Turn Your Favorite Pizza Flavors Into The Ultimate Charcuterie Spread

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Long gone are the days when charcuterie boards were the exclusive fare of the turtleneck-clad, jazz-listening, New-Yorker-tote-bag-carrying, red wine elite. There's nothing in the rule book that says charcuterie spreads can't star familiar, accessible elements. Really, what we're talking about here is the unsung splendor of the pizza-themed charcuterie board – which can even get kids excited about snacking. To build a pizzeria-worthy board, simply take a cue from your go-to pizza toppings.

Perhaps the most obvious overlap between common pizza toppings and staple charcuterie board elements is cured meats. Here, bust out those luscious prosciutto ribbons, the funky capicola, the toothy soppressata, and even the bologna-adjacent mortadella. To really lean into the pizza theme, add a smattering of thin-sliced pepperoni or even fried bacon strips. 

Next: cheese. For an overtly pizza-inspired board, stick to high-moisture, low-funk offerings, such as soft, fresh buffalo mozzarella, burrata, or provolone. These might be supplemented with sharp sheep's milk Pecorino Romano, which delivers a crumbly, firm texture, salty Parmesan, or creamy ricotta. You could even wrap slices of pepperoni around thin mozzarella cheese sticks (think elevated gas station snack) and neatly arrange them on the board while gesticulating wildly with a long-stemmed wine glass (...or, in pizzeria fashion, a can of Diet Coke).

For the fresh elements, sliced cherry tomatoes deliver that crucial pizza sauce flavor tone. Bonus points for multicolored heirloom cherry tomatoes; purple, green, and orange hues look marvelous side-by-side on the board. Jarred sun-dried tomatoes work, too. Pro tip: For easy snacking, skewer whole cherry tomatoes with fresh basil leaves and mozzarella pearls and place 'em on the board (hello, instant caprese on a stick!). More fresh items could include julienned yellow and orange bell peppers, jarred banana peppers, or even pickled jalapeño slices. 

For umami factor, think "old school" pizza toppings like artichoke hearts or anchovies. For the acid note, pickles. This could be bread and butter pickle coins for a touch of sweet acid, or baby gherkins for toothiness. Another potential charcuterie candidate is melanzane sotto aceto — traditional Italian pickled eggplant relish. To make the classic antipasti, sliced eggplant is pickled in a brine of vinegar, garlic, parsley, oregano, olive oil, and red pepper flakes. Relatedly, to "funkify" the board, all it takes is good old pizzeria olives. For charcuterie purposes, castelvetrano olives and pimento-stuffed olives are arguably more fun to snack on than the canned black olives customary to the pizza world, but as always, dealer's choice. Finally, for a sweet element, dot that pizza-inspired spread with pineapple spears and a few fresh basil leaves.

If you're feeling ambitious, your pizza-inspired board could even veer into gourmet topping territory with offerings such as halved figs or spreadable garlic confit. Don't forget the dunking sauces — classic pizzeria ranch, hot honey, basil pesto, dark balsamic dressing, even red pepper jam. As you brainstorm for your next grocery run, don't overlook the supermarket freezer aisle, either. Pizza Rolls, Bagel Bites, and cut-up French bread pizzas are all totally fair game for pizzeria charcuterie.

Most importantly, for the utilitarian board-to-mouth vehicle, ditch customary charcuterie crostini and outfit your board with strips of pillowy pizza crust. Simply grab a pouch of store-bought pizza dough mix (like this offering by Betty Crocker, $1.99 on Amazon), bake it according to directions, and slice it into strips. Frozen garlic bread, oregano crackers, or pizza-flavored Combos pretzel snacks would work here, as well.

In true pizzeria fashion, your board could be enjoyed not with wine, but with ice cold Coca-Cola. Opt for glass bottles (not aluminum cans) for playful dinner party entertaining. Otherwise, we've taken the liberty of rounding up the absolute best types of beer and wine to pair with pizza, all of which would complement the kaleidoscope of toppings on your pizza-inspired charcuterie board.