Build-Your-Own Charcuterie Board Hostess Gift with ALDI

I partnered with ALDI this holiday season and I couldn’t be more excited to share this post with you. I recruited my mom’s help for it and we are both fully ALDI converts. We had a blast grocery shopping and finding all kinds of products in each aisle. I had half the cart filled after going down the first aisle!

They say “to know ALDI is to love ALDI” and I can say firsthand, that it’s so true. They’ve thought of everything to pass along savings to, you, the customer. From encouraging people to bring their own bags (win/win for the environment and your wallet) to making the store layout as efficient as possible– ALDI is obsessed with value and making sure you’re getting the best price for the best quality possible.

If you remember from a few months ago, I was able to attend an ALDI holiday preview and that’s where I came up with the idea for this post. They had a butcher’s block with chopped chocolate bars and I thought it was so pretty, and the perfect starting point for a great charcuterie board.

There is just something so wonderful about charcuterie boards. I love that it works for casual get-togethers, fancy events, and everything in between. You can make it strategically laid out or perfectly imperfect. You can go big or small. You really can’t go wrong, and isn’t that the best part? Well, maybe the best part is how delicious they are 😉

If you’re heading to someone’s house for the holiday season, this would make a great hostess gift too. I put together a little basket with some charcuterie board “must-haves.”

First things first, you need a good base. I included two of the Crofton Slate Serving Boards– they’re the perfect size for a small party and I love that you could do one or two for even more goodies. (These are available starting 12/19 for a limited time… and under $7!)

Of course, this Cheese Knife set is a must as well. My mom and I were both so impressed with these as they’re super sturdy and the different shapes meant that every cheese and snack had a knife to match.

The Huntington Home 3-Pack Mini Candle Tins set will help set the mood (my sister stole these for her own house haha).

For fun, I threw in a box of Gingerbread Flavor Dog Biscuits because even the pups of the house should be treated to something nice for the holidays!

Everything got wrapped with various red ribbons for a festive look and placed inside this wire basket, all of which you can find at ALDI.

I may have gotten a little carried away with the snacks! ALDI had a huge selection and it ended up being so hard to narrow things down. I grabbed a bunch of non-perishable things that every charcuterie board could use:

– Specially Selected Raspberry Fruit Spread

– Oranges

– Specially Selected Mini Artisan Crackers, (my favorite of the bunch!!)

– Various Moser Roth Chocolate Bars

– Dried Blueberries

– Specially Selected Kalamata Olives

– Artichoke Hearts

– Clancy’s Apple Chips (my mom and I ate the whole bag, so addicting)

– LiveGFree Gluten Free Mini Twists Pretzels (FYI the liveGfree line is now backed by the Good Housekeeping Seal. This means that each liveGfree product was evaluated and quality tested by the food and nutrition experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute!)

– Dried Mixed Berries

– Savoritz Original Wheat Crackers

– Savoritz Sea Salt Pita Crackers

– Pistachios Roasted with Sea Salt

– Savoritz Original Woven Wheats Baked Crackers

– Almonds Oven Roasted with Sea Salt

– Raw Honey

– Dried Mediterranean Apricots

You could definitely bring cheeses and other fruits (like grapes and pears) in a small cooler, but I wouldn’t put them in the gift basket to keep everything fresh!

To actually put together the charcuterie board, you really can do anything! I like to keep each item “together” on the board (e.g. all the almonds in one spot) in little piles. Crackers get spread, meats get rolled, and fruits are neatly sliced. Because it’s a cheese board, I like to spread the cheeses out so they’re more manageable and each of them gets their own little spotlight.

I will say, the best tip I have for putting together a charcuterie board? Have more things ready to go to replenish the board with! If you see the crackers getting low or a particular cheese that’s disappearing quickly? Just add more, everyone will thank you!

I also want to go on record to say that my family and I made our way through everything and there wasn’t a single thing we didn’t like. We started to put things away to save for a family game night but nothing actually ended up in the baggies. Once we started, there was no going back, as all good charcuterie boards should be.

Thank you ALDI USA for sponsoring this post!