If you’re anything like me (and 90% of humans) you probably love cheese. I was introduced to the art of the cheese board when I first moved to Austin, TX and little did I know, I would never be the same. My grandmother always gave me cheese and apples as a snack when I was younger, so I was aware of the delicious cheese and fruit combo. But my mind was blown by the full cheese board experience, the sweet and savory combination of cheese with honey, jam, nuts, olives, chocolate… and the list goes on. Let’s just say, if there’s a cheese board on the menu, I’m most likely going to order it. And don’t even get me started on how bad I feel for people who are lactose intolerant.

Anyway, creating a cheese board is not only more impressive than the ever popular cubed cheddar cheese and pepperoni plate (don’t get me wrong, I’d still eat that) but it’s also incredibly easy. Cheese boards are perfect for entertaining a few guests, bringing to a dinner party, or just enjoying with some wine on a night in. You literally don’t need to give me a reason to eat cheese, so I’m not entirely sure why I felt the need to even specify that.

As a rule of thumb, it’s good to have a plan going into this whole cheese board thing so that you’re not blankly staring at 201698 cheeses in Whole Foods for an hour. Yes, there are like over a thousand types of fancy cheeses out there, and selecting the right ones can seem daunting. But it all comes down to having a basic understanding of what types of cheese are crowd pleasers versus which ones are so stinky they make you want to hold your breath. I’m going to try to break it down in the easiest way possible, but if you do find yourself lost at the cheese counter, there is almost always a cheese specialist there to help you (AND they will usually cut down pieces of cheese for you to whatever size you need, if you ask them nicely).

At the end of this post, you can download a cheese board checklist that I’ve created to make this process easier. There’s literally nothing worse than picking up all of the ingredients and then realizing you forgot to grab crackers, so make sure to download it!

Step 1: Choosing Your Cheeses

When creating your cheese board, it’s safe to stick to 3-4 cheese types depending on how many people you are entertaining. In most cases, the individually wrapped pieces of cheese at the counter are larger than you’ll need, so refer to my point above and ask the associate to cut them down for you with a specific measurement. I usually ask them to cut it in half or 2/3 of the size.

The easiest way to choose your cheeses are to pick a combination of one soft, one semi-soft, one semi-hard and one hard. There are really no rules to this because in reality, people will eat pretty much any cheese you put in front of them, but it’s nice to have variety. The options and combos are truly endless, but I try to stay away from blue cheeses as they tend to be super intense (but if blue cheese is your thing, have at it!) I typically smell the cheese to make sure it’s not super stinky, and I often use Pinterest and Google to look up cheese names and make a list of 5-7 that look appealing BEFORE I go to the store. Odds are that they will have at least 3 of the cheeses on my list.

For my cheese board, I chose a variety of origins and milk types, which isn’t necessary but again with the variety. Here are my cheese choices ­­– all of which I HIGHLY recommend:
I chose Saint Angel as my soft cheese. It’s a cow’s milk French cheese with an awesomely smooth texture and mild flavor, and is kind of similar to brie but not quite as goopy. Luxurious is an understatement.

For my hard cheese I chose Barely Buzzed, which is a cow’s milk cheddar made in the good old USA and features an espresso-rubbed rind and slight lavender flavor. It’s safe to say that this is my favorite cheese ever, mostly due it’s unique and unexpected flavor.

The third cheese I chose was semi-hard Spanish cheese called Drunken Goat. This is a goat cheese (obviously) and has a red wine soaked rim, giving it a deliciously sophisticated taste. Needless to say, this cheese goes perfectly with a nice glass of red and is a party favorite.

Step 2: Choosing the Accoutrements

This is the fun part, as most cheeses taste great with mostly any fruit/jam/nut/cracker you pair them with. You typically want to have a few more accoutrement options than you have cheeses, I usually go for 2-3 more (not including crackers) just to keep it interesting.

I ALWAYS include honey, a scoop of nice jam or preserves, dried fruit such as cranberries or apricots, nuts such as almonds or macadamias, and fresh fruits like grapes, sliced apples and berries. The bulk section of nice grocery stores is always my go-to, as you can get only as much as you need, a.k.a. save a lot of money and prevent waste. If you’re going for a larger cheese board, you can include cold cut meats such as nice pepperoni and prosciutto, olives, bread, figs, cornichon pickles, etc. The options are truly endless.

Step 3: Assembling your Cheese Board

In most cases, people don’t know which cheeses go with which accoutrements so they just make random combinations and that is totally fine. BUT a really great cheeseboard will at least suggest pairings by placing cheese next to what will bring out the most flavor. In order to be a pro at this, I suggest googling each of your chosen cheeses and reading the reviews and getting some helpful hints. I usually pair the soft/semi-soft cheese next to the jam, the hard cheese next to the honey, and the semi-hard next to dried fruit. Don’t overthink this, it’s just nice to give everyone a little hint as to what flavor combos will blow their minds.

Overall, creating a cheese board should cost under $25 if you pick 3-4 cheeses and have them cut into smaller pieces, grab some fresh fruits, pick up your dried fruits and nuts in the bulk section, and get a pack of assorted crackers (I like this assortment from Target). The actual board, metal serving platter and cheese knife set featured here are all from Target, but I also recommend checking out HomeGoods/Marshalls/TJ Maxx for these pieces.

If you’ve made or are making a cheese board, I’d love to hear what your favorite kinds of cheese are (I’m always open to trying new cheeses!) Leave a comment below with your recommendations! As promised, the cheese board checklist is below! And make sure to pin the image below to save for later!

xx