Halloween Charcuterie Board

Fill this fun board with Nutter Butter Ghosts, Apple Monster Teeth, or Mummy Pretzels.

A spooky spread

Charcuterie board (pronounced shär-ˌkü-tə-ˈrē) is a tray of mainly meats and cheeses along with crackers, nuts, preserves, and produce. A Halloween charcuterie board uses all the traditional elements with a splash of Halloween mixed in. A Halloween-themed charcuterie board is perfect for your little trick-or-treaters, or for any festive ghoulish gathering! Mix in both sweet and savory for all snacking needs. This board can be so versatile, but we’ve included some recipes and ideas to help you get started. For more sweets try our Halloween Candy Charcuterie Board!

Building the Board

Once you have all your different elements it’s time to assemble the Halloween party charcuterie board.

Start by placing the small bowls of dips, berries, or nuts on the board. Space them out evenly. Add any larger decorative elements, like the mini pumpkins. Add the meat and cheese to the board. Be sure to space them out so the board is balanced. Add your crackers and bread, spread evenly on the board. Fill in the spaces with produce, nuts, and anything else you want to include.

TO MAKE BLOOD PRETZELS

These bloody pretzels are a great addition to your easy Halloween charcuterie board and are so simple to make. PREP. In a small bowl, melt the red candy melts per package instructions along with the ¼ teaspoon of coconut oil. Spread the pretzels out on a large piece of waxed paper with some space in between. BLOOD. There are a few ways to sprinkle the “blood”.

Use a small paintbrush, dip it into the candy melt, and kind of splatter it onto the pretzels. I found the best way was to use a straw, dip the straw into the melted red candy, and gently blow it onto the pretzels. Blowing the melted red candy onto the pretzels gives you a small dot splatter. You can also do some small drizzles by dipping the straw into the red candy melts and flinging it across the pretzels for some lines of “blood” on the pretzels.

SET. Allow the pretzel “blood” to dry at room temperature or can chill in the refrigerator. You can also read our post all about making Halloween Pretzels for more tips and tricks.

GUACAMOLE SPIDER WEB

By adding just a simple decoration, you take this run-of-the-mill guacamole and give it a creepy flair! GUACAMOLE. Place the guacamole in a new round container, if desired, or leave it in the container it came in if using store-bought. SOUR CREAM. Place about 2 tablespoons of sour cream into a sandwich-size resealable plastic bag. With scissors, snip off just a little bit at one of the corners, the smaller the snip the thinner the spider web line will be. WEB. To make the web first pipe out a cross shape onto the guacamole. Next, make diagonals across the cross shape. Finally, pipe small curves between the lines.

More snack suggestions

Fill in your Halloween charcuterie spread with any of these munchies. Meat. Use thin slices of meat such as prosciutto, salami, ham, turkey, pepperoni, pastrami, peppered beef, or sliced sausage. Larger slices can be rolled or folded before being placed on the board. Plan for guests to have 3-4 total slices of meat. Cheese. Use a mix of soft cheeses and hard cheeses. You can also use a Cheeseball. Provide enough for guests to have 2-3 ounces total.

Hard cheese: Parmesan, cheddar, Asiago, Gouda, Gruyere, Manchego, or Havarti Soft cheese: Mozzarella, burrata, goat’s cheese, Brie, blue cheese, or cream cheese

Produce adds a lot of color, flavors, and textures to the board. Use both fresh and dried produce. Some common fall produce you may wish to use include carrots, broccoli and cauliflower florets, figs, grapes, sliced pears, cranberries, olives, berries, dried apricots, or Strawberry Ghosts.

More…

Crackers/bread. Add small slices of bread and crackers to the tray. Not only can they be eaten on their own, but can be topped with meat, cheese, and jams.

Ritz Crackers, Pita Chips, Grissini Breadstick, Parmesan Crisps, Toasted Crostini, Artisan Crackers, Baguettes, Pretzels, Wheat Thins, Triscuts, or French Bread Cubes

Extras:

Jams and preserves can be used to spread on crackers, then topped with meat and cheese. Dips can be used as a spread or as a dip. Some favorites: Hummus, Green Chili Cream Cheese Dip, Veggie Dip, and Pesto. Nuts like pistachios, almonds, walnuts, pecans, and more. You can also add Candied Nuts.

Halloween garnishes. Mix in a few Halloween/autumn elements by adding mini pumpkins, plastic spiders, skulls, candy eyeballs, and candy corn.

Charcuterie Tips

These tips will help you curate the perfect charcuterie board. The board. A wooden cutting board is often used as the base, but any type of tray or platter will do. For this festive board, use a classic wooden board or find a Halloween-themed tray. I always have great luck finding unique trays at TJ Maxx, Marshalls, or the local thrift store. Aesthetics. Make the different elements look randomly placed or have symmetry. Serving. Provide a cheese knife, serving spoons, and tongs. You can often find these with a Halloween theme to them like skeleton hand serving forks or tongs. Provide festive plates and napkins near the charcuterie board. Refills. Only place a few of each item on the board and have extras in the kitchen. Refill the board as needed.

Storing Info

Make it ahead of time. Many of the different elements can be prepared ahead of time and stored in separate containers until you are ready to arrange the board. STORE. If you have leftovers, I suggest storing them in their own containers that you can pull from to serve again later.