Build a gorgeous cheese platter with a variety of flavors and textures. Learn how to make a Cheese Board with step-by-step instructions for choosing and arranging cheeses with other ingredients.
This post may contain affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.
Cheese boards are one of my favorite appetizers to bring to a gathering, whether for the holidays, a cocktail party, or just a casual game night.
It's visually stunning, gets the conversation flowing, and begs guests to dig in.
Jump to:
What is a cheese board?
While people have been setting out cheese and crackers for their guests for ages, cheese boards take it to a whole new level.
They include one or many varieties of cheeses along with other foods that create a flavor and texture experience: bread, crackers, fresh fruit and veggies, gourmet jam, local honey, and more.
Cheese boards can be served on a simple cutting board, or on stylish wood planks and slate slabs that are as beautiful as the food on them.
Here's the Etsy page for my favorite charcuterie board builder!
These days the terms cheese boards and charcuterie boards are often used interchangeably. Charcuterie technically refers to specialty cured and smoked meats, or to the shops that sell these meats.
A charcuterie board may include only these specialty meats or it may be a mix of meats and cheese. The same goes for cheese boards.
Are cheese boards just for fancy parties?
Cheese boards are too beautiful to save just for New Year's Eve and other special occasions. Make a cheese board for gatherings of any size! You can adjust the amount of food to fit the number of guests coming over.
Create a cheese board for game nights, baby showers, movie nights, Super Bowl parties, The Bachelorette finale, and potlucks. As long as you have people who like to snack, you just can't go wrong with a cheese board.
I especially like DIY cheese boards for small gatherings of friends. I set the board right in the middle of the group so that it's easy to graze as we chat and play games!
🔪 How to make a cheese board
Here are the steps to create a beautiful cheese and cracker board for your next gathering or to bring to a party.
Suggested Ingredients:
- Cheeses: I aim for 3-4 types, with a mix of hard, semi-firm, soft, and blue-veined.
- Crackers: Choose a few kinds of sturdy, quality crackers, wheat, rice, and flavored varieties.
- Bread: Along with crackers, slices of mini baguettes or cocktail bread are also fun.
- Meats: They go great with cheese. Try prosciutto, capicola, salami, chorizo, and summer sausage.
- Fruits: These can be fresh, dried, or both. I like to include berries, currants, dates, and figs.
- Salty stuff: Balance sweet fruits with salty olives, gherkins, cornichons, or giardiniera. Salted and smoked nuts are also a nice addition.
- Jams and honey: They're gorgeous on the board and add interesting flavors. Spicy chutneys, chunky jams, floral or hot honey, and relishes are good on cheese boards.
- Fresh herbs: Sprigs of thyme, mint, rosemary, and dill—fresh herbs add beauty and wonderful aroma to your cheese board.
Step 1: Choose a board
Select a board to fit the size of your party, and the amount of food needed to feed them. This is your canvas! I love to use a dark slate board because it makes the foods pop. Wood or marble cutting boards are also great choices, especially those with unique grains or patterns.
Step 2: Begin with the cheeses
Choose your favorites or be adventurous with new cheese varieties. Visit a local cheesemonger, or see what your local grocery has. Put cheese on the board with space between different types. Hard cheeses can be sliced, then fanned or stacked on the board.
Step 3: Add crackers and/or bread
Like the cheese, crackers and sliced bread take a lot of room, so I add them next. Add little piles, stacks, and fans of crackers and bread slices around the board.
Step 4: Put meats (if using) on the board
Slice your cured and smoked meats into bite-sized portions that are easy to select and nibble. Intersperse them among the other ingredients.
Step 5: Next add fruit
Choose dried fruit, as well as colorful fresh fruits that are easy to eat, won't discolor, and won't leak juices over the board. Add them to the board in small piles or trails, and let them overlap the other food in some places.
Step 6: Add salty foods
Place these across the cheese board: pickles, olives, salty nuts, cornichons, and pickled veggies.
Step 7: Drizzle jams and sauces
Spoon fruity jams, spicy chutneys, chili sauce, or floral honey on the board and over cheeses. If you make your own jams or relishes, this is the perfect opportunity to show them off.
Step 8: Add fresh herbs
Tuck sprigs of herbs like dill, rosemary, mint, and thyme around the board. Take this opportunity to fill in any gaps with additional fruits, a scattering of nuts, salty stuff, and sauces.
Step 9: Slice and serve
It's awkward for guests to wait for someone to make the first cut into the cheeses—so do it for them! Present the board with a slice cut out, along with a few small knives or cheese cutters. Sink a knife right into softer cheeses. You can also add little cheese markers to show folks the varieties on the board.
Now, sit back and bask in the praise of your hungry fans!
FAQs
Check that the board and utensils are spotlessly clean. Look over your fresh ingredients and remove anything that's shriveled or brown. Remove wraps and packaging, and skip over any broken crackers.
Begin with the largest ingredients and then fill in with smaller ones. As you build your board, don't worry about placing things symmetrically: it will be more eye-catching with an asymmetrical arrangement, and with ingredients in multiple spots.
Accentuate your cheese and crackers with color from fruit, fresh veggies, jams, and fresh herbs; they'll make the whole board more vibrant. Also, vary the heights of stacked crackers or mounds of fruit.
Create a design with your food: graceful curves in fanned cheese slices and crackers, trails of berries that lead the eye around the board, a drizzle of honey from one corner to another.
Some cheese boards leave large gaps between ingredients, but I prefer a board that seems to overflow with good things to eat.
The board you choose should look good, be sturdy enough to hold all that food, and can stand up to cheese slicing. Dark slate boards and rustic wooden boards are my favorites. You can also put several smaller cutting boards together if you don't have a large board.
Absolutely! Some tasty ideas for cream cheese are to blend diced herbs or spices into the cheese, or, pour chili sauce or pepper jelly over plain cream cheese. Try my recipe for Pesto & Bacon Cheese Spread.
What to pair with your cheeses
Choose your cheese, then use this list to find flavors and ingredients to pair with them.
- BLUE CHEESES: almonds, apples, figs, honey, pear, walnuts
- BRIE: apples, cherries, dates, figs, pistachios, and other nuts, strawberries
- CHEDDAR: apple, bacon, chutneys, grapes, nuts, spicy ingredients like hot peppers and wasabi
- FETA: pair with figs, dill, grapes, mint, walnuts, olive oil, garlic
- GOAT CHEESE: pair with almonds, apples, red peppers, fresh herbs, cranberries, blueberries, figs, garlic, honey, olive oil, lemon or orange zest, pesto, strawberries, pears
- GOUDA: pair with apples, apricots, cherries, mushrooms
- GRUYÈRE: pair with apples, cherries, dark chocolate, garlic, ham, hazelnuts, thyme, walnuts
- MANCHEGO: pair with almonds, anchovies, ham, olives, caramelized onions
- MOZZARELLA: pair with basil, garlic, olive oil, pesto, olives, oregano, prosciutto, sun-dried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, soppressata
- PARMESAN: pair with basil, dates, figs, prosciutto, pears, thyme, walnuts, mushrooms
My source for these is the invaluable book, The Flavor Bible, as well as my own taste buds. Be adventurous!
How to store a leftover cheese board
To keep all the foods tasting their best, remove and wrap everything individually. Put wrapped cheese back in the fridge, put crackers in sealed containers, and pickles back in their jars, etc.
It may be tempting to throw some plastic wrap over the whole board and stick it in the fridge, but the quality and texture of your foods will suffer for it.
So even if it's late and you've had too many glasses of wine, do it right!
Have fun creating your cheese board! The steps and suggested ingredients are in the recipe card below. Plus, a couple more party recipes:
💬 Let me know how this cheese board tutorial worked for you: leave a comment and star rating below.
📖 Recipe
How To Make A Cheese Board
Ingredients
- Cheeses: I aim for 3-4 types, with a mix of hard, semi-firm, soft, and blue-veined.
- Crackers: Choose a few kinds of sturdy, quality crackers, wheat, rice, and flavored varieties.
- Bread: Along with crackers, slices of mini baguettes or cocktail bread are also fun.
- Meats: They go great with cheese. Try prosciutto, capicola, salami, chorizo, and summer sausage.
- Fruits: These can be fresh, dried, or both. I like to include berries, currants, dates, and figs.
- Salty stuff: Balance sweet fruits with salty olives, gherkins, cornichons, or giardiniera. Salted and smoked nuts are also a nice addition.
- Jams and honey: They're gorgeous on the board and add interesting flavors. Spicy chutneys, chunky jams, floral or hot honey, and relishes are good on cheese boards.
- Fresh herbs: Sprigs of thyme, mint, rosemary, and dill—fresh herbs add beauty and wonderful aroma to your cheese board.
Instructions
Choose a board:
- Select a board to fit the size of your party, and the amount of food needed to feed them. This is your canvas! I love to use a dark slate board because it makes the foods pop. Wood or marble cutting boards are also great choices, especially those with unique grains or patterns.
Add the cheeses:
- Put cheese on the board with space between different types. Hard cheeses can be sliced, then fanned or stacked on the board.
Add crackers and/or bread:
- Like the cheese, crackers and sliced bread take a lot of room, so I add them next. Add little piles, stacks, and fans of crackers and bread slices around the board.
Put meats (if using) on the board:
- Slice your cured and smoked meats into bite-sized portions that are easy to select and nibble. Intersperse them among the other ingredients.
Add fruit:
- Add dried and fresh fruit them to the board in small piles or trails, and let them overlap the other food in some places.
Add salty foods:
- Place these across the cheese board: pickles, olives, salty nuts, cornichons, and pickled veggies.
Drizzle jams and sauces:
- Spoon fruity jams, spicy chutneys, chili sauce, or floral honey on the board and over cheeses. If you make your own jams or relishes, this is the perfect opportunity to show them off.
Add fresh herbs:
- Tuck sprigs of herbs like dill, rosemary, mint, and thyme around the board. Take this opportunity to fill in any gaps with additional fruits, a scattering of nuts, salty stuff, and sauces.
Slice and serve:
- Present the board with a slice cut out of the cheeses, along with a few small knives or cheese cutters. Sink a knife right into softer cheeses. You can also add little cheese markers to show folks the varieties on the board.
Notes
FAQs
How do you make a cheese board look good? Check that the board and utensils are spotlessly clean. Look over your fresh ingredients and remove anything that's shriveled or brown. Remove wraps and packaging, and skip over any broken crackers.Begin with the largest ingredients and then fill in with smaller ones. As you build your board, don't worry about placing things symmetrically: it will be more eye-catching with an asymmetrical arrangement, and with ingredients in multiple spots. Can I put cream cheese on the cheese board? Absolutely! Some tasty ideas for cream cheese are to blend diced herbs or spices into the cheese, or, pour chili sauce or pepper jelly over plain cream cheese. Try my recipe for Pesto & Bacon Cheese Spread.
Anonymous
poggers recipe mate
Heidi
This is beautiful, Nancy!
Nancy Mock
Thank you Heidi! They’re fun to create 😁