The "board" trend has come for soup now. Photo / Babiche Martens
There was a time when a bowl of soup was the definition of modest fare: simple, soothing, best enjoyed with buttered toast. But in the viral food era, even soup isn’t safe from reinvention.
Enter the soup board – the latest maximalist grazing concept doing the rounds on TikTok and Pinterest. A wintry twist on the butter board trend of 2022, this format sees bowls of soup placed on a wooden board and surrounded by elaborate accompaniments: think mini grilled cheese sandwiches, crisped chickpeas, curls of parmesan, flavoured oils, herby seed blends and crusty hunks of sourdough ready for dunking.
Try:
Like many viral food trends, it’s as much about the aesthetics as the eating. The boards are carefully composed for overhead shots, with bright-orange tomato soups swirled with cream, chilli oil shimmering on the surface, and garnishes scattered just so. The style falls somewhere between soup-and-sides and a deconstructed lunch tray – both whimsical and slightly chaotic.
The question, though, is whether this is a trend with real traction or just another fleeting social media spectacle.
To understand the soup board, it helps to look back at its predecessors. The charcuterie board, once a preserve of French picnic culture, has been reimagined online into countless themed iterations: breakfast boards, dessert boards, nacho boards, even fry boards. The butter board, popularised on TikTok in late 2022 by creator Justine Doiron (inspired by chef Joshua McFadden), was perhaps the peak of the genre – a communal slab of softened butter swiped on to a board and topped with anything from edible flowers to za’atar to hot honey.
The soup board takes that same spirit – interactive, shareable, aesthetically excessive – and applies it to a comfort-food staple, conveniently timed for the Southern Hemisphere winter. In videos tagged #soupboard and #soupcharcuterieboard, creators show off curated combinations: butternut soup with bacon bits, cheddar shards and thyme croutons; chicken tortilla soup flanked by lime wedges, jalapenos and toasted corn strips; and even multiple soups in miniature ramekins for a “flight” format.
Some boards lean into customisation, setting out a central tureen of soup and arranging toppings around it. Others offer individual bowls with themed pairings. In all cases, visual appeal is paramount.
The appeal is obvious. Soup is inherently comforting, and for many people, winter cooking skews nostalgic. The board format adds a playful, DIY aspect that lends itself to small-scale entertaining – a kind of adult lunchable with flair. It also photographs beautifully, which remains a driving force behind many viral food trends.
But critics have pointed out the soup board’s flaws. For one, it’s messy. Hot liquid on a wooden surface, surrounded by precarious crumbs, dripping oils and sticky toppings, is a clean-up challenge waiting to happen. Wood isn’t the most hygienic serving material, especially for anything involving moisture. There’s also a certain impracticality to balancing multiple mini soup bowls on a single board.
As Bettina Makalintal, a writer for US-based food site Eater, put it in a wry 2023 article: “The soup board is chaos. It is an affront to the stability of soup as a concept.” She argued that many of the boards seemed designed more for social media engagement than actual enjoyment.
In New Zealand, where winter comfort food tends to favour the humble and hearty over the performative, the soup board may seem like a step too far. But as local entertaining norms evolve – and social media continues to influence how we present food – there’s space for these kinds of playful ideas to find a niche.
It helps that the concept is easily adapted to what Kiwis are already cooking. A single soup – say, roasted cauliflower, pumpkin and coconut, or classic tomato – could be served with a couple of simple accompaniments: grilled cheese triangles, roasted seeds, herby croutons, flavoured olive oil. It doesn’t need to be complicated to feel special.
Some cafes and caterers may find more use for the idea than home cooks. Like butter boards before them, soup boards are arguably better suited to stylised settings – think grazing tables at events, or social media content for cafes looking to lean into the seasonal mood. But home cooks who enjoy putting together a bit of a spread – or entertaining without going full three-course dinner – may still find inspiration in the format.
In the end, the soup board is probably less a revolutionary new way of eating and more a clever reframe of what many people already enjoy: warm soup with good bread and a few things to sprinkle on top. The trend’s real power lies in how it makes the familiar feel a little more curated, a little more “occasion-worthy”.
And for all its potential mess and overthinking, it does remind us that even something as humble as soup can be made to feel indulgent with the right trimmings.
Herald contributor Nikki Birrell has worked in food and travel publishing for nearly 20 years. From managing your kitchen to cutting costs, she’s shared some helpful advice recently, including how to prep your barbecue for summer grilling, gourmet hacks for elevating budget ingredients and what toppings to choose for different crackers.