antipasto platter | Jeff's Garden Foods

Want to know a the trick to serving elegant party food with a minimal amount of time and effort? Set out an antipasto platter and watch it disappear.

Antipasto is typically a combination platter made up of olives, vegetables, peppers, cheese, meats, breads, crackers, etc. It’s commonly referred to as mezze, tapas or antipasti. Whatever you call it, antipasto platters are perfect for a romantic alfresco dinner, backyard barbeque, Friday night cocktails, a terrific tailgate party or even a fun weeknight dinner with a European flair.

“When it’s done right, an antipasto plate will bring a relaxed spirit and friendly, casual conversation to your meal,” it says in this Whole Foods antipasto guide. “No matter the occasion, serving antipasto is the perfect way to slow things down and savor great food at a dinner, picnic, cocktail party—you name it.”

The key to a great antipasto platter is to serve small bites of tasty food. Choose colorful ingredients that compliment each other and serve on a large, attractive platter. If the occasion is right, enjoy with wine.

To help take the guesswork out of what to include on your antipasto platter, follow our “antipasto platter matrix” :

Step One. Begin with bread and/or crackers

Choose 1-2 from the following

Water Crackers
Sliced Baguette
Crisp Flatbread
Pita Bread cut into triangles
Focaccia Bread
Toasted Garlic Rounds

Step Two. Arrange bread/crackers around the edge of the platter and add in your meats and/or cheeses.

Choose 2-3 from list below

Camembert cheese
Havarti cheese
Feta
Gouda
Goat Cheese
Smoked Provolone
Shaved Parmesean
Brie
Marinated Fresh Mozzarella
Gruyère
Thinly Sliced Genoa Salami
Shaved Prosciutto
Natural Pepperoni
Smoked Ham
Sardines
Smoked Salmon
Manchego cheese

Vegan Options:
Olive Tapenade
Hummus
Roasted Vegetables

Step Three: Add in fruits & vegetables

Choose 3-4 from list below

Marinated artichoke hearts
Roasted Red Peppers
Garlic-Stuffed Olives
Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives and/or Feta Stuffed Olives
Fresh Cantaloupe
Red Grapes
Sliced Apples
Castelvetrano Olives
Dried Cranberries
Sweet Pickles
Dried and/or fresh figs
Whole Kalamata Olives
Jalepeño Stuffed Olives
Sliced Cucumbers

Step Four: Add the finishing touches

Choose 1-2 of the following

Whole Golden Greek Peperoncini
Capers
Roasted Almonds
Walnuts
Pine Nuts

Step Five: Serve with your favorite beverage, relax and enjoy!

No more canola oil!

We, at Jeff’s Naturals, are passionate about good health and offering consumers products with ingredients that are free of preservatives, stablilizers, artificial colors, flavors, sulfites and GMOs.

In addition, we are always striving for excellence and believe one of the best ways to get better is to listen to our consumers.

Our Cheese Stuffed Olives, packed right here in the Napa Valley, are one of our most popular items in natural food stores. However, many of you have contacted us via email and social media to let us know that you prefer not to include canola oil in your diet, even if it is non GMO. This prompted us to make a change.

While it’s necessary to use oil when packing cheese stuffed olives (otherwise the cheese begins to degrade), we have opted to use expeller pressed sunflower oil, a lighter alternative to canola oil. We think you’ll agree that this makes our Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives and Feta Cheese Stuffed Olives even more appealing!

Price Reduction!

We would also like to share that we have been able to reduce the price on these two olives—you should soon see these two cheese stuffed olives being line priced with our other delicious Jeff’s Naturals olives!

This means you can stock up on all of your favorite Jeff’s Naturals olives, at the same price! Whether you try them in a Caesar salad, sprinkled over a pizza, in a martini, an antipasto platter or tossed into your favorite pasta dish, you can’t go wrong!

Here are a few ideas to enjoy our new and (if we do say so) improved cheese stuffed olives:

Chop Jeff’s Naturals Feta Cheese Stuffed Olives and sprinkle on hummus. Use as a dip for crudité.

Slice our Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives and place on top of pizza or nachos.

Make an olive tapenade by putting Jeff’s Naturals Feta Cheese Stuffed Olives into a food processor with some of the olive brine and olive oil.

Sauté Jeff’s Naturals Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives with ground meat, tomato sauce, raisins and herbs for a quick skillet picadillo. Serve over rice for a satisfying meal.

Replace your usual green olive for a Jeff’s Naturals Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives in a martini.

Add chopped Jeff’s Naturals Feta Cheese Stuffed Olives to some couscous, with diced tomato, minced onion and drizzle with some olive oil and olive juice and garnish with basil. You’ll have a 5 minute dish to take to your next picnic.

Serve Jeff’s Naturals Feta Cheese Stuffed Olives with hummus and warm naan (Indian flatbread) or pita bread.

Create an antipasto platter using Jeff’s Naturals Feta Cheese Stuffed Olives and Marinated Artichoke Hearts, Roasted Red Bell Peppers, Giardiniera and assorted meats and cheeses.

Form meatballs around Jeff’s Naturals Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives for a delicious and surprising treat.

For more inspiration, visit our recipe page and search for recipes featuring our Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives and Feta Cheese Stuffed Olives!

Do you have any feedback about our ingredients? Feel free to share it with us on Facebook or our contact page.

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How to Build the Perfect Antipasto Platter