Weekends are for brunching! We love making a brunch board as the primary element for a picture-perfect meal. Whether it’s to celebrate a birthday or just because, brunch is the perfect casual meal for gathering with family and friends and a fun way to start the day.
A brunch charcuterie board ensures you have all the main meal components ready to go before your guests arrive and it gives you the perfect springboard for simple sides you can ask people to bring or easily put together yourself.
You’ll be saying OMG! Because…
- Brunch is the best! With best friends, to celebrate mom or for a holiday, brunch (and brunch charcuterie boards) is just fun.
- You can get help from the store. Everything on a brunch board doesn’t have to be homemade, so grab some pastries from your favorite shop and don’t stress!
- You can be creative. Brunch charcuterie boards should be pretty and combine flavors and textures, so it’s a great chance to mix things up in the kitchen!
Premium Ingredients = Recipes that WOW
We know that when you are feeding the people you love, you want to give them the best. That’s why using the best ingredients in our recipes is so important to us. The things to focus on when making brunch boards are:
The Protein. Be sure to include some sort of protein on your brunch charcuterie board. If you are going the bacon or sausage route, try to find options without nitrates. If you have some vegetarians coming, opt for little egg bites.
PRO TIP: You can make them in mini muffin tins and keep the leftovers for weekday breakfasts in the fridge for up to 5 days.
The Baked Goods. If you want to make them yourself, go for it! If you prefer to use store bought scones, muffins or other pastries for your brunch board, choose a bakery you know uses quality ingredients and check the labels for any potential allergens.
The Fruit. Brunch charcuterie boards should be colorful, so adding berries or other seasonal fruit is a must! Be sure to use what’s fresh and always wash it well before serving. You can use a small bowl to hold small berries or place larger fruit straight onto your platter.
How to make a Brunch Charcuterie Board
Here are the central points for assembling your brunch board:
1. Choose the right size platter based on how many people you are feeding and how many different items you’re adding to the board.
2. Choose one or two “star” offerings for your brunch board that you plate first. In this example, the mini waffles (HINT: we took some help from the freezer section) and our Sweet & Spicy. Cinnamon Rolls take centerstage. For the cinnamon rolls, we took some help from the store with refrigerated dough. We made our own glaze with powdered sugar, milk and a splash of orange juice. Then, we dipped the baked cinnamon rolls into the glaze followed by crushed Sweet & Spicy OMG! Pretzels.
3. Add protein to your board. Bacon (be sure it’s crispy, so it keeps its shape), turkey or pork sausage or halved soft-boiled eggs work well.
4. Add fresh fruit for color. Guests may also use the berries to top the waffles or pancakes, plus they add some brightness and healthy sugars to the mix.
5. Feel free to use small bowls or ramekins to house berries, syrups, jams, cream cheeses, and butters you want to add to your brunch board. These containers are especially important if you know that some guests may not like certain components of the board.
6. Have fun! Creating beautiful brunch charcuterie boards is all about playing with your food and changing up combinations.
Pretzel-tastic Brunch Board Ideas
Cold Spread. If your get together doesn’t have a firm start time, doing a cold brunch charcuterie board is a good idea. Use a variety of bagels as your primary component. Cream cheese and smoked salmon are must-have additions! Add slices of tomato, red onion and cucumbers instead of fruit for freshness and color. Use a few different flavors of cream cheese and add some of our seasoned sourdough pretzel nuggets to the brunch board in case someone wants a quick bite while they are making their plate.
Family Friendly. For something more kid-friendly, do pancakes in different sizes and various flavors of syrup for dipping. You can also add chocolate chips for extra weekend sweetness. Use sausage links for protein since they can easily be wrapped in the pancakes, making it easy for little fingers to pick up and enjoy!
Spice it Up! This brunch charcuterie board idea is great for an all-adult gathering. For protein, make this pretzel-tastic strata featuring our Chesapeake Pretzels (HINT: You could also use Buffalo or Cheddar Jalapeno for this recipe.) and cut it into squares before adding to your spread. Add some Tajin to berries or pineapple for an extra kick of heat.
Brunch Charcuterie Board FAQs
What kind of drinks go with brunch charcuterie board?
Any brunch or breakfast drinks pair well with a brunch board. Some of our favorite ideas are a sparkling wine bar, bloody mary bar or coffee bar. This way, guests can create their own drink based off of the base and add-ons you provide. It makes the whole brunch experience interactive and fun!
