Have you seen those fun meat and cheese charcuterie boards from years past and wondered what the next new board meal or snack will be all about? Well, enter this super fun Pasta Charcuterie Board!
Not only is it super simple to put together, it’s incredibly easy to customize and make it exactly how you and your family will LOVE it. Picture your favorite pasta and toppings, all on one beautiful serving platter, ready to grab at a seconds notice. Just divine and insanely easy.
This pasta board is the perfect thing to whip up when you have holiday guests coming in from out of town or for feeding a crowd for special occasions. It’s something where everyone can customize it just how they like it and you don’t have to worry about building a traditional dinner that everyone will be sure to enjoy.
A little something for everyone goes a long way with this recipe! If you want more holiday meals, we have those too- we’re all about making life easier.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Takes the fun aspect of creating a gorgeous traditional charcuterie board or cheese plate and gives it another twist
- Different than just a variety of cheeses and meat choices
- A new fun way to have dinner on pasta nights
- Ready in no time- great when you’re short on time, especially using any of the shortcuts
Ingredients
These are the simple ingredients that you’ll see pictured.
Truly, these are just suggestions, you can add whatever you want. These are a great starting point to build off of:
- Cooked Pasta
- Grilled chicken
- Cooked and seasoned ground beef
- Alfredo sauce
- Spaghetti sauce
- Pesto
- Sliced cherry tomatoes
- Fresh Spinach
- Sautéed Veggies
- Steamed broccoli
- Shredded Parmesan cheese
- Shaved Parmesan
How to Make A Pasta Charcuterie Board
- First, cook your pasta in heavily salted water so the pasta doesn’t stick together.
- Then make your spaghetti sauce, pesto, and Alfredo sauce.
- Next, sauté the fresh or frozen veggies with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Feel free to add other seasonings if desired.
- Now, cook the ground beef and season however you prefer.
- Heat up the grilled chicken and steam the broccoli or cook however you desire.
- Drain pasta, season with butter, salt and pepper and place on board.
- Place all topping options into bowls and arrange on large serving platter.
Storage
Any leftovers of this easy recipe should be stored in individual containers in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days. This is the best way so anybody can still build their own favorite pasta dishes from the leftovers in the fridge. Keep everything in airtight containers.
Remember that for proper food safety, this pasta charcuterie board should only sit out at room temp for less than 2 hours before it needs to be refrigerated and then reheated.
Variations and Tips
- If you don’t have a serving dish large enough, you can plate the food items on a large cutting board.
- Make your own homemade alfredo sauce, spaghetti sauce, or other pasta sauce, or for a quick short cut- used canned sauces.
- Serve this with small bowls and small plates so people can build their pasta however they please.
- Serve this delicious recipe with a nice healthy salad and some garlic bread for a full Italian meal.
- To keep the pasta hot for longer periods of time, place it in a ceramic bowl before placing it on the serving board instead of just directly on the board.
- Always have enough tongs or serving utensils for the number of items you have your your board, otherwise this pasta board can easily get out of control and messy.
- To make this even easier, use canned sauces, precooked pastas, ready to serve meat, and have your vegetables cooked already.
What Kind of Pasta Should I Use?
As you can see, I chose penne pasta as I feel the smaller type of pasta works best. But you an use any fresh pasta or boxed pasta that you have on hand. But, here are a few ideas you could use:
- Fusilli
- Shells
- Elbows
- Orecchiette
- Ravioli
- Tortellini
- Farfalle
- Zoodles made from yellow squash or zucchini
- Rigatoni
What Else Can I Add?
The options really are endless and will vary depending on your taste buds for this DIY pasta board, but here are a few ideas:
- sun-dried tomatoes
- different meats other than chicken and ground beef- try ground chicken, ground chicken or pork, Italian sausages, sweet or mild sausages, meatballs, etc
- fresh mozzarella
- goat cheese
- different types of cheese for garnishing
- other sauce options like bolognese sauce, vodka sauce, pomodoro sauce, etc.
What Herbs Can I Add?
If you want to put some small bowls or little dishes out with containers of spices and fresh herbs for people to add to their sauces, that would be another great way to let them customize their pasta. A few simple ideas to serve would be: kosher salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, garlic salt, onion powder, Italian seasoning, rosemary, parsley, basil, and fresh basil.
Now you can see just how super simple it is to toss together this Pasta Charcuterie Board. It’s a fun way to mix things up and make an ordinary dinner extraordinary! So go raid your cabinets and see what you have on hand to build your own pasta board tonight.