How to Make a Meat and Cheese Tray | Favorite Family Recipes (2024)

Meat and cheese trays are a great appetizer or an easy way for guests to make their own sandwiches. Perfect for parties, potlucks, BBQs, or family gatherings!

Meat and Cheese Tray vs. Charcuterie Board

For the Meat

First of all, you want to choose at least two to three different kinds of deli meats. This can include but is not limited to any of your favorite styles. We always love the classic turkey, ham, and roast deli meats but go beyond and boost your tray with specialty meats.

• Turkey – Try these favorites like honey, maple, cajun, or smoked turkey.
• Ham – Black forest ham, honey, smoked, Virginia, maple, or brown sugar for a variety of ham choices.
• Roast beef – Pick out a thin cut to a thicker cut of roast beef for a comforting taste.
• Salami– This is a type of cured meat that is from pork, beef, or veal. Salami is flavored with garlic and other herbs to add extra flavor.
• Pepperoni – These reddish-colored meat are popular on pizzas but are perfect for adding an extra boost to any sandwich. Pepperoni comes in a small round shape that is easy to decorate a tray with.
• Pastrami – This is made from beef brisket, cured in spices, and cold cut. The main ingredient of spices in pastrami is fresh black pepper. Usually, on the edges of the thicker meat, you can see and feel the pepper.
• Bologna – A mixture of meats can make up bologna. It is a softer meat that is popular with younger kids.
• Corned beef – An Irish traditional beef that can be made into a deli meat. It still has the same great flavor as a roast.

Variations and Tips for Meat

The different types of meats only add to the tray and give the tray a colorful and fun variety of meats. Learn just how to fold and roll the best meat. For your next party be sure to look into slicing several different types of meat that give this tray the perfect balance of all the deli meat flavors!

• Know your meats – It is a good idea to separate the turkey and the roast beef on a deli platter. The roast beef is really dark and can discolor the turkey if it is sitting next to it.
• Rolling and folding meat – For purposes of folding and/or rolling the meat, you will want to have it sliced fairly thin. You can ask your deli to slice it as they would a typical “sandwich slice”. It will be easiest to ask your deli to give you the slice amount rather than the weight you are looking for. For meat and cheese trays, you will want ten slices of each kind of meat.
• Serving deli meat – When preparing the meat to be placed on the tray, you can either roll it or fold it. Rolling is great for when you are serving the meats on their own (not as sandwiches). If you are wanting to use the meat for your guests to make sandwiches, it is better to use the folding method. That way it is easier to pick up and place on the roll or bread. When folding, you just fold like an accordion, back and forth with about 1 1/2″ folds.
• Stack meat – When stacking the folded meat, try to make it look like a pyramid. You will put four folds (or rolls) of meat close together on the tray, then three folds of meat directly over those, then two, then one. You will do the same for each of the meats until you have several stacks of meat. This works well on any shaped platter you are using.

For the Cheese

You can use as many different kinds of cheeses as you would like for your deli tray. The harder sliced cheeses (like cheddar or Swiss) work best for meat and cheese trays because they don’t stick together as much and can easily be picked up with tongs.

• Cheddar – There are several different flavors of cheddar cheese. White cheddar and cheddar both have great flavoring and are popular on sandwiches.
• Swiss – Swiss or baby Swiss cheese is cheese with holes in the cheese. It is a sweet and mild flavor that everyone loves to pair with roast beef deli meat. Swiss cheese can also be melted.
• Provolone – Complex and sharp flavor with sliced provolone.
• Pepper Jack – Add a kick of spice to your meat and cheese tray with this pepper jack cheese. Speckled with spices this pepper jack cheese will be a favorite cheese on sandwiches.
• Havarti –This is similar to Monterey Jack cheese. It has a buttery and sweet flavor to it.
• Muenster – A mild and creamy cheese that is not too popular but is loved on sandwiches with dijon mustard.

Helpful Ideas for a Cheese Tray

Make the best meat and cheese tray by picking the best cheese for the tray! It is simple to pick cheese from the store and unpackaged it. Find out how to stack and separate as well as cut the cheese perfectly for your tray. It is presentable but also edible and looks good on the tray as well as the sandwich!

• Stacking cheese – Once again, when asking your deli to give you cheese slices, go by the slice instead of the weight. You will want eight “sandwich” sized slices for each kind of cheese. Once you have your cheese squares, stack them directly on top of one another and slice them all diagonally (do this separately for each kind of cheese). This will give you two stacks of 8 triangles for each kind of cheese (so four stacks total).
• Separate cheese – You may have to separate some of the slices a little to get the perfect fan effect. You can also separate the cheese and place them on top of each other one at a time to make the fan, it might just take a little longer. When placing them on the tray, put each “fan” in a different direction and fill up the remaining space on the tray.
• Pick the right cheese – Because this is a deli tray, we used all sliced cheeses. Crumbly, soft cheeses, or spreadable cheeses like blue cheese, feta, goat cheese, or brie, are not the best for deli-style platters. Those types of cheese work best for more of a charcuterie-style cheese board.

Garnishing Your Meat and Cheese Tray

For Making Sandwiches

• Dinner Rolls
• Homemade Crescent Rolls
• Croissants
• Mini bagels
• Small hoagies
• Sub-roll bread
• Honey Whole Wheat Bread
• Pretzel rolls

“This is a fantastic tray when hosting a lunch! The presentation was perfect! Everyone really enjoyed it.”

-Brandy

Frequently Asked Questions

Storing and Serving a Homemade Meat Tray

When you are making a meat and cheese platter, it is best to prepare it the same day you are serving it. If you aren’t going to serve it immediately after you make it, be sure to cover it well and refrigerate it until ready to serve. It will stay good in the fridge for up to 24 hours. I wouldn’t recommend going over that. When setting it out to serve, don’t let it sit out too long. No more than 2 hours.

How to Make a Meat and Cheese Tray