Fall Charcuterie Board (2024)

This Charcuterie Board is perfect for fall and thanksgiving parties. Served it as a fun dinner or as an easy appetizer. It is so easy to assemble and can even be put together ahead of time.

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Fall food is the best food, which makes this fall-themed charcuterie board the best charcuterie board, right?!?

If charcuterie or grazing boards are as much your thing as they are mine, then be sure to check out my breakfast grazing board for the ultimate Brunch!

How to choose the perfect items

The key to a good charcuterie board is balance. You want to have a good blend of foods that are umami, sweet, salty, sour/acidic, and spicy. Most of the items on your board should be umami, salty, or sweet with just a few pops of acidic and spicy items.

Try to make sure that there is at least one sweet item for every salty and umami and at least one or two items that fall under the acidic and spicy category.

In addition to balancing flavor, you will want to make sure that there is also a balance of textures with plenty of crunchy items to go along with the soft meat and cheeses.

Depending upon the crowd that you are serving, you may also want to add some less adventurous items. I usually add pretty basic items since there are generally lots of kids around my parties.

For this board, I chose items that are fall-themed, but the same ideas could be used to create a board for any season or theme.

Ingredients

These are the ingredients that I used for this board. Feel free to play around with the ingredients to suit your preferences. This list is only a suggestion but the possibilities are endless.

Cheeses

• Goat Cheese- I used cranberry cinnamon.
• Cheddar Cheese- I used extra sharp white cheddar
• Brie or Camembert
• Smoked Gouda -I used an apple smoked gouda
• Pepperjack or other spicy cheese - I used Habenero cheddar
• Colby Jack Cheese

The main thing with the cheese is to try to select cheeses that have varying textures and flavor profiles.

Meats

• Proscuitto
• Salami
• Pepperoni
• Spicy Smoked Sausages
• Other options include: Sopressata, Genoa Salami, Mortadella, or Spanish chorizo.

Crackers and other crunchy additions

• Ginger Snaps or Graham Crackers
• Rosemary Crackers
• Neutral Crackers- I used toasted Sesame and Whole grain crackers
• Sweet Potato Chips
• Salted Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
• Caramel Corn
• Crisp ToastI used Maple Cinnamon Crisps
• Pecans
• Other options include: Seed crackers, parm crisps, keto butter crackers, sliced and toasted baguette.

Fruits, jams, and other additions

• ApplesCored and Sliced
• Seedless GrapesI used Green Grapes and Moon drop Grapes
• Jam or HoneyI used Apricot Jam
• Cornichons
• Candy Corn
• MustardI used whole grain mustard
• Dried FruitI used Apricots and figs
• Caramel Dip
• Other ideas include: apple or pumpkin butter, Spicy honey, Maple syrup, pickled beets, pickles, olives, dried apples.

Instructions

Assembling a fall-themed charcuterie board is the most fun and sometimes intimidating part! I like to start by placing a layer of wax paper over the board, then trimming away any edges. This just protects the wood and makes cleaning up SO much easier.

After the board is ready, I add the bowls to the board. For this board, I used 4 bowls. Once for each the caramel, the apricot jam, the mustard, and the cornichons.

After the bowls are placed I add the meats, followed by the cheeses, the fruit, and then the crackers. Feel free to adjust the items on the board until you are satisfied, that is half of the fun!

After those items are added, and I am satisfied with the placement, I use the smaller items (nuts, candy corn, caramel corn, pumpkin seeds, etc) to fill in any gaps.

For this board, I used fall cookie cutters to cut the presliced cheeses into fun fall shapes.

For the meats, you will want to fold the salami and pepperoni into half or fourths depending upon the size. I like to fold the prosciutto into rosettes which is much easier than it sounds. You can find a video tutorial here.

First and foremost you will need some type of serving board. This can be a tray, a wooden cutting board, or really anything that is large enough to accommodate your offerings. You can even arrange your items over several smaller boards.

I got my board at Homegoods which is a great place to find affordable charcuterie accessories and even some unique food additions. I love this board! Not only is it beautiful and huge (almost 24 inches in diameter!!) but it's also on a lazy susan, which is really handy for serving.

Find a similar board to the one I used here!

You will also need some small bowls or ramekins, spoons, toothpicks, and several cheese knives and forks. It's also nice to have some flag labels so that you can let your guests know what everything is. This is especially helpful for identifying spicy or unusual ingredients!

I also suggest putting a layer of way paper on top of the board. This helps to protect your board from any oils that come from the meat and cheese and it also makes clean up SO easy!

Lastly, I used some small fall cookie cutters to cut the cheese in pumpkin and leaf shapes. I also garnished the board with rosemary sprigs and put some small gourds off to the side.

FAQ's

📖 Recipe