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 when it comes to appetizers!
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.
And now it’s popular to add all kinds of other things 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. Here are some examples:
- Salami
- Proscuitto
- Capricola
- Serrano ham
- Country ham
- Bresaola
- Mortadella
- Meat spreads and patés
Cheese
I love to use a variety of cheeses in our charcuterie boards and aim to pair firm cheeses with soft cheeses and usually throw in an interesting cheese too. Here are some of our favorites to use:
- Cheddar
- Gruyere
- Manchego
- Gorgonzola
- Blue cheese
- Brie
- Camembert
- Muenster
- Havarti
- Goat cheese – especially cranberry cinnamon goat cheese!
- Jarlsberg
- Gouda
Crackers And Bread
A great charcuterie board includes items for spreading and stacking. 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!
- Bread and butter pickles or dill pickles
- Castelvetrano 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!
- 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
- 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
Our Christmas Charcuterie Board Ingredients
Here’s what we used to make this 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 board is very easy to put together, and it looks like a million bucks. Just 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 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 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!
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
Pin For Later!
Festive Christmas Charcuterie Board
A festive Christmas Charcuterie Board makes an ideal holiday appetizer. Loaded with all your favorite cheeses, meats, preserves, crackers (and more), it’s both delicious and impressive!
Ingredients
- 3.5 oz olives
- 1/2 cup toasted almonds
- 6 strawberries
- 1/2 cup raspberries
- 3 oz prosciutto
- 15 slices thin salami for roses, more or less as desired. Less salami makes a smaller rose, and more makes a larger one.
- 40 crackers (harvest wheat, classic buttercrisp, and rosemary and olive oil crackers)
- 3 oz spicy salami nuggets
- 4 oz Honey goat cheese
- 8 oz Smoked Gouda
- 8 oz Brie
- 2 oz pepperoni
- 3-4 mini cucumber
Garnish:
- Whole fresh cranberries
- Strawberry jam
- Fresh sprigs of rosemary
- Christmas wooden skewers trimmed down to varying lengths
Instructions
- You will want to prepare the cheese and or fruit/vegetables for the board.
- 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.
- 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.
- Cut zigzag lines into the cucumber just using the tip of a pairing knife.
- Cut the strawberries in half.
- 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 I’ve the board and make sure nothing of the same type is touching if possible.
- Add the garish in and serve!
