The Best Butter Boards for Holiday Parties

What Is a Butter Board?

As its name suggests, a butter board is just that: butter on a board. Simple and tasteful, butter boards allow the host to create sharable hors d’oeuvres that are as elegant as they are delicious. Hosts can quickly create platters by spreading room-temperature butter on a large board or tray, coating it with a selection of toppings, and serving it with bread or crackers.

Butter boards are highly customizable and can be flavored to complement any meal or spread. Sweet butter boards use unsalted butter with honey, cinnamon, brown sugar, maple syrup, and fruit. In contrast, savory boards use either unsalted or salted butter, plus ingredients like nuts, olive oil, red onions, chives, chiles, fresh rosemary, herbs, meats, and vegetables.

Butter boards have become a popular party trend because they let hosts get creative with flavors and textures while making hearty, satisfying appetizers. Boards pair well with many beverages. Best of all, they’re less expensive and time-consuming for hosts compared to cooking traditional appetizers.

Are Butter Boards Charcuterie Boards?

To food lovers, butter boards probably sound similar to charcuterie boards, which originated in France and typically contain olives, cheese, cured meats, fruit, bread, and nuts. Today, these boards take many forms and are choices for festive gatherings and Thanksgiving table decor.

While there are similarities in presentation, butter boards and charcuterie boards differ. Butter boards focus on flavored butter as the main ingredient, with toppings playing a secondary role. Charcuterie boards highlight cured meats alongside other savory items like cheese. Charcuterie boards also use more robust flavors compared to the fresh, lighter toppings on butter boards.

Butter boards also have a modern, simplified take on the traditional charcuterie board, providing guests with a shareable appetizer that’s less complex to assemble. It incorporates the DIY style of a charcuterie board with more flexibility based on the host’s preferences.

For some hosts, a butter board may be an easier introduction before attempting a more advanced charcuterie board. Likewise, the two co-exist as plate options for different tastes.

How to Make the Best Butter Boards

What You’ll Need

Butter boards are popular because of their simplicity and short prep time. For most presentations, you’ll only need butter, toppings, a serving platter, utensils, plates, and bread or crackers.

For butters to use, chefs often recommend:

• Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter
• Plugra European Style Butter
• Shirgar Welsh Salted Butter
• Daylesford Organic Salted Butter

Leave butter on the counter to soften for 30 to 45 minutes before preparing, allowing it to spread easily.

Good platter materials include wood, marble, slate, and ceramic. Choose a footlong platter that’s wider than your butter layer so there’s room for toppings around the edges. Basic butter knives or cheese knives work well for the utensils. It’s also helpful to have cutting boards and knives close by for preparing toppings.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Follow these simple steps to assemble your butter board:

1. Leave room temperature butter on the counter until spreadable, usually about 30 to 45 minutes.
2. Place the board down and line it with parchment paper to prevent slipping.
3. Using a knife, evenly spread butter across the board. Apply it roughly one inch thick.
4. Arrange your desired toppings on top. Most recipes use 2 to 4 tablespoons of add-ons.
5. Chill the butter board for at least one hour before serving so the butter partially firms up.
6. Remove the chilled board, garnish with any fresh toppings that could wilt, and slice the bread.
7. Place the chilled board carefully near the bread basket and serving plates.

Tips for Choosing the Best Board

For best results with a board, choose a durable, food-safe board at least one foot wide with rimmed edges for stability. Nonporous materials like marble, stone, or ceramic clean up easily, but wood or terra cotta make for a beautiful aesthetic. Lining the board with parchment paper helps simplify serving and cleanup, so focus more on the available space and aesthetic of your board.

Butter Boards for the Holidays

Many hosts have hopped onto the butter board trend because they’re inexpensive and customizable. Enthusiasts shared pictures and recipes of savory and sweet boards on social media, 

It’s worth noting that many butter board recipes lack measurements and proportions. It makes sense because these boards are a free-form style food service. They don’t require precision. However, having a general formula can help conceptualize ingredients and amounts as you experiment.

Below, we’ve gathered some favorite inspirational ideas to spark your creativity and get your house ready for the holidays. While butter, salt, and bread form the base, sweet or savory themes with seasonal produce make perfect additions.

Inspirational Holiday Butter Board Ideas

Building a Balanced Butter Board

We recommend including at least one ingredient from these key categories:

For more on hosting holiday parties, check out our guide on how to host Thanksgiving potlucks.

So, Are Butter Boards Worth the Hype?

Butter boards provide creative, customizable party appetizers that are sure to please crowds. Their simplicity makes them beginner-friendly, too. While elaborate boards can seem daunting, focus instead on quality ingredients and having fun plating spreads that suit your menu.

Although butter boards likely won’t replace traditional party trays, they do offer tasty conversation starters. With our years of experience providing home holiday tips, we recommend sizing your butter base appropriately so it remains spreadable once guests dig in.

For more information on preparing for the holidays, read our guide on holiday home safety tips.