How to Make the Ultimate Breakfast Charcuterie Board to Wow Any Crowd!

Create a Stunning Breakfast Charcuterie Board Spread

Are you hosting a large breakfast or brunch gathering in the near future? Not sure what to serve a brunch crowd that will feel special but won’t require hours prepping and cooking in the kitchen? 

Let me suggest a breakfast or brunch charcuterie board as a wonderful way to feed breakfast to the people in your life! Breakfast is an often overlooked and untapped charcuterie theme, which is a real shame because charcuterie is the perfect way to serve a large group of people almost effortlessly. Let’s not forget the beauty and drama of the presentation either!

Big board featuring a charcuterie breakfast including waffles, strawberries, muffins, fruit, and bacon.

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If you’re thinking that you would need a very large charcuterie board to pull off something like this, you’re right! And the best news is we now have an exclusive savings code just for our readers. Use our code THEDESIGNTWINS when you click on the link below. This will save you 10% off all rectangular boards and both the 20″ and 26″ in cherry (shown above) and ebonized (black finish). 

We have sourced these very special big boards that are the right size for a large group of people, and they are gorgeous as well.  

Let me show you how I use my own Big Board for breakfast feasts!  There are some great ideas here for a delicious breakfast charcuterie board that the entire group will love.

The Best Charcuterie Board to Buy

We love The Big Boards for our charcuterie spreads! (Use code THEDESIGNTWINS so save.)

  • They come in three stunning colors: cherry, maple and ebonized (black). Jodie is team cherry, and Julie is team maple! It’s only a matter of time before one of us returns for the ebonized color.
  • You can choose either a round (20″ or 26″) or rectangular (36″ or 24″) board. 
  • They’re heirloom quality, so you and your family will enjoy this gorgeous charcuterie board for years to come!
  • The Big Board is cleverly designed with handle cutouts to make it easy to carry.
  • This board is light and sturdy. You can easily transport it to your patio, a picnic or even your next potluck event!
  • It’s deep! The Big Board has an all-important lip so your food doesn’t slide off.
  • The Big Board is gorgeous. We use our boards year-round! When not entertaining, we style them with seasonal decor on our coffee table, sideboard or kitchen table!

a big round charcuterie board styled for spring with flowers on a coffee table.

The Big Board 26″ in Cherry

How to Set Up a Charcuterie Board 

  • To begin building my board, I thought about all my family’s favorite breakfast foods and went from there.
  • I knew I wanted the waffles to be the focus of the board.
  • I started by strategically placing the waffles in an intentionally curved line down the middle of the board.
  • Once I had them in place it was easy to use all the other items to create symmetry on either side of the waffles.

The Big Board 26″ in Cherry

  • One way to punctuate the board and add interest (and make certain items easier to serve) is to use small dishes to hold things like blueberries, butter patties, chocolate chips, or other smaller items.
  • You can see I used small white dishes for a nice effect on my board.

To create a luxuriously rich and abundant feel with the board, one of my favorite tips is to choose a “filler” item to fill in all the small empty spaces left in between the larger groupings.

For this charcuterie board spread, I used fresh strawberries. Not only were they the perfect small shape for this purpose, but they also gave little pops of color to the whole board. And who doesn’t like strawberries?

You could use other fresh fruit like blueberries, blackberries, or grapes too. One of the great things about this this Big Board is the practical and beautiful lip along the edge that allows you to pile things up to your heart’s content without worrying about everything spilling over when you carry it to the table.

Big board featuring a charcuterie breakfast including waffles, strawberries, muffins, fruit, and bacon.

A Practical Shortcut

If you are looking at this beautiful wooden board and thinking that making waffles and bacon and all these baked goods looks like more work than they’re worth, please rest assured that I did not make everything myself! I took a few shortcuts to make this board creation easier. I purchased some pre-made items from the grocery store rather than making everything from scratch.

Normally if I was going to serve just one item for breakfast like banana muffins or waffles (both are breakfast or brunch classics), I would make them from scratch. But when you’re building a big breakfast charcuterie board spread where you want to include LOTS of different items, it doesn’t really make sense to make everything from scratch. It would really be too time-consuming. 

cooking frozen waffles in the oven on a sheet pan to save time!

To save time and energy I bought frozen waffles and heated them up all at once in the oven rather than the toaster. I also opted for pre-cooked bacon for the same reason. All you have to do is heat it up in the microwave. Both options mean less prep time and less cleanup required. That’s a win in my books!

Items I purchased from the store instead of making myself to save time and energy. 

  • Eggo waffles
  • Banana nut muffins
  • Croissants 
  • Crispy bacon
  • Pastries
  • Cinnamon raisin bread 
  • Butter patties
  • Scones

Big board featuring a charcuterie breakfast including waffles, strawberries, muffins, fruit, and bacon.

One thing I really love about my natural wooden charcuterie board is that it makes even pre-made items I bought from a store look fancy and put together! I didn’t know if I could make Eggo waffles look nice enough for a brunch board, but as soon as I placed them in a purposeful curved line across the middle of my Big Board, they suddenly took on a whole new vibe!

FAQ:

How do you store a large charcuterie board?

One thing I hear from people quite often is that they love my Big Board and would like to own one themselves, but they have nowhere to store it! Our answer to that? Style it, don’t store it! This solid wood, beautifully designed board is so gorgeous that you could easily use it as the base of a centerpiece for any season until you are ready to use it for a charcuterie meal.  

a big charcuterie board style for Christmas with a beautiful vignette of glass containers filled with a whimsical winter scene.

The Big Board 26″ in Cherry

The round board shown in this post looks is amazing in the middle of a kitchen table or island with a bouquet of flowers. The long rectangular Big Board that Julie has is also gorgeous with a lot of visual appeal, and would be perfect for a long coffee table, sideboard, buffet, or a long dining room table. You get the idea! Don’t forget to use our code for exclusive savings: THEDESIGNTWINS.

Instead of looking at this gorgeous piece as something you need to hide away in storage, consider it a lovely addition to your home decor instead and this pain point goes away.

My Big Board has been worth the investment. I get so much mileage out of it, both as a creative way to serve a meal and as a table decoration.

Is it okay to make a charcuterie board the night before?

If you are looking for ways to save time the morning of your breakfast or brunch feast, I would say the best way to do that is to make sure you are ready to go the night before.  Here are some easy prep tips to save you some time:

  • Wash and cut all your fruit.
  • Bake and/or purchase your bakery items beforehand. You can store these in the freezer and pull them out the night before!
  • Bacon, sausage, waffles, and pancakes can all be made in advance and reheated in the oven until crispy.
  • Wash your board and collect all your favorite serving bowls and utensils and have them on the counter ready to go in morning. 

I would not assemble your board until right before your guests arrive, because some of the items need to be hot and you don’t want your baked goods to dry out in the fridge overnight.  

What can you put on a breakfast charcuterie board?

I think that everything I used on my board works incredibly well, obviously! Besides the items I purchased at the store rather than baked myself, I included: 

  • Maple syrup
  • Strawberries 
  • Blueberries
  • Grapes

Big board featuring a charcuterie breakfast including waffles, strawberries, muffins, fruit, and bacon.

But anything that your family enjoys for breakfast can go on this board. It’s good to have savory options as well as sweet to satisfy everyone’s taste buds. If you want to add to my own ideas for an easy charcuterie board spread, you could try:

  • Air Fryer Breakfast Pop Tarts
  • Sausage links
  • Mini bagels and cream cheese
  • Smoked salmon
  • Nut butters
  • Croissants and pastries
  • Hard-boiled eggs
  • Mini cinnamon rolls
  • French toast
  • Sour Cream Coffee Cake
  • Mini pancakes or mini waffles
  • Orange slices
  • Chocolate Chip Almond Biscotti
  • Mini muffins with chocolate chips
  • Cheese boards with a cheese knife set on the side (goat cheese would be lovely with all that fruit!)

These are all great options that would look great on a large, luxurious breakfast charcuterie board spread.

There you have it! I hope I’ve shown you that traditional charcuterie boards are not the only way to enjoy a lovely family style meal. There are so many breakfast charcuterie board ideas out there that are so much fun and that you can easily make your own! Do you already own and love this Big Board or a similar board? Tag me with your breakfast charcuterie board @jodie.thedesigntwins, I would love to see it!

jodie & julie

Big board featuring a charcuterie breakfast including waffles, strawberries, muffins, fruit, and bacon.

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How to Create the Perfect Chocolate Fondue Charcuterie Board

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Summary
How To Build the Ultimate Breakfast Charcuterie Board
Article Name
How To Build the Ultimate Breakfast Charcuterie Board
Description
Let's talk charcuterie boards for breakfast! What can you put on a breakfast board? Can you make it ahead of time? Here are quick and easy tips, along with answers to all those questions and more!
Author
Publisher Name
The Design Twins

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