Festive Christmas Charcuterie Board

Laura Lynch

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This Festive Christmas Charcuterie Board is perfect for your holiday get togethers and parties, where finger food is the best way to please a crowd.

» Learn how to make the Perfect Party Platter and these great variations: Bagel and Lox Sharing Board and Winter Hot Chocolate Sharing Board.

I love arranging a Christmas charcuterie platter like a Christmas tree. It gives it that extra holiday cheer and everyone swoons over it when they arrive. This herb goat cheese Christmas appetizer has a fun tree shape as well.

The best thing about this Christmas platter is that it can be refilled easily as people graze on it, and you really can include just about any cheese, meats, fruits, and nuts that you like.

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What to Include on a Charcuterie Board?

I like to make sure there are items from a few categories—cheese, cured meats, fruit, savory, nuts, and crackers.

This board includes:

• 3 different cheese: cheddar, gouda and cubed feta cheese
• 2 cured meats: salami and prosciutto
• Crackers
• Green olives
• Almonds, walnuts, dried cranberries
• Marinated artichokes

You’ll want to include 2-3 types of each item, so guests have options to choose from. This also helps diversify the board and makes it visually appealing.

Here are a few other options that I haven’t included, but that make a great addition of a charcuterie board:

• Sauces and dips, like honey, jelly/jam, mustard, creamy dressing.
• Fruits like pomegranate pieces, apple slices, dried fruits, and grapes.
• A couple types of crackers, baguette slices, and cucumber slices (in case any guests are eating low-carb).

How Much Food to Include

Your Christmas Charcuterie board should be able to serve at least 3 ounces of meat and cheese per person, which is the optimal serving size amount if it’s served as an appetizer.

Because guests will likely be grazing on other appetizers at a party, you can keep that in mind when building your board. It’s unlikely that you’ll exceed 3 oz per person.

Of course, not all of that food will fit on the platter at one time. Keep all the extras in containers or baggies to have at the ready when a section gets low.

How to Display Your Platter

One of the most important parts of a beautiful party platter is the board you put it on. It doesn’t have to be something elaborate or fancy, but the board really does elevate the display.

A large wooden cutting board is perfect for the display of your foods. Depending on the size of the board you want to make, it will need to be a sizeable board to hold enough food.

This large maple cutting board is great because it doesn’t have a lip around the edge.

Slate and glass boards also make a nice display.

There are some nice platter boards that you can buy on Amazon that have the space to display your foods, plus trays for dips and holders for cheese knives and spreaders.

Once you’ve got a great platter, half the job is done. What is left to do is to cut and arrange your foods.

• Start with a line of crackers along the bottom.
• Place a line of salami on top of the crackers for the next layer. I like to lay a full line of salami as a base, then scrunch up more pieces on top. That will make it last longer.
• Cut the cheeses into cubes and arrange them in alternating lines with the remaining cured meat.
• Add a line of artichoke hearts and/or olives.
• Extras like nuts and olives can be interspersed throughout the plate to fill empty spots and scatter color across the board.
• Sauces should be included in small bowls around the outside of the board. Don’t forget to include spreaders and small serving spoons for each sauce.
• Garnish with sprigs of rosemary.

Refilling the board

Prepare extra of each food item and have it at the ready to refill empty spots in the board as they get eaten.

If you want to mix it up, you can replenish empty spaces with different types of cheese and meats to keep it interesting.

Get Creative and Have Fun

The fun part about putting together a holiday charcuterie tray is that you can be as creative as you want and just have fun with it. You don’t have to use the same meats and cheeses.

You don’t even have to display it like a Christmas tree. You could display it as a wreath or an ornament. There are dozens of options.

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Christmas Charcuterie Platter

This festive Christmas Charcuterie Board is piled up with cheese, meats, and nuts.

5 from 44 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Cheese

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 10 servings

Calories: 355kcal

Author: Laura Lynch

Ingredients

• 3 ounces (85 g) cheddar cheese cubed
• 3 ounces (85 g) gouda or other hard cheese, cubed
• 3 ounces (85 g) feta cheese cubed
• 3 ounces (85 g) Prosciutto
• 3 ounces (85 g) salami
• 1 jar jar marinated artichoke hearts
• 1 jar green olives
• 2 ounces (57 g) almonds
• 2 ounces (57 g) walnuts
• 2 ounces (57 g) dried cranberries
• 1 package crackers
• 5 sprigs rosemary

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Instructions

• Add a layer of crackers to a wooden cutting board as the base of the tree.
• Alternate cheese cubes, meat, artichokes, and olives to form layers.
• Intersperse the nuts and cranberries throughout. Garnish with rosemary.
• Top the tree with a cheese star.

Equipment Needed

• Wooden cutting board

Notes

• Substitute cheeses and meats as you wish to make your tree. There are no restrictions!

Nutrition

Calories: 355kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 39mg | Sodium: 665mg | Potassium: 165mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 169IU | Calcium: 219mg | Iron: 2mg

Laura Lynch

Laura is a home cook, with 25 years experience behind the stove, who spends an extraordinary amount of time in the kitchen cooking. She loves making new recipes and finding wonderful new things to eat, both at home or abroad. She spends a lot of time researching, crafting, and perfecting her recipes and currently has a cookbook in development.