How to build the Ultimate Easter Cheese Board

Every celebration deserves a cheese board and in our house that means one that’s Gluten-free often with Vegan options too.

When my family arrives for a holiday or celebration of any kind, some of them head straight for the cheese board!

It is place to gather, settle in and enjoy good conversation so I always make sure it has something for everyone.

And it’s always a hit because it has it all going on and always has a few things to make this seasonal and fun.

This one has:

one soft cheese (Robiola)

two hard cheese (Challerhocker and a gouda)

several types of olives

dried figs and dried apricots

fig jam

honey comb

fresh grapes, carrots, watermelon radishes and snap peas (adding seasonal produce is a great way to fresh up a cheese board!)

pistachios

jelly beans and chocolate eggs (what’s Easter without a little candy :))

  4 gluten-free crackers– Absolutely Gluten-Free original, Breton Gluten-free Original with Flax and two types of Mary’s Gone Crackers.

Tips for making a Cheese Board

Truth be told, I used to be intimidated to make a cheese board but I’ve learned some tricks along the way to keep it simple.

Caveat: I am by no means a cheese expert.  The cheeses I’ve chosen were recommended by a cheese store. So definitely ask your local cheese store or cheese department of your local store for recommendations… they will often let you tastes the cheese as well (pre-pandemic!).

How to basics:

1. Choose your board.  We used a Slate board but a wooden board or serving plate of any kind will do
2. Choose your cheeses so that there are different textures and/or different cheese sources (i.e. cow, sheep, goat) — here we chose a soft cheese and 2 hard cheeses. Sometimes we add a vegan cheese spread.
3. Add different flavors and textures: Add salty foods (we did olives), crunchy foods (we added pistachios), sweet foods (dried fruit is a great options — we added dried figs and dried apricots) and fresh fruit (I always love added fresh grapes because they stay fresh the entire evening and are easy to eat)
4. Add condiments or spreads– fig jam, honey, olive tapenade.
5. Add your favorite gluten-free crackers.  We looked for different shapes.
6. Add something seasonal! Here we added jelly beans and chocolate eggs.
7. Overall tip: in choosing all the above, think about choosing things are are different colors, different shapes and different textures to add interest to your board.
8. Have fun with it!

And you can make the board as big or as small as you like depending on how many people you’re serving and what else you have going on.

Here is a smaller version of a Thanksgiving Cheese Board.

And you can switch it up based on the holiday…

Here’s one I did for Christmas.

You can see how the I used the same basic “rules” as above but by adding the holly it’s a completely different feel.

So have fun with it!

And don’t be intimidated… just start by laying out some cheese and crackers and enjoy!

Scroll down for printable tips and leave a comment if you also love cheese boards!