Charcuterie Cups

Hands down, charcuterie cups are fantastic at parties and holidays. Easy to grab and go, charcuterie cups are fun to fill, look great on the appetizer table, and are an all-in-one solution to snacking while socializing.

Charcuterie cups are a GREAT party idea!

Earlier this week, I published an article on how to make charcuterie boxes, a make-and-take option for a busy parent or when you want to class up an office meeting; these cups are similar to that concept but their use is fundamentally different.

Open faced, charcuterie cups are not meant for packing and stacking but instead are customizable snacks that are inspired by trendy cheese and charcuterie boards.

And filling with vegetable sticks is just one of the options.

Charcuterie cups can be made with fruits, veggies, kabobs, meats, nuts, or even finger food desserts. Pre-portioned food keeps costs and waste down, and because fewer hands go into the food, the spread of germs is also lower.

Where to get Disposable Charcuterie Cups

I picked up my charcuterie cups from Amazon, which come in easy-to-assemble disposable paper cup containers. If you grab them (and I do love them) there are a few tricks to filling them.

• If you want the food to “pop out of the cup,” as shown, you’ll need to loosely crush a napkin into the bottom of the cup and place the food on top.
• I tried a coffee filter, thinking it would work to “lift up” the food, but it wasn’t dense enough. A piece of paper towel, the “half sheet” most rolls have, would also work fine.
• One last thought would be to fill the bottom of cups with something edible, like peanuts or baby carrots.

How to assemble Charcuterie Cups

As noted above, you can add whatever you want to the cups. The ideas are almost boundless. But this is how I assembled them in the example pictures, and it worked perfectly for our house.

Ingredients for the Charcuterie Cups:

• Charcuterie cups and Skewers (<—that is what I bought)
• Regular-sized napkins
• Red, green, and yellow bell peppers (seeded and sliced thin)
• Small/short pretzel twists
• optional: Dip cups with lids

Ingredients for the Skewers:

• Fresh blackberries, fresh strawberries, and dried apricots
• Pitted Kalamata olives (drained), fresh mini mozzarella cheese balls (marinated, so drain if necessary)
• Round, hard salami
• Grape tomatoes, mini cucumbers (cut into 1/2″ thick slices), cheddar cheese (cubed)

Preparing Skewers:

• General Skewers: For each skewer, thread one type of item—pieces of cheese, fruit, meat, or vegetables—onto a separate toothpick. For example, thread all types of fruit on one skewer, a piece of cheese and meat on another, and vegetables on a third. Prepare as many skewers as you need for the number of charcuterie cups you plan to make.

• Salami Skewers: Start by threading an olive onto the skewer, followed by a mini cheese ball. Next, take a slice of salami, fold it in half, and then fold it in half again to create a quarter round. Fold the ends of the quartered salami in opposite directions to form a zigzag shape, then thread this zigzagged salami onto the end of the skewer.

Assemble the Individual Servings of Charcuterie Cups:

1. Loosely ball up a napkin and gently press it into the bottom of each cup. Leave some space and air in the napkin to elevate the ingredients above it.
2. Place one of each of the three prepared skewers into each cup.
3. Tuck in a slice of each color of bell pepper alongside the skewers. Add a few pretzel twists to each cup. If you plan to serve later, add all the ingredients except the pretzels. Add the pretzels just before serving to prevent them from becoming soft.
4. Serve immediately or loosely cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Note: For game day parties, baby showers, or weddings, add stickers before assembling and filling.

Ideas for Individual Charcuterie Cups

Fresh Fruit skewers: Fruit skewers look great with all the pretty pop of color. The only issue with fruit is that once pieces are cut, the moisture inside starts to leak. Sealed fruits, like strawberries, mixed berries, and green grapes, work great.

Try rainbow fruit skewers with melons or, for an adult party, watermelon mojito skewers.

Sandwich skewers: Layered mini sandwiches give a really excellent full bite in a cup and can be customized for just about any sandwich. Layer meats, cheeses, bread, or PB&J.

Try triangled chicken clubs or sandwich kabobs.

Assorted cheeses: Tiny cheese balls, cheese cubes, or soft cheeses (even enclosed baby bells) can be paired with fruit or meats to give a salty/sweet bite. If serving same day, try adding cheese sticks.

On my site, I recommend trying Peach Caprese Skewers or Salami Rose Skewers.

Add some fresh herbs: rosemary sprigs, parsley, and basil all make good choices depending on what you are stuffing into the cup.

Serve with sauce: Want to serve with some homemade ranch dip or tzatziki? Try these little containers for a bit of dip with a lid that can be sat beside the cups or plopped right inside without spilling.

It’s all about the presentation.

Outside of of portion control and germs, these cups are perfect for presentation. They look so darn cute.

You can really expand on how great they look by making sure each cup has a variety of colors, using cookie cutters to make unique shapes for fruits and cheeses, using fancy toothpicks, or getting creative and adding things like edible flowers.