Insanely Easy Individual Cheese Board

The perfect solution for small get-togethers or upscale dinner parties, these single-serve charcuterie boards give off an elegant appearance without the fuss of a huge cheese platter. Be prepared to wow at your next holiday gatherings, romantic dinners, or happy hour events. 

Everyone loves a good charcuterie board, but not everyone loves to share. With these individually sized cheese boards, you will learn how to create beautiful personalized boards that don’t take a tremendous amount of effort. 

Follow along with me as I break down step-by-step instructions and guidance for building these mini charcuterie boards which use small portions to help avoid waste and maintain a diverse and elegant look to the platter. Everything you need to learn about making these insanely easy and exceptionally delicious cheese boards can be found here.

• How to properly plate a cheese board so it’s aesthetically pleasing.
• Tips for serving sizes. 
• Wine pairing ideas to go along with this board. 
• How to store and make this charcuterie board ahead of time. 

If you enjoy this post and want to continue to strengthen your charcuterie board skills, check out my free charcuterie board shopping list with over 100 food ideas to inspire your next cheese plate, platter, or board.

Charcuterie and cheese platters are all about the ingredients. Getting the top quality products and freshest produce is essential when putting together boards. Be sure to grab ingredients that pair well and contrast one another’s color for the best-tasting and best-looking charcuterie board. 

Sugared Cranberries: Just three ingredients and you can enjoy super tasty sugared cranberries that are bound to wow those indulging. With just a little bit of extra effort, you’ll have a cheese board component that is bright, sweet, and tasty. 

Baked brie: Grab some brie, honey, and thyme and indulge in this super tasty baked brie. Elevate the cheese board by opting for this baked brie as opposed to a cold one. Little things that show extra thought and effort were put into the board go a long way toward impressing your audience. These small brie bites are from Trader Joe's.

Cornichons: Charcuterie boards are incomplete without a pickled component. Cornichons are great because they are small, bite-sized, and more elegant in appearance than your average pickle.

Dry salami: Dry salami is a staple in the charcuterie board world. With so much diversity in different flavors and versions, there are plenty of options to choose from based on flavor preference, allergies, and budgets. Because this is a small board, pick out your favorite one, and create some beautiful salami roses. 

Fontina cheese: Fontina is a sweet and pungent northern Italian cheese from the Aosta Valley. Having the pleasure of visiting this beautiful corner of the country with its Swiss influence and vast green fields, it’s no surprise that high-quality and flavorful cheese comes from here. The rich, creamy, buttery, and nutty flavors are hard to miss. Pair it with the crackers, or salami, or simply enjoy it as is. 

Goat milk cheese: There are a slew of different types of goat milk cheese, from soft Chabichou to blue goat cheeses to Crottin de Chavignol (hard). For this cheese platter, grab a light and fresh goat milk cheese like mozzarella to balance out the age and complexity of the fontina cheese. The creamy and neutral flavors of this cheese make for easy pairing with the other components on the board. 

Artisan cranberry crisps: Artisan cranberry crisps are a great way to add a bit of complexity to a cheese board. Instead of just having either some dried cranberries or some plain crackers, combine the two for a tasty vessel for enjoying your meat and cheeses.

Flatbread crackers: Flatbread crackers are a simple way to enjoy a change in texture when eating your meat and cheeses without having much change in flavor.

Dark chocolate almonds: A little indulgence never hurt anyone. Chocolate-covered almonds make for a tasty treat and also provide a beautiful color contrast to the cheese board. If allergic to almonds, swap these for a different chocolate covered nut. Along those same lines, if they have a nut allergy, grab something like chocolate-covered raisins instead.

Whole pomegranate: Break off a section of a whole pomegranate to make for a super aesthetic addition to this personalized cheese board.  

As with every cheese or charcuterie board, there are no set rules to follow. Let your creativity take over and customize your board to suit you or your guests’ preferences. 

Gather your sugar, water, and cranberries. In a small saucepan, combine the water with ¼ cup (59 grams) of sugar. Bring this mixture to a boil over medium heat until the sugar has fully dissolved. Once the sugar is gone, shut off the heat and move the saucepan to a cool burner.

Set up a wire rack with a piece of parchment paper underneath. With the wire rack in place, toss the cranberries into the simple syrup mixture and swirl/toss them around to fully coat each cranberry. With the cranberries coated, use a slotted spoon to transfer them to the wire rack. 

Let the cranberries dry for 20 - 30 minutes. They’re ready when you feel the outside, and it has a tacky texture but the syrup does not stick to your fingers. 

When you’ve reached this stage, pour the remaining sugar onto a plate, and gently, roll the cranberries in the sugar until they are fully coated.

Preheat your oven to 350ºF (175º C). Along the top of the brie, cut ⅓ of the way down in a crosshatch pattern. Make roughly 3 cuts each way for a checkerboard with 9 white squares. On a sheet tray lined with parchment paper, place the scored brie, and drizzle with honey. Place a bit of dried thyme over each brie bite, and bake for 5 minutes until you see the brie is melted on the inside.

To test if the brie is ready, gently touch the center of the brie and see if there is any give. Give means you’re good to go. 

First, grab your favorite mini-sized board. Here are some of my favorites:

• Mini Slate Charcuterie Boards
• Solid Wood Serving Platters
• Mini Wooden Cheese Board

This is my order of operations for putting together this individual charcuterie platter. 

To begin, I use the large items as an anchor point. For this board, that means placing the salami and the cornichons in small serving bowls.

To make the salami roses, take the salami, and lay it in lines of four, each one partially overlapping the other. Fold the whole line in half so each line is now four overlapping semicircles. Roll the salami until it resembles a rose. Secure the rose with a toothpick to prevent them from unraveling. Repeat this process so there are two roses on each toothpick.

Here's a quick video tutorial for the salami flowers.

Next, divide the baked brie bites, fontina cheese, and goat milk cheese between the four serving plates.

Tuck cranberry crisps and flatbread crackers on the edges of each serving plate.

Fill in the remaining spaces on each serving plate with dark chocolate almonds and pomegranate chunks.