Spooky Charcuterie Board for Halloween

This Halloween Charcuterie Board is an Instagram-worthy showstopper. It’s super easy to assemble with spooky snacks that will be loved by monsters of all ages.

This Halloween Cheese Board is Perfect for Your Halloween Party

Over 600,000 people have come to this site for our Halloween food ideas. There’s baked goods, jello shots, drinks and a few savory but spooky snacks.

But none of the ideas are easier to put together for a party than his Halloween Charcuterie Board. It’s one of my favorite unique charcuterie board ideas.

This post will walk you through everything you need to know to build a board just like this. From choosing the meats and cheeses, to rounding out the board with other cute snacks (I’ll tell you exactly where to buy them), to where to find all the creepy decorations, it’s all here!

What is a Charcuterie Board?

The word “charcuterie” comes from French, referring to the art of preserving meats, especially pork, through techniques like smoking, curing and drying.

A charcuterie board is a visual appealing spread arranged on a serving board or platter, and it is a perfect centerpiece for parties and gatherings.

Modern day charcuterie boards have evolved to incorporate an array of ingredients, such as various types of cured meats, cheeses, crackers, breads, fruits, nuts, veggies, candies and other garnishes and condiments.

How to Choose a Board for Your Halloween Charcuterie

First things first, you’re going to need to choose a tray or board for your Halloween themed charcuterie board. Choose an appropriate size for the gathering that you’re having, of course.

I really like a black or dark metal tray for a Halloween platter since it kind of sets the tone for a spooky vibe. I’ve had this feast platter for several years, and it was the perfect choice for this Halloween charcuterie board.

A dark wood cutting board or even a large black or gray ceramic platter or a distressed baking sheet would also be perfect.

What You Need for This Halloween Meat and Cheese Tray

Meats for This Spooky Charcuterie Board

I’m always a big believer in choosing whatever meats your crowd will like best. If you’ve got a bunch of kids and what they really want is deli turkey on this Halloween charcuterie board, go for it!

One of my daughter’s favorite foods in the whole world is prosciutto, so I chose capicola, which is very similar, along with some other interesting cured meats:

• Coppa Italiana – dry cured pork shoulder, also known as capicola.
• Chorizo Iberico – dry cured sausage made from the Iberian pig, imported from Spain. The dark red color added a creepy “bloody” look to this spooky charcuterie board, I think.
• Spianata Piccante – dry-cured salami slices seasoned with hot chili pepper, from Italy. This one was spicy, so probably for the adults only!

Cheeses for This Halloween Cheese Board

Again, choose whatever cheeses your crowd will like best for your Halloween platter. That being said, I did go to the store on a mission to find some weird looking or kind of spooky cheeses with different textures and flavors for this Halloween charcuterie board. Here’s what I chose:

• Blue Stilton – it’s moldy, which is kind of creepy, right?
• Cacio di Bosco – this is a sheep’s milk cheese with truffles, and it just sounded yummy (and it was!). Cheddar works great, too.
• Fresh mozzarella pearls – these were the perfect size to transform into “eyeballs” with decorative candies for this Halloween cheese board.
• Le Pico – A soft ripened cheese from France. This was similar to brie, but even more funky! You could also do a goat cheese for a soft cheese here.
• Brie – Nothing fancy, just the standard 8 ounce brie round you can find in any grocery store. I used small cookie cutters to cut this into ghost and bat shapes for this easy charcuterie board. More on that later!

Other Spooky Ingredients for This Halloween Themed Charcuterie Board

• Fresh figs – these are in season in the fall!
• Castelvetrano olives – I think their green color works really well for this Halloween meat and cheese tray, and they’re my favorite olive anyway.
• Blackberries – the darkest and creepiest berry for a Halloween cheese board, right? Blueberries also work well.
• Raspberry preserves + pomegranate arils – I put these on top of the soft French cheese because the sweetness pairs well with the funkiness, and it also looks bloody and creepy.
• Walnuts – or any other nut you like! I love pistachios here, too.
• Fall trail mix – I found this in the bulk foods section of my neighborhood grocery store. It includes golden raisins, Spanish peanuts, almonds and dried papaya, cranberries, pineapple. It’s very “fall” colored!
• Dried apricots – to add even more orange color to this Halloween cheese board.
• Candy corn – I think this Halloween candy is absolutely essential for this easy charcuterie board, even if nobody eats it.
• Caramel corn – pairs surprisingly well with funky cheese, and one of my favorite Halloween charcuterie board ideas. Halloween popcorn is also a great idea here.
• Water crackers – always a classic, perfect for spreading soft brie onto.
• Bruschettini – these are dried bruschetta toasts that are closer to a cracker than fresh bread.
• Cheez-It’s – they’re orange, making them perfect for a Halloween platter, and kids are always going to love them.
• Ghosts & Bats crispy potato snacks – from Trader Joe’s.
• Pumpkin spice cookies – I also found these at Trader Joe’s, and they’re adorable on this spooky charcuterie board.

How to Make a Halloween Charcuterie Board

1. CUT. Use small Halloween shaped cookie cutters to cut some shapes from the brie round.
2. ARRANGE. Arrange all the cheeses and meats, and any larger items like pumpkins and plastic skulls on the platter.
3. FILL IN. Fill in the platter with smaller items like figs, olives, blackberries, caramel corn, trail mix, Cheez-Its, dried apricots, walnuts, candy corn, crackers and Bruschettini. You can put some items in small bowls if you’d like.
4. DECORATE. Spoon raspberry preserves over the soft French cheese, and sprinkle it with a few pomegranate arils.
5. EYEBALLS. Go wild with candy eyeballs on the mozzarella pearls!
6. GARNISH. Finish the platter with ghost and bat potato crispy snacks, any small Halloween decorations like fake spiders and bloody knives, and seasonal flowers.

How to Decorate a Halloween Themed Charcuterie Board

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Additional decorations certainly aren’t required, but they do make any Halloween charcuterie board more festive!

Fake plastic spiders come in several different sizes, and they’re easy to place wherever you want around the Halloween cheese board. I also bought a decoration set that included skulls and skeleton hands.

I couldn’t resist bloody knife cupcake toppers for this unique charcuterie board – I thought they were so cute. And then I always have some candy eyeballs on hand, so I placed a few of those on top of the mozzarella pearls.

I also bought a bouquet of seasonal flowers and plucked a few of them to decorate this easy charcuterie board.

What Do You Call a Halloween Charcuterie Board?

Bonus question, just for fun: what name do you like better for this Halloween platter – SPOOKcuterie or charBOOterie? Tell me in the comments below!