How to Build an Epic Breakfast Charcuterie Board

Aren’t boards the best? Boards are the best! I love serving this Breakfast Charcuterie Board on weekends for breakfast, brunch or even breakfast-for-dinner.

It’s festive and fun, always brings smiles and – let’s be honest – it’s the most important meal of the day! 

I’m going to give you all of my favorite ideas for an epic breakfast charcuterie board that’s fully loaded with bagels, pancakes, muffins, crispy bacon, sweet jams, spreads and fresh fruit.

Plus, I’ll show you, step-by-step, how to put it all together. Let’s do this! 

What is a Breakfast Charcuterie Board? 

A breakfast charcuterie board, or brunch charcuterie board, is a celebration of all of our favorite breakfast foods. It can include any types of breakfast or brunch foods that you like, and you’re only as limited as your imagination. 

While traditional charcuterie boards are predominantly made with meats, a breakfast board can include sweet and savory items like pastries, spreads, bacon, sausage, fresh fruit and even hard-boiled eggs.

The idea of a brunch board is that your guests can serve themselves in a leisurely way that encourages conversation and togetherness. 

This easy charcuterie board is a great way to celebrate the special occasions that traditionally center around brunch!

Think baby shower, Mother’s Day and Christmas morning. Serve up everyone’s favorite breakfast items on one board and let them serve themselves. 

Ingredients for this Breakfast Charcuterie Board

The Breads

Bite-sized, grabbable goodies are great options for a breakfast spread. They’re easily accessible and visually pleasing. 

• Mini bagels. Be sure they’re pre-sliced so it’s easier for your guests.
• Mini waffles. You can find these in the freezer section of most grocery stores. 
• Mini pancakes. Same as the waffles, you’ll find these frozen at your grocery store. 
• Mini muffins. These add something sweet to your board. Choose any flavor of muffin you like! Mini cinnamon rolls and French toast sticks are other great options for something sweet. 

The Proteins

For your guests who aren’t carbloading, be sure to include some protein-rich offerings:

• Bacon. You could also include breakfast sausage for an additional protein. 
• Deviled eggs or hard-boiled eggs. Pictured here are my Classic Deviled Eggs. They’re very easy to make and they’re always the first items to disappear! 

The Spreads

The sky’s the limit with what you can offer to spread on all those carbs! Here’s what you’ll need for this board: 

• Cream cheese
• Fruit jams
• Peanut butter
• Maple syrup

The Extras

To round out the board, include seasonally appropriate fruits or veggies, plus a lighter option. Fresh herbs and even edible flowers are also good options. On this board:

• Greek yogurt
• Granola
• Fresh berries

How to build the best Breakfast Charcuterie Board

Anchor the focal items

Choose one or two items that you will arrange the rest of the items around.

For my cheese boards, I like to anchor the board with the cheeses and then arrange the spreads, crackers and fruits around them. For my smoked salmon charcuterie board, I use the salmon as my anchor and arrange the accoutrements around it. 

For this breakfast charcuterie board, we’re using the mini pancakes as our anchor. Arrange the pancakes in a wavy line down the center of the board. 

Next, the Spreads

Once your pancakes are down, arrange the small bowls of spreads in various locations on the board. This includes your peanut butter, cream cheese, jams and maple syrup. 

Because the Greek yogurt is also in a small bowl, let’s put that on the board now too. 

Same goes for the bacon or sausage links, if you’re using them. Put the strips of bacon into a taller glass (I use a mason jar) and anchor it to the board now. 

Now, the Breads

Start to fill in the empty spaces around the spreads with the mini bagels, muffins and waffles. Don’t worry if there are still empty spaces. 

Fill in the Negative Space

Here’s where we’ll fill in the gaps with deviled eggs and fresh berries. These items add pops of color all over the board and really make it look beautiful.

Be sure to fill in any negative space that you see. 

Pro Tips for building an epic Breakfast Charcuterie Board

1. Mise en Place. This is a French term that means having all of your ingredients measured, sliced, diced and prepped before you begin cooking. For our purposes, this means having our bacon cooked, our berries washed, our pastries unpackaged and our hot foods hot. Keep your hot foods covered with dish towels while you work so that they stay as warm as possible. 

2. Warm the maple syrup. It’s a nice touch and also makes the pancakes more appetizing. 

3. Allow the spreads to come to room temperature. About an hour before you plan to build the board, take the cream cheese and jams out of the fridge. They’ll be more spreadable this way.

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How to Store Leftovers of this Breakfast Charcuterie Board

If you have any breakfast favorites left over and you want to keep them, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

The spreads can simply be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for later use. 

The whole family is going to love this Breakfast Charcuterie Board!

And when you make it, I’d love to hear about it. Drop a rating or leave a comment below. Enjoy! 

For more grazing board ideas, try these:

• Smoked Salmon Charcuterie Board
• Greek Charcuterie Board (Mezze)
• Dessert Butter Board with Peanut Butter

For more cheese board ideas, try these: 

• Harvest Cheese Board
• Holiday Cheese Board
• Spring Cheese Board
• Summertime Cheese Board

For more breakfast ideas, try these:

• Apple Butter Cranberry Muffins with Streusel Topping
• Sausage, Egg & Cheese Strata
• Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes