Beyond the Butter Board: 20 Unique "Charcuterie" Board Ideas
Your fancy cutting board can handle so much more than butter. Read on for 20 creative party boards that also deserve the limelight in social media.
Chicken Salad Board from Reluctant Entertainer
Recently a craze swept the internet, apparently kicked off by a TikTok video. It showed a woman making a butter board, smearing softened butter on a wooden board, and adding flaky salt, lemon zest, fresh herbs, and other toppings. The video has over one million likes and inspired a slew of variations.
I have no beef with butter boards, but I’ve never been one to just eat … butter. (My kid, on the other hand? He’ll devour it by the spoonful.) Give me a board laden with actual food, though, and I’m sold.
So grab your ceramic or metal platters, your wooden or stone boards, and let’s start putting things together.
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Gorgeous cheese boards and charcuterie boards >>
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The benefits of boards
Thanks to the pandemic, I’m out of practice when it comes to entertaining. So when I do have people over, I want to keep things simple, while also delicious and fun. The easiest way to accomplish that is with a board. Here’s why:
This array of munchies, snacks, appetizers, nibbles — whatever you want to call it — combines colors, textures, and flavors. It looks as good as it tastes.
If you start with one or two special items you make yourself, everything else can be store-bought. Which means it rarely takes more than a half-hour to assemble.
A well-thought-out board offers something for everyone. Whether you’re in the mood for salty or sweet, crunchy or soft, it’s on there.
Boards have no rules! You might include five things or twenty-five, make them elegant or playful. As long as you offer a mix of flavors and textures, you’re good to go.
Beyond basic butter boards
You can smear softened butter on a cutting board and add some garnishes, but where’s the fun in that?
Brioche Breakfast Butter Board
If there’s a meal that calls for plenty of butter, it’s brunch. For this breakfast board, you’ll season softened butter in two ways — one with maple syrup and flaky salt, the other with crisp pancetta and chives — and surround it with ready-made waffles, brioche toast, soft-boiled eggs, fresh fruit, and other nibbles.
Miso Butter Board
Mixing umami-packed white miso paste, spicy gochujang, and garlic into unsalted butter turns it into a mind-blowing flavor bomb. Spread it on a board, top with scallions, chili peppers, and sesame and pumpkin seeds, then drizzle with honey. That board will be wiped so clean, you’ll barely need to wash it.
Surf and Turf Butter Board
This board is a full-on dinner! Here, you’ll make three types of seasoned butter using spices and fresh herbs — one with sun-dried tomatoes, another with bacon and chives, and a third with garlic and chili — to arrange on a board with air-fried steak, chicken, and shrimp. Add some roasted asparagus to complete the meal.
Peanut Butter Board (Like a Butter Board)
Many of these boards feel indulgent, but here’s one that’s actually good for you. There’s no dairy butter at all on this board — instead, you use nutritious natural peanut butter. Top it with a little maple syrup and granola plus banana slices and berries, and serve with strawberries, apple slices, and whole-grain waffles for dipping.
Gorgeous cheese boards and charcuterie boards
You’ll find boards with all kinds of things on them, but you can’t go wrong with a classic approach.
Summer Cheese Board
Bust out your best cheese platter and cheese knives for this classic beauty. Gouda, brie, blue cheese, cheddar, crunchy almonds and crackers, plus an abundance of fresh fruit like cherries, blueberries, and nectarines make a glorious presentation.
Date Night Cheese Board for Two
When you’re in the mood for romance, you can’t go wrong with this sensual tray. You’ve got intense Manchego, sharp cheddar, and creamy blue cheese, with luscious slices of prosciutto, salty Castelvetrano olives, crackers, homemade marcona almonds, and a bunch of grapes. Imagine yourself plucking one off and feeding it to your partner …
Easy Charcuterie board
The only work you’ll do for this simple charcuterie board is to slice a baguette — the rest is just arranging soft, sharp, and pungent cheeses, meats like salami, Parma ham, and chorizo, and nibbles like pickles, breadsticks, and fresh or dried fruits.
Greek Inspired Antipasto Platter
Ready to take your basic board up a few notches? This spectacular Mediterranean assortment includes plenty of ready-made items (think meats, cheeses, marinated artichokes, hummus, apricots, pita) as well as some easy DIY nibbles, like sweet cherry peppers stuffed with goat cheese, marinated feta, and marinated olives.
Boards with a twist
Your cutting boards and platters have been getting a workout, but you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Gourmet Burger Board
How’s this for an idea: Gather every burger topping you can think of, from crisp bacon to guacamole to sliced and crumbly cheeses to BBQ sauce to ketchup, grill up a bunch of patties and buns, and lay it all out on an artfully arranged tray. It’s perfect for the 4th of July — or any ol’ day, really.
Chicken Salad Board
I love this idea for a lunch gathering. It elevates a simple chicken salad sandwich into something fun and social. To make it, surround a bowl of chicken salad with veggies, croissants or rolls, sandwich add-ons, and snacky sides like olives and pickles. Don’t care for chicken salad? Use tuna or salmon instead.
Easy Pork Carnitas Taco Board
Think of this as next-level nachos: Cook pork carnitas in an Instant Pot, shred the meat, and put it in the center of a tray. Top with lime wedges, white onion, and cilantro. Surround with tortillas and corn chips, black beans, salsa, chopped tomatoes, cotija cheese, and guacamole. Dig in.
Movie Night Snack Board
Gather the gang in front of the TV, set out one of these grazing boards, and watch everyone’s eyes light up. Include all your family’s favorite nibbles — salty ones like pretzels and crackers, sweet ones like gummy bears and fresh fruit, and crunchy ones like peanuts and popcorn. It’s called a “movie night” board, but I think it’s just as good for game day.
Holiday-themed boards
There’s no better excuse for a get-together than a holiday celebration. Boards offer so much flexibility, there’s always a clever, even elegant, tie-in.
Easter Charcuterie Board
Deviled eggs, Jordan almonds, and chocolate eggs bring the Easter theme to this colorful tray. Add in three kinds of cheese and three different meats, crackers and pretzel crisps, fresh and dried fruits, and an assortment of condiments, and you’ve got something for kids and adults alike.
Halloween Charcuterie Board
We should probably put “charcuterie” in quotation marks for this one, since there’s not a slice of meat to be found on the tray of sweets. Instead it features spooky rice cereal treats, witch’s fingers (AKA pretzel rods dipped in white chocolate), Nutter Butter ghosts, and oodles of fun-sized candy.
Thanksgiving Turkey Cheese Board
Your guests need something to nibble while the turkey roasts, right? Give them a cheese-and-charcuterie appetizer that’s arranged to look like a gobbler. Seriously — you use a red pear for the bird’s body, carrot sticks for the legs, artfully rolled-up slices of meat for the feathers, and cheeses, fruits, and crackers as a backdrop. For something kinda gimmicky, it’s surprisingly beautiful.
Christmas Charcuterie Board
When it comes to Christmas boards, you can lean towards kitschy, with a wreath of skewered salami, mozzarella balls, grape tomatoes, and olives, or a board in the shape of a Christmas tree. Or go for something more sophisticated, like this array of meats, cheeses, candied pecans, sugared cranberries, pomegranate seeds, and much more. It’ll knock the socks off everyone at your holiday party.
Dessert charcuterie boards
Who doesn’t love the chance to graze on an assortment of sweet things, rather than one big slice of cake? The best part: Almost everything on these boards comes from the grocery store.
Birthday Dessert Board
This is such a fun, festive idea, and it takes almost no work! You start with a small, store-bought birthday cake, and surround it with donuts, cookies, mini-cupcakes, fancy popcorn, and an assortment of birthday cake-themed treats. Everything looks so bright and sparkly — it’s an instant party.
Gourmet Chocolate Dessert Board
I think this board is sexy as all get-out. Squares of chocolate so dark, they practically scream adults-only. Mouth-watering fresh fruit — ripe, juicy berries and cherries. Four different nuts, some salted for a crunchy contrast. And a garnish of pretty mint sprigs. My husband and I would devour this.
Hot Chocolate Charcuterie Dessert Board
Here, on the other hand, we have a board that’s a guaranteed win if you’ve got kids in your life. Everything on here is meant to be either stirred or dunked into a steaming mug of cocoa, from the cute snowman made of white chocolate chips, marshmallows, and candy canes to the milk chocolate peppermint pretzels.
Smores Dip for a Dessert Charcuterie Board
S’mores are awesome, but you usually need a fire to make them. This clever dip comes to the rescue, by combining the basic flavors — chocolate and marshmallow — with fluffed-up cream cheese. Arrange graham crackers, wafer cookies, pretzels, and fruit around the dip for dunking, and your platter will be empty in no time.
More easy ways to feed your guests
From appetizers to tea parties, check out these creative ideas for entertaining.