Easy Trader Joe’s Spring Snack Board

This Easy Trader Joe’s Spring Snack Board features in-season veggies, honey goat cheese, pink flower cookies, and more! Perfect for large families and small gatherings. Prep-ahead, storing leftovers tips, and a video included!

As we ease back into small gatherings and family meals, there’s plenty to be stressed about, so let’s not have food be one of those things, right? Anyone can make this beautiful Spring snack board!

Boards and platters are such an easy way to prep ahead of time and let people feed themselves when and what they want. I also like them because they’re so gorgeous and fun to put together. 

This Easy Trader Joe’s Spring Snack Board can easily function as a meal for up to five or six people, or a light pre-dinner app for a few more than that. 

Best part: Everything pictured was purchased at Trader Joe’s!

Watch how to Assemble the Easy Trader Joe’s Spring Snack Board (1 minute 45 seconds):

What type of equipment do you need to make this snack board?

There are only a few simple things you need to create your own snack board:

• a rimmed half sheet pan (affiliate link!) – I recommend using a rimmed baking sheet because almost everyone has one and they are the perfect size. You do not have to use a fancy wooden board or platter. A baking sheet pan works just fine.
• parchment paper – To fancy up our sheet pan snack platter (and make for easy clean up), line the sheet pan with a similarly sized piece of parchment paper.
• tongs, spoons, toothpicks or other utensil – If you’re sharing food with a small group that is not your immediate family, let’s at least use some tongs or other utensil for grabbing foods off the platter.

What ingredients go on the Trader Joe’s Spring Snack Board?

Here are all of the ingredients I purchased at Trader Joe’s for this beautiful Spring snack board. I tried to stick with in-season produce and colors, along with lighter, milder cheeses. 

I’m including the prices of each item so you can see how affordable this snack board was to make, and choose what to replace and keep for your own board! Prices from Seattle, WA in April 2021.

• Crackers – My favorite Trader Joe’s cracker are the Social Snackers for $2.69. They are delicious, buttery and versatile enough to go on a snack board for any season!
• Cheeses – I picked two of my favorite milder cheeses for this Spring snack board. I choose the Honey Goat Cheese Log for $2.99 and the Mini Brie Bites for $4.49. I chose these cheeses for their smaller portions – plus the mini Brie bites are individually wrapped, which is handy in case not everyone likes brie or if you have leftovers. 
• Sugar Snap Peas – I picked up a 12 ounce bag of sugar snap peas for $2.49. Snap peas are awesome for any kind of meal prep (but especially for snacks) because there’s no cutting or prep work involved.
• Rainbow Carrots – Trader Joe’s sells these super cute Petite Carrots of Many Colors for $3.99 and they’re already peeled which is so helpful. I love using rainbow carrots for extra colors, but you can use any carrots you have.
• Spring Cookies – These little shortbread cookies are pieces of heaven and they are where this whole board started! The Pinks and Whites Cookies for $3.29 are my favorite part of this snack board. On theme, delicious, cute!
• Dip for Veggies – I opted for the Green Goddess Dip for $3.99. Really, the carrots and snap peas are just a vessel for this delicious dip, which is also beautifully green and springy. 
• Fresh in-season flowers – To really get into the Spring vibe, adding some fresh flowers to the board, as well as a vase on the table. At Trader Joe’s, I found 10 stems of daffodils for $1.79 and a large bunch of chamomile flowers for $3.99.

The entire cost of this Easy Trader Joe’s Spring Snack Board was $29.71. Skip the flowers and it goes down to $23.93!

How do you pick veggies for the snack board?

To choose my veggies for the snack board, I looked for in-season produce that would be colorful on my snack board. I ended up with rainbow carrots and sugar snap peas, but here are a few more options!

• gorgeous rainbow radishes I almost got for my snack board!
• sliced & pickled beets (or anything pickled!)
• pea greens and other microgreens
• strawberry season starts in Spring depending on your location

How do you pick meats & cheeses for the snack board?

For my Spring snack board, I opted to stay light and fresh for my meats and cheeses. Things like sharp cheddar or greasy pepperoni weren’t the vibe I was going for here. Of course, your Spring snack board should be anything you want it to be 🙂

Instead, I wanted mild flavors and soft textures. When I saw the Honey Goat Cheese, I knew it was perfect! And then the mini Brie bites… my vision came together in front of my eyes!

Of course, if you have a favorite cheese or if something else catches your eye, go for it! I can’t really say no to cheese. I also think a havarti would be really good on this platter!

As for the meat situation, again, I wanted something mild, light, and not a strong flavor. The Trader Joe’s Turkey Summer Sausage does exactly that for me! 

How much cheese should you buy for your cheese board?

If your cheese board is the main food event, here’s a good rule of thumb:

• 1-2 ounces per person per type of cheese

This helps ensure that everyone gets to try each cheese, and really you can never have too much cheese!

For example, this Spring snack board should feed about 5-6 people as a main course. There was 5 ounces of goat cheese and 4.4 ounces of brie bites. So it’s not exact, but you get the idea!

Best crackers from Trader Joe’s:

In general for a cheese board, you should select crackers with no added flavors so you can truly appreciate the cheeses, meats and dips you have selected. If you’re serving multiple kinds of crackers, aim for different textures or grains.

Here are a couple of the Trader Joe’s crackers you could use for your Spring Snack Board:

• Social Snackers – flaky, small, with a mild flavor that goes with everything on the board. Affordable!
• Cracker Assortment – as the name states, this is a great box of four types of assorted crackers that make it look like you bought way more kinds of crackers than you actually did, which is extra fun if you’re serving more people!
• Beet Crisps – I personally am not a huge fan of beets, but if I was, I would add these colorful TJs crisps to my Spring snack board.

What makes the Easy Trader Joe’s Spring Snack Board Springy?

A solid snack platter is appropriate for any time of year, so to give this board a more Spring vibe, you have to get some seasonal ingredients!

Here’s what makes this snack board bright and Springy:

• seasonal veggies – both sugar snap peas and carrots are in-season in the Spring! You could also add sliced radishes.
• soft & mild cheeses – this is more of a preference, but I think softer and milder cheeses go best with the chosen Spring veggies.
• pink and white flower cookies – these cookies remind me so much of Spring! you could also add jelly beans or chocolate eggs!
• fresh Spring flowers – the added touch of fresh flower garnish takes this board up three whole notches if you ask me! I used daffodil stems and a chamomile flower bouquet. Bonus: I put the rest of the flowers in water and they lasted several days.
• light buttery crackers – TJs social snackers go with any snack board, but they fit especially well with the other things on this snack board 🙂

How to keep your snack board affordable:

Buying all that cheese and meat and a platter is SO expensive! Here are my tips to keep your snack boards more affordable.

• Use a rimmed baking sheet pan. No need to buy an expensive board or platter.
• Skip meats completely, and go for more veggies or other snacks. Meats are usually the most expensive thing on a snack board.
• Flowers from the store are not necessary to make your board springy! Do you have anything in your yard you could use instead? 
• Sometimes I have bulks nuts from Costco or other snacks sitting in the pantry that need to be used up. You can add a bowl onto the board and use those snacks from the pantry instead of buying new snacks.
• Buy smaller cuts of cheese, instead of huge chunks. This will offset the chance of spending a huge amount of money on a variety of cheese nobody eats.

How to personalize your Spring Snack Board:

This Easy Trader Joe’s Spring Snack Board is really just one example of how you can put a Spring snack board together. Use my ideas as a guide, and personalize it to your own tastes!

Here are some ways you can personalize this Spring snack board:

• Use different meats and cheeses! I used honey goat cheese, mini brie bites, and turkey summer sausage, but you can definitely change it up.
• Try out different veggies that are in season near you, for example radishes!
• Arrange your board without looking at anyone else’s. It’s guaranteed to be unique!
• Add different sweets to match the seasonal holidays – jelly beans, yogurt covered pretzels, chocolate eggs, and more!
• Add a fresh or floral jam or spread for the crackers, something you like!
• Use different flowers and garnishes to make it pretty!

How to Prep your TJ’s Spring Snack Board ahead:

This board has very little prep-ahead work, but here are some ideas to save you even more time! 

Prep a day or two ahead:

• Use sugar snap peas for a zero prep veggie option
• Use the Les Petites Carrots from Trader Joe’s which are already peeled – then remove the tops, slice them in half, then store in water in the fridge until ready to use
• Slice the turkey summer sausage and any cheese that need to be cut. Store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.
• Choose goat cheese logs or mini brie for no prep cheese options. 

Prep up to 4 hours ahead:

• prep your snack board up to 4 hours ahead of serving time, but make sure you have room to store it in the fridge

How to store leftovers from your TJs Spring Snack Board:

• Save containers that the ingredients came in, like the dip and the box for the cookies.
• Store cheeses, meats and veggies in airtight containers in the fridge for up to four days.
• Store carrots in a 1 inch layer of water to retain moisture.
• Try to consume anything you cut up or opened within 4 days.