• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header left navigation
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
es_ES Español
  • Mail
  • Amazon
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • About
    • Meet Tracy!
    • Contact Me
    • Disclaimers & Disclosures
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy
  • Holidays
    • New Years Eve
    • Valentine’s Day
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Easter
    • Fourth of July
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
  • es_ES
Oh, The Things We'll Make!

Oh, The Things We'll Make!

Make it yourself so that you control the ingredients!

  • Recipes
    • Appetizers & Snacks
    • Soups & Salads
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch & Dinner
    • Desserts & Sweets
      • frozen treats
    • Breads & Wraps
    • MIY Pantry Basics
    • Condiments & Sauces
    • Beverages & Smoothies
    • Carnivore Diet
    • Story Archives
  • Make it Yourself
    • Arts & Crafts
    • Face & Body
      • Cleansers, Soaps, & Gels
      • Deodorants
      • Hair
      • Skin Care
      • Oral Care
      • Baby & Toddler Care
    • Home & Garden
      • Cleaning & Laundry
      • Garden & Hens
    • Soap Making
    • Upcycling
  • About
    • Meet Tracy!
      • More About Me
    • Contact Me
    • Disclaimers & Disclosures
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers & Snacks
    • Soups & Salads
    • Beverages & Smoothies
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch & Dinner
    • Desserts & Sweets
      • frozen treats
    • Breads & Wraps
    • Condiments & Sauces
    • MIY Pantry Basics
    • Carnivore Diet
    • Story Archives
  • Make it Yourself
    • Arts & Crafts
    • Natural Face & Body
      • Cleansers, Soaps, & Gels
      • Natural Skin Care
      • Natural Hair care
      • Oral Care
      • Deodorants
      • Baby & Toddler Care
    • Soap Making
    • Home & Garden
      • Cleaning & Laundry
      • Garden & Hens
    • Photography
    • Upcycling
  • Holidays
    • New Years Eve
    • Valentine’s Day
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Easter
    • Fourth of July
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
es_ES Español
A Valentine's Dy charcuterie board a wooden board with arranged meat and cheese shaped into roses, surrounded by small leaf garnishes.

Valentine’s Day Charcuterie Board

Last Modified: February 14, 2025 // by Tracy Ariza, DDS // February 14, 2025 I may receive a commission if you purchase through links in this post. Learn more here.

es_ES Español

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
Perfect for parties or a romantic meal, this festive Valentine's charcuterie board combines hearts and roses of meats and cheese for a fun and creative appetizer or small meal. #charcuterieboard #valentinesdayrecipes #charcuterieboard #carnivorediet #carnivorerecipes

Perfect for parties or a romantic meal, this festive Valentine’s Day charcuterie board combines hearts and roses of meats and cheeses for a fun and creative appetizer or small meal.

A Valentine's Dy charcuterie board a wooden board with arranged meat and cheese shaped into roses, surrounded by small leaf garnishes.

In the past, most of my Valentine’s Day recipes were sweet treats or desserts, except for my Valentine’s Day salad with bacon roses and strawberry hearts.

Over the last years, though, I’ve ditched the little sugar I was using and followed a more meat-based diet.

Bacon roses have been my favorite Valentine’s Day food for many years. So, I decided to use them in a new way: a special Valentine’s Day charcuterie board!

My husband and I have been enjoying making a variety of charcuterie and cheese boards lately. Sometimes we have them as a light meal for a cozy night, paired with a glass of wine. Other times, they serve as a snack or appetizer. Here in Spain, the cheese boards are often even served as a dessert board!

Why make it?

While it may look more complicated than a traditional charcuterie board, it’s actually quite simple and quick to make. It’s a wonderful way to show someone you care by giving them something creative.

Set it out at parties as a grazing board for a fun, festive look. Kids adore these, and they may even enjoy helping you make them. It would be a fun bonding activity.

What do you need?

My carnivore diet charcuterie board had only meats and cheeses, but I want to suggest more ideas for those with varied diets. Feel free to add fruit and other extras to give your platter a variety of textures and flavors.

Meats

Apart from the bacon hearts, I like to add a variety of meats. As I live in Spain, I generally use Serrano ham (like prosciutto), chorizo, salchichón, and other sausages and cured meats. Use whatever you have available where you are.

This year, I made salami roses (and a variety of other cure meat flowers). They the perfect addition to a beautiful board!

Assorted cured meat and cheese arranged as rose-shaped flowers on a wooden cutting board.

Cheeses

Next, you’ll want a variety of cheeses. I usually include one hard cheese, like Manchego or Parmesan, one soft cheese, like Brie, and one medium-textured cheese, like Havarti or Swiss. You can even add a heart-shaped cheese ball, made in the same way as my Halloween hand cheese ball.

It’s also fun to use a variety of colors, most obviously white cheese and yellow cheddar. Cranberry cheese would add a touch of red. One year, I even found a green gouda pesto cheese that was perfect for making leaves for my bacon roses!

closeup overhead view of a valentines charcuterie board
Green pesto gouda makes perfect “leaves”.

This year I molded my cheese into shapes like hearts and flowers. You could also cut the cheese into shapes using cookie cutters instead!

Fruits

If you are using fresh fruits, this would be a great place for adding some strawberry hearts! They’re super easy to make and add a festive touch. To add more sweetness, you could make them chocolate-covered strawberries. (Make chocolate-covered strawberry hearts for bonus points!)

For a touch of color and texture, try adding some smaller fruits like cherries, grapes, blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries. Slices of apples can also be cut into a heart shape with a cookie cutter.

Salad with spinach, strawberry hearts, and bacon roses in a black bowl. Second image shows a strawberry heart on a skewer being dipped in melted chocolate.

Extras

Optionally, add some crunch to your snack board with some crackers, pretzel sticks, or bread. You can also garnish your platter with a few almonds, cherry tomatoes, or olives. Another great addition is small bowls with cream cheese or dips.

Putting it all together

Once you have all your ingredients gathered, it’s time to assemble your charcuterie board! Find a wooden board, slate plate, or marble slab that you can use as the base. Choose one that won’t be too big for the ingredients you want to use.

Start by making the meat roses. Check out my tutorial on making salami roses and my post on bacon roses for more details.

The gist of it, though is to roll up the meats and secure them with toothpicks. If you use a shot glass to form your salami flowers, you won’t need toothpicks.

For the bacon roses, you can also use a silicone cube mold to hold the shape while you bake them. (Bake the roses at 350-375ºF/180-190ºC until crispy.)

A four-step image guide transforms bacon strips into making bacon roses by cutting, rolling them into rose shapes, and placing in a silicone cube tray.

While the roses are baking, assemble the other ingredients. I like to use some cheese wedges, especially for soft cheeses. Slices of cheese can be nestled between slices of meat.

I used a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out some cheese hearts, but found it impossible to cleanly cut the chorizo with the cutter. So, I used some kitchen shears to shape the meat slices as wanted.

Cutting out cheese hearts using a heart-shaped cookie cutter
Cutting out a chorizo heart using kitchen shears
chorizo and cheese hearts with a heart shaped cutter and some kitchen shears

After arranging the meats and cheeses attractively, fill the empty spaces with fruits and extras. Now, it’s time to add your bacon roses! If they roll around, you can use a pair of kitchen shears to cut off the bottom, leaving the underside flat.

Other ideas

Looking for other fun ideas? I may try making butter roses next year!

If you have more of a sweet tooth than I do, feel free to make a dessert charcuterie board. You can use an assortment of heart-shaped treats, cookies, and chocolate truffles. For a candy board, use themed candies like conversation hearts and chocolate hearts, or scatter them among your other items. Make a healthier alternative to a candy board with cheeses, fresh fruit, and chocolate dip. 

overhead view of a valentines day charcuterie board with a salami rose
Several overhead valentines day charcuterie boards with a salami rose and fruits and cheeses

You could even use some homemade rose petal gummies that I showed you how to make in the past.

Video

Craving more?Subscribe to my newsletter for the latest recipes and tutorials!
Wooden platter with meat and cheese shaped as roses. Some green sage leaves are used as decoration.

Valentine’s Charcuterie board

Perfect for parties or a romantic meal, this festive Valentine's charcuterie board combines hearts and roses of meats and cheese for a fun and creative appetizer or small meal.
No ratings yet
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 402kcal
Author: Tracy Ariza, DDS

Ingredients

For bacon roses

  • 6 Strips bacon (For a dozen small roses)

For strawberry hearts

  • 2 strawberries

For meat flowers

  • 15 slices salami
  • 15 slices pepperoni

For cheese shapes

  • 100 g provolone

Instructions

Make bacon roses

  • Preheat oven to 375ºF/190ºC
  • Take each strip of bacon, and cut it in half lengthwise.
  • Roll the bacon from on end to the other. Leave them slightly loose and let the edges fold over upon themselves for a more realistic look. Use the edge with the fat for the top of the rose.
  • Place the bacon roses into small muffin tins or silicone ice cube trays to help them hold their shape as you bake them. I used silicone cube-shaped ice cube trays. If using tiny muffin tins for bacon roses, consider adding aluminum foil or toothpicks to help them hold their shape.
  • Bake the bacon roses in the oven or air fryer until brown and crisp. If the roses are brown on top but uncooked on the bottom, flip them over to cook the bottoms for a few minutes.

Make strawberry hearts

  • Cut the stems off the strawberries.
  • Cut a small v-shaped wedge out of the top center part of the strawberries to make them look like hearts. Cut the shaped strawberries in slices to form several thinner strawberry hearts from each strawberry.

Make the cured meat flowers

  • Layer slices of salami and pepperoni in overlapping circles and then roll them up to create a rose shape. You can alternatively use a shot glass to help form the rose.

Shape the cheese

  • Make cheese shapes by melting the cheese and spooning it into candy molds or by cutting it with cookie cutters.

Assemble charcuterie board

  • Find a wooden board, slate plate, or marble slab that you can use as the base. Choose one that won't be too big for the ingredients you want to use.
  • While the roses are baking, assemble the other meats and cheeses. Use a variety of cheese wedges and slices. Slices of cheese can be nestled between slices of meat.
  • Use kitchen shears to cut leftover sliced meats into hearts or other shapes, as desired.
  • Once you've arranged the meats and cheeses in a visually appealing way, place the fruits and extras around them to fill up any empty spaces.
  • Add your bacon roses. To get them to stay in place, use your kitchen shears to cut off the bottom, leaving the underside flat.

Notes

Nutritional information is calculated using the above quantities for a charcuterie board shared by 4 people. 
The bacon roses can be premade, and the strawberries can be washed, dried, and carved ahead of time. They can then be sliced and placed on the charcuterie board at the time of serving.
Course Appetizers
Cuisine Valentine’s Day
Keyword valentine’s day
Other Diets Carnivore Diet, Dairy free, Gluten free, Keto, Low Carb, Paleo
Tried this recipe? Tag me today!Mention @thethingswellmake or tag #thethingswellmake!
Serving: 4servings | Calories: 402kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 1282mg | Potassium: 257mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 0.4g | Vitamin A: 233IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 197mg | Iron: 1mg

This post was originally published on February 14, 2023. It was rewritten, adding video, new photos, and new ideas in 2025.

Category: Appetizers & Snacks, Carnivore Diet, Meats, Valentine's Day

About Tracy Ariza, DDS

Tracy Ariza, B.A., D.D.S., left dentistry and the United States to found Oh, The Things We’ll Make!, writing to you from the Spanish Riviera. She loves making things herself in order to keep control of what goes in them. While far from perfect, she strives each day to live a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle.

Previous Post:A hand holding a bouquet of bacon roses with green sage leaves, set against a wooden background.How to Make Bacon Roses
Next Post:Homemade Fire Starters with Dryer Lint (No Wax)firestarter that has been lit and is flaming

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Sidebar

Search

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Hello, I’m Tracy!

I love making my own natural products like soaps and lotions and my own pantry items like yogurt and salad dressings.
Why do I do it? Sometimes to save money, sometimes because it's healthier, but I always love having control of the ingredients!​
Oh, the things we'll make!...

More about Tracy

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Featured on Buzzfeed, Lifehacker, Fitness, Shape, Country Living, Healthline, Redbook, Redfin

Closeup of 4 bars of homemade soap. Two of them have been wrapped in brown paper and wrapped with ribbons. One soap is wrapped with red ribbon and the other with white ribbon.

Making an Easy, Basic Beginner Soap, and Then Making it Fun!!

Homemade prawn crackers on a plate in front of uncooked homemade prawn crackers and a roll of prawn crackers dough.

Prawn Crackers from Scratch

Impress your friends and save money by making your own soy sauce from scratch. Today we'll learn how to make a homemade shoyu, a fermented Japanese soy sauce made from soybeans and wheat berries. #shoyu #soysauce

How to Make Soy Sauce (Homemade Shoyu)

Two bottles of a homemade conditioner next to a wooden comb and a washcloth.

Easy DIY Hair Conditioner for Natural Hair

A small glass jar filled with an emulsified sugar scrub with a wooden spoon in it.

Easy Emulsified Sugar Scrub

Over head view of a spoon full of tomato paste over a jar full of it. A couple of fresh tomatoes lay next to the jar.

Easy Homemade Tomato Paste Recipe

Featured on Buzzfeed, Lifehacker, Fitness, Shape, Country Living, Healthline, Redbook, Redfin

Oh the things we'll make.

Copyright © 2025 Tracy Ariza · Disclaimers and Disclosures · Privacy Policy · Cookie Policy

Rate This Recipe

Your vote:




Let us know what you thought of this recipe:

This worked exactly as written, thanks!
My family loved this!
Thank you for sharing this recipe

Or write in your own words:

A rating is required
A name is required
An email is required
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok