Grazing boards are smaller versions of grazing tables and include all the fun delicious one bite eats including meats, cheeses, fruits, candies, etc.,. This simple Halloween DIY grazing board includes both savory and even sweet options – because hello it’s Halloween! Not only does a grazing board impress your guests but they are so simple, customizable, and fun to make. Anyone can do it!

What is the difference between a grazing board and a charcuterie board?

Many people use the terms interchangeably, but there are some key differences. Both grazing and charcuterie boards include edible items most always consisting of meats and cheeses. Charcuterie boards are usually created with meats, cheeses, and fruits that specifically compliment each other and more thought is put into the pairing of foods. Whereas, a grazing board may be a little more free in food pairing and could even grow out to expand on the table creating a grazing table. I’ve seen beautiful large grazing tables created without any boards at all. There really are no rules here. Non edible accessories and decorations may also be included on a grazing board or table. Either way, both charcuterie boards and grazing boards/tables are always impressive to look at and will most certainly please a crowd.

What occasions to make a grazing board for?

Grazing boards work for ANY occasion, especially family gatherings or parties. They also make a great potluck dish. They are easy to customize for any holiday and are a fun appetizer/snack for guests to munch on all party long. People love being able to pick and choose what they want on their plate. It also helps tie hungry guests over until the main course and the board is usually still out after dinner when someone wants a post snack! Smaller grazing boards can also be great for a party of one or two! My husband and I have smaller ones all the time because sometimes I just want to be creative and make one! I usually store the rest in the refrigerator and we pick at it through the week! Regardless, they can be customized for any size party and you can be as creative as you want with them.

What supplies do I need to make a Halloween grazing board?

Creating a unique DIY grazing platter is such a great way to unleash your creativity with food! Adding a theme to a grazing board can be one of the most fun parts about making one. Some different approaches for Halloween boards include spooky themed, cute themed, Halloween movie themed, color themed, etc.,. You can customize grazing boards any way you want to and add in holiday applicable decorations and props. I kept this Halloween grazing board relatively simple and smaller as I wasn’t necessarily making it for a huge gathering but they are so easy to scale up or down for any occasion. I started by pulling out my Halloween items to get an idea of the props I was going to use, and then I tackled the food items.

For the board pictured, I started off with using this wood round, placed a rectangle of parchment paper on top and then gathered all of the props I wanted on the board and on the table or around the board. When you are making a themed grazing board for a party, you want to think about the table decorations and the items around the board. Grab different props or containers that match your theme such as these pumpkin cocottes for a fall or Halloween theme. Stretching these items past the board makes guests feel that grazing factor we are going for where your eyes go in a ton of different directions.

You can find supplies for grazing boards anywhere including online, craft stores, food stores, home decoration stores, dollar stores, and department stores.

Props included in the Halloween Grazing Board pictured:

• 17 inch wood round platter
• little skeletons from the dollar store
• black mesh fabric laid out on the table underneath
• Halloween cupcake liners
• Pumpkin cookie cutter
• mini cauldrons
• plastic skeleton bones
• real mini pumpkins
• decorative pumpkins
• mini glass jars

Jump to:

• What is the difference between a grazing board and a charcuterie board?
• What occasions to make a grazing board for?
• What supplies do I need to make a Halloween grazing board?
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Top tip
• Simple Halloween Grazing Board

Ingredients

The ingredients in the board pictured above will be listed in the recipe box below. Feel free to use ANY ingredients you wish. The lists below include common items included in grazing boards. To make a unique grazing board, put your own spin on it and ensure you mix up textures, flavors, and colors! This Halloween grazing board is completely customizable including the size. Make it simple and classy or spooky and gory. There are no rules! Be creative with it!

Meats

• thin sliced hard salami, summer sausage, prosciutto, pepperoni, etc.,.

Cheeses

Use a mix of firm, semi-firm, and spreadable cheeses for the most variety. Add in funky cheeses too – it is Halloween!

• Softer cheeses: brie, cream cheese, feta, mozzarella pearls, gorgonzola, blue cheese, etc.,.
• Semi-firm and firm cheeses: parmigiano, cheddar, gruyere, marble, muenster, cheddar, swiss, pepperjack, colby jack, white cheddar, monterey jack, provolone, gouda, manchego, dried fruit cheese.

Fruits and Veggies

• apples sliced, pomegranate seeds, mixed grapes, oranges
• baby dill pickles, pickle chips
• green olives, black olives
• dried fruits such as cranberries, pineapple, or apricots

Halloween Desserts

• Halloween candy: green Snickers, green Twix, Brachs caramels, Reeses, and M&Ms
• cookies such as Oreos, Milano cookies (write on them with edible marker to make tombstones), Lotus Biscoff, pizzelles
• cinnamon sugar apple cider donuts
• Halloween sprinkles

Dips & Spreads

• Mixed Jams: blackberry, strawberry, peach, blueberry, raspberry
• Butter: honey butter, cinnamon sugar butter, apple butter, pumpkin butter, etc.,.
• honey
• caramel

Crunchy Things

• Ritz crackers, Triscuits, gluten free crackers, thin style crackers, Club crackers, oyster crackers
• small pretzel rods, pretzel twists
• crunchy sesame breadsticks, baguette bread sliced

Nuts & Seeds

• trail mix, spooky trail mix
• roasted seasoned pumpkin seeds or pepitas
• honey roasted peanuts
• walnuts, almonds, pistachios
• cinnamon sugar pecans
• sunflower seeds

Instructions

Once you have all of the potential props, food containers, and accessories or themed items out and you have an idea of what you’re going to use to build your grazing board, gather all of your ingredients next. As you gather your ingredients, prep them how you would want them to display on your board. For instance, slice your cheeses, meats, and fruits if needed. If using boxed items such as crackers and breadsticks, take them out of the box.

Then, lay out all of the prepped ingredients before you start designing your board. This is called mise en place, a French term that means having everything in place. It makes it so much easier to create the board when you can see all of your ingredients at once.

Best Practices for Grazing Boards

• Start by placing the meats and larger items down first, then work in the smaller items.
• Put different colored items next to each other. The contrast will actually compliment the board and appeal to the eyes more. If you have too many similarly colored items next to each other, they can get washed out and not look as appealing.
• Make things easy to grab without having to disrupt the flow of the board! The way you lay the ingredients on the board determine how neat the board will stay as people grab items off of it. When you lay each item down on the board, lay them so that they are stacked diagonally and easy to grab. No one wants to fight with food! If something is too difficult to dig into, then people will usually not go for it and this leads to food wasted. It is best practice to only have to touch the foods you are grabbing for yourself.
  • Place a toothpick in smaller food items or cheese cubes so that they’re easy to grab. I also like to have a container of extra toothpicks or decorative Halloween cocktail skewers that make it easier for guests to grab more items that are tougher to grab singles of such as small olives.
  • Place small tongs for the meats and other items that are harder to grab with a skewer.
• Use small ramekins, cupcake liners, or mini containers to hold small items such as nuts, trail mixes, and small candies.
• If you want to extend items off of the board, use cookie cutters (pictured below on the right) to organize items together. I used a pumpkin cookie cutter to hold Brachs caramels.
• Place different groupings of the same items and design them in different ways. For example use a salami rose and then across the board place salami folded instead.
• Cut cheeses depending on their firmness. For example, some softer cheeses crumble and could be pre-crumbled for easy grabbing. Spreadable cheeses should be put into an easy to remove container. Cut certain semi firm and firmer cheese in slices. Slice spicier/hotter cheeses such as pepperjack in small cubes for smaller bites.
• Vary the textures of foods. Place crackers and crunchy things next to soft items such as cheese.
• Always include utensils for jams, spreads, and toppings.

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