on your platter!) here.

The Rules to Create The Perfect Grazing Platter

Include Different Textures, Flavors, & Colors: Nothing is worse than a platter filled with white, yellow, and white AND yellow cheeses. Add in some brown crackers and you’ve got a realllll looker on your hands. You need to create layers of flavor! You want your platter to not only be delicious, but beautiful! Add in variety to keep things interesting and guests coming back for their next bite. Think juicy jewel toned grapes, crunchy roasted nuts, salty and creamy olives, and sweet spreads like raspberry jam.
Have Enough “Flavor Vehicles”: That’s right. I just referred to crackers, crostini, and baguette as Flavor Vehicles. You read it here first! Having plenty of said “vehicles” means there will be ample opportunity to sample everything your gorgeous platter has to offer. And just to be sure, I better try that rice cracker, brie, honey, and raspberry creation I just had ONE more time to be sure it’s good…
Diversify From the Standard “Meat and Cheese”: As mentioned previously, nothing is worse than a basic (read: boring) platter filled with meats and cheeses (typically of the highly processed variety). This is where you can really compliment the varieties of meats and cheeses you selected for your platter. Did you grab manchego and chorizo? Pay homage to their homeland of Spain and include some roasted red peppers, Spanish olives, and Marcona almonds. Highlighting foods that come from the same region mean that the flavors will naturally compliment each other.
Go for Quality: When creating a collection of single ingredients that ultimately come together as one dish – each one needs to stand on its own. The quality, taste, and presentation needs to be the BEST, which is why my favorite cheese for making grazing platters is Président. Not only do they have a fantastic variety of cheeses, but the quality is top-notch. I haven’t found a brie out there that beats their flavor!
Keep it Full: Presentation is everything when it comes to a grazing platter! They didn’t blow up the internet because they include a smattering of ingredients thrown haphazardly on a plate. OH NO. Grazing platters are art. And the best part is…it’s simple. Just keep it full! Sure, arrange ingredients nicely, and have some small dishes for mustards, honey, jams, and and any other spreadables. But other than that? She just needs to be full!