What is a butter board? Inside the newest TikTok-inspired food trend

The latest gourmet food trend garnering millions of views on social media has made its way to Saskatchewan.

A butter board is exactly what it sounds like: butter on a board. The softened butter is smeared on a dish or board, toppings are added and then foods like bread or crackers are dipped into the spread. Some people are calling it an evolution from a charcuterie board.

Regina’s Takeaway Gourmet began offering butter boards to customers a few weeks ago after seeing videos on TikTok.

“I actually had a couple of people send me it and I was ‘I need to come into work and make one of these,’” Jillian Warawa, the manager of Takeaway Gourmet, said.

“I came into work the next day and made one. Customers who were coming in were like ‘what is that?’ and we all enjoyed it together. I was like ‘this is a hit. This is great. We need to have this at the store.’”

Jillian Warawa, the manager of Takeaway Gourmet, poses with a butter board. (Gareth Dillistone/CTV News)

Some butter board videos posted on TikTok have racked up more than 10 million views. Social media users are getting creative with their boards adding ingredients like bacon, cheeses, nuts and vegetables.

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Warawa said what makes them stand out is the effort put into the presentation and the variety of ways to consume it.

“If you want it to be sweet we do jams and berries. We always garnish it with fresh herbs,” Warawa said.

“If you want it to be more savoury we do chutneys and mustard, and then you’ll still get those herb garnishes. Then you take a baguette or cracker or whatever boat you want for the butter, you dip it in and you enjoy it with friends and family.”

Since posting about it on the store’s social media page, Warawa said they’ve been getting more and more orders for butter boards.

“It was a TikTok, turned experiment, turned new store product,” she said.

“The nice thing is that everything kind of plays together. Instead of having separate jam and fruit on the side, it’s all together, so you can get everything in one swipe.”

Takeaway Gourmet is open to customizing the boards into whatever a customer wants it to be.

“The options are endless,” Warawa said. “Butter is a great canvas for everything.”

At this point, Warawa said she hasn’t seen or heard of any other local businesses offering butter boards.

BUTTER BOARD EVOLUTION

The butter board trend has already started to progress, with people now creating boards of peanut butter, cream cheese, frosting and more.

“People have really started to evolve and move it forward,” professional chef Josh Miller said.

“They’re using a bunch of different things that can change it up and put their own little spin on it. It’s really cool to be able to see how people are interacting with that trend and putting their own food journey on it.”

Miller said social media has been leading the charge with new food trends lately.

“In one click you can see around the world and see what’s going on all over,” he said.

“Being able to use social media for food is crazy because you eat with your eyes. You’re scrolling through and you see something that really catches your eye. You start doing it, your friends start doing it, so it really grows that charge.”

Butter boards and their spin offs have already become a hit in Miller’s life.

“People want that spread and they want to add something new,” he said.

“When you see this nice spread out board and it’s really nicely dressed and fancied up, you’re kind of naturally drawn to it. You want to see what’s on it and taste it.”