Having guests over can be exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. As the host, you want to give your friends or family the best time while visiting your home. Aside from making them feel comfortable and entertained, one of the best ways to ensure everyone will have a good time is by preparing and serving a delicious meal. 

A great way to impress your guest’s tastebuds without indulging them in a full meal is by creating a cheeseboard. Besides offering your guests a flavorful appetizer to munch, this can be a good conversation starter. Not only are they a delicious feast, but they’re also good to look at.

Making a cheeseboard for your next get-together can be fun and doesn’t have to be a chore. With a few tips in mind, you can make the perfect cheeseboard you and your guests will surely love. Continue reading below for a quick guide to help you get started.

#1. Choose The Right Board

The perfect cheeseboard begins with having the right board to place platter essentials, like cheese, crackers, and some charcuterie. You’d want to use something presentable and adds to how appetizing the food and overall presentation will look. 

To start, boards come in different materials, shapes, and sizes. For the material, typical options include wood, bamboo, and slate. In terms of shape, you can go for a square, rectangle, or round. As for the board’s size, it depends on the type of event you’re hosting and the number of guests you’re expecting. And to make it more fun and exciting, why not go for a personalised cheeseboard with your family name on it? Doing so can be a great way to add a unique touch to your get-together.

#2. Select Your Cheeses

A cheeseboard will not be complete without any cheese. After all, it’s called a cheeseboard; they’re the star of your platter. However, you shouldn’t let picking which type of cheese to add to your board intimidate you. As a reference, you’d want to add some variety by including at least three different kinds of cheese- a hard cheese, a soft cheese, and a blue cheese. And suppose you already have an idea of the type of cheese you and your friends would like to try. You can have those, too. 

You can include slices of hard cheese like Cheddar and Parmigiano. You can add options like goat cheese, Brie, and Camembert for the soft cheese. As for the blue cheese, you can include Gorgonzola, Stilton, and Roquefort. However, even if your cheeseboard’s main attraction is cheese, try not to go overboard. It’s best to allot some space to other platter essentials.  

#3. Include Accompaniments

To add more flavor and color to your cheeseboard, don’t forget to include accompaniments. Other platter essentials you can add to the tray include meat, fruits, bread or crackers, spreads, nuts, and garnish, to name a few. 

• Meat: Adding meat can introduce a savory flavor to your appetizer. Similar to your cheese, it’ll be great to include a variety of cured or smoked meat. You can explore your meat selections and add salami, sopressata, chorizo, prosciutto, or mortadella. 
• Crackers or bread: Include bread and crackers on your cheeseboard to provide a contrasting flavor with the rest of your platter essentials. You can add bread sticks, multigrain crackers, or sliced baguettes. 
• Nuts: Adding nuts would be a great way to introduce saltiness to the board. You can include a bowl of almonds or cashews to add something savory or fresh to the board. 
• Fruits: Fresh fruits are a wonderful addition to your cheeseboard. Fruits can add vibrancy to the visual aspect of your platter while providing fresh flavors. So, throw some strawberries, raspberries, grapes, and olives into the mix. 

These are just some complementary additions you can include to your cheeseboard. But you can always explore other accompaniments you think your guests would like. The idea is to add a variety of textures, like soft, crunchy, crispy, or gooey, to boost your and your guests’ sensory experience.

#4. Arrange The Board Creatively

While this tip caters more to how the cheeseboard will look, knowing the proper arrangement can help make things look more attractive and mouthwatering. As a good start, you can learn the different cuts for your cheeses, the folding and chopping of the cured meats, and how to arrange the accompaniments. 

A good tip to consider when arranging your board is to evenly space out your meat and cheese and let the accompaniments fill the gaps. Furthermore, here are some tips worth noting:

#5. Add An Attractive Bowl

If you’re adding something runny to your cheeseboard, like a jam or dip, a bowl will help keep them in place and avoid spilling or mixing with other food on your platter. On the other hand, you can also use a bowl to contain loose food, like nuts or fruits. 

When adding a bowl, consider the size you’ll get. You wouldn’t want the bowl to take up much space in your cheeseboard. As for the style or design, you can be playful and opt for bold patterns or colors to add contrast to your board, or you can get a transparent or white bowl to achieve a cohesive look.

#6. Attach Labels

Not everyone is familiar with every kind of cheese and meat available on the market. So, to help your guests identify the food in your cheeseboard, it’ll be nice if you could attach some labels to your board. You can use a cheese marker and write down what kind of cheese or meat you’re serving. Aside from being informative, doing so can also help make the entire board look more attractive.

#7. Provide Utensils

Don’t forget to prepare utensils, such as olive forks, tasting spoons, a butter spreader, and a cheese knife, to name a few. This provides convenience to your guests. Depending on your preference, you can look for ones with a matching color or style. And if you’re feeling fancier, you can go for utensils with a shiny gold embellishment.

#8. Pair With The Perfect Drink

A cheeseboard is best paired with good wine. With the right pairing, flavors can be enhanced and create a more classy and sophisticated experience. A good tip when looking for the best wine to pair with your cheese selections is to consider their type. For instance, soft cheese is best paired with a white wine like Chardonnay, while you can pair hard cheese with medium-bodied red wine. In addition, you can always visit a specialty shop and ask for wine pairing recommendations when in doubt.

The Takeaway

A cheeseboard can be a great way to wow your guests and host an amazing get-together. While it may seem tricky at first, since you’ll have to select the cheese and other platter essentials and place them on the board, with the helpful tips above, you’ll be able to make the perfect cheeseboard your guests will surely love.

Katie Brenner

Katie writes for F and B Recipes. She lives in New York with her dog Coco. When not writing, she can be found baking (and eating) chocolate chip cookies.