This playful Valentine's Day charcuterie board full of red, pink and heart-shaped treats is the perfect way to celebrate.
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Charcuterie boards and other festive spreads are a great way to make a holiday feel extra special—Valentine’s Day included! Especially on a day meant to celebrate love, taking the time to prep and assemble a board with foods that you know your loved ones will appreciate is a gesture that won’t go unnoticed.
While a traditional charcuterie board includescured meats and cheese pairings, our Valentine’s Day charcuterie-style board focuses on some of our favorite picks from the candy aisle, with plenty of red, pink and heart-shaped treats for good measure. Whether you’re hosting a Galentine’s Day party or a cozy night in with your significant other, here’s how to make a Valentine’s Day charcuterie board everyone will love.
How to Make the Most Tempting Valentine’s Day Charcuterie Board
Tools You’ll Need
Foods to Include
TMB Studio
Candy: What would Valentine’s Day be without candy? Remind your sweetie how you feel about them with heart-shaped gummies and conversation hearts.Or, if chocolate is their true love, go for an assortment of heart-shaped chocolates, Hershey kisses and chocolate-covered pretzels. You can even pick V-day themed candy like the strawberry and dark chocolate Kit Kats.
Cheese: When it comes to cheeses, we can’t think of any more romantic than a wheel of Brie. It’s pretty on all kinds of boards and its buttery flavor pairs nicely with most crackers. To incorporate more red on the board, we also included a wedge of cheese with cranberries.
Fruits:Strawberries are an absolute must on a Valentine’s Day board, especially when you cut halves to look like hearts. Raspberries, blueberries and bunches of red grapes go well with the other foods, and dragon fruit is a colorful and unexpected pick.
Assorted sweets:Because we can’t get enough heart-shaped recipeson this board, we picked up some Palmiers and heart-shaped crackers. Whimsical marbled meringue hearts add a homemade touch to the spread, while kettle corn adds a little saltiness to balance out all that sweet.
Dips: The strawberry preserves, cream cheese, whipped topping and marshmallow creme in fluffy strawberry fruit dip come together as a delicious accompaniment to both the fruit on the board and the pastry-like Palmier cookies.
How to Build a Valentine’s Day Charcuterie Board
TMB Studio
Step 1: Put the fruit dip on the board
Because the strawberry fruit dip is one of the biggest items on the board, make room for it right away so you don’t have to rearrange things later.
Step 2: Set the fruit and Palmiers around the dip
The fruits and cookies pair perfectly with the dip—put them next to the bowl so people know they go together.
Step 3: Arrange the cheeses and crackers
Cut some slices into the wheel of Brie to get your guests started with the cheese and sprinkle some raspberries on top for a pop of red. Place the wedge of cranberry cheese close to the crackers, too.
Step 4: Place the popcorn box and the conversation hearts
We put our kettle corn in a single pink popcorn box on the board, but if you’re serving a crowd you can fill additional popcorn boxes and set them next to your Valentine’s Day board.
Step 5: Fill in the gaps
Fill in empty spaces on the board with small piles of chocolate-covered pretzels, marbled meringue hearts and heart-shaped chocolates. Place a few Hershey kisses in different spots to give the whole board a little shimmer.
Step 6: Garnish, serve and enjoy!
Skewer a strawberry half with an arrow pick and place it on top of the fruit dip as a finishing touch.Have a spoon handy for the dip, plus the right cheese knives for the Brie and cranberry cheese.
Tips for Making a Valentine’s Day Charcuterie Board
What else can you put on a Valentine’s Day board?
First things first: Think about all the Valentine’s Day candies you can put on a dessert board like this! Start with pink and red M&Ms, Ferrero Rocher truffles, red licorice, chocolate roses, or even red, pink and white candy corn.
If you have time to go the homemade route, you could whip up a batch of homemade fudge orconversation cupcakes, or upgrade the popcorn by drizzling it with melted ruby chocolate or colored white chocolate. Consider making baked goods you can adorn with red, white and pink sprinkles, like copycat Lofthouse cookies, chocolate-covered pretzel rods or these Valentine’s cupcakes.
If you want to add more savory options to your Valentine’s Day charcuterie-style board, use cookie cutters to cut hearts out of tea sandwiches or slices of cheese or meat (and don’t forget the salami roses!). You can even cut a heart shape from a wheel of cheese and fill it with jam.
Here are more cheese board ideas from our Test Kitchen. Check out some of our favorite charcuterie board booksfor extra inspiration.
What drinks should you serve with a Valentine’s Day board?
Stay on theme by pouring sparkling wine, rosé or sangria. If you’re looking for something bubbly without the booze, go for sparkling ciders, sparkling grape juice or sparkling water with a few raspberries tossed in.
If you can never get enough chocolate, serve your Valentine’s Day charcuterie board with creamy hot cocoa—or serve it alongside a hot chocolate board!
