I Made Charcuterie with only 500 Pesos and Less!

I miss going out. I think we can all agree that sometimes, one of the reasons we go out is to unwind and get away from either stress from work or from home. I miss getting to go and experience these wonderful grazing boards and wine nights along with a nice chit chat with friends.

While I know you can get your own charcuterie or grazing board with different deli shops for delivery, they don't really come cheap. But upon strolling through the grocery the other day, I figured I can make a decent affordable and budgeted grazing board that's great to pair with any wine.

What is served in a Grazing Board 

What I noticed is that there are four main components and one alternative to creating your own grazing board. these are:

• Cheese
• Deli/Cured Meat
• Crunchies (crackers and nuts)
• Fruits

The bonus is if you can add some sort of pickled stuff or a spread of sorts that will go great with your four main components.

The best part about doing your own grazing board is that you can personalize it to your liking. I found that you can also prioritize the things that you want and some things you can get for a really cheap price if you get it at your local market. Here's what I did with mine:

My Budget Alternatives for Charcuterie at home

For cheese, I got two things- Creamy Brie at around 165 Php per block and a very tiny amount of Colby Jack. I only used half of the brie as it was only me who will be eating this anyway. 

For my meat, I only had two options in my grocery at the time- King Sue hawaiian ham or CDO Cooked ham. Both were at the below 70 pesos range. You can also of course get some good farmer's ham, pepperoni or salami for this. While what I got are not true cold cuts, they cover the meat aspect of my board fine.

Crunchies are really easy- you can just get fita bread, skyflakes, Bread Stix or pretzels from your grocery and call it a day! This gives you less work and you can save for the better cheese or meats. Or you can toast some white bread bread on a pan, and rub them with some sliced garlic and tomatoes topped with a bit of salt and pepper for hints of flavor. 

Want nuts but you don't have the budget for almonds, walnuts and all that? Grab a big bag of Ding Dong mixed nuts at the grocery store and you're done! I swear I was pleasantly surprised when I had this with my Muscato- I noticed that it can pair with any wine you have, red, white or rose!

As for fruits, I got some seedless grapes for only 50 pesos per 1/4th kilo. That is more than enough for a grazing board good for three. I also got three apples for 50 pesos which I cut up to bite sized pieces to stick together with the grapes. Others I cut in normal slices and placed them as is.

More Cheap Alternatives for your Board

Other great but cheap cheese alternatives that is great for pairing with wine, are the Ques-o brand of cheddar that's like below 60 pesos for a 220g bar. It actually gives a sharp taste unlike usual cheeses that are way too sweet for this. 

For medium level, some California Orange Cheddar that's 152 Php per 220g, would be great. More local alternatives are  Queso de Bola that we usually get for Christmas or Kesong Puti if you have it in your area is good tasting for this.

The Full Price Tally

Here's the full tally of my expenses for this- minus the wine of course!

Brie: 82.5 Php (I only used half of this for my board hence my price is half)
Colby Jack: 50 Php (estimate as I only used around 50 or 60 grams of my 220g)
Sliced Ham: 21 Php (Only used 3 slices but of course you can use more)
Grapes: 50 Php
Apples: 50Php
Fita: 18 Php (Binili ko sa suking tindahan hahaha)
DingDong Mixed Nuts: 5 Php ( Should've made it 20 pesos worth. hahaha)
Bread Stix: 8Php per pack( But I didn't use it cause I had too much fita already)

My total; 284.50 Php for this spread! You have some left over to add for a decent bottle of wine too!

Plating your Grazing Board or Charcutterie

For plating, I really just copied what I saw in the buffets and hotels that I went to. I sliced up the brie into cheese triangles, and the Colby Jack cheese I diced. You can also have them as big cheese strips or triangles, it is up to you!

The ham I got I sliced into fours and folded to create that cute shape. The general rule with the rest is to place things that would go great together near each other. And don't worry about it too much- you'll still enjoy it with friends and family anyway you place them!

Things have been a little too hectic lately. I feel like I am in college all over again, experiencing hell week once more. This was a much needed activity for me to destress, as I can't bake yet due to bread flour shortage in my area. LOL. Definitely doing this again soon! 

How about you? What would you put on your grazing board if you're making one?