Spooky Halloween Charcuterie Board (Char-BOO-terie Board)
Amp up the scare tactics at your next Halloween party with this spooky Halloween CharBOOterie board! This fun themed board idea is covered in foods both familiar and festive, so no one will miss out on their favorite meats, cheeses, and creepy treats.
Love Halloween food as much as we do? Try this family-friendly Harry Potter Pumpkin Juice, my Ghosts in the Graveyard parfaits, or this Poisoned Apple cocktail.
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Jump to:
- This Spooky Meat and Cheese Board is perfect for your Halloween Party
- Why You'll Love this Fun and Festive Halloween Charcuterie Board
- What is a charcuterie board?
- How to Decorate a Halloween Themed Charcuterie Board
- Everything you Need to Make a Halloween Charcuterie Board
- What do you put on a charcuterie board for Halloween?
- Step-by-step guide to assembling this festive Halloween-themed grazing board
- Variations and Substitutions
- What are 5 tips to making a char'BOO'terie board?
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Charcuterie Boards to Try
- 📖 Recipe
This Spooky Meat and Cheese Board is perfect for your Halloween Party
It's showtime, folks!
As we tiptoe into the Halloween season, our kitchens and hearts are yearning for fun Halloween foods to festoon our tables.
You're going to love this recipe as much as we do at your Halloween bash!
What could be a better way to strike a balance between spooky and savory than a perfect Halloween charcuterie board, aka a char'Boo'terie board?
While your classic cheese board may typically include an assortment of delicate Brie and sharp Cheddar, why not shake it up this season with a little ghoulish treat that would make Morticia Addams proud?
Creating the perfect Halloween charcuterie board doesn't involve a magic potion or a trip to Dracula's castle. Every ingredient required can be found lurking innocently in your local grocery store.
Fancy bringing in a spooky vibe? Add in some meats shaped like bats or skeletal fingers, nestled against the best cheeses perfect for spooky twist a traditional charcuterie board.
This guide, ladies, gentlemen and witches alike, will walk you through the do's and don'ts of a spooky Halloween charcuterie board:
• Choosing the right meats to use on your terrifyingly tasty board
• Handpicking the best cheeses to send chills (of delight) down your guests' spines
• Unleashing your inner dark artist to decorate a Halloween-themed board
Follow these steps and your charcuterie board will be a huge hit, sure to outshine all the jack-o'-lanterns in the neighborhood!
Why You'll Love this Fun and Festive Halloween Charcuterie Board
- This char-boo-terie board is honestly my favorite for spooky season! I had a ton of incredible halloween charcuterie board ideas, but this one I felt was the most unique: bring your board to life by turning it into a spooky Halloween town!
- This spooky charcuterie board is easily customizable - turn this into a candy board, dessert board, or a halloween cheese board with no meat if you want.
- This board is all about textures and flavors. Crisp crackers and breads, soft, melty brie, spicy chorizo and salty prosciutto, crunchy cornichons, and plenty of sweet to balance the salty!
What is a charcuterie board?
A charcuterie board, often referred to as a snack board or cheese plate, is a presentation of various cured meats, cheeses, accompaniments, and sometimes other complementary items like fruits, nuts, crackers, and condiments.
The word "charcuterie" itself comes from the French term for a shop that specializes in prepared meat products.
A classic charcuterie board includes an assortments of cheeses and meats, such as:
- Cured Meats: These are the star of the board and can include items like prosciutto, salami, chorizo, capicola, and more. Cured meats are often thinly sliced and can vary in flavor and texture.
- Cheeses: Cheeses are an essential part of the board and offer a contrast to the meats. Different types of cheese choices include a round or wedge of brie, cheddar, gouda, blue cheese, and goat cheese, among others. The selection often includes a mix of soft, semi-soft, and hard cheeses.
In addition to meats and cheeses, charcuterie boards can feature various accompaniments and garnishes, such as:
- Crackers and Bread: These provide a crunchy and neutral base for the meats and cheeses. Options can range from plain crackers to artisanal bread slices.
- Fruits: Fresh and dried fruits add sweetness and a burst of color. Grapes, apple slices, figs, and dried apricots are common choices.
- Nuts: Nuts like almonds, pecans, pistachios or cashews provide a contrasting texture and a touch of saltiness.
- Condiments: Mustards, chutneys, honey, and jams can be included to add flavor and variety.
- Pickles and Olives: These offer a briny, tangy element that pairs well with the richness of the meats and cheeses.
Charcuterie boards are famous for their adaptability, ready to cater to myriad occasions and tastes. They're a common guest at parties, wine sipping events and picnics, or even to add a touch of sophistication to any meal.
The display itself is more art than appetizer, skillfully arranging the good stuff across the board with an eye for beauty as much as taste.
And customization? Well, that's the secret sauce of creativity, transforming charcuterie boards into a much-loved masterpiece in party entertaining!
How to Decorate a Halloween Themed Charcuterie Board
Almost all of the town props I used came from Target, and they really made this so much fun.
Creepy tombstones, a witch's house, a giant cauldron filled with apple cider and dry ice to really bring in that show stopping, awe-inspiring effect, and so much more winding between classic meats, crisp pepper water crackers, exotic fruits, and a bowl of mozzarella eyeballs?!
I was so excited creating this, can't you tell?
Try styling your board with halloween decorations that people just wouldn't expect!
Twinkling halloween lights, spooky decorations, little glow in the dark bugs and lit up pumpkins really bring that magic touch. And they're pretty inexpensive, too!
Everything you Need to Make a Halloween Charcuterie Board
- An extra large board or platter - Your spooky board needs to be able to to hold your Halloween town! An extra large food-safe board is a need but you could also use a very large cutting board.
- Fun Halloween decorations - I love the plastic spiders, the spooky tombstones, even the cutest light posts, all from Target's dollar spot. The houses are also from Target, but I have also grabbed them from craft stores this time of year for other projects.
- Halloween Cookie Cutters - you're looking for small cookie cutters, small enough to cut slices of cheese, at least.
- Small Bowls - To hold your 'creepy' mozzarella eyeballs, jams and honey, condiments, and briny goodies.
- A Food-Safe Cauldron - always make sure you use something that can handle the dry ice and is safe for drinks to go into!
- Cheese Knives - How are you going to get that good hunk of humboldt fog without a cheese knife?!
What do you put on a charcuterie board for Halloween?
Full ingredients, measurements, and printable instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Cured Meats and Cheese - your halloween snack board needs a variety of meats and cheeses curated for your guests! As a general guideline, you can plan for approximately 2 to 4 ounces (about 55 to 110 grams) of cured meat and cheese per person.
- Themed Snacks - Halloween candy like candy corn, the little candy pumpkins, the Ghoul M&Ms, gummy worms, candy eyes and halloween cookies are perfect here.
- Nuts - pumpkin seeds, candied pecans, delicious salted pistachios, they are all perfect here.
- Fresh fruit - for a halloween board, I had to change it up. Sure there's strawberries and figs, which are familiar favorites, but I found plenty of beautiful Asian fruit that really fit the aesthetic at my local Costco. A lot of the kids had never tried lychee until it ended up on the charbooterie board!
What are the best cheeses for a charcuterie board?
You can't go wrong ever with my foolproof cheese board cheese plan:
- A familiar cheese
- An interesting/funky cheese
- Creamy/semi-soft cheeses
- Hard cheeses
You don't have to do all of them and you can definitely have more than one of a category on your board.
Here are what I used on this board:
An assortment of familiar cheeses that I found at my local grocery store.
I used fall and halloween cookie cutters to cut them into many pumpkin shapes and bats and leaves. We have a variety of cheese: mild cheddar, swiss, pepper jack, and colby jack and I placed them onto a nice little serving platter. This is great especially if you have kids joining in on the party.
I also have a block of applewood smoked white cheddar, which I cut into the shape of a coffin! Make the board as festive as you want with these shapes, y'all. The cheddar is both 'familiar' and 'interesting', both because it's smoked and it's a fun shape. I also have extra sharp white cheddar cubes, we had a lot of guests!
Then we have brie, which is always a cheese board must-have. I used a double creme brie, they're really easy to find from the fanciest cheese shop to ALDI. This creamy, mild cheese pairs so well with different meats, fruits, and crackers and it's always a fan favorite. I used a witch's hat cutter to cut the middle out (and put it onto a different part of the plate) and filled the middle with fig jam.
I also have a funky, interesting goat cheese that I really enjoy: Cypress Grove's Humboldt Fog. This soft, slightly runny cheese has a line of vegetable ash running through it and coating its rind. I thought it looked absolutely perfect on a halloween board.
Another soft, yet familiar cheese is fresh mozzarella ciliegine, or cherry-sized cheese balls. They were too cute to pass up as 'gross' eyes in a bowl, complete with some tiny candy eyeballs!
Last, for the hard cheese I have manchego. Manchego is finally getting some real mainstream love and I'm seeing it in grocery stores! It's a sheep's milk cheese that's nutty and absolutely delicious, a safe dive into the interesting section of our cheese platter.
Halloween Food Ideas to Use on a Charcuterie Board
When it comes to charcuterie, most cured meats are acceptable. While you can use whatever traditional meat you want, here are a few cute halloween recipes for making your board even more fantastic!
- Prosciutto Phantoms: Prosciutto is a great option for fancy meat platters because of its delicate texture and salty flavor. For Halloween, get creative and make adorable ghost-shaped rolls with prosciutto. Just roll them up and pop on some tiny dots for spooky eyes.
- Salami Spiders: Spice things up by using a flavored salami to craft slices that are devilishly spider-shaped. Complete the look by adding small cheese rounds or olives for the spider's body, and use thin pretzel sticks or chives for its creepy legs.
- Scarlet Chorizo: Chorizo is famous for its bold, fiery flavor and deep crimson hue. Slice it into pumpkin shapes or bat shapes to embrace the Halloween vibes and make your charcuterie board pop.
- Creepy Mummy Dogs: Even though cocktail sausages or mini hot dogs aren't your typical charcuterie choices, you can still spookify them! Wrap them up in strips of puff pastry to mummify them, and don't forget to add tiny dots of ketchup or with edible pens for their eerie eyes.
- Black Forest Ham Bats: Use thinly sliced black forest ham and cut it into bat shapes using cookie cutters or a sharp knife. These dark shapes will fit the Halloween theme perfectly.
- Witch Fingers: Use Slim Jims or other similar meat sticks can be used to create witch fingers. Simply cut them into finger-length pieces and add an almond slice at one end for the nail.
- Devilish Pepperoni: Pepperoni slices can be transformed into devil horns by folding them in half and placing them above a round of brie.
Step-by-step guide to assembling this festive Halloween-themed grazing board
Step 1 | First step in assembling your halloween charcuterie board, is placing your large decorations and bowls around the board. Sure, things tend to get moved around a lot while you're styling, but don't worry about making the charcuterie board perfect, especially not right now. We just want to see how we will be moving all the cheeses and meat on the board around these larger items.
Step 2 | Figure out where you want to place the cheeses. They're like their own little focal points, where crackers, produce, and meats will cluster around because they are, well, big blocks of cheese.
Step 3 | Now spread your breads and crackers across the board. You can often find ghost shaped chips and little toasts at Trader Joe's and ALDI.
Step 4 | Make it a real charcuterie board by adding the charcuterie! These meats are easily sliceable, foldable, and can be moved with ease.
Step 5 | Now add the fruits. Try to find fruits that are totally out of the ordinary for charcuterie or have some spooky twist, like scaly lychee, purple mangosteen, hairy rambutan, and of course, the classic fig. These are all really delicious fruits and even match the fun, eerie vibe of our board. I mean, have you seen the inside of a fresh fig?! Terrifying. Delicious, but terrifying.
Step 6 | Now add the fillers. These are the fun little snacky-snacks, the board fillers to nosh on or add on top of a perfect stack of pepper water cracker, brie, prosciutto, and honey (yes, I am obsessed with this combo!). These are the candies, cookies, nuts, you name it.
Step 7 | now it's time for the big guy: before guests arrive, grab your cauldron of pumpkin cider (or caramel apple sangria!) and carefully drop in a medium-sized chunk of dry ice with tongs. Don't keep the bubbling cauldron over the board for too long though, the condensation can make the crackers soggy. Move it to another table and enjoy the charbooterie!
Variations and Substitutions
- Try giving it a Hocus Pocus twist by adding the Sanderson sisters' house or focusing solely on a witchy theme.
- Make it personal and fun for the kids: base the theme around your own neighborhood!
- Create white chocolate ghosts, dark chocolate bats, and colorful chocolate witch hats by using melting chocolate wafers or melting candy.
- Get creative with your add-ins! Caramel apples, praline cookies, spooky whoopie pies, cinnamon rolls. You are the boss of this board, go wild!
What are 5 tips to making a char'BOO'terie board?
Creating the perfect Halloween charcuterie board involves more than just selecting spooky meats. Here are five tips to help you create a memorable Halloween charcuterie board:
- Balance of Flavors and Textures: A successful charcuterie board includes a variety of flavors and textures. Alongside your themed meats, incorporate a selection of cheeses (soft and hard), crackers, bread, fruits (e.g., grapes, apples, figs), vegetables (e.g., cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, bell pepper strips), nuts, and dips (e.g., hummus, mustard, fruit preserves). This variety ensures there's something for everyone and adds depth to your board.
- Halloween-Themed Decor: Elevate the spooky ambiance with Halloween-themed decorations. Use dark and dramatic serving platters or boards, and consider adding decorative elements like spiderweb-patterned doilies, skull-shaped dishes, or Halloween-themed napkins and tableware.
- Color Coordination: Pay attention to the color scheme. Black, orange, and deep reds are classic Halloween colors. Choose ingredients and decorations that align with this palette. For example, black olives, red grapes, orange cheddar cheese, and dark-colored meats can all contribute to the theme.
- Creative Garnishes: Enhance the visual appeal of your charcuterie board with creative garnishes. Consider using rosemary sprigs for a "witch's broom," carved vegetable shapes (like radish roses or cucumber snakes), or edible flowers to add pops of color and intrigue.
- Themed Name Cards: Give each charcuterie element a fun and spooky name tag. Label your meats and cheeses with creative, Halloween-themed names like "Vampire Veal Salami" or "Mummy Mozzarella." This not only adds an element of storytelling to your board but also helps guests identify the items.
Also, don't worry about trying to make your board perfect. A cute halloween-themed board doesn't need to be fussed over! People will be amazed just by the dry ice alone, if you really want a board with some wow factor with very little effort.
Frequently Asked Questions
The "3-3-3-3 rule" for a charcuterie board suggests a balanced composition. It includes:
Three Types of Meats: Select three different kinds of cured meats, such as prosciutto, salami, and chorizo, to provide variety and contrast.
Three Types of Cheeses: Choose three diverse cheeses, like brie, cheddar, and blue cheese, to offer a range of flavors, textures, and styles.
Three Accompaniments: Include three types of accompaniments, which can be fruits, nuts, crackers, or condiments, to complement the meats and cheeses.
Three Garnishes: Add three garnishes or decorative elements to enhance the visual appeal of the charcuterie board, such as fresh herbs or edible flowers.
Following this guideline helps create a well-rounded and visually appealing charcuterie board with a good balance of flavors and textures.
The best three cheeses for a charcuterie board should offer a variety of flavors and textures. A well-rounded selection often includes a combination of soft, semi-soft, and hard cheeses, such as brie (soft and creamy), cheddar (semi-soft and sharp), and blue cheese (bold and crumbly).
More Charcuterie Boards to Try
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📖 Recipe
Halloween Charcuterie Board (Char BOO terie Board)
Ingredients
Charcuterie Meats (3 ounces per guest)
- Prosciutto
- Chorizo
- Salami
- Sopressata
Cheeses (2 to 3 ounces per guest)
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese Cubes
- Ciliegine Mozzarella
- 1 medium round double creme brie
- 1 wedge Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog
- 1 8 oz block smoked white cheddar
- Slices of mild cheddar swiss, pepperjack, colby jack
- 1 wedge manchego
Crackers and breads
- Rosemary crackers
- Water crackers
- Pepper water crackers
- Multigrain crackers
- Black sesame and fig crisps
Fruit
- Mangosteen
- Lychee
- Brown Turkey Figs
- Strawberries
Nuts
- Praline Pecans
- Pistachios
- Pumpkin Seeds
Treats
- Caramel Corn
- Candy Corn
- Candy Pumpkins
- Halloween M&M's
- Ginger Snaps
- Halloween Sandwich cookies
- Candy Eyeballs
Condiments
- Honey with comb
- Fig jam
- Cornichons
- Caviar
Instructions
- Start by placing the largest halloween decorations, small bowls, and cheeses in different areas of the board.
- Then, pour the cornichons, fresh mozzarella balls, jams/spreads/dips, or any other condiments into the small bowls.
- Arrange the charcuterie meat, crackers and crisps, fruit, and other around the cheese and bowls, trying to fill any empty areas.
- Fill in the rest of the empty spaces with nuts, Halloween candies, cookies, popcorn, or any other small treats. Decorate your halloween charcuterie board with eyeball sprinkles, plastic spiders, and a foggy cauldron full of pumpkin juice.
