How to Make a Halloween Charcuterie Board | Boarderie

By Lexi Grossman

September 23, 2026

How to Make a Halloween Charcuterie Board | Boarderie

How-to guide

How to prepare a festive Halloween charcuterie

by Lexi Grossman

September 23, 2026

Hosting on October 31? Here's how we build a board that's more treat than trick, from the cheese bats to the candy corn, in about 35 minutes.

Jump to the steps
A Boarderie Halloween charcuterie board with jack-o'-lantern, bat and witch hat cheese cutouts, candy corn, cured meats and nuts beside small pumpkins

A Halloween board has one job: get a reaction the second it hits the table. The good news? That reaction doesn't come from a dozen specialty ingredients. It comes from a palette (orange, black and a little purple), a few cheeses cut into something spooky, and one or two details that make guests laugh before they grab a cracker.

It's how we build our CharBOOterie boards every October. Our Medium board carries white cheddar cut into a witch hat and a pumpkin, black truffle salami, chocolate candy corn and a pile of our famous juicy dried cherries, and honestly, that's most of the playbook. Here it is in five steps.

What you will need

Same six categories as any good board, shopped in Halloween colors. For 8 to 10 guests, plan on about two ounces of cheese and two ounces of cured meat per person.

  • A board or tray16 by 20 inches for 8 to 10 guests. A dark slate or black tray makes the orange pop.
  • 4 cheesesOne orange (an aged cheddar), one white cheddar for cutting shapes, one brie, and one with a dark rind or dark mix-ins, like a Merlot pecorino.
  • 3 cured meatsBlack truffle salami, peppered salami and prosciutto. The dark flecks do the spooky work.
  • Something orangeDried apricots, clementine segments, cheddar crisps and a handful of candy corn.
  • Something darkBlackberries, black olives, purple grapes, dried cherries and dark chocolate.
  • Cookie cuttersTwo to three inch bats, pumpkins, ghosts and witch hats, plus a few candy eyes.
Step

Pick a palette and a theme

Decide how spooky you're going before you shop. Cute (ghosts, pumpkins, candy corn) works for a crowd with kids. Creepy (skeleton hands, blood red jam, a honey spider web) works for a late night party. Pick one lane. A board that's half cute and half gory just looks confused.

Then lock in the colors. Orange and black are the backbone, and a little purple from grapes or plums makes them look richer. Want to go all in? Our guide to spooky cheese board decorations has plenty more ideas.

Going for the viral skeleton charcuterie board? Use a long board and lay everything out in the shape of a body: a cheese skull up top, a salami spine down the middle, prosciutto ribs on either side and breadsticks for arms and legs.

Step

Cut the cheese into bats, pumpkins and ghosts

This is where the board turns into Halloween. Slice a semi firm cheese about half an inch thick and press a cookie cutter straight down through it. Bats, pumpkins, ghosts and witch hats are the classics. White cheddar and gouda cut cleanly, and an aged orange cheddar makes a perfect pumpkin.

Work cold, straight from the fridge, and wipe the cutter between cuts. Warm cheese tears, and a bat with one wing isn't scary. It's just sad.

Stick two candy eyes on a white cheese ghost and it comes to life. Two or three shaped pieces per board is plenty, and everything else stays in simple wedges and cubes: a wheel of brie, a wedge of aged gouda, a slab of cranberry Wensleydale.

A host in a top hat and pink sequin jacket presenting a Boarderie Halloween charcuterie board with jack-o'-lantern and bat cheese cutouts
Jack-o'-lantern and bat cutouts on our CharBOOterie board. Two or three shapes is all it takes.
Step

Shape the meats

Salami is your best friend in October. Fold slices in half and fan them around a cheese pumpkin, or layer them around the rim of a glass and flip it out to make a dark red rose. Black truffle salami is our pick, because those black flecks look extra sinister.

Prosciutto drapes like cobwebs if you stretch it thin and let it hang over the edge of the board. On a skeleton board, twist it into ribs.

Step

Fill every gap in orange and black

Now tuck color into every gap until you can't see the board through the food: blackberries, purple grapes, black olives, dried apricots, clementine segments and a spoonful of fig jam in its own little bowl. Chocolate candy corn earns a spot too. And yes, it'll be the first thing to go.

Repeat each color at least twice, on opposite sides of the board, so the eye moves across it. One pile of orange looks placed. Three look like Halloween.

Save one corner for treats. Dark chocolate, candied pecans and a few mini peanut butter cups carry the board from appetizer to dessert. Trick or treat? Both.

Step

Add the spooky details and serve

Finish with the details that get the laughs: candy eyes on the olives, a drizzle of honey webbed across the brie, a plastic spider parked by the crackers. Keep anything that isn't food on its own spot so it never touches the cheese.

Take the board out of the fridge 30 to 45 minutes before guests arrive so the cheese can warm up. Once it's out, the USDA two hour guideline applies, and that matters on a long Halloween night. Top it up from a second tray instead of leaving the first one out for the trick-or-treaters.

Want a warm centerpiece too? Our Mummy Baked Brie wears its own puff pastry mummy wrap, hides cranberry, orange and pecan inside, and bakes straight from frozen.

Wondering what else belongs on the table? Here's our list of the best meats and cheeses for a Halloween board.

A Boarderie Halloween charcuterie board lifted from its box, tied with an orange ribbon beside boxes of artisan crackers
Our Halloween boards arrive fully arranged and tied with an orange ribbon. All five steps, already done.

Pro tips

  • Go dark on the board

    A black slate or dark wood board makes orange cheese and candy corn look twice as bright.

  • Cut the shapes the night before

    Stamp them, layer them between parchment and refrigerate. On the day, the board comes together in 20 minutes.

  • Give the little ghouls their own side

    Put the candy and the mild cheeses on the side closest to the kids, and keep the peppered salami and anything spicy on the other.

  • Keep a backup tray

    Build a small tray of refills and keep it in the fridge. Swap it in halfway through and the board looks full all night 👻

Or skip the build entirely

Our Halloween CharBOOterie boards arrive fully arranged on a reusable acacia wood board, with the cheeses already cut into Halloween shapes. They're chef-curated, made fresh daily and shipped chilled, so they're ready to graze the second you open the box. No slicing, no arranging, no extra steps.

Shop Halloween boards

Common questions

What do you put on a charcuterie board for Halloween?
Start with three or four cheeses, including one cut into bats, pumpkins or ghosts, and three cured meats like black truffle salami, peppered salami and prosciutto. Add orange and dark accompaniments: dried apricots, clementines, blackberries, purple grapes and black olives. Finish with candy corn, dark chocolate and a jam in its own bowl.
What is the 3-3-3 rule for a charcuterie board?
It's a simple starting formula: three cheeses, three cured meats and three accompaniments, such as crackers, fruit and nuts. It keeps a board balanced without overbuying. On a Halloween board, make one of the three cheeses a shaped cutout and pick accompaniments in orange and black.
What are 5 things to avoid on a charcuterie board?
Sliced apples and pears, which brown within the hour. Very soft fresh cheeses without a bowl to hold them. Jam, honey and marinated olives sitting right against the crackers. Too many strong cheeses on one small board. And Halloween decorations that aren't food touching anything guests will eat.
How do you make a skeleton charcuterie board?
Use a long board and build the body from the top down: a round cheese or a small bowl of dip for the skull, a line of folded salami for the spine, prosciutto or cheese sticks for the ribs, and breadsticks for the arms and legs. Fill the space around it with grapes, olives and crackers.
How far ahead can I make a Halloween charcuterie board?
Cut the cheese shapes and prep the fruit the night before, wrapped in the fridge. Assemble the board up to four hours ahead, cover it loosely and refrigerate. Once it's out, USDA food safety guidance gives you two hours at room temperature, so add crackers and candy right before serving.
What if I'd rather not build one at all?
Then don't! Our Halloween boards arrive fully arranged, with 21 hand-selected artisan cheeses, meats and accompaniments on the Medium and 37 on the Large. Delivery is free and overnight nationwide, you can pick any future delivery date at checkout, and boards last 5 to 7 days in the fridge.

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