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Get It NowCharcuterie boards are my go-to when I’m entertaining — everyone loves them and there’s always something each person will like. But you know what’s even more fun? A themed charcuterie board! And for October, this is the perfect Halloween charcuterie board. It combines an array of sweet, savory, salty, and spiced elements — and the cutout ghosts and pumpkins are so cute. Like my Thanksgiving and Christmas charcuterie board, it’s the perfect healthy appetizer for the season.
You can even pair Halloween charcuterie boards with Halloween deviled eggs for an appetizer spread! To complete the theme, serve Jack-O-Lantern stuffed peppers and Panera Autumn squash soup for dinner afterward.
Why You’ll Love This Halloween Charcuterie Board
- Meaty, cheesy flavors
- Variety of textures
- Fun ghost and pumpkin shapes
- Just 15 minutes to make
- Easy to customize with your favorite finger foods
- The perfect make-ahead Halloween snack board
Ingredients & Substitutions
This section gives you some Halloween charcuterie board ideas for ingredients to use, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
- Cheeses – Use a combination of hard cheese, semi-hard or semi-soft cheese, and soft cheese for variety. I used brie, sharp cheddar cheese, and white cheddar cheese. Other good options for making shapes include Gruyere, Swiss, Manchego, gouda, mozzarella, or see my full cheese list here. If you don’t like brie for your soft cheese, you can use a soft goat cheese, or even make a cheese ball. (You may need cheese knives for very soft cheeses that are more like a spread.)
- Olives – I used pimento olives for a spooky eyeball look, but green olives or black olives work as well.
- Pickles – You can use mini dill pickles (cornichons), sliced pickles, or even pickled vegetables for variety.
- Meats – I incorporated salami and prosciutto into my Halloween-themed board, but you can also include other meats, such as dry cured chorizo, coppa, or pepperoni.
- Crackers – Choose your favorite! Sweet potato crackers are a favorite at our house, but I added some regular gluten free crackers, too. You can also make homemade flax seed crackers, 3-ingredient almond flour crackers, crunchy cheese crackers, or even homemade cheese crisps.
- Fruit – Berries or grapes work well, because they don’t make a mess and people can grab how much they want. I used blackberries and blueberries to incorporate some dark colors for a Halloween theme. You could also add raspberries, strawberries, orange slices, or even cinnamon apple chips for fall flavor.
- Nuts – Try almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, or any other nuts you like.
How To Make A Halloween Charcuterie Board
This section shows how to make Halloween themed charcuterie board, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
- Slice the cheese into Halloween shapes. I used small cookie cutters in Halloween shapes to cut the hard cheeses into ghosts and pumpkins. Place cheeses in a few different areas on a cutting board (or a platter).
- Create your anchor points. Place pickles and olives in small bowls and place them on the board. These anchors not only provide structure to your board, but also help in arranging the other foods around them for a nice presentation.
- Add charcuterie meats to the board. Place them in different areas and fold individual slices to create more space.
- Fill spaces with crackers. Place crackers throughout the board to fill in some of the larger gaps.
- Add the nuts and berries. Use them to fill in any remaining empty spaces.
TIP: Consider using labels.
Using toothpick labels is a fun way to label various meats and cheeses.
More Halloween Charcuterie Board Ideas
- Pumpkin Shape – Use a round board and make the eyes and Jack-O-Lantern mouth first using blueberries or black berries. Then, arrange mainly orange items (cheeses, nuts, and crackers) to fill the board. Use fresh herbs or a celery stick to make the pumpkin stem at the top.
- Skeleton Shape – Cut out the head of a skeleton from a wheel of brie. Arrange cheese and meat slices horizontally below the head to make the rib cage. Then, arrange other items around the skeleton to fill the rest of the board.
- Vegetarian – Make a Halloween cheese board by skipping the meats and add more cheeses.
- Add A Sweet Touch – Make a sweeter board by adding more fruit, regular or sugar-free marshmallows, your favorite Halloween candy, healthy oatmeal cookies, or other treats (my kids love sugar-free peanut butter cups!), and/or a bowl of chocolate hummus with sliced apples for dipping.
- Decorations – I used plastic spiders and a spider web mat under the board, but you can also add skeleton hands on the board or witches cauldron serving bowls on the side.
Storage Instructions
If you have leftovers, you can keep all the components (except crunchy ones like nuts and crackers) tightly wrapped in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Keep nuts and crackers in the pantry.
You can also do all your slicing a few days ahead of time and assemble the Halloween charcuterie board right before serving, or assemble the board 1-2 days in advance and store in the fridge covered in plastic wrap.
More Fun Appetizer Recipes
Get togethers, parties, and potlucks all need appetizers. Here are some others to try:
Recommended Tools
- Halloween Cookie Cutters – I like the variety of different shapes in this set.
- Cutting Board – This one is so pretty and very similar to the one I used above.
- Small Bowls – These are the perfect size for olives, jams, dips, and more.
Halloween Charcuterie Board
Halloween Charcuterie Board
This Halloween charcuterie board features cured meats, cheeses, crackers, fruits, and garnishes in a spooky arrangement. Great for parties!
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Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them. Please turn Safari reader mode OFF to view ingredients.
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
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Using small Halloween-themed cookie cutters, cut the cheese into Halloween themed shapes, such as ghosts and pumpkins.
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Place the cheeses in a few different areas on a cutting board. Brie works well kept in a wheel and sliced into wedges. Hard, semi-hard, and semi-soft cheeses, like cheddar, can be sliced and then fanned out.
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Place the pickles and olives in small bowls or ramekins, and place on the board.
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Add the charcuterie meats to the board. Place in different areas and fold the individual slices to create more space.
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Place the crackers throughout the board to fill in some of the larger gaps.
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Add the berries and nuts to the board to fill in any remaining empty spaces.
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Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1/16 of the board
Nutrition info uses salami (for the meat) and gluten-free crackers.
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
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5 Comments
Patti
0These are all of my family’s favorite things, so I made it last night and they devoured it! Will be making it again. So fun! thanks!
Jade
0This was so fun to put together for a gathering we had last weekend. Mine didn’t quite look as perfect as yours but it was devoured all the same and the kids thought the spider decor was great!
Liah
0I had fun doing this charcuterie board at our gathering yesterday.
What I love is that it doesn’t take so long to assemble it. I also added my own pick which is pepperoni and hotdogs! Thanks for this great idea!
Jessa
0So spooky and delicious! We had fun decorating our own Halloween charcuterie board. Thanks also to these Halloween-themed cutters and molders, they added great decor. Thank you!
Emmeline
0I never thought of making a Halloween-themed charcuterie board before, but this idea is brilliant so I tried it for our party and it sure impressed my guests! Thanks so much for the inspiration!