Individual Cheese Snack Plates

Individual Cheese Snack Plates for the holidays! Put together individual, customized cheese snack plates for your family! And don’t forget to add the fresh fruit!

I love adding mandarin oranges for the sweetness and citrus. They are such a great compliment to the creaminess and saltiness from the cheese and charcuterie.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Peelz California Mandarins.

Winter 2020. We’re all in this together. It’s been fun to see how creative people are getting with ways to safely spend the holidays with their family and loved ones. If you are one of the lucky ones, who have family close by, who you have been seeing, or one of the lucky ones at home with your big family under the same roof, this one’s for you.

Well, this one’s for all of us frankly. You can never go wrong with Individual Cheese Snack Plates for the holidays! Am I right?!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE THE PERFECT CHEESE PLATE

Since we are making individual snack plates, I love using small appetizer plates. The ones above are from Crate and Barrel. Click here to see a full, detailed post on everything you will need from knifes to cutting boards I like to plates and small forks.
I like to start with the cheeses first and then lay everything on the plate around the cheese.
Think of different textures, shapes and colors as you are assembling and lay or fold the charcuterie in different ways. For example: fold the salami, roll, twist or simply lay down and let the prosciutto falls as it desires. Have fun with it!
Make it seasonal! Use seasonal fruit and add festive elements like fresh rosemary, or other fresh herbs! or even sugared cranberries.
Want to add something sweet? Add chocolate covered nuts, candied pecans, chocolates, a small cookie or stroopwafels for fun! In the ones below, I added fruit and caramelized pecans.

BASIC CHEESE BOARD GUIDELINES AND TIPS

I’ve learned over the years what, in my mind, makes the perfect board, platter or cheese plate:

Cheese: all types (hard, soft, crumbly) and cut into different shapes. Some wedges I leave as is, some I cut into cubes and some I cut into triangle pieces.
Charcuterie: again, all types, different shapes and textures and flavors: Salami, Proscuitto, Soppressata, Capocollo, Mortadella, Chorizo and more! Place them on, fold them up and stick a toothpick through or simply fold them in half.
Fruit: dried and fresh, use what’s in season. Apples and mandarin oranges are my go-to’s for cheese plates. I love adding apples for the color and freshness and mandarin oranges for the sweetness and citrus. They are such a great compliment to the creaminess and saltiness from the cheese and charcuterie.
Crackers or bread or both: get an assortment. Again, different shapes, colors and textures. A sliced baguette can do the trick too if you don’t have time to pick up crackers.
Nuts: almonds, candied walnuts, marcona almonds. Get a mix of your favorites. I like to add some that have a little heat too.
Pickled things: cornichons (pickled French gherkins), pickled beets, pickled asparagus, basically anything that will give you that great sweet and sour note to help balance the saltiness and creaminess from the cheese and charcuterie.
Jams or preserves for something sweet. You can either spread some directly on the board itself or just some preserves in a little dish.
Olives: get an assortment of green and black; I like to place olives into a little dish on the cheese board
Add little cheese knives, forks or tongs to help your friends and guests pick up everything.

BEST CHEESES FOR A CHEESE BOARD

There are so many terrific types of different cheeses! Select a range of textures and flavors to give your guests fun options.

Some of my favorites include:

Aged cheddar and colby jack cheese
Havarti and Gouda (different types)
Soft and creamy: Brie, Camembert, Burrata, Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella and Goat cheese or chèvre (spreadable)
Firm: Parmigiano Reggiano, Manchego, Gruyère, any Sartori BellaVitano is a must
Smoked: Smoked Gouda, Provolone, and Cheddar
Spicy: I love a cheese with a little heat. So, if you are feeling adventurous, pick up a Sriracha Gouda or Chipotle cheddar and enjoy!
Crumbly cheese: Blue cheese. You love it or hate it. Some people don’t like mixing blue cheese on the same board with other cheeses. I love it and will place it on my board next to crackers and prosciutto for example. Don’t place it on your board next to another cheese!