The Nut-Free, Lactose-Free, Vegan Charcuterie Board Item Sure To Please Everyone

The crux of a charcuterie board hinges on sharing it with family and friends. After all, what good is a heaping smorgasbord of meat, cheese, jam, and crackers if you're enjoying it all alone? As a communal platter, charcuterie boards should be for everyone, even those with food sensitivities and diet restrictions. While provisions like prosciutto and brie are cornerstones of a charcuterie board, decorating your platter with nut-free, lactose-free, and vegan-friendly items guarantees that everyone can enjoy its satiating luxuries. In search of the best inclusive charcuterie fixings, Chowhound spoke with Dominick DiBartolomeo, the owner of The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, which has pages on Instagram and Facebook, to discover the ultimate accommodating board item.

Salty, savory, and popular among all palates, DiBartolomeo says, "Freshly made tapenades are a great way to go," adding that they pair particularly well with assorted dried and fresh fruits. A tapenade is a medley of finely chopped capers and olives steeped in olive oil that flaunts a rich, briny taste that marries just as well with meat and cheese as it does with meat, dairy, and nut-free ingredients. A tapenade can be smeared across bread, sprinkled over jam and crackers, or enjoyed by the spoonful. 

Tapenades are easy to make and easy to customize to your tastes. Simply combine your ingredients in a food processor and pulse until they are pulverized, and et voilà – a fresh, bright, and umami-tinted medley that fits squarely into any charcuterie bounty. Although oil, olives, and capers are the primary ingredients in a tapenade, you can jazz them up with other inclusive foodstuffs. Lemon juice, garlic, pickles, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh basil are just a few of the many complementary, inclusive tapenade add-ins.

Tapenades pair well with classic charcuterie board items, adding a savory garden freshness to rich cheeses and hearty cured meats. But how can you pair them with other inclusive ingredients? "I would also serve a variety of breads and crackers," Dominick DiBartolomeo says. A tangy sourdough crostini, whole grain crackers, or warm pita bread are excellent and satiating options for dipping, shmearing, and scooping tapenades.

Chase a tapenade-topped toast with fresh fruit to get the real charcuterie experience. Tangy fruits like blackberries, blueberries, and green apples are charcuterie mainstays that build a zippy edge around the earthy taste of olives and capers. In addition to whole fruits, combining tapenade with a tart raspberry jam and smothering the spreads atop a cracker makes for a complex, dynamic, and mouthwatering snack. To bolster the vegetal bravado of a tapenade without redundancy, add acidic pickled veggies like cucumbers, jalapeños, and red onions to your board. In place of cheese, offer your guests with food restrictions a spread of creamy, fatty hummus; replace honey with a jar of agave or maple syrup. Don't hesitate to prepare multiple different types of tapenade to diversify the board.

To prevent cross-contamination for severe allergies, consider serving your inclusive charcuterie items on a separate board, away from any nuts, dairy, and meat. After all, the only poorly designed charcuterie board is one that doesn't accommodate everyone at the table. Take DiBartolomeo's advice to heart and introduce tapenades to your sharable charcuterie roster. And if you have leftovers, use your tapenade to build a sandwich.