Anything goes when you’re loading up a kid-friendly charcuterie board with your child’s favorite foods. Grazing boards are the ultimate after-school snack hack because they combine a variety of veggies, cheeses, fruits, crunchy crackers, dips, sweets, and meats in one easy to access place. There are also numerous opportunities to customize your kid-cuterie boards for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or specific holidays.
When planning the ultimate charcuterie board for kids, invite them into the kitchen with you and let them take the lead. Robin Plotkin, dietitian and founder of Board Mama, says, “Use your creativity, try things, be willing to stack food, make patterns, create theme boards, or use all one color. Give yourself permission to make changes until it’s exactly the way you want it. Then be proud of what you’ve accomplished.”
Robin also recommends when first planning a board to aim for six to seven foods. She recommends a meat, a cheese, a fresh or dried fruit, a veggie, a dip, a nut or seed, and a cracker or bread. These foods cover the basics tastes and textures like crunchy, sweet, soft, nutty, creamy, salty, and tangy. Plus, pairing a variety of foods like fruits and vegetables with dairy is a fun way to help kids eat more healthy foods.
Foods to Use on a Charcuterie Board for Kids
- Cheese – string cheese, cheddar cheese, Colby Jack, fresh mozzarella pearls
- Fruit – grapes, strawberries, blueberries, apple slices, mandarin orange slices, raisins, dried cranberries, banana chips
- Vegetables – carrot sticks, celery sticks, cucumber rounds, broccoli florets, sliced bell peppers, sugar snap peas, pickles, cherry tomatoes
- Deli meats – ham, turkey, salami, pepperoni
- Dip – guacamole, Greek yogurt, hummus, ranch dressing
- Starchy – crackers, chips, pretzels, breadsticks
- Nuts – peanuts, almonds, cashews
- Sweet – small cookies, chocolate candies, yogurt pretzels, gummy candies, sour candies
Anything goes when making a charcuterie board, so have fun because you can’t mess it up! Choose all of the foods your family loves and you’re guaranteed to have a delicious meal or snack. Check out The Dairy Alliance recipes for more delicious dairy additions to add to your next board.
Holley Grainger MS, RD is a nationally recognized nutrition and lifestyle expert who brings healthy fun flavored with creativity, ease and a sheer enjoyment of all things food, family, and beyond through her blog, Cleverful Living. Holley is a registered dietitian residing in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband, Brent, and their daughters, Ellie and Frances.