• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Unpeeled Journal logo

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Soup, Salad, Snacks
    • Dinner
    • Sides
    • Dessert + Baking
    • Holidays
    • Vegetarian + Vegan
    • Beverages
    • Easy
    • Recipe Collections
  • Features
    • Articles
    • Profiles
  • Lifestyle
    • Wellness
    • Food Travel Guides
    • Book Club
  • Cooking School
    • Cooking Technique
    • Baking + Pastry Technique
    • Wine Class
    • Better Know a Food
  • The Food + Grief Project
  • About
Home / Features / Articles / A Lovely Fall Charcuterie Board

Jump to Recipe

A Lovely Fall Charcuterie Board

Share
Pin49
Tweet
Email
Print

The right stuff.

There is an art to assembling a fall charcuterie board. Here’s how to select and arrange the right cheeses, condiments, and decorative elements to wow your crowd this autumn.

Fall Charcuterie Board Ideas

The Best Fall Charcuterie Board Ideas

There are fall charcuterie boards, and there are the absolute best fall charcuterie boards. No charcuterie board is bad; after all, what’s not to love about a platter full of cheese, crackers, cured meat, and condiments?

But there are certain principles you can adhere to in order to take your fall-themed charcuterie board from fine to fantastic.

  1. Choose the right charcuterie and cheeses. (There’s a method.)
  2. Choose the right complements, like jams, chutneys, nuts, crackers, bread, fruit, and the like.
  3. Add some decorative elements to give your fall charcuterie a sense of the season. Think pumpkins for fall and Thanksgiving and so on.

How to Select Cheese for Charcuterie Boards

How to Choose Cheeses for an Autumn-Themed Charcuterie Board

When I was in pastry school at the C.I.A., we had an official cheese and charcuterie board class. There, we learned how to make sure that a fruit and cheese plate hit all the right marks. We kept things very classy — no Thanksgiving turkey charcuterie boards, not that it wouldn’t have been fun!

Start with a selection of dairy sources, textures, and age. For example:

1. Vary Your Fall Charcuterie Board Dairy

When arranging a charcuterie board, don’t just stick to cow’s milk cheeses. Have at least one cow’s milk cheese, but also throw in one goat’s milk cheese (chèvre), and/or a sheep’s milk cheese.

Cow’s milk cheese are incredibly diverse, so you won’t have any trouble finding some very good options. Popular cow’s milk cheeses include

  • Brie
  • Cheddar
  • Most blue cheese (such as Gorgonzola)
  • Gouda
  • Gruyère
  • Swiss

Popular goat cheeses include:

  • Fresh chèvre
  • Bucheron (a bloomy French cheese I love; it has been aged and develops a funky rind)
  • Humboldt Fog, which has a vein of vegetable ash running through it that looks quite chic

Popular sheep’s milk cheeses include:

  • Manchego, an aged Spanish cheese that tastes fantastic with quince paste (membrillo) or fig jam
  • Pecorino Romano and Pecorino Toscano
  • Roquefort
  • Feta

2. Vary the textures and age of the cheeses on your board.

Now that you’ve offered a variety of dairy cheeses, make sure that you are hitting different flavor and texture notes. Have a wedge of ever-popular, soft and creamy brie? A crumbly aged gouda would be a wonderful counter. And both taste great with sliced apple or some honey.

Did you cube up some delicious aged cheddar? Add a hard wedge of aged Parmigiano-Reggiano? Add a soft, fresh goat cheese to the charcuterie board as a counterbalance.

Follow your intuition, but make sure that you have enough variety to keep things interesting.

What else can you put on your fall charcuterie board besides meat and cheese?

Keep these principles in mind: Salty, sweet, crunchy, soft. From there, you can fill in the blanks with a wide variety of crackers, nuts, fruit, and beyond. I also love a garnish of seasonal herbs, such as rosemary or sage, for color and to fill in any empty spots.

  • On the crunchy side: crisp crackers, nuts, fresh apple slices, cold grapes.
  • On the sweet side: local honey, fig jam, fruit chutney, preserves, fresh fruit, dried apricots or dates
  • Salty condiments: Your charcuterie, olives, some types of crackers, hard pretzels
  • Soft-textured condiments for your fall charcuterie board: the aforementioned chutneys and jams, ripe pear

I like to keep my pairings within a range that naturally goes together. For example, I would not recommend putting crudité and hummus  on the same platter as aged cheeses and honey, since they do not naturally “flow” together.

How to Make the Best Fall Cheese Platter

How to Arrange an Autumn Charcuterie Board

There is much to be said about a minimalist approach, with negative space between each element. But if you want to build up a full fall charcuterie board, here’s how to do it:

  1. Anchor your charcuterie board with your cheeses, cut as necessary, in different areas of your board. I would already have cheddar diced and Manchego sliced into triangles. Soft cheeses like chèvre and brie should be served in a log or wedge, respectively, with an appropriate knife or spreader. Crumbly cheese like an aged Parmigiano or aged gouda should have a pointy spade knife, if you have one.
  2. Add the charcuterie. Create height and interest by ribboning your prosciutto, or fold slices of aged salami in half or quarters instead of leaving it flat.
  3. Fill in with fruit, crackers, and condiments. No need to have a huge variety, but a couple different crackers or fruits will look more fun, and offer more variety for eaters.
  4. Add some tasteful decorative elements. For a good fall charcuterie board, I would add mini pumpkins (washed, please!), and sprigs of fresh, cold-weather herbs like sage, thyme, or rosemary.

How to Make a Fall Charcuterie Board

What Wine Pairing Is Best for a Fall Charcuterie and Cheese Board?

Just as there is no one wine that goes with all food, there is no one wine that pairs best with cheese and charcuterie. Rather, certain wines pair best with certain cheeses.

Examples of best wine and cheese pairings:

  • Sauvingnon Blanc + goat cheese
  • Pinot Noir + brie
  • Malbec + aged cheddar
  • French chardonnay + Gruyère
  • Port + Blue Cheese
  • Brut (dry) sparkling wine + aged parmesan and bloomy, funky soft cheeses like brie or Epoisses

Overall, you will hit the most targets with a dry white wine with notes of fruit (as opposed to a lot of minerality), and light reds like Rioja and pinot noir.

How Far in Advance Can I Make My Charcuterie Board?

Your beautiful autumn cheese and charcuterie board will keep for a few days in the fridge, loosely covered with plastic wrap. But do not add the crackers or bread until right before serving. Bread and crackers will get stale and soggy.

Also avoid slicing into oxidizing fruit like apple and pear in advance. They will turn brown.

Fall and Thanksgiving Cheese + Charcuterie Board

Love a good cheese and charcuterie platter? You’ll also love:

  • Roasted Butternut Squash Cheese Pizza
  • Easy Stovetop Mac & Cheese
  • Leek and Goat Cheese Tart
Fall Charcuterie Board Ideas
Print Recipe

Build the Best Fall Charcuterie Board

Here are the cheeses, charcuterie, condiments, decorations, and everything else you need to arrange your very best fall charcuterie board this season.
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time0 mins
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine: American, French
Keywords:: appetizer, charcuterie platter, cheese plate, fall charcuterie platter, how to decorate a fall charcuterie platter, thanksgiving charcuterie platter, thanksgiving sides
Servings: 6 to 8 people

Ingredients

  • A variety of cow's, goat's, and sheep's milk cheeses (see article for suggestions)
  • A variety of cheeses of different textures, age, and color (see article for suggestions)
  • Assorted charcuterie, such as prosciutto di Parma, salami, andouille, bresaola, Coppa, and so on
  • Fresh fruit, such as crisp apples or grapes, ripe pears, and dried apricots
  • Assorted nuts, such as pecans
  • Sweet condiments, such as honey, chutney, fig jam, and preserves
  • Decorative mini pumpkins (washed) and a few springs of fresh rosemary, sage, and thyme
  • Assorted crackers and slices of fresh bread

Instructions

  • Anchor your charcuterie board with your cheeses, cut as necessary, in different areas of your board. Cheddar shold be diced and Manchego sliced into triangles, for example. Soft cheeses like chèvre and brie should be served in a log or wedge, respectively, with an appropriate knife or spreader. Crumbly cheese like an aged Parmigiano or aged gouda should have a pointy spade knife, if you have one.
  • Add the charcuterie. Create height and interest by ribboning your prosciutto, or fold slices of aged salami in half or quarters instead of leaving it flat.
  • Fill in with fruit, crackers, and condiments. No need to have a huge variety, but a couple different crackers or fruits will look more fun, and offer more variety for eaters.
  • Add some tasteful decorative elements. For a good fall charcuterie board, I would add mini pumpkins (washed, please!), and sprigs of fresh, cold-weather herbs like sage, thyme, or rosemary.

Notes

Nothing is prettier or tastier than a gorgeous fall charcuterie board, filled with assorted cheeses, meats, condiments, and seasonal garnish.
 
Feel free to have fun and vary things up. You can make this a couple of days in advance, and then cover in the fridge, but don't add crackers or sliced oxidizing fruits like apples until just before you serve. 

Filed Under: Articles, Baking + Pastry Technique, Cooking School, Cooking Technique, Easy, Features, Halloween, Holidays, Recipes, Sides, Soup, Salad, Snacks, Thanksgiving, Winter Holidays Tagged With: charcuterie platter, cheese plate, fall charcuterie board, how to arrange a charcuterie board, thanksgiving appetizer, thanksgiving charcuterie board, wine and cheese pairings

Sign Up for the Weekly Newsletter

Never miss a recipe.

More from Unpeeled

Pad See Ew With Chicken (Thai Chicken and Rice Noodles)

Pad See Ew With Chicken (Thai Chicken and Rice Noodles)

Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried Green Tomatoes

Easy Stovetop Mac & Cheese

Easy Stovetop Mac & Cheese

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Missy says

    November 19, 2021 at 9:46 am

    Love this! What size board do you recommend?

    Reply
    • Unpeeled says

      November 20, 2021 at 11:31 am

      The nice part is that you can really adapt the size to whatever number of people you are serving. I sometimes do a standard dinner-plate size for 3 to 4 people (5 if you really squeeze everything together), or use my 9″ x 13″ cutting board for enough for around 10, give or take. Serving platters, cake plates, cutting boards…I say have fun. There’s something to be said for a little negative space, too, so don’t feel like things need to be too crowded. Enjoy!

      Reply
  2. Felice says

    October 17, 2022 at 2:22 pm

    5 stars
    Thanks for the nice suggestions and info.

    Reply

Share your comment here: Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Welcome to Unpeeled

A celebration of cooking, baking, and food. Learn More


Popular Posts

Gallo Pinto Costa Rican Rice and Beans
bowl of senate bean soup with ham and salad on wooden table
bowl of tomato zucchini minestrone soup in pink bowl
bowl of ice cream in pink dish with candied rhubarb ribbon
How to Order a Cheesesteak Like a Philly Local cheesesteak with onions
plate of creamy smoked salmon pasta recipe on gray plate with chives

Your inbox is hungry! Get the weekly newsletter.

Footer

About Unpeeled

Unpeeled offers trusted recipes, cooking and baking techniques, travel guides, profiles of women in food -- plus more.

Features

  • Articles
  • Profiles
  • Taste Tests
  • Food Writing Roundups

Cooking School

  • Cooking Technique
  • Baking + Pastry Technique
  • Wine Class

Information

  • About & Contact
  • F.A.Q.s
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Copyright © 2022 Unpeeled Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

  • Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Soup, Salad, Snacks
    • Dinner
    • Sides
    • Dessert + Baking
    • Holidays
    • Vegetarian + Vegan
    • Beverages
    • Easy
    • Recipe Collections
  • Features
    • Articles
    • Profiles
    • Taste Tests
    • Food Writing Roundups
  • Lifestyle
    • Wellness
    • Food Travel Guides
    • Book Club
  • Cooking School
    • Cooking Technique
    • Baking + Pastry Technique
    • Wine Class
    • Better Know a Food
  • The Food + Grief Project
    • Food That Heal
    • F+G Articles, Interviews, Essays
  • About
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter