The 8 Best Personalized Cutting Boards in 2021

Best Overall: Banyan Tree Gifts John Boos Personalized Engraved Cutting Board

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Our top overall pick for a wood cutting board is a sturdy and substantial Boos Block board, made from edge-grain maple wood. Our tester put a Boos Block board to work in her kitchen and found that it was attractive, useful, and highly durable—in fact, she suggested you could put it in your will she expects it to last so long. This same board—but with the addition of a groove around the edges for catching juices and a hole for hanging—is available with a personalized laser engraving and in three different sizes.

You can choose from 30 different designs that are customizable with names, initials, dates, or a location. The board is reversible, so either the engraved surface with the juice groove or the flat backside (with no engraving) can be used as the cutting surface. It's a perfect idea for a housewarming, anniversary, or wedding gift. One thing to note with John Boos boards is the fact that they do require some special care and maintenance, like oiling the board before use, particularly if you plan to use it more professionally.

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. A full set would be a great gift idea for a practical or professional cook.

Best with Recipe: Uncommon Goods Personalized Family Recipe Board

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This personalized cutting board offers a unique 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 a 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.

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—you don't want your cheeses to touch—and the included cheese tools allow you to serve hard cheeses as well as softer, more spreadable cheeses.

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 natural 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.

Best for BBQ: Uncommon Goods Personalized Juice-Catching Cutting Board by Kim Strassner and Mike Pararas

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Edge-grain wood boards offer long, clean strips of vertical wood with fewer seams than end-grain boards, which means they are less likely to crack or warp. This substantial and elegant cutting board, handcrafted in edge-grain cherry wood, features a deep, sloping top surrounded by a lip, designed to catch liquid and making this board perfect for carving grilled meats or slicing a juicy watermelon at a backyard BBQ.

There are two indented handles on the sides of this model, so the board is easier to lift and carry. It can be customized with a name or words (up to 18 characters) that will be engraved on the front edge of the board.

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 Maplewood 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.

The 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.