This easy Mexican Themed Charcuterie Board is perfect for your neighborhood Cinco de Mayo celebration or your next Taco Tuesday with the family! Make everything from scratch, or mix and match with your store-bought favorites. Everybody wins with this delicious snack board!
Creating a good charcuterie board is the most fun way to spend your party planning time. The best part is that you can create a menu with a variety of items to suit your taste buds and your event. When you're planning your menu, use a rainbow of colors, textures and flavors to feed your people.
Whether you're hosting a super bowl party, a birthday party, or a fun weekend taco night any time of year, building an entire board of your favorite Mexican flavors is a great way to entertain!
What you'll need to build your custom charcuterie board, Mexican-style!
Here are some of my favorite items to add to my taco and nacho board, and they're always a big hit.
- Sweet & Spicy Mexican Shrimp Tacos
- Baked Fish Tacos
- Grilled Mexican Street Corn Casserole
- Grilled Peppers & Onions for Fajitas
- Mango Habanero Salsa
- Taco Truck Green Sauce
- Creamy Jalapeno Ranch Sauce
- Pickled Red Onion
- Tortilla Chips or Plantain Chips
- Queso Fresco, Cotija cheese or cheese of your choice
- Pico de Gallo
- Sour Cream
- Cheese Dip
- Fresh Cilantro
- Ripe Avocado (or homemade guacamole)
- Fresh veggies
Step by step instructions for building the perfect finger food board:
1. Determine board size
If your goal is a small board that will serve 4-6 people, plan for 3-4 dips and toppings, 1-2 types of tacos, taquitos or fajitas, and a variety of your favorite toppings. If you're planning a little fiesta, this one's for you!
For a large platter full of Mexican flavors (one more suited to feeding a crowd) use everything for the small board, but add a few side dishes, as well. Choose your favorite dishes such as corn casserole, rice, beans or grilled peppers and onions to add to your variety of salsas and dips. Finally, plan for 2 tacos person.
2. Build charcuterie board
Start building your Mexican board by arranging 3-4 small bowls of dips, salsa and toppings down the center of the board. Next, add your side dishes, like grilled peppers and onions, Mexican corn casserole, red rice or authentic refried black beans.
Once the larger items in bowls and dishes are in place, arrange your tacos along the edges of the board. I prefer to build the tacos or fajitas before putting them on the board, as it helps move the line along when you're serving a crowd. Everyone can grab a prepared taco or two quickly.
But feel free to grill your tortillas and leave them wrapped in a tea towel on the board, with a few dishes of your protein (fish, shrimp, ground beef, carne asada, shredded chicken or carnitas) for everyone to build their own tacos.
Next, fill in the spaces around the bowls of dip with your corn chips or dipping vehicles of choice! Finally, add fresh garnishes like avocado sprinkled with Tajin (or chili powder), cilantro leaves and lime wedges.
3. Serve and enjoy with friends
Your beautiful board full of craveable Mexican cuisine are ready for your Cinco de Mayo party!
Looking for more delicious charcuterie ideas?
FAQ's and Serving Suggestions:
I like to keep a variety of dips on the board that keep well at room temperature, so the chips and dips can stay outside. For items that require cold or hot temperatures, I recommend serving in smaller quantities and refilling, as needed, to keep everything fresh.
The easiest way to make this party happen is by using a mix of store-bought and homemade options. Most grocery stores offer high quality fresh salsas, guacamole, cheese dips and even cooked carnitas or shrimp. Build your menu around the items you love to cook, whether that's Baja Fish Tacos, Baked Fish Tacos or even Mexican Grilled Street Corn. Then grab a big bag of your favorite tortilla chips and some fresh limes and get that party started.
Move meat, chicken or seafood items into airtight containers and store in the refrigerator. Wrap all other items individually and return to fridge. Grilled tortillas will likely need to be tossed if they're not eaten, as they don't hold well.
Mexican Themed Charcuterie Board (for Cinco de Mayo!)
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 8-10
Ingredients
Sweet & Spicy Mexican Shrimp Tacos
Grilled Mexican Street Corn Casserole
Grilled Peppers & Onions for Fajitas
Tortilla Chips or Plantain Chips
Queso Fresco, Cotija cheese or cheese of your choice
Pico de Gallo
Sour Cream
Fresh Cilantro
Fresh Ripe Avocado (or homemade guacamole)
Fresh veggies or finger foods
Instructions
- Start building your Mexican board by arranging 3-4 small bowls of dips, salsa and toppings down the center of the board. Next, add your side dishes, like grilled peppers and onions, Mexican corn casserole, red rice or authentic refried black beans.
- Once the larger items in bowls and dishes are in place, arrange your tacos along the edges of the board.
- Next, fill in the spaces around the bowls of dip with your corn chips or dipping vehicles of choice!
- Finally, add fresh touches like avocado sprinkled with Tajin, cilantro leaves and lime wedges.
- Your Mexican food charcuterie board is ready to party!
Notes
Building a Mexican themed charcuterie board is easy to build using a combination of homemade sauces, sides and proteins, along with high quality store bought ingredients.
- Prep Time: 20
- Category: Easy Recipes
- Method: Oven and Stove Top
- Cuisine: Mexican
Dave P
One question, how do you keep everything hot that is supposed to be hot while building that big board? Thanks
Christina Jolam
Great question! I build out all the room temp and chilled items first, leaving spaces on the board for the warm food (tacos, etc). Then right before serving I add all the warm food and put out the board. It's usually eaten so quickly the food doesn't have time to cool off 😉