Grazing Boards (Savory + Sweet)

Grazing boards are one of the easiest ways to feed a crowd without doing any cooking! All you have to do is shop and assemble. They are great for a holiday open house, housewarming party, or any time you have a less formal gathering and want to feed people in a fun and interactive way.

Grazing boards can be sweet or savory and in fact, I’ve even made Breakfast Grazing Boards too! But there are a few tips to follow to make sure your board looks as good as it tastes! Here is my go-to strategy.

Savory Grazing Boards

• A savory board can be cheese, crackers, charcuterie or both! You could also create a board with dips and veggies too.
• For dips try my Classic Hummus, Beet Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Green Goddess Dip Parmesan Peppercorn dressing, or French Onion Dip.
• For a smaller crowd I like to mix cheese and charcuterie, fruit, nuts, and crackers. That way everything is on one board and a lot of different flavors and textures are represented.

Pick a Color Palette

• There are so many options that can fill a grazing board. It can be tempting to just pile everything on that looks tasty!
• But I think to have a grazing board that looks as beautiful as it tastes, it helps to follow two design principles.
• One, pick a color palette and pick items that confirm to the palette.
• Two, be sure to work with symmetry. Assembly the board in a symmetrical way will also help to make it look orderly and inviting.

How-To Assemble a Savory Grazing Board

• Pick a large board. It can be a serving board or just a large cutting board. I love to use my Boos Carving Board since it’s thick and weighty and looks great on a table.
• First place the cheese. I think anywhere from 3-4 varieties work best.
• Position the cheese in a pattern, either on the diagonal, horizontally, or vertically positioned on the board.

Create Sections with Symmetry

• Once the cheese is placed, create smaller sections by placing two bowls for the cornichons, a tasty French pickle that pairs well with charcuterie.
• This will provide an area to place the charcuterie around.
• Pile the charcuterie into small mounds around the dishes, leaving space in between for the other meats.
• I think it’s best to alternate the varieties for greater visual interest.
• Add the rosemary sprigs at the corners to soften the board and add something “living” to it. This will make your display more inviting.

Add the Crackers

• Next, nestle in the crackers. Pick a variety of shapes, textures, and flavors.
• Place the crackers next to the cheese in the open areas.
• If the crackers are flat, splay them out. If they are small, pile them into small mounds.

Add the Fruits + Nuts

• Use the remaining open areas for placing fruits and nuts.
• Keeping to the color palette, I like to use a variety of fresh and dried fruits.
• Try some green grapes, sliced green pear, and dried Turkish figs.
• For nuts add some walnuts and raw pistachios.

How-To Assemble a Sweet Grazing Board

• A sweet grazing board works just like a savory board.
• Pick your color palette and stick to it. Select items in the palette that have different flavors and textures.
• For a sweet board, I like to do chocolate, citrus, and cookies.

Place the Centerpiece

• I love to use Satsuma Mandarin oranges as a “centerpiece”.
• They are in season right now and are typically sold with their leaves since they are so easy to peel. If the leaves are removed it starts to loosen the peel. Since they are such an easy orange to peel they work nicely on a grazing board since they will be less messy for your guests. 
• Stagger the oranges so that you leave room in between them for nestling in other smaller items. 

Add a Little Bling

• Nestle in a few Ferrero Rocher chocolates in and around the leaves and the oranges.
• The gold adds a pretty, festive touch, especially against the green and orange.
• Add another layer of texture and color with dried apricots and raw almonds.

Add the Chocolate Bars

• Trader Joe’s has the best selection of large 1-pound chocolate bars.
• Select 2-3 varieties to add more interest and flavor to your board. I like to offer dark chocolate and milk chocolate. And a new variety has sprung up this year, oner that includes pretzels, caramel, and sea salt! So good!
• The citrus adds a great freshness to your board that will balance out the richness of the chocolate. 
• Place the stacks of chocolate across from each other to create more visual balance of your board. This will also create smaller areas on either side of each stack for the cookies. 

Add the Cookies

• I love to add smaller cookies to fill in the gaps between the chocolates.
• I like to use biscoff cookies and smaller chocolate biscotti cookies. If you can’t find the biscotti cookies you can follow my Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti recipe and make them from scratch.
• Chocolate Wafer Baton cookies also look nice stacked in a pile. 
• The biscoff cookies look great splayed across the board, and the biscotti looks great stacked. I think that’s what makes these boards most interesting, varying the heights as well as the textures and flavors.
• Add a small pile of chocolate truffles on each side of the board for another great shape, texture and flavor.
• And if you have room, a little pile of dark chocolate toffee is also a nice addition! 

Don’t Forget the Plates!

• It’s also helpful to offer plates for your guests, it will allow them the ability to sample a variety of items at the same time.
• Small appetizer plates work well, and depending on your board you may also want to include small appetizer forks or cheese knives.