Charcuterie styling can come off as a very intimidating task, I know. There’s a lot to style there. There’s a lot to do! Where do you start? How many ingredients do you need? What will look nice together? I have three key elements that will give you a nice looking charcuterie board every time!

More is more!

There are minimalists and maximalists and everything in between, but when it comes to a charcuterie board, you always want to be a maximalist. The point is to cover the board. You want to cover most or all of the board showing between ingredients and you want your food items to go almost to the edge, if not actually to the edge. Whether this means having a larger variety of ingredients or adding more of what you already have, that means let’s fill in that space. If you need to fill in some spaces and are out of cheese and crackers, look through your pantry and see what you have! Like chocolates pair nicely or nuts or any fruit.

Think about color

Cheese and crackers tend to be very monochromatic in style. The colors range between creams and oranges. There’s not a lot happening there. So, you need to add some pops of color here and there. Colorful small dishes for items that need to be separated, like pickles or jams, is a great way to add a splash of color. Also, think about the ingredients. Fruits tend to come in handy here to add lots of color. You can also use things like fresh flowers or herbs to brighten up a board.

There’s an order that works best.

Watch my link to the stop motion below and you’ll see. I like to add any bowls first and place them a bit of a distance between each other. Then I start adding what I refer to as my base, which is the meats, cheese and crackers. Everything else is filler! Use all your extras to fill in those empty spaces and try your best to spread out the colors a little so your eye moves when you look at the board. I also like to do that with the shapes I create with my items, like a crescent around a bowl or a zig zag between items. Get creative!


That’s it. So easy, right? This won’t steer you wrong, I promise. Send me your charcuterie photos on Instagram!

Shop some of my favorite charcuterie serving trays below!