How to Create a Walmart Charcuterie & Cheese Board Under a $35 Budget

By Meg Quinn

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Dec 01, 2025

Cheese Boards Charcuterie Boards Budget Boards

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Charcuterie Board Styling Secrets
Walmart Entertaining Essentials
Cheese Board Hack
Budget Charcuterie Board Shopping List for Walmart
Rectangular Walmart Charcuterie Board Ingredients
How to Make a Cheap Charcuterie Board: Option #1
Round Walmart Charcuterie Board Ingredients
How to Make a Cheap Charcuterie Board: Option #2
Seasonal Walmart Charcuterie Board Ideas
Alternative Walmart Cheese Board Ingredients
TIP: Seasonal Produce
Walmart Board Beverage Pairings
Show Me Your Walmart Charcuterie Boards
Walmart Charcuterie Board on a Budget Recipe
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Looking to make a beautiful charcuterie board on a budget? Here’s the secret: You don’t need a specialty cheese shop to build a show-stopping charcuterie board! I’ll be honest, I don’t go to Walmart super often, but when I do, I’m always happy to find great cheeses (find the specialty cheese section near the produce!) and seasonal treats at great prices.

These two board options look super fancy, but are incredibly budget-friendly–I built each one for under $35! I chalk that up to Walmart offering your favorite cheeses at much better prices, for example: Boursin is $2.58 at my Walmart and $7 at my Whole Foods. I especially love Walmart’s bettergoods brand, which you can find in various places throughout the store–they’re elevated snacks that are perfect for cheese boarding (and girl dinner!).

I also love that you can get the food and tools all in one shopping trip. So what I’m saying is, it’s silly NOT to shop here! Plus, Walmart is available nationwide, and you can shop for your groceries online and order them for curbside pick-up without ever having to get out of your car. Can’t beat that!

For more budget-conscious cheese board ideas from your favorite grocery stores, try my Trader Joe’s Charcuterie & Cheese Board Ideas, Aldi Charcuterie Board, Costco Grazing Table, and Whole Foods Cheese Recommendations.

Charcuterie Board Styling Secrets

Visual balance: Simply put, I always avoid placing similarly colored items next to each other to help break up the board and create visual interest. For instance, instead of green grapes next to green olives, I will make sure there is something in between them, like a cheese or salami. I also try to separate cheeses because they are generally white/cream colored, so I will space them out on the board and fill the spaces between with different colors.
Mix textures: Mix textures to make the board more visually interesting and to help people choose the perfect bite. Think: shiny, snappy grapes paired with crumbly, soft cheese and juicy, silky olives.
Use herbs: I love to use fresh herbs, like rosemary and thyme, as visual dividers and to add an extra classy touch. When I say visual dividers, I mean if colors and textures end up being more similar than you want, you can place a sprig of herbs to help break up the sameness!

You can also use them to delineate flavor profiles, like a dividing line between salty cheese and charcuterie and sweet chocolate or cookies. Even a $4 pack of rosemary can make a $40 board look like you spent $100–talk about bang for your buck!
Rule of thirds: This simple design principle divides an image into a nine-square grid and encourages you to place key elements along the lines rather than in the center. It creates balance and draws the eye through it in a natural way–it works beautifully for cheese boards! Instead of centering everything, use the grid to guide where your “hero” elements (aka largest and/or most eye-catching) go.

For example, rather than placing your hero cheese in the middle of the board, position it on one of the aforementioned grid lines. It instantly elevates the appearance and makes it less predictable. In the examples below, you’ll notice I didn’t put the larger items in the center, but rather just off to the side to keep the layout balanced and interesting. o not put the larger items like ramekins in the center.

Walmart Entertaining Essentials

Walmart is a great place to find practical and affordable hosting essentials, including wooden boards, utensils, and disposable serveware that matches your party theme.

Mainstays 8.5 x 11-inch bamboo cutting board is perfect for 2 to 4 people, but the larger 11 x 24.5-inch board is great for a 6 to 10-person gathering.
Better Homes & Gardens Acacia board is great for 6 to 8 people.
This set of two wooden boards is great for a large crowd.
Walmart’s Better Homes & Gardens line has affordable, photogenic serveware, like this board + cheese knives set.
Mainstays Cheese Knives Set has all the staples for a great price.
Pioneer Woman has a great-looking line featuring items like this round, scalloped board and this rectangular scalloped board.

Cheese Board Hack

If you don’t want to buy a new board and can’t find one big enough for your party, putting two boards together or using a baking sheet lined with parchment paper will do the trick!

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Budget Charcuterie Board Shopping List for Walmart

Whenever I’m trying to keep costs down, the first thing I do is look for whole cheese blocks or logs. Buying pre-cut will add to the price. If I’m still struggling to stay below budget, I will double-up on some of the more affordable items, like grapes, to help me fill the board to make it look plentiful at a lower cost.

Another hot tip is to splurge on one or two things, like a brie wheel and/or prosciutto, and make them focal points on the board. That way, the board will still have a luxe appeal, but the rest of the items on the board are more affordable.

Use this shopping list to build a board for 6-10 people and stay in a $35 to $45 budget:

Category	Number of Items	Price
Cheese	3-4 types	$12-15
Meats	1-2 types	$5-10
Produce	2 types	$7-9
Carbs	1-2 packages	$4-7
Nuts, Spreads, Sweets & Accoutrements	2-3 items	$6-8

With that list in mind, take a look at these Walmart swaps for my usual cheese board faves to help you save when making a budget-friendly charcuterie board:

Category	Favorite SPLURGES	Go-To Walmart SAVES
Cheese	Manchego	Great Value Aged White Cheddar or Sartori Mantamore Cheddar
Cheese	Le Fromager (Double Cream Cheese, similar to Brie)	Emporium Selection Brie Wheel
Cheese	Humboldt Fog	Roth Chevre Blueberry Vanilla
Meat	Prosciutto	Applegate Uncured Genoa Salami
Meat	Salame Secchi	Marketside Peppercorn Salami
Spread	Imported Fig Jam	Great Value Raspberry Preserves
Accoutrements	Castelvetrano Olives	Delallo Pitted Olive Jubilee
Nuts	Candied Pecans or Marcona Almonds	Great Value Honey Roasted Almonds or Blue Diamond Honey Roasted Almonds

Rectangular Walmart Charcuterie Board Ingredients

There’s really no huge difference between these boards, but I wanted to show you options for whatever kind of board you have! They both feature charcuterie meats from Walmart’s Marketside brand, a range of cheeses, and some tasty add-ons.

Cheese

Sartori Merlot Belavitano Cheese (hard), sliced, $5.48
Marketside Garlic & Herb Goat Cheese (soft), $2.97
Castello Havarti (semi-soft), sliced, $4.96

Meat

Marketside Peppercorn Salami, folded, $4.24

Carbs

Good Thins Crackers, $3.58

Produce

Green grapes, $3.89
Raspberries, $2.47

Accoutrements

Delallo Pitted Olive Jubilee, $4.94
Honey roasted peanuts, $1.97

TOTAL: $34.50 + tax

Keep in mind that these prices are specific to the Los Angeles area (as of November 2025), so they may be slightly different at your local Walmart.

How to Make a Cheap Charcuterie Board: Option #1

Start by fanning the Belavitano in the top left corner of the board, then fan the Havarti in the opposite corner. Add the goat cheese in the bottom left quadrant of the board.
Place the olives and nuts in separate ramekins. Place the ramekins on the board, one in front of each fanned cheese.

Walmart charcuterie board step 3 fruit crackers

Place the grapes in the two empty corners, then fan the crackers around one of the ramekins and one pile of grapes. Arrange the raspberries on both sides of the ramekins.
Fill any empty spaces with the salami.

Meg Quinn budget charcuterie from Walmart

Round Walmart Charcuterie Board Ingredients

Unlike the rectangular board, this board has honey and chocolate! As you might know by now, I love serving honey on cheese boards–it’s delicious and adds a fancy little touch. Plus, I love serving some sweeter items on a board to balance out all the savory flavors.