Our Food Stylist’s Tips for the Best Thanksgiving Cheese Board

We’ve all seen them on social media: packed platters and wooden boards filled with perfectly layered wedges of cheese, neat piles of fruit and nuts, and slices of salami that have—somehow—been artfully molded into the shape of a rose. Known interchangeably—at least online—as grazing, charcuterie, and cheese boards, these creations seem to have become the gold standard for hosting. But they’re also a lot of work and, from a practical perspective, maybe not the best option when you have several hungry guests coming over on the busiest cooking day of the year.

“If you really have time to do all that on Thanksgiving, like kudos,” said Anna Billingskog, Food52’s senior food stylist. “But I think it’s…unrealistic.”

So, is there a way to make a cheese board that’s both beautiful and easy enough to execute on turkey day? Most definitely. Start with a cutting board—ideally not the one you’ll need to carve the turkey on later in the evening. Then select a couple types of cheeses, crackers, and, if desired, meats. But don’t worry about having a ton of options: You don’t want guests to fill up before the meal even begins.

Moreover, despite the viral images you might see on Instagram, you don’t actually want the board to get too packed. “It’s good to leave room on the board,” Anna said. “If you think about [it], you need space to cut, you need space for the knife to go back down.”

For harder, crumblier cheeses like aged cheddars, use a knife with a flat edge to gently chisel away at the block. The resulting pieces will be uneven and irregular, but that’s the point: “Lean into the chaos of it,” Anna said. It’s not practical to pre-portion softer cheeses like Brie, so she recommends serving them whole, either as a large wedge or a small wheel, and putting a knife for your guests nearby.

No matter what cheeses you’re using, though, you’ll want to make sure you take them out of the fridge and let them come to room temperature about an hour before serving. “That would be my number one tip,” said Anna.

Using lots of fruit (either dried or fresh) will round out the board and stop it from being too filling—while also giving it pockets of gorgeous color. Dried apricots, Bosc or Bartlett pears, and figs are some of Anna’s favorite choices, but feel free to experiment with your favorite fruits.

For the actual presentation of your cheese board, don’t worry too much about making it look perfect and polished, which can translate to fussiness. “I don’t like food that looks too touched, and I don’t think organization of food is really appetizing,” Anna said. (As a rule of thumb, she aims to touch any given item no more than three times while plating.) The final result will look effortless and approachable, and your guests will be more likely to dig in than if the board looks too pristine.

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