How To Make A Beautiful Charcuterie Board Using Duke’s Meats

So, I posted a video of Duke’s smoked sausages on my Instagram Stories and boy oh boy, do you guys LOVE them! We don’t typically have a ton of pork products lying around but I’m pretty sure these will start to be a staple in our household. Luckily, they even have a chicken sausage product which is perfect for me! 

Since we literally got every single flavor of Duke’s smoked “shorty” sausages, we had to do something fun with them! However, that didn’t stop us from just enjoying the “single serving” packages throughout the week. I don’t think this is their intention, but Baby O LOVES these so we actually just toss the single pack in her diaper bag when we are on the go. 

Also, before I get too deep into my love for meat and cheese boards, I want to let you know where you can pick up a package of Duke’s! You can check their website here for a store locater but I have it on good word that you can pick them up at Kroger, Target, Whole Foods Market, and Publix.

You can also order 5 mix and match shorty’s straight from their website here for just $6.50! 

We got our package of Duke’s right at the beginning of the football season (Go Steelers!) which was perfect inspiration for us. We love to make a spread of snacks when we watch football. It might actually be our most common family tradition. While we typically make things like homemade pretzels, nachos, and chicken wings, we decided a “charcuterie board” would be more than sufficient. 

If you all didn’t know, I used to work for Whole Foods Market in their Local Marketing Department (it’s how The Beard and I met!). Part of my job was planning all the wonderful in-store events like the wine tastings, sampling events, community fundraisers, etc. I LOVED IT. One of my absolute favorite events I used to plan was an “Etsy Craft Night” where I would find local Etsy craft vendors and have them come teach a class at the store! It’s where I met the wonderful Kate Stevens from Red Giraffe Designs who makes the absolute best jewelry. 

My point for telling you this is that for each class, I would make all the snacks. This is where I learned to make some amazing meat and cheese plates. I fell in love with it because it’s literally like making a giant snack board and what could be better than that? 

Duke’s wasn’t around when I was planning these events, otherwise I definitely would have had them on every single board I made. The gist of what I learned is there really isn’t a bad way to make a board! You’ll want to have a good variety of items and this is my personal checklist that goes through my mind while planning. Also, you want to make sure everything is shelf stable and can sit at room temperature for at least 2 hours. 

• Meat, either charcuterie or smoked sausage 
• Cheese, people have a lot of opinions here but as long as you have a hard and soft cheese, you’ll be good
• Fruit, like grapes, apples, or pears
• A jam or honey
• Crackers, I love getting the entertainment pack so there is a bit for everyone 
• Nuts, Olives, Pickles, or other “additions” like Peppadews

I guess technically this post should be a “charcuterie board for 3” because Baby O was very into it. Well, she was into the meat, cheese, and applies. She thinks she likes grapes but spits them out every single time she tries one. But hey, at least she is attempting to eat some fruit. Oy.

Once we got this package of smoked meats, I did a little research into the company of Duke’s Meats. I gotta say, now I like it even more! Apparently the name came from the founder’s brother saying, “You know Justin, you’re like the Duke of Jerky.” That might be my favorite story. 

“The real Duke is actually a guy named Justin. An Eagle Scout who grew up running around the Rocky Mountains searching out roadside jerky stands and exploring Colorado’s back country with his family.”

Since I have a love for piggies, I also love the time and committed effort that Duke’s puts into their smoked sausages. You can read all about their awesome standards here. They are made in small batches, smoked over real hardwoods and made with real diced, whole ingredients and minimal sugar. 

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled program of yummy sausage snacks. Seriously, this is just a fancy snack board so it’s not intimidating at all. For this specific board, we used these specific ingredients. Other than the Duke’s sausages, we got almost all the ingredients at our local Kroger Marketplace! They have a Murray’s Cheese inside of it, so they have tons of great meat & cheese board options. 

• Duke’s Smoked Chicken Shorty Sausage, Tomato & Basil 
• Duke’s Smoked Shorty Sausage, Original 
• Murray’s 1 Year Aged Cheddar
• Murray’s Fresh Mozzarella
• Kroger Butter Crackers 
• Peppadews (aka the best things in the world)
• Green Grapes & JAZZ Apples
• Blackberry Honey from my friend’s wedding
• Bobby Sue’s Nuts Over Olives
• Babies Dill Pickles (we got these at Costco)

Luckily, I have a breakfast in bed style platter that is seriously perfect for sharable snacks like this. I forget where I got mine, but this is a really good alternative over on Amazon! I have SO many little bowls and dishes, mostly because I f*cking love condiments and like to dip things. Yes, I’m a toddler. But, hey it comes in handy for things like this. I get them from Anthropologie, Target, Williams & Sonoma, Sur La Table, and really wherever I see a cute one. I like that they are all various colors, sizes, etc. because I think it looks cute when it’s a bit hodgepodge-like. 

Once you have all your bowls and dishes filled with delicious snacks, it’s time to dig in! While we ate ours while watching the Steelers NOT beat the Browns (oof), you could whip this up for a party or hell, a Tuesday night in with your dog. There isn’t a bad combination on this plate. Pickle and chicken sausage or honey and cracker and sausage or peppadew wrapped around a sausage with cheddar cheese … okay seriously, NOT a bad combination. 

Thank you so much to Duke’s Meats and Moms Meet for sending us these AWESOME goodies. We are seriously addicted and can’t wait to see what other combinations we come up with in the future. For now, you’ll see us hoarding them in O’s diaper bag and loading up on delicious protein whenever snack time strikes. Tell us in the comments what your favorite flavor and combination are or tag us on social!