Delicious Fruit Charcuterie Board Ideas

Every food event needs a Fruit Charcuterie Board loaded with delicious in season fruit and a wonderful fruit dip recipe. Fruit Boards will get your mouth watering with their beautiful display and they are always a crowd pleaser.

I have loved making Charcuterie Boards with so many fun fruit board ideas the possibilities are endless. Serve for a large crowd or even just a small group. And I particularly enjoy an intimate cheese and fruit board for two.

I'm going to walk you through all my tips and tricks to making the idea fruit platters with serving trays ideas, how to place fruit displays and plan for the right amount of guests to take the guess work out for you! It's so fun, so let's dive in.

I’m participating in a Blog Hop called Freaky Friday Winter Edition. Where each blogger is assigned another blogger to get to know and try one of their recipes. It’s so fun!

Let me first introduce you to Jill from The Carefree Kitchen! She recently highlighted my Brazilian Cheese Bread from a past Freaky Friday event. Jill is also from Idaho and a mother of 5 beautiful kids.

Her blog is amazing filled with everything under the sun. She has some fun recipes I can't wait to try, make sure to check out her Chicken Tacos and Slow Cooker Tortellini Bake. I think they both look fantastic! But more on Jill down below.

I chose to make and highlight her Fruit Charcuterie Board recipe because I love making Charcuterie Boards. We make them far more than I even realize but the fun memories, laughter, and events that surround a delicious tray of goodness makes memories is fantastic. And that I LOVE.

As Jill highlights this Charcuterie Board can double as an Appetizer or even a Dessert with a little adaptation. We love to enjoy it while playing family card games with a variety of options to suit everyones tastes. And my boys routinely ask if I'll make a fruit board.

Ideas for Fruit Boards

Let's talk about the fruit, it is the main ingredient. Choosing fruit in season is key as well as choosing a variety of fruits with different colors and textures. But most importantly choose ripe fruit. Start with your favorites and then fill in the gaps with smaller cut pieces of fruit or bit sized fruit like grapes.

Some of our family favorite Fruit Ideas are:

• Pineapple
• Apples (Fuji, Pink Lady or Granny Smith)
• Berries (Strawberries, Blackberries, Raspberries, Blueberries)
• Oranges (I used Blood Oranges along with a more traditional Orange)
• Grapes (Red or Green Grapes)
• Mangos
• Kiwi
• Kumquats
• Melons (Watermelon, Cantelope, Honeydew)
• Pears
• Bananas

The list of fruit is vast, choose your favorite but it's always fun to add a fruit that you don't have very often too.

Choosing a Cutting Board

When choosing a cutting board or serving tray for your Charcuterie Board it's a good idea to think about how many people you want it to serve. Is this served as an appetizer, dessert, or just a snack tray for game night? Adjust the amounts based on your need.

The cutting board or tray can be wood, plastic, or even a metal cookie sheet. It doesn't need to be fancy, although it can be which also adds to the presentation of it all.

A board that is roughly 8x11 is a great size for 2-4 people.

Cups and Bowls for Charcuterie Board Dips

Make sure to find and use smaller cups and bowls for those smaller items, dips, and spreads. These will need to be placed first on your tray and a variety of sizes and shapes is also ideal. Even something as simple as a jar lid can work! Most of the bowl or lid will be covered and you won't even see it.

Dips for Fruit Charcuterie Boards

Mmm, my favorite part. Fruit is delicious all on it's own and doesn't necessarily need a dip to enhance it anymore, but a fun dip or spread is always welcome.

A sweetened Cream Cheese dip is fun, along with warm caramel or even melted chocolate.

• Fruit Dip. Recipe is below. It's delicious!
• Caramel
• Chocolate
• Cookie Butter
• Pepper Jelly
• Chopped Nuts
• Sweetened Coconut
• Small Candy Pieces

Dipping a slice of apple into warm caramel is fantastic. But make sure to sprinkle some coconut, or chopped nuts on top before taking that bite! Next Level Delicious if you ask me.

Or try fruit dip with a sprinkle of shredded coconut on top. YUMMY!

Fruit and Cheese Charcuterie Board

It's easy to adapt a Fruit tray into a Fruit and Cheese Tray, a Meat and Cheese Tray or even add healthy snacks. Here are a few of my favorite suggestion of additional ingredients to add

• Cheeses. Thinly Sliced or Cubed (Gouda, Parmesan, Pepper Jack, Cheddar Cheeses Brie)
• Nuts. Toasted or sweetened (Almonds, Cashews, Peanuts, Pistachios)
• Dried Fruit. (Mangos, Pineapple, Apples, Dates, Cherries)
• Meats. Cured Meats are ideal (Salami, Pepperoni, Prosciutto)

Fruit Display Ideas

Let's get down to actually building our Charcuterie Fruit Board, shall we? You've chosen your fruit, the tray or board you wish to use, and some dipping bowls. Let's dive in.

Place the bowls on the tray. I like to keep the bowls separated from each other so I can place the fruit around the bowls.

Then start with the largest fruit. This will take up the most space. I prefer to place 2-3 groupings of the same fruit on the tray.

One in the corner, one by a dipping bowl, and then somewhere else on the tray as well. Do with with your largest fruit. Make sure to cut the fruit in a variety of shapes or sizes too. It adds to the appeal and display.

Once you've placed 2-3 different types of fruit (think pineapple chunks, Oranges, Mango or melon balls), look at your tray and decide if anything needs shifted or move before you go any further. Adjust the dipping bowls if needed, stack up the fruit.

Then go to the medium to small size fruit like berries. Place small groupings around the larger fruit making sure to place them in different places, or create a snake through the board lining it up.

Here is a fun tip. I like to slice strawberries in half vertically. So each side still have a piece of the stem. It's visually appealing and makes it easy to eat it in one bite.

Finally finish up with those smaller items like nuts, grapes, or even small candies. Fill in the gaps where ever you need to.

Your board is complete! WOW, isn't it beautiful? I'm always amazed how each board turns out so uniquely different and each so beautiful.

How to make Fruit Dip

This fruit dip recipe is wonderful, Jill has really knocked it out of the ball park with this recipe.

The ingredients are pretty simple. Cream Cheese, Whipping Cream, Vanilla Extract, and Powdered Sugar. You can also add a hint of food coloring or sprinkles on top if you wish!

Whip the whipping cream until soft peaks form then carefully add softened cream cheese. Do not try to add cold cream cheese to the whipping cream as the cream will deflate with the extra beating from adding the cream cheese. Soft is best!

Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar to sweeten and you have a delicious fruit dip recipe. I like to add a little food coloring for color and sprinkles on top are also a nice touch. Choose what works best for you, it won't change the flavor at all.

Jill also makes a Lemon Cream Cheese Dip that I think would be delicious to try too!

The Carefree Kitchen

I need to tell you about my new friend Jill! Freaky Friday is an event where bloggers are given a random blogger to highlight and make one of their recipes. Jill has a passion for being in the kitchen. Growing up on a farm has taught her hard work for sure.

She has continued the tradition in teaching her own children that love of the kitchen with her website. I secretly love how her website came to be while helping her 2 daughters with a project on YouTube. It's fantastic and so perfect.

Jill is fun, vivacious, and has a love for life. I admire all Jill has done from running a farm to raising a beautiful family and now her fantastic website full of delicious recipes. Please take the time to hop over to her site and enjoy a few of her recipes. You won't be disappointed.

I came across this recipe for homemade Caramel Sauce. I'm drooling!! Take a look

Ideas for Charcuterie Boards

• Dessert Charcuterie Board
• Easter Charcuterie Board
• Trader Joes Charcuterie Board
• Breakfast Charcuterie Board
• S'more's Dessert Board

Freaky Friday Blog Hop Recipes

Please take a moment to go over and give these other blogs some love. They all participated in our #springfreakyfriday event.

See all of our 2022 Freaky Friday Spring Edition Recipes

Hosted by - An Affair from the Heart

1. An Affair from the Heart - Blueberry Lemon Pull-Apart Bread
2. Aunt Bee's Recipes - Baked Asparagus with Parmesan
3. The Carefree Kitchen - Carrot Cake
4. The Culinary Compass - Dunkaroo Dip Recipe
5. Devour Dinner -Fruit Charcuterie Board
6. Family Around the Table - Fresh Strawberry Milkshake 
7. Feast + West - Frozen Grasshopper Martini
8. Home Cooked Harvest - Rocky Road Brownies
9. Hostess at Heart - Honey Bun Cake
10. Kathryn's Kitchen Blog -Homemade Sour Cream Funfetti Cupcakes
11. Off the Eaten Path -  Beer Margarita Recipe
12. The Speckled Palate - Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Bourbon and Walnuts
13. Sue Bee Homemaker - No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Bites
14. Take Two Tapas - Crab Dip
15. The Wimpy Vegetarian - Texas Trash Dip Warm Bean Dip