How Much Does a Charcuterie Board Cost?

How much does a charcuterie board cost? Let’s chat about how you can keep your cheese board budget-friendly, or spend a bit more for a special occasion!

Grazing tables, grazing boards, and the classic charcuterie board are now booming business!

But, if you’re creating a delicious board at home, and worried about the cost you’ll love this post!

If you’re wanting to use a service to create your board or table for you, you’ll need to discuss their pricing with them.

In this post, we’ll discuss how much could you spend, and how much you SHOULD spend!

Depending on the number of people you are serving, and what else is being served, we’ll break down the cost of ingredients and how you can make a great option on any budget!

This post contains affiliate links.

How Much Does a Charcuterie Board Cost?

First, let’s talk about the wooden board that people invest in for their charcuterie boards.

A single board can be rather pricey depending on the board’s size and what it’s made out of!

Whether you purchase a round, rectangle, square, etc size of board I like to be sure it’s useful. As in, you can purchase a nice cutting board that makes the perfect board for a grazing board!

Round boards are nice to use so everyone has optimal reach, especially if you are serving your board as the main course, in the middle of the table.

But, the wood boards you can find online, in specialty stores, etc are wonderful! Gorgeous options!

Find your own board and gather your charcuterie board ingredients!

A Proper Charcuterie Board

If you want to be proper, Charcuterie is the french word for cured meat. You fill an entire board with genoa salami, prosciutto, capicola, mortadella, etc.

This can get pretty pricey!

A cheaper option is the American version, which we refer to as charcuterie. It’s a board filled with different types of cheese, a few ounces of meat, dried fruits, fresh fruit, and complementary snacking accompaniments (think crackers, breadsticks, etc).

Let’s talk about the best way to spend your money whether you are making a small board, large board, or medium board to feed 10-12 people.

Small Charcuterie Board Options

You can have delicious success with “happy hour” sized boards! These Individual Cheeseboards are perfect for just you or a few people!

The key components are a couple of artisan cheeses, a couple of cured meats, fresh and dried fruit, and a cracker and/or nut. This selection results in the perfect combination of the large charcuterie board ideas you see!

It’s a little bit of all the fun things!

Pro Tip: When you’re in your market’s cheese section they might have a bin or basket of leftover cheeses. These are the cheese portions that are too small to cut, but they still want to sell them. Whole Foods and The Fresh Market both have these bins, tucked into their cheese section. You can get a variety of cheeses for very little money! Yay.

Plan to spend $10-$20 on this option.

Medium Charcuterie Board Costs

Just like the small board, you can fill your medium board with as much as you’d like!

For me, I consider a medium board large enough to feed 10-12 people for an appetizer, or in addition to other hors d’oeuvres being served.

A good cheese option for a medium board is a full wheel of brie! It’s a little more cost-effective, instead of spending extra money on more cheese varieties.

Choose a couple of hard cheese options like cheddar and gouda. They are most known by people, so “safe” in this sense that people will eat them! You could have one cheese option that isn’t as known to guests, like an emmental or other alpine cheese.

The next cheese to choose is a block of blue cheese. You can end up spending a good bit of money on blue cheese, so opt for one in your price range. And, keep the total amount small!

These boards can run from $30-$150 depending on what you buy!

Grazing Board and Grazing Table Ideas

Another good idea for entertaining at home is a grazing board or grazing table.

Grazing boards are great for larger parties where you want to serve various appetizers. Just add them all to a big board, and serve it!

I love creating a big board with all kinds of snacks like this board with Green Onion Chip Dip in the center. It’s got chicken wings, veggies, and crispy chips for the dip. It’s the perfect couch watching, movie night board.

Another grazing board idea is doing a big baked potato bar! Filled with all kinds of toppings, allowing people to help themselves when they want to.

One year, for my mom’s big birthday party I created a “Sips and Dips Party” theme. The table was anchored by all kinds of “dippable items,” chips, crackers, bread, etc! Then, I added the various dips around the table, letting guests fill their plates with a myriad of delights!

Charcuterie Platters Essentials

A good set of cheese knives aren’t essential, but they do come in handy since they are small. You can find these at Home Goods, Target, Marshalls, and anywhere! You’ll see they even make some cheeseboards that have knives built into them.

It’s helpful to line your platters or boards with parchment paper. This creates a barrier between the board and the food, and it’s a great way to keep cleanup to a minimum.

Small ramekins are helpful for ‘housing’ jams and other spreadable items such as preserves, honey, olives, etc. They’re also great for adding Marcona almonds or dark chocolate bites to your board.

While little bowls are cute, I like keeping white ramekins on hand, since they’re versatile and let whatever you put in them really stand out. 

This is one way you can make your cheeseboards look full, too! By using a few of these ramekins, then adding all the goodies around them.

During the holiday season, it’s fun to use themed dishes! It’s one of the best ways to make your party feel festive, without too much decor!

Investing in wooden utensils such as honeycomb, tongs, and spreaders makes your board look cohesive, but gives people the freedom to serve themselves. Yay!

Cheese storage paper is helpful – did you know when you wrap your cheese in cling wrap or a plastic bag that it will go bad more quickly? 

You could even use disposable plates for easy clean-up after your party! Yay.

I keep these bamboo plates on hand at all times, just in case! They’re great because they look nicer than regular paper plates, and they’re compostable.

Have a Good Plan

How much does a charcuterie board cost? It depends on your plan!

When shopping for your charcuterie board, whatever the size, go into the grocery stores with a plan!

I love using this Cheeseboard Deck to shop for my grocery store ingredients with! You choose what board you want to do, take the card with you, fill your cart, then come home and make the board.

Trader Joes has a great cheese section that isn’t as pricey as other stores. Same with Aldi! You’ll often find the exact same cheeses in Aldi as you do in normal markets, for a much lesser price tag! Woo hoo! They’re also got a great selection of cured meats to go on any size board you’re making.

Create your budget for your cheese board, and stick to it! It is so easy to spend $150+ on a cheeseboard! But, being smart and methodical about it will help tremendously.

It also helps to keep certain items stocked, the kinds of things that keep well. Crackers, preserves, jarred items, or dried fruit. This will help spread the cost of the board out a bit, leaving you to buy fresh food items like meat and cheese! I have an entire Amazon list filled with Cheeseboard Essentials! Glance over it, and save a few for later! You can find everything you’ll need for your charcuterie boards, cheese boards, or grazing boards.

Save this to your favorite Cheeseboard Board on Pinterest!