This has to be one of my favorite posts because CHEESE. It’s like crack. I love it so much. An easy cheese board is so pretty and I love them for every occasion. I wanted to put this how-to together because I wanted to show you guys it doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult to put a cute cheeseboard together. I bought *most* of everything from Trader Joes, which is tasty AND cheap! It’s an easy to learn how to do and a way to impress your friends and family, and of course to feed them so they’re not all hovering in your kitchen.
How to Create an Easy Cheese Board
- Choose a Board
Choose your vibe sista! You can go for the black slate rectangular look, the fresh, yet rustic wooden board or the modern round marble. OR whatever you have in your cabinets – sometimes I even use a large white square plate.
- Choosing Cheeses
Quite possible the most important part of this whole shebang. You’ll want to grab a harder cheese like a parmesan, cheddar, gouda, or manchego. A soft or spreadable cheese like brie, port salut, mozzarella, burrata, or goat (you will never see this on my boards haha). Technically you’re also supposed to have a ‘stinky’ cheese, but aged cheddar is about as ‘stinky’ as I’ll go. That’s the point of making this yourself though right? You can do what YOU like. I chose a double cream brie (soft), a creamy Toscano soaked in syrah (hard), and a royal grand cru (also hard) because that’s what I like!
- Charcuterie Meat
A totally optional addition to your board, but if you are adding it – it’s up next! Trader Joes has a great selection of this stuff. I usually buy a pack that has salami, prosciutto, and soppressata and it’s around $5.00. I like taking all 3 of the meats out separately and instead of just laying them on the board, making them into different forms. In this case I used the salami and soppressata. Folded the salami in half twice and then rolled the soppressata – easy peasy!
- Accoutrements
This is probably the most fun part. Choose a fun cracker, I love the Fig & Olive Crisps $3.99 from Traders. Don’t be afraid to get more than one kind! I highly recommend adding a jam of some sort, because I love a good cheese and jam combo. I went for Fig here since #seasonal and it’s $2.99. Olives are always good to add something salty, these were not from Traders, and lastly I added some dried figs just to bring it home. You can totally add dried apricots or craisins for pops of color. Then, of course, it’s always festive to have a pomegranate – this is just pure looks guys! Lastly, grapes – they’re a perfect way to fill in space because they’re so pretty!
Cheeses & Prices from Trader Joes Add your cheese to the board first!
Cut & Fold the slices into different shapes Tuck them into different spots around the board
Jams, Dried Fruits, Crackers and Nuts are all good options Finished Product!
Another great cheese I love from Trader Joes that is good for spreading is their port salut – I use it on these Cranberry Prosciutto Crostini and it’s TO DIE.
