Festive Christmas Charcuterie Board (Easy How To)

A festive Christmas Charcuterie Board makes an ideal holiday appetizer. Loaded with all your favorite cheeses, meats, preserves, crackers (and more), it’s a great way to feed a crowd that’s both delicious and impressive!

People love appetizers for parties and holiday gatherings. There are classic stand-bys like Easy Cranberry Meatballs or Christmas Tree Pull Apart Bread.

And then there are charcuterie boards. If you’ve never tried making or serving a charcuterie board at a gathering, please oh please change that this year!

A Christmas charcuterie board is the best of all worlds and makes the perfect holiday appetizer for family gatherings and holiday parties! 

There’s A Lot To Love About A Christmas Charcuterie Board

• Quick to assemble
• Crowd-pleasing
• Sweet and savory – something for everyone!
• Perfect for grazing as people mingle
• Lets your creativity come out to play
• Fun, festive, and colorful – perfect for any holiday or occasion!
• Easy to personalize

After you make a charcuterie board, you’ll want an excuse (not that you need one!) to make one for everything!

We will often make an adult version and a kids version – we love to get creative with the items we put on our Christmas charcuterie boards!

What is a charcuterie board?

Charcuterie is a French word for a spread that includes a variety of prepared/cured meats and cheeses. A traditional charcuterie board includes and assortment of cheese and meat.

And now it’s popular to add a mix of savory items and sweet treats to a charcuterie to turn it into an appetizer or even a fun weeknight meal.

What goes on a Christmas charcuterie board?

Use the ingredients (especially seasonal produce!) you and your guests love the most! If you don’t like certain items, just don’t use them!

Meat

Typically you’ll find a variety of meats – anything from cured meats to spreadable meats and salamis. You don’t have to use all of these – just pick your favorite meats and work out from there! Here are some examples:

• Salami
• Proscuitto
• Capricola
• Serrano ham
• Country ham
• Bresaola
• Mortadella
• Meat spreads and patés

Cheese

A great Christmas charcuterie board includes items for spreading and stacking – your favorite crackers or mini toasts or types of bread! TIP: If you don’t precut your cheese, you may want to lay out some cheese knives too!

Here are some of our favorites to use:

• Cheddar
• Aged white cheddar
• Gruyere
• Manchego
• Gorgonzola
• Blue cheese
• Brie
• Camembert
• Muenster
• Mozzarella balls
• Havarti
• Goat cheese – especially cranberry cinnamon goat cheese!
• Jarlsberg
• Gouda

Crackers And Bread

A great charcuterie board includes items for spreading and stacking – your favorite crackers or mini toasts or types of bread! Here are some ideas:

• Baguettes
• Crostini
• Crackers (SO many options out there!)
• Flat bread
• Melba toast
• Toasted pita
• Breadsticks

Pickles And Olives

That salty or briny flavor is a perfect addition to your Christmas board!

• Bread and butter pickles or dill pickles
• Green olives
• Cornichons
• Caper berries
• Roasted red peppers
• Pickled vegetables (like pickled okra)
• Artichokes

Preserves And Spreads

This is where you can really explore different flavors and flavor combinations on your Christmas charcuterie board!

• Fig jam (one of my favorites!)
• Cherry preserves
• Orange marmalade
• Cranberry preserves
• Honey
• Mustard
• Pepper jelly
• Chutneys
• Tapenades

Fresh Fruit And Veggies

Fruit and veggies offer an opportunity to add even more color. Here are some great ideas:

• Green grapes
• Cherries
• Oranges
• Fresh figs
• Pomegranate seeds (or pomegranate arils)
• Sliced apples
• Pears
• Dried apricots
• Dried cranberries
• Sugared cranberries
• Fresh berries – raspberries, blueberries, blackberries
• Edamame beans
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Bell peppers
• Cherry tomatoes
• Carrots
• Celery
• Radishes

Nuts, Garnish, And Sweets

If you don’t have nut allergies, nuts are a great addition to any holiday charcuterie board! And fresh garnishes add texture and visual interest. Here are some ideas:

• Pistachios
• Almonds
• Cashews
• Pecans
• Walnuts
• Roasted nuts
• Candied nuts
• Spiced nuts
• Macadamia nuts
• Nut brittle
• Sprigs of rosemary
• Fresh sage
• Fresh basil leaves
• Chocolate whoppers
• Ghirardelli peppermint bark squares
• Christmas cookies!

Our Christmas Charcuterie Board Ingredients

Here’s what we used to make our easy Christmas charcuterie board for our Christmas party.

• Olives
• Toasted almonds
• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Prosciutto
• Thin salami for roses
• Crackers – we used harvest wheat, classic butter crisp, and rosemary and olive oil crackers
• Spicy salami nuggets
• Honey goat cheese
• Smoked Gouda
• Brie
• Pepperoni
• Mini cucumber

Garnish:

• Whole fresh cranberries
• Strawberry jam
• Rosemary
• Christmas wooden skewers – trimmed down to varying lengths

NOTE: For more recipe details, please check out the handy printable recipe card at the bottom of the post!

How To Make A Christmas Charcuterie Board

This festive board is very easy to put together, and it looks like a million bucks! Just grab a beautiful board or a large wooden board and follow these simple step-by-step instructions!

Step 1 – Prepare The Fruits And Cheeses

We sliced the top of the Gouda wheel about 1/4” thick. Using a cookie cutter, cut the tree out of the center of the slice. Add a dollop of jam to the cheese wheel then replace the top slice back on.

Slice the cheddar into right triangles long ways.

Cut the strawberries for your Christmas charcuterie board in half.

Step 2 – Make Salami Roses

Using a shot glass, fold slices of salami over the rim and overlapping the previous slice halfway.

Once you’ve added about 8-10 slices, flip it over and pull off the shot glass to expose the flower.

Step 3 – Prepare Cucumber Slices

Cut zigzag lines into the cucumber just using the tip of a pairing knife.

Step 4 – Assemble Your Gorgeous Christmas Charcuterie Board

Start by framing the board with the cheeses.

Add the crackers and cups of nuts, olives, and dried fruit.

Star adding the other fruits and vegetables.

Finally add the meats.

Look over the board and make sure nothing of the same type is touching if possible.

Add the garish in and serve your Christmas charcuterie board!

Tips And Notes

Shapes – Play around with different shapes to add a festive touch. I cut out a tree shape in the gouda cheese, but there are other holiday shapes you could utilize too!

I recently saw star-shaped crackers and tree-shaped crackers! And it would be easy to use star cookie cutters to cut out cheese stars or cut a large star out like I did with the tree.

You can also play around with shapes to make unique Christmas charcuterie boards. Wouldn’t a Christmas wreath charcuterie board be cute? A Christmas tree charcuterie board would look terrific. And, of course, a festive charcuterie board in the shape of a star would be amazing!

Can a Christmas Charcuterie Board be made ahead of time?

You can put a charcuterie board together up to about an hour in advance.

If you want or need to prepare everything the day before, slice the cheese and store it in airtight containers in the fridge overnight. You can roll and fold the meats and also store them in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble your board.

More Can’t-Miss Christmas Recipes

• Cranberry Orange Pound Cake
• Old-Fashioned Strawberry Pretzel Jello Salad
• Christmas Cakesicles
• Easy Sweet Potato Pie

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