How to Make a Holiday Charcuterie Board | Vegan & Gluten Free
One of my absolute favorite things to do for events is create a DIY charcuterie board. They are so fun and easy to make, but they just look so luxurious and impressive. Since going gluten free and then plant based, though, I’ve had to get a little more creative given that traditional charcuterie and grazing boards are composed of a variety of meats, cheeses, and wheat crackers and bread.
Still, I think it’s always a fun challenge to make a completely vegan and gluten free charcuterie board, and I get immense pride from assuring our gluten and dairy free guests that yes, they can eat this too!
I’ve gone with a moody, autumnal vibe for this holiday charcuterie board (how many times will I say charcuterie board?), making it a perfect addition to mom’s Thanksgiving or a fancy alternative to the usual chip bowls when you get to host this year’s annual Friendsgiving extravaganza.
And the best part? It won’t cost you an absolute fortune. Trust me, I know how pricey vegan cheeses can be, and I certainly don’t want you or anyone else serving cold vegan “American” cheese slices on apples (unless that’s your thing, in which case you do you babe). I’ve kept it simple, lovely, and absolutely delicious.
How to Create a Beautiful Charcuterie Board
But before we jump into all my gluten free and vegan cheese secrets, first we must learn the creative practice of making a gorgeous charcuterie board - or cheese board, or grazing board, or whatever you’d like to call your masterpiece.
Do I consider arranging fruit, chocolate, and other various snacks an art? Yes, yes I do. This is a creative lifestyle blog after all, and us artsy people don’t like doing anything less than *extra*.
Select a color palette or theme.
The secret to swoon worthy snack boards? A color palette.
See, told ya this is art. Now, like I said, for this board I wanted a moody and fall vibe. If you are making a fall or Thanksgiving themed charcuterie board, going with deep, dark, or vibrant colors are perfect.
For this holiday board, I focused on dark blues/purples such as the black grapes and blueberries, vibrant reds such as the beet crackers, pomegranate, and apples. If I really wanted to, I could have even opted for red apples, but these are what I had at home. The blood oranges added a nice pop of, well, orange while still carrying through some red tones. Then the crackers, cashews, cheese, etc offer nice neutral tones to break everything up.
If that sounds complicated I promise it isn’t! The easiest thing to do is think about your theme and base your colors off of that. And you don’t completely have to stick to all the same colors, just a general theme helps tie it all together and look *chef’s kiss*.
Add depth with plates and small dishes.
To keep your board from looking flat and boring, you’ll want to add depth. You can do this by using pretty plates and small dishes for some of your food. I used a small, dark green plate for the cheese and crackers and a small decorative cup for the pomegranate seeds. Then I used a small dish to put the hummus in, which looks so much better than the plastic container it came in.
Vintage and decorative dishes like these are so easy to find at thrift stores and vintage shops - that’s where I bought mine! I love thrifting for glassware because it’s so much cheaper and you can find lovely and unique ones you won’t find anywhere else.
Don’t cut everything up.
This might seem counterintuitive, but it adds even more depth and a creative touch. I can almost guarantee there will be leftovers anyway, and even if you do run out of something you can just take a minute to cut more. I did this with the pomegranate where I simply cut one in half and deseeded the other.
You can also do with apples, oranges, or anything else really. Plus if people want the whole fruit they can just grab one and go!
Choose the right cutting board.
Personally, I love the wood tones and I just don’t think plastic will cut it here (ha, I couldn’t help myself) if you want a beautiful board.
The large cutting board I used for the holiday charcuterie board is a huge bamboo one originally from IKEA, but you can also find boards at thrift shops. Just make sure the size of your serving board matches the size of the event you’re hosting. If your board is giant and you’re only having a few people over, you’ll feel tempted to fill the whole board and end up with a ton of leftovers. On the other hand, you don’t want to run out if your board is too small and you’re hosting a big Friendsgiving party.
Use decorations and garnishes.
Going with the fall and thanksgiving theme, I added a cute mini pumpkin to the board. It may not be edible, but it sure is cute!
I also used fresh rosemary sprigs, which not only smell fantastic but add a little somethin-somethin to the aesthetics of it. You can also choose to add edible flowers like chamomile buds or other fresh herbs and garnishes.
Prepare it right before the event.
Some fruits you can prep ahead of time, but bear in mind that things like apples will brown after being out for too long, so things like that you’ll want to slice right before serving rather than prepping the day before or morning of.
How to Create this Vegan & Gluten Free Holiday Charcuterie Board
Now that you’re a total cheese board connoisseur, it’s time to impress your friends and family with a stunning charcuterie board.
Ingredients
Miyokos Cashew Milk Mozzarella (or fancy vegan cheese of choice)
Trader Joes 3 Seed Beet Gluten Free Crackers (or colorful gluten free cracker of choice)
Rice Crackers (or gluten free crackers of choice)
Cashews
Blueberries
Seedless black grapes
1-2 apples
1-2 blood oranges
1 kiwi
2 pomegranates
Hummus (or some sort of dip or spread)
Mini pumpkin
Fresh rosemary sprigs
Bar of vegan chocolate
Directions
Put your board where you’ll be serving it if you can. It will be very hard to move after the fact.
Arrange your glassware where you’d like to have it, trying to spread it out a bit.
Place your larger items on the board first, such as the decorative pumpkin, vegan cheese, sliced pomegranate, and piles of grapes.
Start adding in the smaller items, arranging them neatly. Be conscious of your colors, and try not to group too many things of the same color in one area.
Keep adding until your board is full and you can’t see much of the cutting board beneath. You can use small items like cashews and blueberries to fill in the gaps.
Add your rosemary sprigs or other garnishes across the board.
Enjoy!