Top 8 grazing board ideas

Our grazing board ideas are guaranteed to create a crowd-pleasing spread. See how to make a grazing board, and be inspired with our easy ideas and top picks from the Foodhall.

Senior Food Editor at M&S Food

Heather Taylor

How to make a grazing board

The perfect picky tea is all about assembling a mixture of flavours, colours, shapes and textures. Theme your board around a cuisine you love, whether it's Spanish-inspired tapas bites, a Greek mezze-style feast, a Mediterranean charcuterie board or traditional British picnic faves.

Add fresh fruit and crudités for freshness and colour, crunchy crackers for texture, and your favourite wine or fizz to sip alongside.

Ready to get grazing? Discover some of our favourite grazing board ideas.

Picky tea recipe ideas

1. Italian grazing board

Scour the Foodhall for top-quality Italian ingredients to create an epic spread.

Top our bake-and-serve ciabatta with Cantabrian Anchovy Fillets.
Toss rocket and peaches in Italian olive oil and top with stracciatella plus a drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar de Modena.
Spread our Woodfired Pizza Base with a spoonful of our Pizza Sauce, 'Nduja Picante and a handful of Chargrilled Artichokes, plus torn Buffalo Mozzarella, then bake until golden.
Serve with our Italian Salami Milano, Italian Olive Collection, Italian Grilled Peppers and Rosemary and Sea Salt Dried Foccacia.
And to drink? Just add Limoncello Spritz tinnies.

Italian recipes

Italian picky bits

2. Breakfast grazing board

For a lazy breakfast, load up a tray with Foodhall treats.

Cook our Frozen Croissants according to the pack instructions. Allow to cool slightly, then split in half and fill with ham and sliced emmental cheese. Return to the oven for five to 10 minutes, until the cheese has melted.
Toast our Sourdough Bagels and top with cream cheese, our Collection Dressed Smoked Salmon, some sliced shallots, capers, dill and a squeeze of lemon.
Prep our Cinnamon Bun Mix according to the pack instructions.
Serve with fresh fruit, orange juice and sliced avocado.

Brunch recipes

3. Summer grazing board

Make a vibrant summer grazing board by starting with a mix of dips and spreads at the centre.

Create tulip toasts by spreading your Dill and Chive Cream Cheese Spread onto toasted bread, then top with carefully crafted tomato ‘tulips’ — made from cut, hollowed tomatoes with chive stems inserted — and finish with extra herbs for a playful, floral effect.
Make ladybird caprese crostinis by lightly topping toasted baguette slices with pesto, mozzarella and basil, then finishing with halved cherry tomatoes decorated with balsamic glaze and olive ‘heads’.
Flip out the Flip ‘n’ Dip Creamy Basil Dip for an instant showstopper and pair it with Ultimate Dipper Tortillas arranged around the board for dipping.
Add bowls of Roasted Caponata Topper and Greek Style Bean Pot to bring rich, Mediterranean-inspired flavour and lay out Ruffled Spanish Chorizo and Chilli Cheddar Cheese for easy charcuterie-style grazing.

More summer recipes

4. Party grazing board

A few ready-made favourites with some extra finishing touches, and you’ve got a picky tea to be proud of.

Top Houmous with Extra Virgin Olive Oil with a spoonful of Collection Calabrian Chilli Paste.
Toast slices of our Collection Crafted Sourdough Baguette. Meanwhile, heat 50g butter until it foams and smells nutty, then throw in a handful of fresh sage leaves. Top the toasts with torn burrata and pour over the nutty brown butter.
Cook our frozen Tempura Prawns according to the pack instructions, and serve with Mango and Sweet Chilli Dipping Sauce.
Spread our Smoked Salmon Paté onto Collection Rye Sourdough Crackers, finishing with fresh dill and lemon wedges.
Skewer cubes of pineapple onto cocktail sticks with a chunk of 5-year-aged Cornish Cruncher Cheddar and a slice of prosciutto.

More party food

5. Hot cheese grazing board

Try baking a whole Camembert with a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce, then serving with some moreish picky bits:

To make prosciutto-wrapped dates, preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Tear 4 slices of Parma ham into 12 thin strips. Wrap each strip around a Collection Medjool Date. Skewer each with a cocktail stick to keep in place, and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until crisp.
Whip up a batch of easy puff pastry pinwheels.
To make chilli pesto bruschetta, spread one pack of Bruschettini with a jar of M&S Collection Calabrian Chilli Pesto.

How to build a cheeseboard

6. Scandi-style grazing board

Make a quick potato salad by tossing boiled new potatoes in our Collection Dill and Mustard Sauce.
Pile Cantabrian Anchovy Fillets onto toasted soda bread with lots of butter.
Make pink beetroot eggs by hard-boiling four eggs. Add 100g cooked beetroot to a container with 75ml red wine vinegar and the zest and juice of a lemon. Peel the eggs and add to the container, then leave in the fridge for 1 hour to marinate.
Arrange everything on a board with Sweet Cured Hot Smoked Mackerel, Beetroot, Horseradish and Dill Smoked Salmon, Baby Cucumbers, sliced radishes, lemon wedges and fresh dill.

7. Mezze-style grazing board

For the ultimate low-fuss, high-impact grazing board, head to our deli aisle to pick up flavour-packed mezze bites. Think smoky Grilled Turkish Olives, sweet Orange Sunburst Peppers, vibrant Dressed Salsa Verde Chickpeas and Pesto Houmous. Just add toasted ciabatta for dunking and you're good to go.

Browse deli

Grazing board must-haves

8. Family film night grazing board

Spread our Collection Woodfired Plain Pizza Base with Pizza Sauce, and top with mozzarella then bake. Let everyone in the family choose their own toppings – try Chargrilled Artichokes, olives or red peppers.
Bake a batch of fresh chocolate chip cookies using some handy Belgian Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough.
Serve with tortilla chips and dips – everyone will love our Topped Chicken Shawarma Dip.
Don't forget the popcorn!

Dips for dinner