When you look at a beautifully curated cheeseboard, I know it can be intimidating. How the hell did you just throw a bunch of stuff on a cutting board and make it look like a work of art??

Don’t stress! Have fun, get creative, and try out some different arrangements to see what looks best! You’ll be shocked at what you come up with.

The general rule I follow when building a cheeseboard is start with the larger items and build out from there. The largest items will be the most eye-catching, so you want to make sure they are in their best positions. From there, it’s easy to fill in the spaces with your smaller goodies.

Of course, there are no real rules for arranging a cheeseboard, but I hope these tips will help you get started.

How to Make the Perfect Cheeseboard in 6 Steps

Step 1: Place your cheeses

When shopping for a cheeseboard, I like to make sure I have a variety of styles and textures.

Since cheeses can range from hard to soft and everything in between, I like to get at least one from each category.

I also like to make sure I have some diverse flavors - some salty cheeses, some stinky cheeses, and some mild cheeses. This will give you a nice variety on your board, and also cater to more people since not everyone loves every cheese!

If I’m making a smaller board, I’ll choose just three cheeses. This board was only for two of us, so I picked a hard cheese (parmesan), a semi-hard cheese (aged cheddar), and a soft cheese (goat). If I wanted to make this board for a few more people, I would have added a creamy, soft-ripened cheese, like brie or Camembert.

Before unwrapping my cheeses, I like to place them on my board of choice to see how they should be arranged. That way, you can play around with the placement to see what looks the most balanced. Make sure you leave enough space between cheeses so you can fill the voids with other goodies.

Since these guys are the stars of the show, I want to make sure they are setting the scene for the rest of the additions to the board. They’re also likely the largest pieces you’ll add to the board, so I’ve found it’s just easier to arrange them how you like and go from there.

Once I have my desired placements, I’ll unwrap the cheeses and add them to the board.

Depending on which cheeses I’m working with, I like to break up at least one block to create some layering. I will usually do this with the hard or semi-hard cheese, but you always want to leave the softer cheeses whole, or else you’ll create a mess.

For this board, I sliced a few pieces from the semi-hard aged cheddar, just to get it started and add some different shapes.

This technique will also help guests feel less intimidated when first digging in because it’ll be easy to grab and they probably won’t have as many reservations about being the first to dig in and “ruin” your perfect cheeseboard.

Wooohooo! Step 1 completed!

Step 2: Add any bowls or ramekins

If you’re including any liquidy items like dips or jams, or smaller snacks like olives or pickles, you can add them to little bowls or ramekins for easy access.

Place the ramekins on the board in an arrangement that looks best to you. I like to space these out evenly from the cheeses because like the cheeses, these bowls will likely be larger than the other items you decorate the board with and you don’t want to crowd them all together.

Feel free to get creative with shapes and sizes here. If you have one large bowl, you may want to use this as the centerpiece of the board and build out from there.

For this board, I just used two ramekins of the same size and filled them with honey and Dijon mustard.

Some fun items you could fill your bowls with: jams, mustard, hummus, veggie dip, stuffed olives, pickles, nuts, etc.

Now you’re ready to get started with the fun part!

Step 3: Arrange the fruit/veggies

There’s no real right or wrong here, but this is where it gets fun! I like to think of it as an art project.

Once you’ve laid out your cheeses and bowls, start with the largest fruits and veggies first and place them around the board.

When selecting fruits and veggies for my board, I like to use seasonal items. Not only will this make your board more fitting for the season, but it will also be tastier because seasonal fruits and veggies are always better!

I also like to make sure I have a variety of shapes and colors when selecting my fruits/veggies. For example, you probably wouldn’t want to use all fruits that are usually sliced in the same manner (i.e. apples, pears, peaches), or all round fruits (i.e. grapes and blueberries). Switch it up to add some layers!

For this summery board, I chose peaches, strawberries, and green grapes. If you don’t know what’s in season, just decide on your fruits when you’re at the store based on what’s available.

First, I placed the grape bunches because these were the largest pieces of fruit. Since this was the only green for my board, I placed the grape bunches evenly across the board to make sure my colors were well-distributed.

Next, I placed the strawberries in little groups throughout the board. It might be a good idea to pair them together, rather than just placing a single strawberry in random places, since they’re pretty small.

Finally, I sliced the peaches and scattered them throughout the board. At this point, I knew I wasn’t going to add much more color with the other items, so I just made sure my board looked nice and bright with plenty of fruit.

I didn’t use any veggies on this board, but some summery veggies you could add are sliced cucumber, sweet peppers, or cherry tomatoes.

Once you’ve placed your fruit and veggies, it’s time to add some vehicles for your cheese. You’re on the home stretch now!

Step 4: Add some crackers and bread

What’s a cheese board with no vehicles to eat the cheese with?

I like to pick at least two different forms of either bread or crackers to serve with my cheeseboards. I usually try to pick one generic/plain cracker to make sure it appeals to everyone, and then spice it up with something fun.

If you want to stick to crackers only, be sure to get two different kinds to add some variety to the mix. Trader Joe’s has a ton of different seedy crackers that could complement a simple water cracker nicely. (Also, those raincoast crisps are delicious and they have a ton of different flavors!)

For this one, I selected some Stone Wheat crackers and a sliced French baguette because that’s what I had on hand.

This part isn’t rocket science. Just arrange the crackers and bread around each cheese to fill in the empty spaces. Make sure they’re easy to grab by stacking the bread slices on their sides and piling the crackers together.

Now we have all of the main components on the board! You’re just a couple of small steps away from the perfect cheeseboard!

Step 5: Add some nuts, seeds, or dried fruits

Remember how I told you we were going to start with the large items, and work our way to the smaller items from there? Well, we’ve made it to the finish line! (almost)

The reason I told you to start with the bigger items is because these small items like nuts, seeds, and dried fruits, are perfect for filling in the cracks!

For this board, I used Marcona almonds because that’s just what I found in my pantry. If you want to add more color to your board, use bright dried fruits, like sliced oranges. You can also add trail mix for a little variety!

Be sure to cover any empty spaces on the board to make the final product look bountiful and impressive. When I’m done arranging my main items, I like to confirm there are almost no spots where the actual board is showing through. If you find any, just fill them in with your smaller items.

Now it’s time for the finishing touches!

Step 6: Garnish!

Yep, garnish like a drink.

This is the part that really sets your board apart! Just adding some simple flowers or herbs can really take your cheese plate to a whole new level.

For this board, I just picked some flowers from the garden and added them to the board.

You can also use fresh herbs like rosemary, dill, thyme, etc.

Once you’ve completed all of these steps, take a look at your board and see if it’s to your liking. If you see any empty spaces, just fill these in with some of your smaller items.

And that’s it!

You’ve created the perfect cheeseboard and I’m so proud. Now you’ll be the designated cheeseboard curator for every party you get invited to. Yay!

Now all you have to do is select your wines! Check out my top 5 summer wines that would be perfect for any summer cheeseboard.

P.S. If you want to learn more about wine and cheese pairing, book a wine tasting with me! I’ll teach you the basics of wine tasting and provide food pairing suggestions for each wine.

Ready to further your wine education? Enroll in a WSET class today and use code LexiStephens for a discount.