Who doesn't love a good charcuterie board? It's an easy, no-cook appetizer partygoers love! If you're looking to dress one up for Halloween, you'll find tons of ideas and inspiration for your Halloween Charcuterie Board below!
Looking for more awesome Halloween recipes to try? Bookmark our Swamp Monster Spaghetti in your internet browser for next time!
CHARCUTERIE BOARD BASICS
Charcuterie boards typically consist of cured meats, cheeses, crackers, fruits, nuts, olives, and more.
If you're having trouble deciding what to put down on your meat and cheese board, simply apply the Rule of Threes to your selections! This helps you to wrangle in your budget, gives you somewhat of a mental guide while creating your snack board masterpiece, and helps to keep the board balanced.
To give you an example, the Rule of Three that I used for this particular Halloween Charcuterie board are three types of meat, three kinds of cheese, three types of crackers, and three sweet fruity nibbles.
There is another "rule" that comes into play when you are creating a board, and that role has to do with texture and cheese. Most cheese boards will have soft cheese, semi-firm cheese, and hard cheese.
If you're feeling restrained by the Rule of Threes, just get creative and have a good time. I rarely use a hard cheese on my charcuterie boards, and as you can see, I definitely didn't use one on this Halloween cheese board.
In my personal experience, semi-firm cheeses and brie tend to be much more popular options!
THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL HALLOWEEN CHARCUTERIE BOARD
Anytime you are entertaining and feeding a crowd, it's important to stop and think about who that crowd is and what they would likely enjoy eating. A Halloween Charcuterie Board for a kids Halloween party versus an adult Halloween party should look entirely different!
Regardless, the key to a fantastically spooky-looking Halloween Charcuterie Board is color. For a cutesy, kid-friendly Halloween board, bring on the color -- big time! Think bright Halloween colors, like candy corn for instance: yellow, orange, and white foods would be great!
For a more grown-up Halloween board (which is what we're featuring today) reds, blacks, purple, orange, and white food or the subjects of choice. And, the spookier and grosser looking the food, the better!
CHEESE CHOICES
Any moldy-looking cheese like blue cheese or cheeses that have a powdery rind (such as Humbolt Fog goat cheese) are perfect for a Halloween charcuterie board. Sartori Bella Vitano Cheese with Merlot has a purplish, moldy-looking rind and fits the board's criteria perfectly.
Another Halloween cheese board favorite is a wedge of brie topped with a dollop of red jam (either raspberry, cherry, or strawberry will do). Then, you'll pop a cheese knife right in the center of the jam to make it look like a stab wound!
You could also go the color route when it comes to cheeses. A nice bright cheddar will add some orangey vibes to your board!
THE BEST MEATS TO USE
The most commonly found meats on a charcuterie board are salami, sopressata, capocolla, calabrese, pepperoni, and prosciutto.
You will likely find both the Italian cured meats and the specialty cheeses in the same area of your grocery store.
For this board, I used salami and proscuitto, but strayed from the norm for an extra spooky vibe by adding in some "Dead Man's Fingers."
These are Little Smokie sausages carved to look like decrepit fingers. A bit of extra work, but so irresistibly perfect for a Halloween Charcuterie Board!
To go along with the Little Smokies, some seriously eerie-looking dip! This dip is a simple mix of stone-ground mustard with Dijon mustard. Just mix it up (about half and half) and then place it in a small bowl right in the center of the fingers.
CRACKERS | THINK COLOR AND FLAVOR
The crackers on a charcuterie board are usually lacking in flavor in order to allow the meats and cheeses to shine.
For this Halloween charcuterie board, I threw in some cracker curve balls with bright orange, Cajun-flavored sesame sticks, and dark purple fig crackers. Then, strayed back to the norm with a combination of wheat crackers and water crackers.
FRUIT | FRESH OR DRIED
For your Halloween-themed board, you can use fresh fruit, dried fruit, or a combination of the two! I went with dark purple grapes as well as red grapes, orange dried apricots, and deeply red dried cherries.
HOW TO MAKE ASSEMBLE A HALLOWEEN CHARCUTERIE BOARD
To assemble your Halloween charcuterie board, start with either a large cutting board or a serving board.
The key to creating a gorgeous board is to start with the largest, heaviest items first and fill in the spaces between with smaller, lighter items.
Start the board with your larger items off-centered and place similarly sized items across from them on the opposite side of the board.
Once you've got all of your items down on the board, you can add spooky little additions like plastic bugs or candy eyeballs on top of the food or little animal skeletons off to the side!
6 MORE HALLOWEEN RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE
- Ghost Cupcakes
- Mummy Cupcakes
- Halloween Cake Pops
- Halloween Brownies
- Halloween Butterfinger Blondies
- Halloween Meatballs
Ghost Cupcakes | A Halloween Party HIT!
Mummy Cupcakes | Easy Halloween Recipe
Halloween Cake Pops
Halloween Brownies | Three Easy Decorating Ideas
Halloween Blondies Recipe
Halloween Meatballs | Appetizer Recipe
Halloween Charcuterie Board
Ingredients
- 4 ounce wedge of brie
- 2 tablespooons cherry, raspberry, or strawberry jam
- 4 ounces Cheddar Cheese, sliced
- 4 ounces Sartori BellaVitano Cheese With Merlot, cubed
- 3 tablespoons dijon mustard (optional)
- 3 tablespoons whole grain mustard (optional)
- ½ package (7 ounces) Little Smokies or other cured meat (see cooking directions in notes if using Little Smokies)
- 4 ounces sliced salami
- 4 ounces prosciutto
- ½ package (2.5 ounces) water crackers
- ½ package (2.5 ounces) wheat crackers
- ½ package (2.5 ounces) fig crackers
- 1 cup Cajun-flavored sesame sticks
- 2 cups black and red grapes, mixed
- 1 cup dried apricots
- ½ cup dried cherries
Instructions
- Have ready a large, round or rectangular serving board or cutting board.
- Place the brie on a small plate and surround it with dried cherries. Place the jam directly in the center. Then, place a cheese knife sticking out of the center of the jam.
- Place the sliced cheddar and merlot cheese on opposite diagonals of the board across from the brie.
- Add the mustards to a small condiment bowl and mix. Place on the board and surround by Little Smokies (if using).
- Then, add in the remaining elements as you'd like, fanning out both the crackers and sausage. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Dead Man's Fingers (Little Smokies Halloween Fingers)
- ½ package (about 7 ounces) beef or turkey Little Smokie Sausages
- 1 tablespoon avocado or canola oil
- Preheat the oven to 350° and have ready a rimmed baking sheet, lined with aluminum foil. Pat the sausages dry with paper towels. Using a paring knife, shave about a ½" worth of sausage away. This forms the fingernail.
- Then, cut three slits on the opposite end to create the knuckle creases.
- Transfer the sausage to the prepared baking sheet, drizzle with canola oil and toss to coat.
- Spread apart on the baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.
Nutrition
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