If You Think Cheese Boards Are Nice, Wait Until You Try “Jarcuterie”

You’ve made more fruicuterie (fruit and cheese) boards than you can count, and you have an epic chocolate charcuterie board planned for Valentine’s Day. Heck, you even got in on one of the best quarantine trends, pancake charcuterie boards. Next on your list? Jarcuterie.

Yup, it’s exactly what it sounds like: single-serving charcuterie boards packed into a cute little jar or container. Also called graze bouquets, jarcuterie is just what we needed in the age of social distancing, since the last thing we want on the table is a communal cheese board with shared tongs and knives. It also helps you manage your portions (unless you’re like us, in which case you’re helping yourself to a second or third jar anyway…).

Instagram charcuterie experts have taken this trend and ran with it. Some of their creations have all the usual suspects, like meat, cheese, olives, sliced fruit and nuts. Others include both sweet and savory ingredients, like dried fruit, fresh herbs, honeycomb, dark chocolate and breadsticks. Some of our favorite additions are cornichon pickles (duh) and the *cutest* mini cheeseballs (we see you, @noblegraze). Dessert jarcuterie is also a thing, and our favorites boast everything from chocolate covered pretzels to lollipops to skewered sour gummies.

Skewers or toothpicks are typically used to put all the noms on display. Tiny mason jars and pretty bowls are the most standard vessels, but we also love the idea of wrapping butcher paper around your treats like a bouquet or using affordable paper cups. (It’s what’s on the inside that counts, after all.) You can also tie pretty ribbons around the jars or label them with nametags for an Insta-worthy presentation.

When you’re putting yours together, put durable ingredients (like nuts or dried fruit) on the bottom that will hold your skewers and soft ingredients (like fruit) up without getting crushed. Then, layer thin meats like pepperoni, salami or even deli turkey on skewers, alongside cubed, skewered cheese or mini Brie wheels (!!!) so the jars looked packed to the gills. Then, stuff smaller items like chocolate pieces or berries in the front, using the larger items and skewers to hold them up.

We can picture these at your next dinner party obvi, but in this day and age, we love the idea of packing up the jars and surprising your friends or family with a tasty surprise drop-off. (The jars make the goodies easy to transport, or at least easier than a giant cutting board with loose meat, cheese and snacks.) Once everyone has theirs, you can all hop online with a bottle of vino for a virtual happy hour. Happy noshing.