My Go-To Summer Happy Hour Cheeseboard is filled with my favorite cheeses, salami, assorted nuts, crackers, dried fruit, preserves, jams, and honey. I also added some fresh summer berries and cherries because they’re in season, and they pair beautifully with all of the salty snacks. All we need is a glass of wine and we’re set!
Cheeseboards might make me the happiest person ever. There’s something SO special and fun about them, and they feed my entertaining loving, food loving, creativity loving self. No pun intended. And, well, cheese. 😍 My goal with this is to show you guys that entertaining and creating a beautiful cheeseboard doesn’t have to be intimidating. You can do totally it!
Like, is there anything more you’d want in life? This is my ideal summer happy hour spread, complete with a glass of rosé or a cocktail. I know I sound incredibly basic right now, but it’s true.
My idea of a complete cheeseboard always has: about 4 different cheeses, sometimes more, an assortment of crackers and bread, a few different types of nuts, cherry jam, fig preserves, honey and/or honeycomb, cured meats like salami and/or prosciutto, dried fruit, fresh fruit, olives, mustards, and other pickled things if you’re into that! Those are my go-to’s, and you can create the type of board you like based on your favorites from each category!
For me, merlot soaked parm and truffle cheese are always a must. And garlicky herb spreadable cheese – I grew up on Boursin and it’s always in my fridge! Oh, and cheddar, because I’m basic as anything. And burrata, because – actually no explanation needed. 😂
I do love cheese, but I’m not usually into the funky ones. I don’t love blue or brie, but I always get them because most people love them! I usually get a triple creme brie! And that I can get into, especially if fig and cherry preserves are involved.
I also added some marinated goat cheese to this board, because it’s a good spreadable option, but the cranberry crusted one is SUPER popular too. And don’t hate me, but goat cheese is the one food on earth I can’t stand. Like literally can’t get a sand grain sized piece of it in my mouth or else I’ll get sick. It’s kind of crazy. Same goes for all sheeps/goats milk products. I must have some crazy gene that makes it taste awful to me..kind of like how some people think that cilantro tastes like soap?
I’m always so bummed about it because goat cheese is in so many delicious “foodie” things. I wish I loved it like most people do!
Another non-negotiable for my summer cheeseboard: fresh berries and cherries! I always add dried fruit to my cheeseboards, no matter the season, but in the summer, having fresh fruit with it is always SO nice. I love berries so much, I tend to go into berry overload once they’re in season.
Because I can’t bring myself to pay like $7 for a little carton in the winter.
And omg honeycomb! Isn’t it so gorgeous?! I found mine at Trader Joe’s, but I’m pretty sure Whole Foods has it too. If you can’t find it, just regular honey is totally fine!
If you want to add a veggie component, carrots are always good, sometimes I add celery, bell peppers, snap peas, or whatever looks good at the store. But the star of the show here definitely isn’t the veggies, so don’t worry too much about fitting those in. 😉
I love adding salami to my cheeseboards too, and usually prosciutto too! To make this even more summery, you could add prosciutto wrapped melon! So so good.
My 4 favorite nuts to add to my boards: rosemary sea salt marcona almonds (omg seriously go find these if you don’t buy them already..they’re AMAZING), roasted salted pistachios, regular dry roasted almonds, and cashews. Actually, my 4 favorite nuts of all time! Snacking nuts, that is.
Because peanut butter will always have my heart!
But overall, just have fun with it! As long as you stick with a few different cheeses, an assortment of nuts, dried fruit, preserves, some briny things, honey, fresh berries, and some crackers/baguette, you are all set. It’s really so much fun to put together! And you can’t go wrong, trust me.
Glasses of wine and friends not optional.
My Go-To Summer Happy Hour Cheeseboard
My Go-To Summer Happy Hour Cheeseboard is filled with my favorite cheeses, salami, assorted nuts, crackers, dried fruit, preserves, jams, and honey. I also added some fresh summer berries and cherries because they're in season, and they pair beautifully with all of the salty snacks. All we need is a glass of wine and we're set!
Ingredients
- a few assorted cheeses, definitely include at least one soft, one hard, and a couple unique - I used a medium cheddar, merlot soaked parmesan, truffle cheese, burrata, triple creme brie, marinated goat cheese, and a garlic herb spreadable cheese
- assorted nuts - I like rosemary sea salt marcona almonds, cashews, almonds, and pistachios
- assorted jams/preserves - fig jam and sour cherry preserves are my favorite
- dried fruit - I like dried cherries, cranberries, and apricots, but here I included raisins and dried blueberries too!
- mustard - a grainy mustard and/or dijon, or a flavored mustard!
- salami and/or prosciutto
- fresh summer berries - I used blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and cherries
- honey and/or honeycomb
- assorted crackers and a sliced baguette
- pickled briny things - like olives, marinated peppers, pickles, gherkins, etc.
Instructions
Arrange the cheeses on a board and fill in the cracks with crackers, sliced baguette, nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, and ramekins filled with mustards, jams, preserves, honey, and pickled things!
Recipe Notes
*Trader Joe's is a fantastic place to get all of the fixings for a cheeseboard. They're super affordable, and have a really unique assortment of nuts, dried fruit, crackers, and cheeses. This is not sponsored, I just really love buying stuff for cheeseboards there!
*To make this even more summery, wrap melon in prosciutto and add it to the board!
*I typically don't add burrata to my cheeseboards, but to this one I did because I love it so much! And because I eat more of it in the summer. I just drizzled some olive oil and balsamic glaze over it and a couple pinches of flaky sea salt and it was perfect! It would also be really delicious with a scoop of pesto on top!
I am literally drooling at this post. There really isn’t anything I love more than a great cheese platter. And this looks AMAZING.
Thank you so much Joelle!! And me too, they make me ridiculously happy haha 🙂