We love making cheese boards because they’re an easy, no-cook meal that still feels special. All you need is the board, a few delicious cheeses and accompaniments, and a set of cheese knives — like our new black resin writeable cheese knives, for instance.
When it comes to making cheese boards, the possibilities are truly endless. Whether I’m pulling together a late night snack, an easy lunch, or appetizers for 20 people, cheese boards are my choice for every occasion.
But there’s still some preparation involved, especially if you’re building a larger-scale board for a crowd — and one of the best ways to lighten your workload when entertaining is to do as much of that prep as possible in advance. In the case of cheese boards, that prep consists of two steps (we told you this was easy!): gathering your goods — whether hitting a local store or our online cheese shop or raiding your fridge and pantry — and cutting or portioning wedges.
Sounds simple, right? But not all cheeses are equal when it comes to pre-cutting. Here are our tips for simplifying your board building — and which cheeses you can pre-cut, which you should cut right before serving, and which ones you should leave whole.
Cheese boards can be as fancy as you’d like, but most of the time, my boards are pretty simple. 2–3 meats, 2–3 cheeses, a pile of crackers, and a few handfuls of snack foods that I pull from whatever is stashed in the pantry.
You can pull something together in about 5 minutes or spend half an hour assembling something fancy. I lean towards the quick and simple in pretty much every aspect of life, so I’ll give you one guess how I make a cheese board most of the time.
Cheeseboard Ideas
The secret to a great board? Just pile it on there. In all seriousness, you might not think you have what it takes to pull together a great board, but I bet you do.
If you’re a fan of fancy meats and cheeses, go for it with all your favorites. Sometimes our boards cross the line to fancy, but most of the time, my kids ask for a cheese board lunch (a.k.a. snack lunch) and I just use whatever is on hand.
Our everyday cheese boards usually wind up with a couple different deli meats folded into piles, some sliced cheddar, a wedge of brie (if it happens to be in the refrigerator), peanut butter pretzels, assorted bits of leftover crackers, and whatever fresh vegetables or fruits and nuts are in the house.
Sweet and Spicy Almonds, Candied Walnuts, and Cinnamon Roasted Pecans are terrific additions if you happen to have some stashed in the pantry or have a few extra minutes to make them.
Pick your theme
One of the beautiful things about cheese boards is how the possibilities are endless: you can build a fantastic board around any season, holiday, or occasion, with fancy ingredients or basic pantry staples. But they’re also great for those everyday mealtimes when you want something nourishing, quick, and delicious.
Source your snackables
Start with the cheese, of course! While you can include as many varieties as will fit on your mini-sized serving surface, we like to focus on one or two types of cheese max. Maybe a half-round of soft, supple Sharon Creek Brie from My Artisano, for instance, or a few slices of nutty Pleasant Ridge Reserve. We also love these adorable Tiny Bloomy Buttons from Lakin’s Gorges. They’re the perfect size for a mini cheese board!
Next, grab your accoutrements — whatever catches your fancy. Think fresh or dried fruit, veggies (crisp, fresh slices or briny pickles), slices of dry-cured sausage or maybe a few rosettes of prosciutto, a handful of nuts, and some of your favorite crackers, crisps, or bread. Add chocolate, caramel, or your favorite candy to satisfy your sweet tooth and maybe even some pretty greenery or little flowers for presentation.
Any of our winning options are quality knives that will serve you well, but selecting the perfect one is about your preferences and ideal price point.Want more recommendations for the best kitchen knives and cutlery to complete your cheese knife board set? Check out our guides to the yier cheese knife set.
Why choose YIERCITY?
We do professional knife set retail and wholesale business. We hope to be your stable global supporter and partner.
We are an enterprise integrating factory and trade, specializing in the design, manufacture and sales of high-quality knife sets.
We always make every effort to ensure the quality of each set of knives.
