Fall Charcuterie Board

This Fall Charcuterie Board is the only appetizer you need at any family gathering or holiday in autumn months. Filled with a mix of healthy ingredients, decadent treats and seasonal products from Trader Joe’s, it is perfect for Halloween, Thanksgiving or a casual fall dinner party.

The perfect autumn charcuterie board

Fall is truly our favorite time of the year here in Maine, filled with apple picking, corn maze adventures, long fall hikes in the woods and, of course, pumpkin spice lattes. 

Creating a perfect fall charcuterie board is a truly fun experience. There is so much seasonal produce and fun autumn-themed items at the grocery store, it's pretty easy to be creative and incorporate the wonderful fall flavors into your fall snack board. 

Just follow a couple of simple steps and put together an epic autumn grazing board.

If you’re feeling creative, visualize what you want your board to look like. You can use mine as inspiration but depending on what ingredients you have, you can make it truly unique and create your own design.

You can even draw a simple sketch of your board and write down what goes where (I don’t typically do that but I LOVE the idea of it).

If you're looking for more charcuterie board inspiration, try this Small Charcuterie Board that's perfect for 2-3 people or this unexpected and delicious Smoked Salmon Charcuterie Board. For Holiday season check out this epic Christmas Charcuterie Board.

Ingredients for a fall charcuterie board

• Berries: I like to add strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. Blackberries are also a great choice.
• Other Fresh Fruit: you can’t have an epic charcuterie board without grapes, in my opinion! I went with red grapes but green and black are perfect, too.
• Cheese: I like to use 3 or 4 different kinds of cheese on my board with different textures and flavors. Some great choices include cheddar, fontina, manchego, gouda, Havarti, goat cheese, blue cheese in a hunk, a brie wheel or marinated mozzarella balls. See my note on Trader Joe’s products below to see which three cheese kinds I picked for my fall board.
• Meats: I used a variety of delicious meats including salami, prosciutto and sopressata I picked up at Sam’s club. My tip for cured meats is to fold them twice and fan them like a deck of cards. It makes for a stunning presentation and really fills the board.
• Nuts: I like to keep things interesting in the nut department so I usually go with a fun mix but adding some pecans, walnuts or almonds will also work great. Don’t forget to serve the nuts with a little spoon!
• Dried Fruits:mission figs, dried apricots, dates or prunes are a great addition to a festive board.
• Olives: I used pitted kalamata olives because that’s what I have but any olives will work. Whole Foods has some amazing mixed olives in the self-serve department.
• Crackers: There are so many cracker options to choose from! Use what you like best. For this Fall Charcuterie Board, I used multigrain Wheat Thins, Fig & Pumpkin crackers and bread sticks. Some other kinds I like include water crackers, Ritz crackers, parmesan crackers, Triscuits or whatever you like!
• Pickles: I used gherkins because they’re small, cute and I like to serve them vertically in a ramekin.
• Jam or Preserves: I used Trader Joe’s fig butter but I also like to use red pepper jelly, plum butter, homemade apple butter, pumpkin butter, raspberry or blackberry jam. I usually shop for preserves for a charcuterie board at a European deli or Home Goods. 
• Chocolate: this is not mandatory but I absolutely love to add some chocolate to my grazing boards because who doesn’t like chocolate? You don’t need much but adding a couple squares of dark chocolate, chocolate covered almonds or pretzels is always a good idea and I’m sure your guests will appreciate it! For my board I went with cute fall-themed Belgian chocolates.
• Mini Pumpkin: this is for decorative purposes only but I think a mini pumpkin gives a fall charcuterie board a truly autumnal and festive vibe.

This fall-inspired appetizer board is featured in this post compiling 20 Best Appetizer Charcuterie Boards. Find some more board ideas there!

Seasonal Fall Trader Joe's products

Cheese: I love shopping for cheese at Trader Joe’s! There are so many fantastic and affordable options and I always seem to find a new, exciting kind of cheese there. For this charcuterie board I picked:

• Unexpected Cheddar Cheese – aged white cheddar with a note of parmesan. So good!
• Creamy Tuscan Cheese Soaked in Syrah – this one is perfect for Holidays! Soaked in red wine and creamy? Yes, please!
• Pumpkin Spice Goat Cheese – if it sounds weird to you, don’t fret. The combination of earthy goat cheese and sweet and spiced pumpkin is a fabulous flavor match.

Note: for more fabulous Trader Joe’s cheese options, check out this Ranking of Trader Joe’s Cheeses from Popsugar.

Pumpkin Cranberry Crisps: the fall version of the popular Trader Joe’s Fig & Olive Crisps, these yummy crackers are made with pumpkin puree and studded with tart cranberries.

Italian Breadsticks with Olive Oil: light and airy, these bread sticks are perfect for picky eaters and kids. My sons absolutely love them!

Olive & Herbs Mixed Nuts: I love this mix of almonds, cashews, pecans, dried olives and spices. It’s savory, delicious and goes really well with the fall theme of the board.

Belgian Chocolates - Harvest Collection by Chocolatissimo: these little chocolate gems are insanely decadent and come in fun fall shapes.

Step-by-step instructions

STEP 1: Start with laying out jars and ramekins

STEP 2: Add the cheese

STEP 3: Arrange the deli meats

STEP 4: Lay out the fresh fruit

STEP 5: Fill the gaps with crackers

STEP 6: Add finishing touches

More tips and variations

• Prep the fruit ahead of time. Washing, drying and cutting fruit is time consuming so I like to do this ahead of time. For best results it’s important that the fruit is mostly dry when you arrange it or else it will get soggy and lose its freshness quickly.
• Create a visual "map". Once you are ready to start, take out your board and lay out all the ingredients on the counter and figure out the small items that will go in miniature bowls (olives, nuts, spreads) and what will be placed around them.
• Group items that go together. If you are serving soft cheeses, serve a harder kind of crackers next to it. Pickles should be near cured meats, honey near brie, grapes near hard cheese and so on. You get the pattern.
• Use height for interesting presentation. I like to use at least one tall item for an interesting visual effect. For this board I went with bread sticks in a mason jar.
• Start cutting the cheese. Seriously, for some reason people don’t like to be the first one to cut into a hunk of cheese or cut the first triangle of a brie disc. To help the process, just start cutting it and leave the cheese knife nearby. A couple pieces will do.
• Fill the gaps. I’m a firm believe that the more, the merrier. If you see any empty space after your board is done, just fill them with some additional fruit or crackers. The best looking charcuterie board is one that’s very full, almost overflowing.
• Be mindful of food allergies. Since grazing boards are to be shared among a number of people, it’s a good idea to know if anyone has any food allergies and avoid foods that may cause an allergic reaction or serve some items separately. Tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, milk and strawberries are among common red flag foods for people with allergies. One way around it is to serve foods that your guests are allergic to in a separate dish.
• Provide a gluten free option. Rice crackers or parmesan crackers are a great alternative to wheat crackers and bread sticks.
• Serve crackers and crostini separately. If your board will be shared among many people, skip the crackers and serve them in a separate dish. That way you can serve more cheeses, meats, fruit, nuts and condiments on the board.
• Don’t forget about utensils! Cheese knives, small spoons and mini forks will make serving easy.

Where to buy a large board

My board came from Home Goods and I absolutely love it. There are many good charcuterie board options that you can choose from. Personally, I like a board that’s large with a low “wall” around it and handles because it’s easy to move it and food doesn’t fall out of it.

• 24 x 24 Large Ottoman Table Tray
• Wine Barrel Inspired Charcuterie Board with handles
• European Style Cheese Board with a handle

What to do with leftovers

If you have any leftovers, group them by “food group” and store in airtight containers in the fridge. I’m a firm believer in the no waste philosophy and try to rescue as much of my charcuterie board as I can after my guests leave. Cheese and fruit is usually still fine. If the crackers don’t get soggy, I store the leftovers in ziplock bags (or small bowls covered with plastic wrap). The cured meats may be the only item that you may need to discard, especially if the board had been out at room temperature for a few hours.

More fall meal ideas

• Roasted Pumpkin Cauliflower Soup
• Carrot Butternut Squash Ginger Soup
• Healthy Caramel Yogurt Apple Dip
• Pumpkin Spice Blended Baked Oats
• Healthy Banana Oat Bread
• Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte

This post includes affiliate links. 

Recipe

Fall Charcuterie Board

This Fall Charcuterie Board is the only appetizer you need at any family gathering or holiday in autumn months. Filled with a mix of healthy ingredients, decadent treats and seasonal products from Trader Joe’s, it is perfect for Halloween, Thanksgiving or a casual fall dinner party.

5 from 37 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Appetizer, dinner

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour

Servings: 1 charcuterie board

Author: Agnieszka

1x2x3x

Ingredients

Cheese

• ▢ Unexpected Cheddar Cheese
• ▢ Creamy Toscana Cheese
• ▢ Pumpkin Spice Goat Cheese

Meats

• ▢ Salami
• ▢ Prosciutto
• ▢ Sopressata

Fruit

• ▢ strawberries
• ▢ blueberries
• ▢ raspberries
• ▢ red grapes
• ▢ dried apricots
• ▢ dried mission figs

Nuts

• ▢ Olive & Herb Mixed Nuts

Preserves & Condiments

• ▢ Fig Butter
• ▢ gherkins
• ▢ Kalamata olives

Crackers and Bread

• ▢ Pumpkin & Cranberry Crisps
• ▢ Multigrain Wheat Thins
• ▢ Olive Oil Bread Sticks

Sweets

• ▢ Harvest Collection Belgian Chocolates by Chocolatissimo
• ▢ Mini pumpkin for decoration

Instructions

• Wash and dry all fresh fruit on paper towels.
• Lay a large round board with 2 sheets of parchment paper.
• Place gherkins, olives, fig butter, nuts and goat cheese in ramekins or small bowls. Put the bread sticks in a mason jar.
• Arrange the ramekins, bowls and jars around the board. If you are using a mini pumpkin, add it to the board now.
• Cut up cheddar cheese and start cutting Creamy Toscana cheese leaving most of it in a hunk (or cut it all up if you prefer). Arrange the cheese on the board.
• Fold and fan the salami, sopressata and prosciutto and add to the board.
• Place all the berries and grapes around the cheese and meat. Add dried apricots and mission figs.
• Fill the gaps with crackers and finish the board off with chocolates.
• Add mini spoons, forks and cheese knives, as needed.

Notes

Place gherkins vertically in a ramekin. It will hold a lot of them and it looks really pretty.

Instead of fig butter you can use raspberry preserve or red pepper jelly.

Use any fruit or nuts you like. Blackberries, plums, dried cranberries, dates, cut up pineapple and apple slices are great fruit choices. Similarly, any nut mix will work.

If your board is not very large, consider serving crackers in a separate dish to save space.

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Meet the Author

Hi, I'm Agnieszka. I'm a mom of three and recipe developer, writer and photographer behind Wholly Tasteful. I love creating comforting, delicious, family-friendly recipes that you can feel good about.

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