How to Make an Epic Cheese Board
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Safeway. All opinions are 100% mine.
A show stopping cheese board is the hit of any party or gathering, and I’ll show you How to Make an Epic Cheeseboard with just a little planning and the right ingredients! It’s an effortless, fun way to entertain and your guests will love it!
When I’m entertaining, I love creating beautiful, show stopping boards for my guests to gather around and graze. It’s such a fun way to eat isn’t it?
My crudités platter, chocolate dessert board and smoked salmon platter are all great ways to feed a crowd, but this Cheese Board is the ultimate!
This is your answer to fall entertaining whether you’re hosting a holiday, dinner party, game day celebration or movie night!
This fall cheese board includes a wide variety of O Organics® and Primo Taglio® products that I picked up from my local Safeway store.
O Organics® offers high-quality, non-GMO and 100% USDA-certified organic products on every aisle of the store. They include fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, meat and a wide variety of snack options including crackers, nuts and dried fruit.
Primo Taglio® products are made with the finest ingredients, using tradtional, time-honored preparation methods, and no artificial flavors or colors, or MSG (with the exception of American cheese and certain value meats).
Many of the Primo Taglio® meats use whole muscle meat with no binders or fillers, and the cheese uses the highest quality milk and old-world recipes, which can be naturally aged up to 2 years.
The brands offered everything I needed and more for an epic cheese board! While I shopped at Safeway, you can also find them at the Albertson Companies family of stores, including Albertsons, Safeway, ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Randalls, Shaw’s Supermarket, Star Market, Tom Thumb and Vons.
Safeway also offers Grocery Delivery and Drive Up & Go™ for convenient ways to shop!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- A cheese board is one of the easiest ways to entertain.
- It’s a beautiful, show stopping way to feed any amount of people.
- It’s extremely versatile and may be customized for any season or occasion.
- It may be assembled in advance so you can relax and enjoy your party too!
Cheese board tips
Follow these simple tips to create a show stopping charcuterie board. Use your creativity and most of all, have some fun!
- Choose your board(s). Use one large cheese board or group a few smaller ones together if you don’t have anything big enough. Anything goes!
- Select a minimum of 3 cheeses. Choose a variety of soft (brie, goat, feta, fresh mozzarella, blue), hard (cheddar, parmeggiano-reggiano, pecorino), and aged (gruyere, manchego, gouda).
- Choose a minimum of 2 cured meats. Proscuitto, salami and serrano ham are great options.
- Include fresh, seasonal ingredients such as fruits, vegetables and herbs. Choose an array of colors and flavors that will pair well with the cheeses you’ve chosen.
- Select crackers and bread in a variety of shapes, colors and textures. Water, whole grain, seeded and even grain free crackers, sliced baguette, crostini or breadsticks are great options.
- Include a spread and/or honey or maple syrup. Fig jam, chutney, cranberry sauce, pesto and whole grain mustard work well with almost any meat and cheese selections.
- Add sweet and savory accompaniments. These include dried fruits, nuts, cornichons, olives, roasted bell peppers or pickled vegetables.
Recipe ingredients
I chose to do a fall themed meat and cheese board that includes the following ingredients:
- Brie, goat, gouda and manchego cheeses.
- Salami and proscuitto.
- Grapes, figs, kumquats, pomagranate, apple and pears
- An assortment of crackers
- Homemade fig jam
- Honey
- Mixed nuts
- Olives
- Cornichons
- Dried apricots
- Fresh rosemary and sage.
How to make a cheese board
Assembling a cheese board is extremely easy following these simple instructions.
- Place larger items on the board(s) first such as the cheeses and items in bowls.
- Arrange the meats and crackers around the cheeses.
- Add fresh fruits and vegetables in remaining large spaces.
- Fill in remaining small spaces with your accompaniments.
- Decorate your board with fresh herbs or edible flowers, and adorn your cheeses with a drizzle of honey or fresh fruit if desired.
FAQ’s
A cheese board is also known as a charcuterie board. Classic charcuterie boards are typically meat-focused with the addition of cheese and accompaniments.
If you don’t own a cheese board, the good news is that you don’t need to run out and buy one. Use a large rimmed baking sheet, wooden cutting board or platter, or group a few smaller items together.
Use a variety of cheeses to create the perfect board. I suggest using a minimum of three, including an assortment of soft (brie, goat, feta, fresh mozzarella, blue), hard (cheddar, parmeggiano-reggiano, pecorino), and aged (gruyere, manchego, gouda).
Cured meats such as proscuitto, salami, pepperoni and soppressata are all great options.
This fall cheese board may be assembled in advance. Leave the cheese out for one hour prior to serving as it is best at room temperature.
Great additions for your next cheese board:
- Cherry tomato jam
- Pickled vegetables by Feasting at Home
- Shishito peppers
- Slow roasted cherry tomatoes
- Spicy maple rosemary roasted nuts
- Whipped goat cheese
Did you try this recipe? If so, be sure to leave a review below and tag me @flavorthemoments on Facebook and Instagram
How to Make an Epic Cheese Board
Ingredients
- 6 ounces Primo Taglio manchego cheese
- 8 ounces gouda cheese smoked
- 4 ounces brie cheese
- 4 ounces goat cheese log
- 3 ounces Primo Taglio proscuitto
- 8 ounces salami
- 4.4 ounces O Organics water crackers
- 4 ounces seeded crackers
- 4 ounces almond flour crackers
- 1 cup O Organics nut trio
- 5 ounces O Organics turkish dried apricots
- 1 cup olives
- 1/2 cup cornichons
- 8 ounces figs
- 8 ounces grapes
- 1 pomegranate
- 1 apple
- 1 pear
- 1 cup kumquats sliced (or substitute with orange or persimmon)
- 1/2 cup fig jam
- 1/4 cup honey
- fresh rosemary sprigs
- fresh sage note that fresh sage is not edible — it is just for garnish!
Instructions
- Place the cheeses and any ingredients in bowls on a board (or group of boards).
- Arrange the meats and crackers around the cheeses, followed by the fruit, dried apricots and accompaniments, filling in any gaps that you see.
- Decorate the board with fresh rosemary sprigs and sage, serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Be sure to place the cheese out at room temperature for one hour prior to serving.
- Cheese board may be assembled a few hours in advance. If using fruit that is prone to discoloration such as pears and apples, cut them and add them to the board a little while before serving.
- The nutrition information is an estimate only and is based on the ingredients that I’ve included here. This will change based on the ingredients and quantities that you include on your own board!
- This is a versatile appetizer or snack that may be customized with your favorite ingredients and scaled to feed any number of people.
- Don’t own a cheese board? Use a rimmed baking sheet, serving tray, cutting board or whatever you have on hand.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
6 Comments on “How to Make an Epic Cheese Board”
We love a good cheese board Marcie and this one has all the things I love! While we always have one or two for entertaining during the holidays, we love preparing one for ourselves for dinner on the weekend or for a movie night! They’re perfect for a relaxing night in.
Fall ingredients are my favorite, so this was so fun. And having this for dinner on movie night is such a great idea!
This is an AMAZING grazing board, Marcie! I would love to come to one of your parties and be greeted by this beauty – you would honestly need to drag me away. That homemade fig jam looks absolutely delicious too – I need to give it a go!
I’d love you to come to one of my parties too! And I’m with you…when there’s a cheese board around that’s where you’ll find me. 😊
Such a beautiful cheese board! I’m a big fan of the O Organics brand. I always love a great cheese board… They’re so much fun & always a crowd pleaser!
Thank you so much Nicole! I love the brand too and cheese boards are such a fun way to eat!