14 Surprising Ways To Use Charcuterie Leftovers

During my time as a cheesemonger on Long Island's North Fork, I learned about hundreds of cheeses and dry-aged meats, and how to create art with each one. Many of us know cheese and meat to be a snack, but those familiar with charcuterie know that it's an experience. But no matter how well-organized a charcuterie board might be, it eventually faces the same fate as any other crowd-pleaser: The dreaded leftovers.

Fear not, whether you put together an expert-level charcuterie board or you're a total beginner, there are ways to use up every single piece of cheese and charcuterie that was sadly left behind. I've crafted enough dishes from cheese boards to fill a cookbook, and some of my favorites just might save your leftovers from becoming an appetizer faux pas. While it's true that you could freeze some of it, you'll still need to find a way to use it once it's defrosted. Before your cheese ages much more, here's how you can turn it into anything from a brunch omelet to dessert.

When I have minimal leftovers or mostly just cheese, the best go-to is cheese sauce. Building a basic cheese sauce is relatively simple, and uses ingredients you may already have. It starts with a roux, which is equal parts fat — like butter or oil — and flour in a pot over medium heat. Cook this for a few minutes to reduce that raw flour taste, and when it gets a bit of color, reduce the heat to low and add room-temperature milk. Sometimes, I add half and half to get a thicker, creamier sauce. Let this thicken, add salt and pepper to taste, and then slowly add your shredded cheeses. The trick is to do everything gradually to avoid a broken sauce. If you do find your sauce separating, remove it from the heat and whisk it at a high speed with a little cream.

I've mixed up to eight different cheeses before, and somehow it always comes out tasting utterly divine. The trick here is to ignore the rules of a traditional cheese board that dictate a variety of cheeses. Stick with your favorites, even if you end up with all hard or soft cheeses, or even a range of different Cheddars. Cheddar serves as a mild base, while Gouda and goat cheese add a slight tanginess, and these are excellent choices for a cheese sauce. Use this on pasta, in mac and cheese, over veggies, on grilled meat, in grilled cheese, to dip raw veggies, or on ciabatta — the options are endless.

Knowing the basics of a cheese sauce unlocks a world of possibilities. Mac and cheese with scratch-made cheese sauce is one of the most comforting, wholesome dishes you can make. The best part about a cheese sauce is that it can be frozen and defrosted whenever you have pasta on hand. This is a fun way to make a loaded mac without having to shop for ingredients one wouldn't typically have.

Incorporating other elements of a cheese board is a great way to dress up the blank slate mac and cheese presents. For example, leftover crostini or bread can be cubed and toasted for an extra crunchy topping. For a meat-lover's mac, leftover deli meats can be cut up and added to the mac for an extra flavor punch. The options are endless, and all it takes is a little creativity and willingness to try something outside the box.

A panini is a way to turn regular sandwiches into cozy comfort food. They're also great to pair with all of that leftover wine or beer you'll inevitably have following a charcuterie party. You don't need a fancy panini maker to make a pressed sandwich — all you need is a griddle or pan, and another heavy pan or pot. You can use up leftover baguettes or plain old white bread for this, and it's going to be delicious if you follow this hack: Use mayo on the outside for that perfect crisp. Trust me. The oils in the mayo produce a better crisp than butter, and the bonus is that it won't burn nearly as fast.

My favorite thing to do is plan themed nights following a cheese board event, and paninis are often the stars of the show. Get creative and use a fig spread base with goat cheese and prosciutto for a sweet, salty bite. Or, top serrano ham with leftover blue cheese and a little apricot jam for a potent, sweet, and funky mouth bite. One combination that has me in a chokehold is a spin on raclette: Smear some butter on the inside of a baguette, add leftover Swiss or Gruyère, top with some salty meat, and add whatever pickle you have.

People are out there putting pickles and ranch on pizza, which officially means that anything goes. Shred some leftover cheese in a food processor, or grate it yourself, and you'll have an instant cheese topping that's way better than the bagged stuff. Making pizza can be as simple or complex as you want it to be, which makes it perfect for either a lazy weeknight dinner or an adventurous cook. Fresh dough or frozen crust are both completely valid options for charcuterie leftovers.

Cheddar and mozzarella are a classic pizza combination, but you can experiment with any cheese type. Gouda, for example, is lovely when topped with sliced apples, caramelized onions, and bacon for a Vermonter-style pizza. If you have leftover blue cheese, your favorite buffalo sauce, and chicken, make this a spicy pizza with a kick. My personal favorite is goat cheese with honey, bacon, and caramelized onions for a sweet and salty pizza. By the time it's ready to eat, you'll wonder how red sauce and mozzarella ever became a pizza night staple.

After devouring a cheese board, sometimes you just crave something a little lighter. If this is the case, I've got an option for you that's delicious, healthy, and will use up most of the leftovers too. The viral Italian grinder chopped salad was practically made for this purpose, and your stomach will thank you for this burst of bold flavors after a day of cheese-loading.

The best part about building this salad is that you can change, amend, or replace what the recipe calls for with whatever you have on hand. Don't have provolone? Swap it out for Asiago, aged Gouda, Parmesan, or manchego. Don't have turkey? That's okay — make it extra Italian with prosciutto, capicola, or salami. You can also find olives, pepperoncini, peppadews, and pickled vegetables on a sub, making them flawless additions to this salad. A zesty dressing and some leftover, toasted bread finish this off with a flourish. Is your mouth watering yet?

Fondue may seem intimidating, but in reality, it's a simple thing to throw together with a little patience and know-how. Indulging in melted cheese is one of the greatest joys in life, only outranked by eating ice cream straight from the carton — although some cheese lovers might argue this. Thankfully, a fancy pot is not required to make fondue. A Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot works just as well. The trick is to add cornstarch to the cheese mix to prevent it from clumping or separating. You won't taste this, but it will create that classically smooth texture. A little brandy, particularly Cognac, gives fondue a little edge to its euphoric flavor, but this is an optional addition.

Let's talk cheese. The world is full of delicious cheeses to try, but not all of them will work well here. Typically, Gruyère, Comté, Emmental, and raclette are used for fondue, lending themselves well, when melted, to that hot, gooey texture you're aiming to achieve. However, it's possible to make fondue with other cheeses as long as they have a high moisture content. Avoid aged cheeses like hard Cheddars or Goudas, but lean into other semi-soft cheeses such as fontina, young Gouda, young Cheddar, and Swiss. If you're mixing hard-aged cheese with softer cheeses, be sure to grate it as much as possible and allow time for it to melt properly over low heat.

You can easily level up an American cheese-and-bacon omelet by replacing the two star ingredients with your favorite cheese board cheeses and aged meat. Omelets are simple and eggs are — at the risk of sounding like a broken record — a perfect blank canvas. Breakfast is a time for creativity, and cheese board leftovers are the paints to create your new favorite dish.

My favorite is goat cheese and prosciutto, with a little caramelized onion for a hint of sweetness and balance. You might prefer an Alpine Swiss like Chällerhocker or Alp Blossom with a milder meat like Salame Milano. Whatever your preference, just shred it up and toss it in an omelet.

The same rules apply to a frittata, but working with more eggs means you have more options. A frittata is similar to a quiche but with a denser texture, because you don't add cream to it. This means that the canvas expands a bit more when you're dealing with six eggs rather than the two or three in an omelet. Frittatas are great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, especially when you're feeding a crowd. If you have tons of leftovers, I'd opt for this over a breakfast omelet.

Spoiler alert: Chèvre cheesecake is more delicious than traditional ricotta. Understandably, this is a bold opinion, but fans of fresh goat cheese will agree its tangy, creamy texture blends into a beautiful dessert. The tang of goat cheese is similar to that of cream cheese, which is why it's so complementary when paired with sugar and graham crackers. Ricotta and cream cheese cheesecakes are lighter and more mild in flavor, but soft, creamy goat cheese adds a depth that is unparalleled by other cheeses.

This cheesecake screams for a fruit topping, but if you use a flavored chèvre such as honey or orange, you'll be one step ahead. If you're using plain chèvre, any berry sauce adds brightness in the form of tart sweetness that absolutely sings with this dessert. A pro tip is to use leftover nuts from your cheese board in the crust of the cheesecake. If you've masterfully put together a charcuterie board that pairs cheese and chocolate, the latter adds a decadent touch to chèvre too.

It's easy to incorporate elements of flavor from the foods on a charcuterie board in other recipes, rather than making them the main theme. If you reduce prosciutto down to its flavor elements, it has a salty, savory taste, with ribbons of creamy fat throughout. This works beautifully in arancini, because the starchiness of the rice holds up well to the meatiness prosciutto brings to the dish.

Speck, which is smoked prosciutto, lends a similar flavor profile to Bolognese with a little salty bite to balance its smokiness. It'll add umami to any dish, with everyone saying, "Hm, what is that?" before asking for more. Bresaola is a lesser-known salted and aged beef, but is the perfect complement to meat sauce, meatballs, and even meatloaf. It's a charcuterie board ingredient you may not often see, but it's worth the splurge.

Brie is surprisingly versatile but has a shorter shelf life than hard or aged cheeses, so it's a cheese that should be used up first if there's any left on your cheese board. Its creamy texture ranges from light and tangy to potent and earthy, depending on the aging process. It can be melted on toast with jam, used in eggs, melted on a sandwich — the options are truly endless. My favorite for a crowd is a triple creme, because it's light, airy, and doesn't overwhelm the palette.

If you're sick of spreading brie on toast, it doesn't hurt to throw some into that chèvre cheesecake I mentioned before. It will add creaminess without being overpowering, since goat cheese is slightly more potent. If you're not a fan of the strong flavor of the brie rind — as much as it pains me to say it — you can discard it and just use the gooey interior. Brie can also add creaminess to omelets, sauces, and even pasta dishes, especially if you stick with a milder cheese.

Aged meats present with a salty forefront, followed by savory, smoky, or spicy flavors. This makes them ideal for dishes like collard greens, where a traditional ham hock can be replaced by an aged or smoked meat. A meat like salami wouldn't be a good option for this, but speck or prosciutto would be perfectly acceptable. You could even add these in addition to a ham hock for an extra boost of flavor, but just be wary of the salt content.

I once found a recipe for chili that called for pepperoni and at the time, I thought it was strange. It turned out to be one of the best chilis I've ever had in my life. The pepperoni added some spice that stood out from the chiles, while adding a meaty depth that transcended traditional steak or ground beef. It has revolutionized the way I think of leftover cured meat and challenged me to use them in other, similar dishes.

Fresh mozzarella is arguably the easiest cheese to repurpose, and marinating it is by far the best way to do so. Marinated mozzarella can be found in the deli section of most grocery stores, but making it at home allows endless customization. Olive oil and herbs transform a creamy, mild cheese like mozzarella into something dynamic. When added to caprese, a panini, or even melted over chicken or asparagus, it pushes an average dish to become something crave-worthy.

If you want a bit of tang, try adding some balsamic or red wine vinegar into the mix. You don't need to be an expert to play around with herbs and get creative in the kitchen, and is especially satisfying when you nail a good combination of flavors. You can also marinate other soft cheeses, like feta, provolone, and even Cheddar, which are all great in antipasto. Or, if you're like me, they're just great when those midday snackish feelings hit!

If you've never heard of a charcuterie baked potato before, now you have. It sounds strange, but you'd be surprised to know how versatile a baked potato can be. Once we let go of the notion that a baked potato can only handle butter and salt, we can experiment with other flavors to see what else works. 

A baked potato is a versatile thing. Top it with your favorite charcuterie bites to create a warm, comforting dish that's as filling as it is efficient at using leftovers. This could look like melted Asiago topped with salami or pepperoni for a pizza-like potato, or goat cheese topped with prosciutto for a salty, creamy bite. This gives a whole new meaning to meat and potatoes, with an elegant, elevated twist. Not keen on baked potatoes? Try topping roasted potatoes, hash, or even mash with your favorite leftover charcuterie. 

Nuts and crackers are a common accompaniment with a cheese board but somehow, they're always leftover. Blitzing them in a food processor creates a great base for pie crust with more flavor than a traditional crust. To give them an extra boost, pour them in an even layer on a baking sheet and toast them for a few minutes to deepen that flavor. Toasted crumbles are also a great base for granola! With a little sugar or maple syrup, leftover nuts and crackers add great texture to yogurt parfaits. 

The same process can be used to create a savory coating for chicken, pork, or fish. You can leave it plain or add your favorite dried herbs to the mix. This is a great way to save money on breadcrumbs or have a shake-and-bake night with leftovers that would typically be thrown out, or forgotten somewhere in a ziplock bag.