Build a show-stopping vegan charcuterie board for your next gathering! My easy guide shows you how to create a gorgeous spread of plant-based cheeses, meats, fruits, and nibbles that’s perfect for parties, holidays, and special dinners.
Yes, I'm making a vegan charcuterie, and I'm sure I'll get some blowback from charcuterie purists. Charcuterie technically is all about cured meats. That never stopped me before, though! After all, I make vegan meatloaf, vegan scrambled eggs, vegan meatballs. I think I can get away with putting some tasty plant-based snacks on a wooden board and calling it charcuterie.
Jump to:
I like to think of charcuterie as the art of arranging delicious little bites in an aesthetically pleasing way — and that’s something vegans can absolutely get behind! With that in mind, we’re adorning our board with vegan meats and cheeses. But it gets better! Since we’re already breaking rules, we’re going to include whatever the heck we want: fruits, veggies, dips, fresh herbs, and even sweets.
Come along, and I’ll show you how to delight both the eyes and the taste buds of everyone at your next celebration!
Equipment You'll Need
- Charcuterie board. Charcuterie boards come in many sizes, so choose according to the number of guests you'll be serving. A small board that's about 10 to 12 inches in diameter is perfect for two to four people, 14 to 16 inches will serve four to six, 16 to 18 inches serves six to eight, and 20 to 24 inches serves eight to ten. If you don't have a charcuterie board, a large cutting board can be used.
- Small plates and bowls. You'll need plates and bowls for serving items that can't be placed directly on the board, like dips, and you'll need some extra plates for your guests to dish up their snacks on.
- Serving forks. Provide these so folks don't need to use their hands! Skewers or toothpicks can also work.
- Spreaders. For your dips and spreadable cheeses.
Ingredients You'll Need
- Vegan cheeses. You can use store-bought or homemade cheeses, and ideally go with a mix of soft, spreadable, and hard, diced or sliced cheeses.
- Protein. Vegan meats, tofu, and tempeh are perfect here.
- Veggies. You'll want to have fresh veggies for dipping, and some brined veggies like olives and artichoke hearts.
- Dips and spreads. Whatever you like works here! Hummus, creamy dips, jams, and fancy spreads can all be included.
- Crackers and bread. You'll need something for folks to spread their dips and pile other goodies on, so choose something that works well with your other ingredients. When in doubt, slice up a baguette — it goes with just about anything!
- Fruit. Bite-sized fruit like grapes and berries work great, as do fruit you can slice and dice, as well as dried fruit. Avoid anything that will brown after being cut, like bananas and apples.
- Nuts. Basic roasted nuts are fine, but seasoned or candied nuts will make your board extra special, and are great for the holidays.
- Sweets. These are great to include, even if your board is primarily savory! Just about any store-bought vegan cookies or confections will work. If using homemade sweets, avoid anything too big or crumbly. You want your guests to be able to grab their snacks with ease!
- Garnishes. Part of the appeal of a charcuterie board is its pretty presentation, so I highly encourage you to garnish away! I've used fresh herbs in the photos, but edible flowers and microgreens are also great options!
Tip: Raid your fridge and pantry! You probably already have half of the ingredients you need on hand.
How It's Made
Making a vegan charcuterie board is easy! Choosing and gathering your ingredients is the hardest part. Arranging them is where the fun is at!
Start by placing anything necessary into a bowl or on a dish — this includes any ingredient packed in brine, like olives or artichoke hearts, as well as dips, spreads and sauces, and anything else that could make a mess if placed directly on the board.
Start arranging from the center outward. You may have a star ingredient that you'd like to place at the very center of your board, but this is by no means required. Arrange ingredients outward, placing contrasting colors, shapes, and textures next to each other for maximum visual appeal.
Once you've got everything you'd like to include on your board, fill in any gaps. I like to keep some extra fresh fruit and garnishes on hand just for this purpose. Give it one final look, make any adjustments, and you're done! Make sure to provide plenty of small plates, forks, and spreaders for your guests.
Tip: Use a mix of homemade and store-bought ingredients. Making everything from scratch would be a big undertaking. Only make your favorites, then head to the store and grab high-quality products for the rest.
Vegan Charcuterie Board Themes
- Holiday party. For a festive holiday board you'll want to include lots of sweets, treats, and candied nuts. Make a vegan cheese ball the centerpiece of your board, and garnish with festive ingredients like fresh rosemary and sugared cranberries.
- Summer cookout. Cool dips and snacks will be the star of this board. Try vegan onion dip, vegan street corn dip, or pico de gallo, and consider using chips instead of crackers or a baguette. Include some in-season fruits and veggies like fresh peaches, strawberries, and grilled vegetables like eggplant and zucchini. Try some barbecue tofu for your plant-based protein.
- Date night. Stick with a small charcuterie board and deck it out for two. You can even make it your main dish! Impress your sweetheart with homemade creations like vegan phyllo cigars, strawberry bruschetta, mushroom pâté, or vegan camembert.
- Game day. Hot snacks always go over well for game day gatherings, so include a few, like Buffalo tofu wings, vegan jalapeño poppers, and baked spring rolls, along with dips like vegan onion dip, vegan blue cheese, and vegan queso.
- Dessert board. Skip all of the savory stuff and pack your board with sweets! Don't limit this one to cookies and candy — cut up cakes and pastries into bite-sized portions and include them as well. Try vegan chocolate cake, vegan cheesecake, vegan baklava, and even little cups of puddings like my vegan butterscotch pudding. Include lots of fruit, and a big bowl of vegan chocolate ganache for dipping.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! Just include plenty of food and focus on heartier, more meal-worthy dishes as opposed to snackable items. Try including vegan ceviche, lemon and herb baked tofu, vegetable focaccia, and hearty dips like hummus.
Shoot for about 4 to 6 ounces of food per person, assuming you're serving your board as an appetizer. If you'd like to make it a main dish, double that amount.
To some extent, yes. Dish out shelf-stable items like crackers and nuts, but keep them covered until serving. You can also prepare some items like sliced vegan cheeses, fruits, and veggies in advance, but store them in the fridge, and make sure to get them out about 30 minutes before serving to bring them up to room temperature.
More Vegan Appetizers
Looking for more snacks to include in your charcuterie board, or just to serve alone? Check out my vegan appetizers collection! Here are a few favorites:
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Charcuterie
Equipment
- Charcuterie board
- Various small plates and bowls
- Serving forks
- Dip spreaders
Ingredients
Vegan Cheeses (Choose 2 to 4)
- Spreadable cheeses, like vegan cream cheese, vegan ricotta cheese, or vegan cheese ball
- Hard cheeses, like tofu feta, vegan mozzarella, store-bought vegan cheddar, or vegan provolone
Proteins (Choose 2 to 4)
- Seasoned tofu, such as lemon and herb baked tofu, smoked tofu, sesame ginger marinated tofu, or Italian baked tofu
- Seasoned tempeh, such as smoky marinated tempeh or tempeh bacon
- Vegan meats, such as seitan, vegan pepperoni, vegan sausage (sliced) or store-bought vegan cold cuts
Vegetables (Choose 2 to 5)
- Fresh veggies, like carrot sticks, celery sticks, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, or broccoli florets
- Roasted or grilled vegetables, such as zucchini, carrots, eggplant, mushrooms, broccoli, or cauliflower
- Brined veggies, like artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, pepperoncini, olives, or heart of palm
Dips and Spreads (Choose 1 to 3)
- Hummus, like roasted garlic hummus, roasted red pepper hummus, dill pickle hummus, or pesto hummus
- Creamy dips, such as vegan tzatziki or vegan French onion dip
- Chunky dips, like pico de gallo, olive tapenade, or strawberry bruschetta
- Vegan pâté, such as mushroom pâté
- Jams and fruit preserves
Crackers and Bread (Choose 2 to 4)
- Bite-sized bread pieces, cut for dipping and spreading, such as baguette slices, vegetable focaccia, olive rosemary focaccia, or pita wedges
- Vegan crackers, such as whole grain crackers, rice crackers, or rosemary crackers
Fruit (Choose 2 to 5)
- Fresh berries, such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries
- Chopped or sliced fresh fruit, such as oranges, mandarins, figs, kiwis, mango, or pineapple
- Fresh grapes
- Dried fruits, such as dates, figs, apricots, or mangoes
Nuts (Choose 1 or 2)
- Roasted and optionally spiced or candied nuts, such as almonds, walnuts, pecans, cashews, peanuts, hazelnuts, or macadamia nuts
Sweets (Optional)
- Homemade or store-bought vegan cookies, such as vegan shortbread, vegan coconut macaroons, vegan thumbprint cookies, sandwich cookies, Biscoff cookies, or digestive biscuits
- Candy, such as vegan truffles, dark chocolate squares, or vegan fudge
Garnishes (Optional)
- Fresh herbs, such as rosemary, sage, and thyme
- Edible flowers, such as pansies or orchids
- Microgreens, such as broccoli or kale microgreens
Instructions
- Choose your board and decide which ingredients you'll include. Make sure you have plenty of everything — you want your board to be nice and packed.
- Place dips and brined items (like olives or artichoke hearts) in small bowls, and use small plates for anything you don’t want in direct contact with the board, like sliced fruit. Arrange these on the board. Balance the board with a mix of colors, shapes, and textures, for example, by arranging contrasting colors next to each other and alternating round items such as olives with flatter items such as crackers.
- Arrange everything else on the board in clusters. I like to work from the middle then outward.
- Fill in any gaps with extra pieces of fresh fruit. Garnish with fresh herbs, flowers, or microgreens, if desired.
- Serve with plenty of serving forks and spreaders, along with some small plates on the side.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Comments
No Comments