This fall, assemble this Easy Halloween Charcuterie Board that's sure to be a hit at the office, Halloween party, or at home! The easy-to-assemble board centers around Halloween candy, cookies, popcorn, cheese, and crackers. We'll also add healthy options like fruits, nuts, and veggies. Finally, you can add spooky accents like spiders, skeletons, and candy eyes!

Why This Recipe Works
Assembling a Halloween Charcuterie Board, pronounced "Sharkootery," doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. You can easily make a Charcuterie Board on a budget, especially for Halloween!
The best thing about making a Halloween Charcuterie Board is that there is no wrong way of doing it. You don't have to include everything that I have on my Charcuterie Board. Use some of my ideas and add your own personal touches.
You can find almost everything you need at any dollar store, including the following:
- Candy
- Cookies
- Crackers
- Pretzels
- Popcorn
- Dried Fruit
- Nuts and Seeds
- Olives and Pickles
- Salami
While there, make sure to pick up a platter, bowls, and lots of Halloween decorations to accent your Charcuterie Board. So what can you use to accent your creation?
- Spiders
- Skeletons
- Ghosts
- Gummy Worms
- Pumpkins
Think of these accents as the finishing touches that will create interest and make your Halloween Charcuterie board extra spooky!
What You Need For This Recipe
Ingredient Notes And Substitutions
- Meat — I added pepperoni, but salami, prosciutto, and jerky are great options.
- Cheese — There are so many cheese options that you can incorporate! I used cheddar, pepper jack, and swiss. Brie, cheese spread, mozzarella balls, gouda, and goat cheese are also popular.
- Candy — When choosing candy, think candy corn, candy pumpkins, red hots, Reese's pieces, jelly fruit slices, chocolates, M&M's, lollipops, and gummy worms.
- Cookies and Crackers — Select a variety of cookies and crackers. I added Oreos, whole grain crackers, and Cheez-Its. I also added some chocolate-dipped pretzels. Nutter Butter cookies are also often included in Halloween Charcuterie boards, especially dipped in white chocolate to resemble little ghosties.
- Vegetables/fruit — You can include some healthy options on your board too. I added dried apricots, dates, grapes, and baby carrots. You can substitute with what's in your fridge. How about mini peppers, sliced apples, prunes, and chopped pineapple? I was going to use cuties to resemble tiny pumpkins but didn't have enough space.
- Other — Popcorn, pickles, olives, jams, and jellies are often included.
How to Make A Halloween Charcuterie Board
First, gather all your ingredients. Assess what you have and make sure you have a variety of ingredients. You will also need ramekins, napkins, small bowls to separate the food items.
Step 1 | Assemble Props And Bowls
First, assemble the larger props on your platter. It's ok if you don't know exactly where to put them. You can move them around as you need to. This includes bowls and accents like pumpkins. Save some accents to add at the end.
Step 2 | Add Cheese, Crackers, And Fruit
Start filling your bowls with cheese, fruit, popcorn, etc. Add a few different kinds of cheeses. Some can be cubed and some sliced.
Step 3 | Fill Gaps
Fill the gaps with candy, fruit, pretzels, or whatever else you have. If you have decorative napkins, add them as well. You can make interesting wavy shapes with the crackers, stack them, or place them in a small bowl.
Step 4 | Add Spooky Accents
Now finish off your Halloween Charcuterie board with accents like spiders, skeletons, candy eyes, skulls, and other spooky items you might have on hand.
Other Charcuterie Board Ideas
- When making a DIY Charcuterie Board, you'll want to include lots of various flavors, textures, and colors. If you're making a fall or Halloween-themed snack board, you'll want to make sure you include lots of fall colors (think orange, black, brown, and red. Black also works for a Halloween-themed board.
- You can save a lot of money and put together a beautiful Charcuterie Board on a dime! Start by looking in the refrigerator. Is that a jar of baby pickles I see? Or maybe some kalamata olives? What about that jam aunt Betsi gave you last year that still hasn't been cracked open? Yes, you can include all of them!
- Before running to the store to buy a bunch of ingredients for your snack board, check your pantry. Here's what I found in mine: dates, dried apricots, nuts, Cheetos, popcorn, jams galore, and crackers. You can make a Halloween Charcuterie Board and clean out your pantry at the same time!
Recipe FAQs
The word Charcuterie refers to a French style of cooking, devoted specifically to preserving meat to make bacon, sausage, ham, and the like.
According to Wikipedia, "chair" means 'flesh', and "cuit" means "cooked." So the literal translation of charcuterie is cooked or preserved meat.
A traditional charcuterie board consists of lots of cured meats like salami, pâté, ham, prosciutto, salami, and sausage. However, it has since expanded to include a variety of sliced and cubed cheeses, crackers, fruit, and nuts.
Preparing a Charcuterie board ahead of time doesn't always work. Especially when you have perishables or items that will go stale, sweat, or dry out. Yes, even when stored in the refrigerator.
A better idea is to plan out the board in advance and place the board's ingredients in ziplock baggies ready to go when it's time to assemble your board.
You can even practice assembling the board ahead of time and take a picture of it to refer back to when you are ready to reassemble the platter.
If you still prefer to assemble the platter ahead of time, make sure that it's well wrapped and refrigerated (up to 24 hours) before you plan on serving it.
Expert Tips
- When including items from your pantry, for example, crackers, chips, and nuts taste them first to make sure they're not stale. Why go to all that trouble of making the perfect Charcuterie Board if the items are stale or expired?
- Look around your house. Do you have some decorations out that you can use? For example, a pumpkin plate? A ghost dish? Or small plastic or fabric pumpkins? I can't stress enough the idea of using what you have to make this Halloween Charcuterie Board instead of spending a bunch of money.
- When planning your Halloween Charcuterie board think about incorporating items of various heights and colors to make the board visually appealing.
- Store any leftovers in small Ziploc bags. You can also assemble a smaller Halloween Charcuterie Board or a Charcuterie Board for two and enjoy it while you have a scary movie night.
Related Recipes
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Easy Halloween Charcuterie Board
Equipment
- large platter, bowls, ramekins
- accents like spiders, skeletons, and candy eyes
Ingredients
Fruit/Vegetables
- grapes
- dates
- dried apricots
- baby carrots
Cheese/Meat
- cheddar cheese
- pepper jack cheese
- Swiss cheese
- pepperoni
Cookies/Crackers
- Oreos
- whole-grain crackers
- Cheez-Its
- pretzels
Candy
- candy corn/pumpkins
- lollipops
- fruit jellies
- gummy worms
- Red Hots
- Reese's Pieces
Other
- olives
- popcorn
Instructions
- First, gather all your ingredients. Assess what you have and make sure you have a variety of ingredients. You will also need ramekins, napkins, small bowls to separate the food items.
- Start filling your bowls with cheese, fruit, popcorn, etc. Add a few different kinds of cheeses. Some can be cubed and some sliced.
- Fill the gaps with candy, fruit, pretzels, or whatever else you have. If you have decorative napkins, add them as well. You can make interesting wavy shapes with the crackers, stack them, or place them in a small bowl.
- Now finish off your Halloween Charcuterie board with accents like spiders, skeletons, candy eyes, skulls, and other spooky items you might have on hand.
Notes
- When including items from your pantry, for example, crackers, chips, and nuts taste them first to make sure they're not stale. Why go to all that trouble of making the perfect Charcuterie Board if the items are stale or expired?
- Look around your house. Do you have some decorations out that you can use? For example, a pumpkin plate? A ghost dish? Or small plastic or fabric pumpkins? I can't stress enough the idea of using what you have to make this Halloween Charcuterie Board instead of spending a bunch of money.
- When planning your Halloween Charcuterie board think about incorporating items of various heights and colors to make the board visually appealing.
- Store any leftovers in small Ziploc bags. You can also assemble a smaller Halloween Charcuterie Board or a Charcuterie Board for two and enjoy it while you have a scary movie night.
Anita says
Such a gorgeous charcuterie. I love how it has something for all ages.
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks, Anita, I did try to sneak in some healthy options. 😘
Kim says
Great job Hilda. Looks fantastic. I bet it would taste good too!
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks, Kim! The boys polished it off, as usual! 😉