Now that spring is here, we’re sighing a breath of relief for sunnier days and spending more time outside. If you’re looking for more ways to get out and enjoy all the season has to offer, keep reading for the best way to fuel a perfect day out.

Maximizing your outdoor time can be a challenge. When you want to spend the whole day outside, planning around mealtime can introduce a new set of problems for preparation, logistics, timing, and more.

That’s why we love a good picnic lunch. This solves the problem of having to interrupt your day to find a spot to eat, plus makes for easy preparation, quick bites, and fast cleanup. A well-planned picnic also fits into wherever the day takes you — whether that’s the beach, the park, or a trip to wine country.

At Wally’s, we don’t settle for anything less than high quality and completely delicious. So when we plan our picnics, we stock them with top tier ingredients that you won’t find at a regular grocery store.

There’s no substitute for a simple yet luxurious lunch of cheese and charcuterie. Think, charcuterie board on the go. Delicious, snack-able, and adaptable for any occasion.

When you stop by our cheese counter and gourmet market, or order from our online pantry, you’ll find a wide selection of snacks and staples that live up to the same high standards as our restaurant service. Premium imported cheeses, artisan cured meats, unique crackers and nuts — these are just a few of the crave worthy finds for your picnic basket.

Read on for our guide to preparing the ultimate cheese and charcuterie picnic to fuel a beautiful day out and about this spring.

What to include in a cheese and charcuterie picnic box

At its core, a great cheese and charcuterie picnic contains three essential elements: cheese, cured meat, and bread or crackers. In addition to these key items, you can choose to include sweet or salty flavors like spreads, honey, nuts, fruits, or vegetables.

For each of these categories, we have expert suggestions for the best flavor combinations to create and enjoy your best picnic yet.

Choosing the perfect cheeses

Make sure to include a few cheeses with different flavors and textures to complement your selection of cured meats. This also adds variety to your picnic and allows you and your guests to mix and match flavor combinations.

Here are the best types of cheeses to look for when curating your own picnic lunch.

SOFT CHEESE: Serving one or two soft cheeses is a great idea for slathering on bread or crackers. This creates a delicious base for layering on other items like cured meats or toppings. We recommend: 

• Fermier Camembert: A creamy and buttery cow’s milk cheese with notes of mushrooms, a perfect pairing for Bordeaux wine.
• Brillat Savarin: A velvety and creamy soft-ripened cow’s milk cheese, making a decadent pairing with Champagne.

SEMI-SOFT CHEESE: When assembling the perfect cheese and charcuterie picnic, it’s good to have at least one cheese that’s in between firm and soft. When it’s somewhere in the middle, it’s easy for you to slice and snack with minimal effort. Here are some favorites for pairing with stronger meats:

• Challerhocker: A Swiss cheese that’s been aged for 12 months, giving it a rich and nutty flavor.
• Brabander: A Dutch goat gouda with a smooth texture and notes of toasted nuts, with a sweet finish.

FIRM CHEESE: Strong, firm cheeses are often the stars of a cheeseboard or picnic. They tend to have powerful flavors that can be enjoyed on their own, but also play well with other elements in your picnic. Some delicious options are:

• Hooks 10yr Cheddar: An intense and tangy award-winning cheddar cheese from Wisconsin, and a popular choice among Wally’s customers.
• OG Kristal: An aged Gouda made from cow’s milk, with sweet notes of butterscotch accented by crunchy crystals.
• Manchego: A classic sheep’s milk cheese with nutty and fruity notes, and a favorite for pairing with cured meats.

Selecting the best cured meats

A great charcuterie picnic impresses guests and delights everyone’s palates by offering a variety of flavors and styles of cured meat. We love picking a meat from each category to have a variety of mix and match options in your picnic.

Here are our recommendations for charcuterie choices for a delicious picnic:

DRY CURED PORK: This is a must for a great charcuterie board. Look for thinly sliced and salty cuts with beautiful marbling. Some tasty options include:

• “5J” Jamon Iberico de Bellota: A buttery, nutty, and decadent cured meat from the Iberian Peninsula of Spain.
• Jamon Serrano: A staple bar snack from Spain, this cured ham is salted and aged to perfection.
• Pio Tosini Prosciutto di Parma: This incredible prosciutto comes from Parma, Italy, offering sweet and supple flavors perfect for a picnic.

BRESAOLA: This dried and cured cut comes from lean top round beef, offering a sweet and supple flavor profile. Perfect thin slices offer loads of flavor to complement creamy cheeses and light- or medium-bodied red wine.

SALAMI: Made from a sausage of fermented and dried meat, salami is usually made of pork but can also use beef or other meats. With many varieties and styles, salami is a great idea for a picnic because of its versatility and endless flavor combinations.

• Wagyu Beef Salami: This crowd-favorite is made from beef, seasoned with thyme and black peppercorns to give it a robust flavor.
• Charlito’s Truffle Salalmi: This striking salami is made from cured pork with black truffles and sea salt, for a powerful and complex flavor.

Don’t forget! Sides and extras make everything better

Now that you have the essential ingredients covered, it’s time to play around with added flavors and toppings to make your charcuterie picnic shine. While not all of these are necessary, having a few options will truly level up your flavor potential. Try mixing and matching different toppings with each cheese and meat, or tasting each one alone, and see what your palate prefers.

BREAK AND CRACKERS: This is a key ingredient to make sure you have something to layer your spreads, cheese, and meats atop. When it comes to bread, look for a baguette or country loaf that is thick and hearty to hold all your flavors together. For crackers, you can pick a unique flavor or keep it simple — either option offers great flavor potential with cheese and charcuterie. We also love fruit and nut crisps with a sweet and savory crunch.

• Rustic Bakery Flatbread Olive Oil Sel Gris
• Fine Cheese Co Rosemary Crackers
• Carrs Table Water Crackers 4oz
• Raincoast Fig & Olive Crisps

NUTS: Whether they’re flavored, roasted, spiced, or salted, a handful of nuts is a great addition to any charcuterie picnic spread. We love Marcona almonds or truffle almonds for a luxuriously salty crunch.

• Urbani Truffle Almonds
• Mitica Marcona Almonds Bag 4oz

SPREAD: Before you layer the cheese and meat on your bread and crackers, don’t forget to start with a tasty spread as a base. Mustard, honey, and jam are tried-and-true options. You can also experiment with a honey for drizzling, fruit paste, or a savory pate like duck mousse.

• Duck Mousse with Port (available at Wally’s cheese counter)
• Rutherford & Meyer Apricot Fruit Paste
• Tartuflanghe White Truffle Honey 40g
• Clif Family Solar Grown Raw Honey 5.5oz
• Savannah Bee Honeycomb Mini 160g
• Brins Chili Pepper Jam 7.5oz

PRODUCE: If you still have room in your picnic basket, some final additions can level up your delicious lunch feast. Fresh fruit and vegetables work wonderfully to balance a variety of meat and cheese flavors, or they can serve as a palate cleanser between the bites of rich food. Some popular options include: strawberries, blueberries, apples, dried apricots, cranberries, figs, and crudites such as bell peppers, carrots, and celery.

How much of each ingredient should you pack?

When you’re shopping for your cheese and charcuterie picnic items, plan ahead to ensure you have enough food to feed your entire group.

In general, if cheese and charcuterie are the main event, we recommend about three ounces of meat per person, and about four ounces of cheese per person.

Make sure you have plenty of crackers and bread so there’s enough to go around. You might also want to mix and match varieties with the cheese and meat, so we recommend at least two cracker and bread picks.

For the side items, feel free to load up so your group can enjoy snacking throughout the picnic and beyond. We suggest at least five to ten scoops or pieces of each item.

How to pack a cheese and charcuterie picnic

When you come into Wally’s, our helpful cheese counter associates will set you up with everything you need for a great picnic lunch. Use the list above to start your cheese and meat order, and request a to-go container to make sure everything’s wrapped, packed up, and ready to go.

You can also stock up on sides and extras to round out a complete picnic. Just slide everything into your picnic cooler or lunch box and you’re ready for a delicious picnic.

Visit Wally’s to shop our selection of premium, imported cheeses and meats plus gourmet snacks to accompany your picnic. Find your local Wally's now.