The 10 Best Personalized Cutting Boards for Home Cooks

Best Overall: John Boos End-Grain Rectangular Chopping Block

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This style of cutting board is exceptionally solid and sturdy, crafted from end-grain maple with the option of adding a monogram or name engraving up to three letters maximum. It's reversible, too, so either the engraved surface or the flat backside (with no engraving) can be used as the cutting surface. One thing to note with John Boos boards is that they do require some care and maintenance, such as oiling the board before first use and routinely thereafter when cleaning, particularly if you plan to put it into heavy service. This board is hand wash only.

Dimensions: 20 x 15 x 3 inches | Material: Maple | Weight: 21 pounds

Best for Barbecue: Bisonwoodworks Competition BBQ Cutting Board

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This is one serious reversible cutting board. Designed to handle large cuts of meat, it's also nice for slicing up juicy fruits and veggies. The substantial and elegant cutting board is available in three different woods, which you can also get without engravings, if you wish. It has a deep well around the entire edge to catch juices and bits (excluding the 16 x 12-inch version), making this board ideal for carving grilled meats or slicing watermelon at a backyard barbecue. It even has finger slots for easy lifting when it comes to transporting from grill to table. Available in five different sizes, this is easily large enough to handle a rib roast or whole bird and stay put under its own weigh—plus, it’s gorgeous. This board arrives with the first treatment of food-grade mineral oil, but will need to be kept well-oiled with use.

Dimensions: 12 x 16; 18 x 18; 16 x 20; 18 x 24; or 20 x 30 inches | Material: Maple, mahogany, and walnut | Weight: Varies by size selection

Best Plastic: Blackbird Design Monogrammed Commercial Plastic Cutting Board

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Unlike boards made from wood and bamboo, plastic cutting boards are dishwasher safe, making them easier to clean and sanitize. They're also easier to store as they tend to be thinner and lightweight. These NSF-certified, commercial-grade plastic boards feature a juice groove around the edge, are available in six different colors, and can be personalized with the word, name, number, or monogrammed initials of your choice.

Dimensions: 16 x 12 x .5 | Material: Commercial plastic | Color Options: Blue, red, brown, white, yellow, green

Best With Recipe: Uncommon Goods Personalized Family Recipe Board

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This personalized cutting board offers a special way to preserve and share a cherished family recipe. You just need to send a scan of any handwritten recipe and it will be laser-etched onto a sturdy and attractive cherrywood board. Alternatively, the recipe to be etched can be typed in a handwriting-style font. The result is both a sentimental keepsake and practical way to conserve an heirloom recipe, keeping it handy for regular use while the original can be safely stored away, protected from stains and spills.

Dimensions: 12 x 9 x 0.75 inches | Material: Cherry or maple | Weight: 1.75 pounds

Best for Cheese: Promozone Personalized Family Name Engraved Cheese Board Set

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This classy, yet practical bamboo board features an area for serving cheeses, three cheese tools that store in the top of the board, and a small, shallow ceramic dish that could be used for serving olives or holding jams and chutneys to pair with cheese. The board’s surface can be engraved with a family name or the text of your choice. At 13 x 13 inches, it's a nice size to be able to serve a few different cheeses, and the included cheese tools allow you to serve hard cheeses as well as softer, more spreadable cheeses.

Dimensions: 13 x 13 inches | Material: Natural bamboo

Best Butcher Block: Ikonic Personalized End-Grain Maple Butcher Block

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This hefty, 2-inch-thick butcher block is made from end-grain chunks of maple wood. End-grain boards (where the ends of the board are pieced together) can be more expensive than other wood boards because cut marks are not as visible as on other wood boards. The board is also much easier on your knife blade because it’s hitting the vertical wood fibers.

This board features a deep juice-catching groove around the edge and rubber feet to prevent it from sliding around on a work surface. Its price includes a custom engraving on its surface, which could be a monogram, name, or any text message. You can optionally add a personalized message engraved on the back of the board, as well, and choose to add a bottle of food-grade mineral oil to keep the board in top condition.

Dimensions: 18 x 16 x 2 inches | Material: Maple

Best for Bakers: Mark & Graham Maple Wood Pastry Board

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If you’re looking for a gift for an avid baker, this refined maple pastry board might be just the thing. It features inch markings along the left and bottom edges as well as circular markings in five different sizes, from 5 inches up to 14 inches—handy for measuring and cutting dough for tarts, pies, and pastries. The board also has a built-in lip on the underside of the front edge to prevent the board from slipping when rolling dough and a groove on the top right corner to hold a rolling pin in place.

This board can be personalized with a custom engraving of up to two lines of text (up to 16 characters each) in your choice of eight fonts.

Dimensions: 20 x 15 x 3 inches | Material: Maple | Weight: 21 pounds

Best Wedding Gift: Dragon Forged Studios Custom Olive Wood Cheese Board

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This rustic-chic board, handmade from a solid piece of olive wood that retains its natural edge, is available in many different sizes and with or without a handle or juice groove. Olive wood has a prominent and lovely grain, is durable and long-lasting, and is a bit more stain-resistant than softer woods.

This board from Dragon Forged Studios can be engraved with the first names of a couple in an elegant, handwriting-style font, making it a charming and heartwarming present for newlyweds. It could be used as a serving board, cheese and charcuterie board, or cutting board, though you shouldn't cut into anything on the engraved side. It can even be displayed as decoration in a new home. This board is hand wash only and must be wiped down with cutting board oil or mineral oil every one to three months.

Dimensions: 15 x 8, 17 x 9, or 19 x 9 inches | Material: Olive wood