Last Updated August 10th, 2023 at 03:29 pm by Lisa
Create a spooktacular Halloween charcuterie board filled with your favorite sliced meats, an assortment of cheeses, crackers, fruit, nuts, and a few spooky and sugary Halloween treats.
A Halloween cheeseboard is so easy to put together for your next Halloween party, as an after-school snack board for kids, or to host a happy hour for friends with simple appetizers and drinks...
Table of contents
- How To Build A Halloween Charcuterie Board
- What Is The Right Board Or Platter?
- What Can I Use For A Halloween Board?
- What Are Classic Charcuterie Foods?
- Creative Charcuterie Board Ideas
- Easy Charcuterie Board Top Tips
- How To Design A Spooky Charcuterie Board
- Ways To Cut Cheeses Creatively
- Ways To Present Sliced Meats
- How To Make Salami Roses
- Free Halloween Planner!
- More Halloween Food Ideas
- Halloween Appetizers & Drinks
How To Build A Halloween Charcuterie Board
There is something for everyone on this Halloween themed charcuterie board, there are savory bites, crunchy salty snacks, sweet chewy candy, and a few spooky decorations.
Here are some fun ways to add pizzazz to a festive Halloween charcuterie board...
- Mini Pumpkins buy real mini orange or white pumpkins, they look so cute, are the perfect size, and can be reused again for a Fall or Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board. You can easily find them at your local grocery store.
- Halloween Treats like gummy worms, sugared jelly brains, skulls, or bones, ghastly Dracula teeth, and small candy eyeballs are such a fun easy addition!
- Marinated Mozzarella Balls are super easy, taste delicious, and are a great addition to any classic charcuterie board.
- Add Fun Halloween Foods for kids and adults, some sweet, salty and treats the whole party will adore. There could be small finger sandwiches, cookies, candy pumpkins, caramel apples, mini pumpkin madeleines, or even Halloween cupcakes or Halloween Candy Bark!
What Is The Right Board Or Platter?
A charcuterie platter is the easiest thing to put together! The first thing you will need is to decide how many people you are serving for the size of your board. Choose one based on the number of guests, how much food, and yummy things you plan to serve.
What Can I Use For A Halloween Board?
- a large cutting board will work really well, just give it a good clean. They can be round, square, or rectangular in shape.
- an extra large board is also fun for a party, like a long 4' grazing board to put down the center of a long table.
- a large tray, use black, orange, purple, or green! I used a round tray with a black metal rim. The sides of this tray helped to hold the stacks of crackers upright and other items, but this is totally optional.
What Are Classic Charcuterie Foods?
- Meats
- Cheeses
- Crackers & Bread
- Fruit, Olives, or Nuts
- Sweets
Creative Charcuterie Board Ideas
Try some creative unique charcuterie board ideas and different things you see online. Incorporate the fun ideas you want! You can go dark and creepy, or fun and whimsical. I am a scaredy cat, and don't like the super scary stuff, and like to keep it simple. My favorite part is adding the finishing touches with Halloween charcuterie board ideas...
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Easy Charcuterie Board Top Tips
- Party Planning for the number of guests, and have everything ready to go before your party! You can cut the cheeses the day before, then assemble the spooky board in about 15 minutes.
- Last year, I made some of the best charcuterie board designs. I kept it tucked in the refrigerator for a few hours before the party. Once the guests arrived, I and pull it out to serve!
Creative Additions
- Use 2-3 Small Bowls that are black, orange, or white and round or shaped like pumpkins to serve drippy things like marinated olives or mozzarella balls.
- Add Real Flowers, snip a few in dark colors like orange or purple daisies, they add a real touch of whimsy, and you can tuck them in at the end.
Serving Ideas
- Small Cookie Cutters to cut sliced cheese in shapes like pumpkins, ghosts, coffins, bats, and spider webs. Stack up the cutout cheese, and these are fun for kids.
- Have a Small Spoon for Dips to make it easier to serve and eat.
- Put out Small Spreader Knives for dips and cracker spreads.
- A small container of Appetizer Picks to lift items like marinated mozzarella or olives out of small bowls onto plates.
- Themed Charcuterie Boards are all the rage, try a Hocus Pocus movie night themed snacks board, so many people made these with the new movie release.
- Plastic Spiders add that little spooky season touch crawling across.
- Use a Classic Cheese Board Knife Set including a good cheese knife, slicer, fork, and or dip spreaders are a great way to slice and cut items on your board either ahead of time or let your guests do the honors.
- Halloween Cookies are a nice addition, I have some pumpkin madeleines on this board, you can buy them at a bakery. Also, beautifully decorated sugar cookies are a nice addition like ones with skulls, Frankenstein, jack-o-lanterns, or mummy cookie designs. These will usually hold days before the party in an airtight container.
How To Design A Spooky Charcuterie Board
The best charcuterie boards have a neat design and appeal but are simple. There really are no strict rules, and no perfect way to build a board. Here are some top tips I have learned over the years for assembling your gorgeous Halloween-themed board!
Once you choose the right board, platter, or serving tray here are some easy ways to build your board. First, consider lining the tray or board with some parchment paper to keep stains off your board or tray. I learned this the hard way and got some marks on my long grazing board, oh well!
PRO TIP: Find a Trader Joe type store to get the best variety and prices on your cheeses and meat products. Cute Halloween candy can be ordered online or found in specialty shops like See's Candies.
Meat Choices
Traditional Meat is a star of a perfect charcuterie board. Start with sausages and salami both presliced and whole. Meats like prosciutto, ham, and soppressata are also classic additions.
You can slice, cube, wrap, fold, stack, or serve meats in many designs like the salami roses you see all over the internet!
Dips & Focal Points
- Dips or a finger food item are a nice addition! Choose ones that are premade or can be made a day ahead and prepare those first. Try my Graveyard Tombstone Dip, you will want to dig right in!
- Choose some focal points for larger items and place the larger items like wheels of brie or salami roses on first. Those are your anchor points and work in odd numbers with large focal points.
Add Texture & Interest
- Empty Spots can be filled in with small nuts, candies, or crackers.
- Add Different Textures by trying different kinds of crackers, cheeses, meats nuts and cut them all in various ways.
- Design Top Tip is to add things in small piles, and add other things in equal parts in various patterns like stacks or neat rows. The variation of textures is pleasing to the eye.
Cheese Selections
- Add 1-2 Hard cheeses sliced into thin triangles, small cubes, broken into chunks, or served in small wedges with cheese knives for people to slice their own. I found one that was a rust Fall color and a tri-color that looked like the colors of candy corn! I got my cheeses from a Southern California Trader Joe's, but most grocery stores carry a nice variety these days.
- Add 1-2 Semi Soft Cheeses like brie can be transformed into a centerpiece on your board by cutting out the center using a small cookie cutter. I used a pumpkin shape and filled the center with finely diced dried apricots and a good drizzle of honey. Other semi-soft cheeses like goat cheese or camembert are really popular and add a nice variety.
Pretty Embellishments
- Fruits & Herbs are great options try some dark color purple grapes or sprinkle some pomegranate seeds on top of a piece of soft cheese like brie. Fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme sprigs can add a lot of dimension and character.
- Food Safety is important, cheeses get better at room temperature for up to 4 hours, but you will want to rechill meats like sliced salami after 2 hours to keep it food safe. Also, did you know you can freeze leftover charcuterie meats?
Ways To Cut Cheeses Creatively
- use a fork and break off rustic chunks, I did this on the English white cheddar
- thinly slice a triangle wedge of cheese and stack the pieces going in opposite directions, like the rust colored cheese you see here...
- cut cheese blocks into small square cubes for your Halloween cheese board
- use small seasonal cookie cutters to get different shapes
- cut a shape out of a wheel of brie with a cookie cutter and fill the center
- roll the cutout portion of brie into crushed cracker crumbs, I used cheddar cheese crackers
- use 3D cookie cutters and cut shapes out of sliced cheese, these 3D cookie cutters will impress a line design too!
Ways To Present Sliced Meats
- cut salami into small square cubes
- make salami roses, they are so easy and such a fun thing on your board!
- fold sliced meats in half and fold those ends in, then push two on short skewers, you can trim the skewers short for a pretty look
- fold sliced meats into quarters and stack 3 on a skewer, and cut the excess bamboo skewer off.
How To Make Salami Roses
- Buy good sliced pepperoni or sliced salami.
- Use a smaller glass like a wine goblet or champagne flute.
- Layer the salami around the edge of the glass pressing and folding them down as you go.
- Go round and round adding more layers and pushing them down into the center.
- Flip the glass upside down, and place it down on a plate to see your beautiful salami rose! You can make these a day ahead and store them flat in a zip-top bag on a small plate until you are ready to assemble your board.
A traditional charcuterie board has a combination of meat and cheeses. Charcuterie means cold cooked meats collectively, and charcuteries are a store selling cold cooked meats. A charcuterie board must have meats, and cheeses are quite common but not required. Here are some popular items you will see on a Charcuterie board:
-Dry Cured Salami made of beef or pork and mostly air dried
-Prosciutto is an Italian dry-cured ham
-Sopressata is an Italian dry salami
-Mortadella is an Italian sausage
-Hard Cheese like aged cheddar, chunks of parmesan, aged gouda, and asiago.
-For a firm cheese - use gruyere, Comte, manchego, Colby, cheddar
-Semi-soft cheeses are a nice addition like havarti, butterkäse, or muenster.
-Soft cheeses - are easy to spread on crostini and crackers, try burrata, mascarpone, mozzarella, or stracchino.
-Blue cheeses - gorgonzola, Dunbarton blue, and marbled blue jack
Free Halloween Planner!
A little planning goes a long way, put down all your ideas and things that inspire you in this planner. There are spots for everything from your guest list, to shopping items, ideas for Halloween decorations, how to put a spooky twist on the menu, and more. Happy Halloween!
Download your FREE copy of this planner and get those party plans started today…
More Halloween Food Ideas
When it comes to Halloween food ideas, there are so many ways to celebrate the Halloween season with everything from a ghoulish treat to cute snacks and appetizers, and of course creepy drinks and cocktails.
Halloween Party Planning Ideas
200+ of the best Halloween Recipes from inspiring Food Blogger friends! Whether you are having a spectacular Halloween bash costume party on October 31st or cooking up spooktacular delicious recipes for a creepy food dinner for the family.
There are over a dozen of the best Halloween Punch Ideas here from making different colors, sherbet punches, creative garnishes, ice rings, and even how to use dry ice for punch.
Halloween parties are all about serving haunted food and creepy drinks like mini Halloween Pizzas. Decorate with one of the six ideas here, choose a Jack-O-Lantern, Dracula, Frankenstein, Monster, Mummy, or Ghost!
Candy Corn Martinis are the perfect Halloween drink for parties, have lots of fun chilling out with these, oh and homemade candy corn vodka is super easy to make!
Halloween Snacks & Desserts
Build a fun and super easy Halloween Snack Tray with your favorite chips, crackers, sweet treats, and spooky candy eyes! Bake a spooky Halloween Cake with orange and chocolate marbled cake inside, and a cemetery all made in chocolate!
Bake these Halloween Cupcakes topped with fluffy chocolate buttercream frosting that are not too scary and pretty darn cute. Make a Halloween Candy Board filled with whimsical classic treats, chocolate candies, lollipops, and slightly gross gummy sweets.
Halloween Appetizers & Drinks
Decorate a spooky cute Halloween Gingerbread House with an easy-to-find premade kit. Use all kinds of candies in different ways, add your own creative details, and try new design ideas with Halloween candy and royal icing.
Halloween Deviled Eggs are spooky party appetizers with dark black crackled egg shells filled with bright orange filling. This classic simple appetizer is great to make ahead and have with Halloween cocktails like these Black Vodka Martinis! The perfect frightening Halloween drink for parties.
Halloween Sandwiches are the perfect party food for a crowd. Serve a big sub sandwich with spooky decorations like cheese teeth and edible eyeballs.
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Halloween Charcuterie Board Ideas
Ingredients
- 1 whole round brie wheel
- 1 whole soft cheese (goat cheese, camembert)
- 1 whole hard cheese
- 1 cup pistachio nuts
- 1 box assorted crackers
- 1 package Halloween Gummy Candies
- 1 package candy corn and candy pumpkins
- 1 tablespoon candy eyeballs
- 1 whole baguette sliced for crostini
- 1 container marinated mozzarella balls
- 1 container marinated olives
- Halloween cookies
Instructions
- How To Design A Halloween Charcuterie Board Traditional Meat is a star of a perfect charcuterie board. Start with sausages and salami both presliced and whole. Meats like prosciutto, ham, and soppressata are also classic additions. You can slice, cube, wrap, fold, stack, or serve meats in many designs like the salami roses you see all over the internet! Dips or a finger food item are a nice addition! Choose ones that are premade or can be made a day ahead and prepare those first. Try my Graveyard Tombstone Dip, you will want to dig right in! Choose some focal points for larger items and place the larger items like wheels of brie or salami roses on first. Those are your anchor points and work in odd numbers with large focal points. Empty Spots can be filled in with small nuts, candies, or crackers. Add Different Textures by trying different kinds of crackers, cheeses, meats nuts and cut them all in various ways. Design Top Tip is to add things in small piles, and add other things in equal parts in various patterns like stacks or neat rows. The variation of textures is pleasing to the eye.Add 1-2 Hard cheeses sliced into thin triangles, small cubes, broken into chunks, or served in small wedges with cheese knives for people to slice their own. I found one that was a rust Fall color and a tri-color that looked like the colors of candy corn! I got my cheeses from a Southern California Trader Joe's, but most grocery stores carry a nice variety these days. Add 1-2 Semi Soft Cheeses like brie can be transformed into a centerpiece on your board by cutting out the center using a small cookie cutter. I used a pumpkin shape and filled the center with finely diced dried apricots and a good drizzle of honey. Other semi-soft cheeses like goat cheese or camembert are really popular and add a nice variety. Fruits & Herbs are great options try some dark color purple grapes or sprinkle some pomegranate seeds on top of a piece of soft cheese like brie. Fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme sprigs can add a lot of dimension and character. Food Safety is important, cheeses get better at room temperature for up to 4 hours, but you will want to rechill meats like sliced salami after 2 hours to keep it food safe. Also, did you know you can freeze leftover charcuterie meats? You can pre-cut your cheese and meats the day before and assemble the day before and keep them chilled in small containers. Then put your tray together the morning of your party and pull it out when guest arrive!
- Different Ways To Slice Charcuterie Meats-Cut salami into small square cubes-Make salami roses, they are so easy and such a fun thing on your board!-Fold sliced meats in half and fold those ends in, then push two on short skewers, you can trim the skewers short for a pretty look-Fold sliced meats into quarters and stack 3 on a skewer, and cut the excess bamboo skewer off.
- Creative Ways To Slice Cheese-Use a fork and break off rustic chunks, I did this on the English white cheddar-Thinly slice a triangle wedge of cheese and stack the pieces going in opposite directions, or lay all pointing in same direction-Cut cheese blocks into small square cubes for your Halloween cheese board-Use small seasonal cookie cutters to get different shapes-Cut a shape out of a wheel of brie with a cookie cutter and fill the center-Roll the cutout portion of brie into crushed cracker crumbs, I used cheddar cheese crackers-Use 3D cookie cutters and cut shapes out of sliced cheese, these 3D cookie cutters will impress
Notes
What To Use For Your Board?
- a large cutting board will work really well, just give it a good clean. They can be round, square, or rectangular in shape.
- an extra large board is also fun for a party, like a long 4' grazing board to put down the center of a long table.
- a large tray, use black, orange, purple, or green! I used a round tray with a black metal rim. The sides of this tray helped to hold the stacks of crackers upright and other items, but this is totally optional.
How To Make Salami Roses
- Buy good sliced pepperoni or sliced salami.
- Use a smaller glass like a wine goblet or champagne flute.
- Layer the salami around the edge of the glass pressing and folding them down as you go.
- Go round and round adding more layers and pushing them down into the center.
- Flip the glass upside down, and place it down on a plate to see your beautiful salami rose! You can make these a day ahead and store them flat in a zip-top bag on a small plate until you are ready to assemble your board.
Wonderful ideas for a Halloween cheeseboard, thanks Lisa!