Here at Silver Mushroom, we love a good gathering - especially when we’re the hosts! And what’s a good party without food that tastes as deliciously good as it looks? Enter the grazing board; a feast for the eyes, and the rumble in your tummy. Grazing boards are the best way to create a beautiful table spread, impress your guests, and once you’ve done all the chopping, there’s not too much work to do. Grazing boards are the perfect way to keep your guests happy all night long, without being tied to the kitchen. Whether you’re hosting a big party, or an intimate gathering, these three grazing board ideas will no doubt make you the host with the most.
Where to Start With Your Charcuterie Boards
The beauty of charcuterie boards lies in the details - the ingredients you choose, how you arrange them, and what you choose to serve them on. With that in mind, let’s start with the grazing board basics. The charcuterie board 101 if you will.
Selecting the Right Board
Choosing the right serving board is half the battle. As much as a bigger board may feel intimidating, they fill up faster than you may expect and you don’t want the board to look overcrowded. So, we would say the bigger, the better. Wooden chopping boards give off a rustic, cosy feeling, so they will always be our first choice.
The Charleston Elm Wood Chopping Board, pictured above, is the perfect grazing board, with a paddle handle for easy moving, and gorgeous natural wood finish as a backdrop. Most importantly, wooden chopping boards are wonderfully versatile. So, when you’re not creating the grazing board of your dreams, this wooden chopping board sits beautifully in a cottage style kitchen, ready for daily prep.
Balancing Flavours and Textures
When building a grazing board, variety is key. Think about mixing savoury and sweet, soft with crunchy. The contrast in flavours and textures will keep your guests coming back for more, and trying a variety of delicious bits. If you’re stuck, you can also turn to colour. You know what they say - a colourful plate is a delicious plate. It’s also the key to making your grazing board unforgettable.
Layering and Arrangement
When it comes to grazing boards, presentation is everything. A good grazing board should look so beautiful that you almost don’t want to eat it. And then hopefully it will taste so good that you can’t stop eating it. In essence, that’s what a charcuterie board is all about. However, that’s not to say that you should overthink it. We found that the more you simply went with the flow the better. Trying too hard to make it perfect will be your downfall. Build and build until you’re happy with it! We will cover more specific styling tips for each individual grazing board idea below!
Show-stopping Large Savoury Grazing Board
This charcuterie board is your go-to for large gatherings. And don’t be overwhelmed, follow our tips and your board will look as stunning as this one.
Ingredient Ideas
Grazing boards are a curation of all the things that you and your guests love, so take creative licence and pick the bits and bobs according to your taste. But here’s a little inspiration to get you started:
Grazing Board Flower Feature Ideas
- Cream/soft cheese flowers: Whip up some soft cream cheese until it’s extra creamy. Using two tea spoons, make a quenelle-esque, petal shape with the cream cheese. Add the shape to your board, then using the back of the spoon, push one side down to create a petal shape. Repeat this process 5 times in a circle until it resembles a flower. Finally, add a cherry, grape or some marmalade in the middle for the centre.
- Meat flowers: Salami flowers look stunning on your grazing board, they fill a good chunk of space, and they make it look professional. Simply take a prosecco glass, or anything with a small mouth and fold over the pieces of salami or meat one by until its full. Turn the glass over, carefully slide off the flower, and voila! Head to our Instagram video to see these two in real time!
- Finally, a fig flower: Simply chop your fig into four quarters and arrange in a flower shape!
Charcuterie Board Assembly Tips
We will say it once again - do not overthink the assembly of your grazing board! Trust the process and have faith that your board will come together. Start with dotting larger bits around the board. We opted for a circular cheese wheel in the centre, a selection of meat flowers, 2 cream cheese flowers, and fig flowers dotted around. Next, add your meat, cheese and crackers. Play around with the sizes of your cheese pieces, and make a variety of ribbons, stacks, and piles. The meat slices can be organised in scrunches, rolls and other little flower shapes. Finally, organise the crackers in windy patterns to break up the space. We alternated between black and brown crackers for extra visual interest.
Next, fill the gaps! This is the fun, and easier part of your grazing board. Grape vines are great space fillers, so pop those in bigger areas. Add clusters of nuts, and berries, chopped up fruit here and there. This part is where taking note of the colour is really important. If a spot looks dull, add something bright! It’ll come together before your eyes.
Finally, garnish with some green herbs and edible flowers if you like, and your grazing board is complete!
Mini Wine Topper Charcuterie Board
This grazing board idea is one of our favourites for a cosy, intimate wine night. And best of all, it makes use of something you may already have in your home! These mini grazing boards sit right on top of your wine glass - the perfect nibbly canape. Here’s the secret, you don’t need to buy one of those wine toppers. You simply need a finished lidded candle, like our soy wax candles. All you need to do is give your lid a little wash, take off the rubber, and it’s ready to go.
Ingredients
Take inspiration from our large, savoury grazing board, but make it bitesize! Pick 4 or 5 bits that taste delicious together. Think one thing soft, one thing crunchy, one thing sweet, and one salty. A single cracker or piece of bread is lovely to add on too.
Mini Charcuterie Board Assembly Tips
With the wine topper grazing board on the small side, the only advice we can give for assembly is to think small. Don’t try to overwhelm the board and arrange your items compactly. Remember it’s only supposed to be a little taster, so don’t over pile. Chutney, or cream cheese could also help to keep your mini charcuterie board all together too - especially for those not on their first glass.
Deliciously Moreish Dessert Grazing Board
For those with a sweet tooth (or children), your party might be more suited to a super sweet grazing board. It’s a fun and indulgent way to finish off your party.
Ingredient Ideas
Be guided by your sweet tooth for the dessert grazing board. Here are a few bits we used for our delicious grazing board.
Dessert Grazing Board Assembly Tips
This board is all about indulgence, and arguably, it might not look quite as professional as the savoury charcuterie board. If you want to level up, think about making chocolate strawberries, adding truffles, or maybe even cheese. As with the charcuterie board, start by placing the larger items - like a ramekin of donuts or melted chocolate, a chocolate orange spiral, or some donuts - then fill in with chocolates and smaller treats. Stack and layer for height, and don’t be afraid to really pile it on—this is a dessert board, after all! We used the St Ives Footed Cake Plate for our dessert grazing board, since it added a touch of elegance to a delicious pile of chocolate. With a lot of sweet treats being brown and beige, a contrasting white coloured servingware will look far more sophisticated than a wooden board. If we dare say that donuts can ever look sophisticated.
Are you Ready to be Grazing Board Royalty?
There you have it, three charcuterie board ideas that are guaranteed to impress. Whether you’re hosting a large gathering, a cosy wine night, or a dessert party, these grazing boards will make sure your guests leave happy (and full!). And remember, the right serving board can make all the difference in presentation, so explore different types of servingware, and get creative!
