Simple Kid Friendly Charcuterie Boards
Cheese Boards are excellent for weekend snacking and make great simple kids party food and are loaded with a wide variety of fruits, veggies, cheeses and meats. These also make great after school snack trays! Even adults will love it!
Building a simple charcuterie board that adults and kids alike will love is a simple and easy thing to do! It is not hard to create a platter that is varied in texture, color, and flavors that seems fancy but is really easy to make!
These are great at parties, get togethers, and also work great as easy meals and snacks! They are so great for any time of day or any occasion! Plus they are easy way to add a variety of fun ingredients to your kids meals.
Click here for more information on how to raise kids who love to eat great food!
What do you tools do you need to build a kid charcuterie board?
You don’t need anything fancy to make a simple charcuterie board for kids!
- Use a large rimmed baking sheet or extra large platter.
- You can use small bowls or ramekins to hold ingredients like pickles, jelly or hummus.
- Add small spoons or knives to help with dipping and spreading.
These trays also work awesome as after school snack trays (but smaller sized), and I often fix something similar when I am trying to make dinner but my children are about to die from starvation (their exaggeration, not mine). Adding a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, meats and cheeses means that even if they fill up on their “snack” and are too full for dinner I know that they still ate a balanced meal and got some good nutrition down!
The trick to making a beautiful charcuterie board is to vary your items – space out items that are the same size, shape or color with different items to give your tray visual appeal.
For example – don’t place cherry tomatoes and grapes beside each other because they are both roundish.
If you want to add something that is juicy or watery (think pickles) or small (nuts or pomegranate arils), place them in a small bowl on the tray. These make amazing options for simple kids party food!
What to Add To A Kids Charcuterie Board
The key to making a good charcuterie board is to have a good selection of all different kinds of things. Pick 2-3 different options from each of the categories below. Make sure that all the items are pre-cut into bite sized pieces and ready for snacking (no sharp cheese knives on these boards, please!).
Building an easy and family friendly cheese board is really all about choosing a wide variety of finger foods and arranging them on a large tray together.
Looking for a simple way to expand how your kids eat? Check out How to explore the sense of taste with kids!
Which cheeses are good for a kid-friendly cheese tray?
Pick milder cheeses (a super stinky blue may not be the best choice unless you know your kids really enjoy it!). Pick 2 to 4 cheeses in both yellow and white coloring, and cut them into a variety of shapes (cubes, slices, sticks, etc).
Avoid varieties that have strong flavors, but do go for different textures, colors, and flavors.
- Cheddar Cheese – both white and yellow sharp are great – get a good quality!
- Edam
- Havarti
- Gouda
- Mild Goat Cheese
- Gruyere
- Fresh Mozzarella (try serving marinated mozzarella balls!)
- Asiago
- Brie
- Provolone
- Fontina
*Tip: The flavor of cheese is best when it is room temperature! Allow your cheese to warm up for 30 minutes on the counter before assembling your platter.
Which fruit goes on a charcuterie platter?
Go for a variety of colors, textures and crunch level in the fruit. Cut them into different shapes and sizes to add even more visual variety.
- apple – get a crispy apple like a Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, or a good green. Dried apple chips are also a fun addition because they are crispy
- pear slices
- grapes
- dried apricots
- berries like blueberries, blackberries, raspberries or quartered strawberries
- pomegranate airils
What kinds of veggies to add to a charcuterie board?
Make sure the items are small sized so they are perfectly grab-able and dip-able.
- cherry tomatoes
- sliced cucumbers (we really like those little persian ones!)
- sweet snap peas
- baby carrots or carrot sticks
- baby kosher pickles
- slices of sweet mini peppers (the orange, yellow and red ones)
- vegetable pate
Which meats should be on a charcuterie board?
- salami
- sliced and quartered sections of summer sausage
- a good quality jerky
- rolls of deli meat like turkey or ham
- proscuitto
- sliced deli ham or turkey
Fun Extra Stuff to Add
- Nuts – almonds, walnuts or pistachios
- Something to dip like ranch dressing, french onion dip, or hummus. Also think about savory spreads like mustard!
- Sweet things to drizzle like honey, lingonberry preserves, fruit butter or chutney or wojapi sauce. A cream cheese fruit dip is also great.
- Don’t forget the crackers, pretzel chips and slices of baguette!
- Crispy roasted chickpeas.
- Chocolate is always acceptable!
- Olives!
Other recipes that make great kid friendly party food are Easy Cheese Dip and Mini Pizza Bites!
Charcuterie Board Tips
- Using a platter or tray with edges is key to helping contain everything!
- Use different types of crackers in different shapes and textures to offer a variety.
- Make it a game with your kids to see which cheese and meats are paired best with the different items.
- Charcuterie boards are best when served immediately after assembling. You can prep things ahead a little by cutting the cheeses, readying fruits and sides, etc that you want. But wait to assemble until you are ready to eat.
Thanks for the idea, now I know what to serve for snacks on our family gatherings. I may give this a twist by adding blanched veggies to bring a light contrast to meats and cheeses.
This is a great idea. Now kids can be involved in the party food too!
We have family game afternoon every Sunday. We take it in turns to pick a board game, have snacky picnic style food and all spend several hours being present.
They love eating the same food as we do and are always willing to try different options.
Love this. ALSO loving your Eat like a princess series!!!! I have boys but I am sharing this as it is just so fabulous!
Thanks so much Claire!! I am developing a series aimed at boys right now! It will start this summer! 🙂
My kids would go crazy for this! Such a great idea.
Love it! Charcuterie for the kids (and works for adults too!). I live in wine country, where charcuterie boards are a staple offering at ALL events. I’ll remember this one for the summer picnics. Pinning and sharing! 🙂
I really love this – my husband and I used to do “wine and cheese” nights for dinner at least once a week before we had our son. Love the idea of adapting it to fit the little guy right alongside us!
Such a unique and fun idea for kids!!
Kid friendly? I am not kid friendly and would eat this. 😉
I love this idea Jenni, and totally love your behind the scenes video! Also, isn’t a charcuterie board the perfect meal? Little bites of delicious food, lot’s of variety… yum!
Such a great meal!
Love how you’ve made this something that both kids and adults would love. I’m always down for a charcuterie board – yours looks fabulous! Great tips 🙂
Thanks, Ashley! They are so hard to turn down!
Jenni this is a fabulous idea! Shea is SUCH a cheese lover, but maybe just maybe I can convince her to have some of the veggies. We will definitely be trying this and maybe adding a little hummus!
Yes! And sometimes mixing and matching to make little sandwiches is fun! Hummus is always a good idea!
Love it ! This is such a great after school snack with friends !
What a great idea to make a charcuterie board kid friendly! A much healthier snack than chips and cheese doodles!
Healthier but no less fun!
Such a cute idea and very well executed! Super cute video too! Looks like fun and I enjoyed the story!
This post made me laugh, because my 2 year old will devour a charcuterie board — the spicier the meat or the more cured the olives, the better! I never thought about needing a “family friendly” aspect since he dives right in. But I can definitely see how less adventurous toddler eaters would be turned off by some of his favorites! I’m pretty sure if we had this as a pre-dinner snack, he wouldn’t even think about touching his dinner! 😂
YES! My kids love some items that most people would never think about serving their child. I think its all about what you serve them! Our kids are lucky to have food bloggers for moms! LOL Sometimes people just need to be told “hey, this food is good for all members of a family, not just adults!” And you can totally adjust the size as needed! LOL
What a great looking charcuterie board! My friend’s daughter loves munching on simple finger foods when they come to my house, and she would absolutely devour everything on this board! I really like how you have everything about the same size, to make it super easy for the kids
Its great to have pieces that are perfect for grabbing by little fingers – that way you don’t have to worry about knives on the tray. Plus my kids like to pretend they are “sneaking” items off it, so by having small bites all ready to go, they can grab more.
What a FABULOUS idea! my kids would be all over this! They love cheese, crackers, fruit, veggie and hummus and those pretzel chips! YUM! I love that you included your littles with a special dish of their own! It’s perfect!
I love this idea and the concept of gathering in such an important place in the home. It’s a great tradition that I think we may have to implement on Sundays at our house as well. Thanks for the inspiration!
I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Awesome idea to make a charcuterie board for kids! I have a toddler, so he wouldn’t eat anything besides crackers and apple slices from it. Can’t wait to introduce him to your board in a few years! 🙂
Oh my goodness, what a great idea! So fun to have the kids involved in the party food!
This is such a great idea! I love charcuterie but definitely want the whole family involved.
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!