Christmas Charcuterie Board

You can make a beautiful Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board to feed your holiday guests and wow them with your table decor in just a few minutes.

Charcuterie boards are very popular right now and everyone does a lot of the same things, but you can make a beautiful board in the shape of a Christmas Tree with all the traditional ingredients like soft cheese, fresh fruit, deli meat, vegetables, and herbs. The fresh rosemary looks like evergreen stems and the brightly colored ingredients mimic the decorations on a holiday tree. Your holiday gatherings will be the talk of the town with your festive Christmas Charcuterie Board and all the great options it offers for everyone at your party.

Making a Christmas cheese board is great to get a lot of different foods in one place, but it is not the main dish for the night. Needing to feed the people at your holiday party is a bigger commitment, and I like to have quite a few snacks ready when people start to arrive. A family favorite for us is to make homemade pretzels the day before and a delicious beer cheese dip to go with them. I can keep the beer cheese dip in a crockpot for people to serve out in small bowls to go with the soft and chewy pretzels.

Why You’ll Love This Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board

A beautiful cheese platter with seasonal fruits and vegetables
Can be tailored to any dietary restrictions necessary easily
You can make it as big or small as you need to
Easily add in Christmas Cookies, Christmas Candies, and other sweet items to complement the cheese and meat
Fun to have out before the main course for people to have as appetizers and finger food
You can choose ingredients that match any color scheme or your decor choices

Ingredients:

Fresh Rosemary
cheddar cheese, cubed
pepper jack cheese, cubed
Colby cheese, cubed
fresh mozzarella balls
cherry tomatoes (halved)
black olives, cured and pitted
green olives, cured and pitted
pepperoni (sliced)
salami (sliced)
green seedless grapes
red seedless grapes
pretzel sticks

See the recipe card for quantities.

How to Make a Christmas Charcuterie Board

Use a large rectangular platter or wooden cutting board.
Place your pretzels vertically at the bottom of the platter/board to create the trunk of the tree.
Then lay a row of fresh rosemary horizontally across the bottom of the board to establish the base of your tree.
After that, just begin placing your ingredients in thin, shorter rows to create a triangle.
Make sure as you are assembling your tree to plan it out using a mix of colors!
Continue by laying the pepperoni slices
Then add a mixture of the pepper jack and Colby cheeses
Next, a row of black olives
Then a row of green grapes.
Next, lay another row of rosemary to create branches throughout the tree.
Then, add your salami and mozzarella balls. This is important because you want to fold your salmi in half and use the mozzarella balls to prop the slices up.
Add another row of rosemary, then place your cheddar cheese and green olives.
Continue adding rows of rosemary throughout the assembly to create the look of tree branches.
Lastly, add your tomatoes and red grapes
Use a star-shaped cookie cutter (or a paring knife) to cut out a star from a slice of Colby cheese
Place the star on top and add little springs of rosemary throughout and you’re all set!
Serve with club crackers, pretzels, or bread chips

Substitutions

You can use whatever ingredients you like that can sit at room temperature for extended periods of time:

Hard Cheeses
Soft Cheeses
Slices of Meat
Bell Pepper
Fig Jam
Seasonal Produce
Creamy Dip
Spreadable Cheeses/ Cream Cheese
Bread squares
Pretzels
Chocolate
Red Pepper
Goat Cheese log
Vegan Charcuterie Board choices
Sugared Cranberries
Dried Fruit
Cranberry Sauce
A variety of Green Foods and Red Foods

Variations

What you put your charcuterie ingredients on is also something you can have fun creating with:

Large Wooden Board
Cutting Board
Large Platter
Small Bowls
Medium Bowls
Slate board
Any large flat Surface that can be cleaned
A countertop with parchment or butcher paper
A large baking sheet

Equipment

Large round platter or wooden board
Star-shaped cookie cutter
Sharp Knife

Storage

Wrap the tree well in plastic and store it in the fridge.

Frequently Asked Questions About The Recipe:

I don’t care for salami – what else would work?

You could substitute pepperoni, or even just tear up pieces of prosciutto to add to the wreath.

I think I’d like more variety of cheeses – any recommendations?

Yes, Havarti, Swiss, Monterey Jack, and gouda are all good choices. Stay away from anything too crumbly as it will be hard to serve these in the wreath.

I can’t find cherry tomatoes – can I just substitute pieces of large tomatoes?

Those tend to get a little messy. If you can find grape tomatoes, those could be cut in half. Otherwise, you could use slices of red bell peppers, or even baby carrots to get a little more color into your wreath.

How long can I safely leave the charcuterie board out of the fridge?

It really depends on the temperature of the environment you are serving it in. It should not be left out any more than 2 hours at the most.

Top Tip!

My biggest tip for your holiday snack board is to have fun. Use your favorite things to build your board and if it doesn’t look perfect that is ok, it is going to be torn apart and eaten anyway.