Football Charcuterie Board

Keep your game watching crew satisfied with a platter piled high with sweet and salty snacks. Fans of all ages will enjoy this Football Charcuterie Board!

I’ll admit it – I’m not really a football fan. If I go to some sort of tailgate or game watching party, I’m 100% there for the food. You’ll find me lingering around the fajita bar or the healthy buffalo chicken dip and I’m not ashamed of it!

Everybody seems to have their own game day food traditions and charcuterie board ideas, but I think we can all agree that cheese, pretzels and nuts are a must, along with a variety of other sweet and salty nibbles.

I don’t really think game day is the time for an elegant wine and cheese board (although I’ve seen tailgates with fancy smoked salmon platters and individual charcuterie cups set up by caterers!).

But personally, I like to think more along the lines of a beer charcuterie board. It’s as easy as corralling a few kinds of cheese and some other snackies onto a nice board.

Plastic trays in team colors aren’t really my style, but I found some fun little decorative toothpicks to keep my Football Charcuterie Board festive.

What you’ll need for a football charcuterie board:

• cheese – a little more on this below, but I chose white Cheddar cheese (I used half the block to make pimento mac and cheese, and then cut the rest into cubes for this board), and Gouda (which I found at the store in individually-wrapped “cheese snacks.”)
• m&m’s – these add a lot of color to the board, and who doesn’t love them?
• cinnamon roasted almonds – because these are my most beloved stadium food! Make your own candied almonds, or buy them at the store.
• fritos – It’s not game day in the Midwest without Fritos, believe me.
• mini smoked sausages (or cocktail weinies) – I just gently warmed these in a small skillet with some barbecue sauce.
• pretzels – Any variety of small pretzels would work here. You could even use soft pretzel bites, or yogurt covered pretzels like I use on my Easter charcuterie board.
• mustard – for pretzel dippin’. Put out some extra for ham and turkey sliders.
• pepperoni – I bought a log of fancier pepperoni and sliced it up for my tailgate charcuterie board.
• pickles – Any variety works here. I had baby dill pickles on hand.
• football flag picks – optional, but these little toothpicks add a fun touch to this football charcuterie board idea. Plus, it will always make me laugh that the yardlines incorrectly go 50-30-40-20.
• Feel free to pull more snack ideas from my New Year’s Eve finger foods board!

Keep your football themed charcuterie board simple and delicious!

Honestly, game day is NOT the time to try to wow people with savory baked brie or baked lemon ricotta.

I LOVE those things, and they have their time and place. But at a tailgate, people just want some classic snacks that they recognize right away. Keep it simple and undeniably delicious for fans of all ages.

The same goes for cheese selection. I love a good wedge of Gorgonzola or some shards of aged Pecorino Romano, but a football charcuterie board is really all about simple, great cheeses that can be eaten with fingers or toothpicks (no knives or spreaders needed!). Save the Pecorino for Easter salad!

For this particular football themed charcuterie board, I went with some cubes of white Cheddar and some small portions of Gouda (serve these wrapped or unwrapped, depending on preference and what your grocery store has available).

If you’re tailgating outside, be mindful of food safety!

Depending on what part of the country you are in, you may need to be mindful of food safety and outside temperature if you’re tailgating outside. 

I keep away from creamy dips and condiments, because those can become dangerous when left in the sun.

You obviously can’t have a football cheese board without cheese, but, like with my crostini pizza bar, I do recommend keeping your board and portions on the smaller side, and replenishing as needed (keeping the extra ingredients in a cooler), vs. putting out a massive amount of cheese early on and having it sit too long.

Don’t forget the cocktails!

If you’re into beer, I recommend my lemon shandy. It’s just a combination of homemade lemonade and beer, but it’s so good alongside this football charcuterie board.

If you’re into bourbon, you can’t go wrong with my bourbon mule. If you prefer vodka, I have a caramel apple mule that is especially great in the fall.

And for a zero proof refresher, I suggest my agave lemonade to go with this tailgate charcuterie board.