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    Home » Recipes » Christmas » Easy & Elegant Christmas Charcuterie Board

    Easy & Elegant Christmas Charcuterie Board

    Published: Dec 14, 2020 · Modified: Nov 14, 2022 by Andrea Howe · This post may contain affiliate links.

    1.5K shares
    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

    This Christmas charcuterie board is filled with delectable finger foods in a festive color scheme, perfect for the holiday season. This beautiful board will wow guests and is a great way to add an edible festive touch to your next holiday party. If you were able to pull together a Thanksgiving charcuterie board, you will definitely succeed at creating a gorgeous cheese platter for your Christmas holiday parties!

    Christmas charcuterie board decorated with red and green berries and trees

    Making a more festive board isn’t all that different from making a traditional charcuterie board. You start with the same basics of fresh cheeses and yummy cured meats, then add in seasonal produce and holiday décor that fits the Christmas theme. Edible food items reminiscent of Christmas colors and holiday inspired sweet treats are all great options for making the a festive Christmas charcuterie board.

    You can even add in homemade touches, such as my homemade cranberry Christmas jam or raspberry jam, and sugared cranberries. Read on for the step-by-step instructions, and special tips to create your own Christmas cheese board for all your upcoming family gatherings.

    Jump to:
    • Why this is the perfect holiday appetizer
    • Ingredients
    • How to assemble a beautiful presentation
    • Additional Tips for building Your Holiday Charcuterie Board
    • More Christmas Day Recipes
    • Christmas Charcuterie Board

    Why this is the perfect holiday appetizer

    • Customizable and versatile. Start with the building blocks of the perfect charcuterie board – cured meats and delicious cheeses – and then just about everything else is customizable to fit your favorite taste preferences!
    • Quick to assemble with no cooking! Wow guests with this pre-party spread, without ever having to turn on the oven.
    • Great family friendly meal idea for a relaxed night at home. This board doesn’t have to be saved as an appetizer for a Christmas party. It can be a delicious and easy light meal for the whole family. Perfect for decorating the Christmas tree or a quiet night at home on Christmas Eve, wrapping last minute gifts.
    meat and cheese board with festive red and green decorations for a holiday party

    Ingredients

    • Variety of cheeses: I typically choose 3-4 delicious cheeses and try to aim for a balance of hard and soft cheeses. Since I was trying to focus on holiday inspired flavors, I added in a stilton with cranberries and a cranberry goat cheese log, in addition to a Irish cheddar cheese.
    4 kinds of cheese on a marble board for a cheese grazing board
    salami and mozzarella rolloni and olives from trader joe's for a Christmas charcuterie board
    • Charcuterie meats: Include traditional cured meats like hard salami and prosciutto. The prosciutto and salami wrapped provolone from Trader Joe’s are a delicious kid-friendly addition, as well as pepperoni slices.
    • Seasonal fresh fruit and produce: think gorgeous large pomegranate seeds, raspberries, cherry tomatoes with fresh basil, sprigs of rosemary. Green grapes, pears and golden berries are also great options.
    • Crackers: This board is a simple mix of a very simple water cracker, and a more flavorful and rustic raisin cracker. Feel free to add any type though, but just make sure to add them last! This prevents them from getting soggy if they touch other ingredients for too long.
    fresh fruit and crackers from Trader Joe's on a marble board to make a grazing board
    holiday inspired sweet treats from Trader Joe's on a marble board
    • Nuts & olives: A well balanced charcuterie board should always have a mix of salty and briny flavors, to offset the meat and cheese. Green olives are a personal favorite, and kalamata olives are also a great addition. Marcona almonds are one of my favorite things on earth, so those are always included, as well as a dark chocolate covered almond.
    • Sweet treats: I always like to offset the savory items with a hint of sweet! Dark and white chocolate in holiday shapes, festive candy canes because it is the Christmas season, and peppermint meringues (also picked up at Traders), are all great ways to add some sweetness to your gorgeous Christmas charcuterie board.

    How to assemble a beautiful presentation

    A simple breakdown of how I assemble a charcuterie board with zero fuss:

    • Choose serving platters and utensils first. My go-to is a large wooden board or marble slab. I also gather up small bowls to hold foods you don’t want spilling all over.
    • Begin by assembling cheeses and meats. These are the stars of the show that everything else revolves around. Place the cheeses first, spread throughout the board, then add in the cured meats.
    cheese and cured meats spread out on a marble board
    Begin by placing cheeses and meats throughout the board
    fresh fruits added to Christmas grazing board
    Then start adding in fresh fruits and nuts
    • Fill in with olives, nuts and fresh fruit, making sure to hold things like olives and pickles in leak-proof bowls.
    • Place a few sweet items in various sections so guests can reach in and grab a nibble from anywhere they’re sitting or standing.
    assembling a Christmas charcuterie board on a marble platter
    Place crackers last to keep them from getting soggy
    sweets and crackers added into a holiday grazing board
    Fill in empty holes and add in finishing touches
    finishing red and green decorative items added to a Christmas charcuterie board
    Place decorative items in theme to give it a festive look
    • Add crackers last, to keep them crisp!
    • Finishing touches – Add in ingredients to fill empty spaces and really make the board look like it’s bursting with food.
    • Fill in with seasonal greens and décor to add a festive touch. I snipped off some greenery from a fresh garland and then added decorative fresh berries (nonedible!) that I picked up in the Trader Joe’s floral department. Small ornaments, votive candles, bottle brush trees and twinkly lights are also included to make it really feel like Christmas. Fresh rosemary also makes a great garnish if some of your cheese looks a little plain.


    Christmas charcuterie board on a marble platter made with red and green decorative items and nuts and cheeses

    Additional Tips for building Your Holiday Charcuterie Board

    • Choose A Large Enough Board – You want to be able to have enough room for all your selections. So choose your board first and choose wisely.
    • Place Your Cheeses And Meats First. These will be the biggest items, so it’s important to put these first before you get carried away with smaller items.
    • Place Out Crackers Last (And Right Before Serving!) – These can go stale quickly so I always wait to put these out last until guests are about to arrive.
    • Pick A Balance Of Flavors. I like to stick with something salty, something sweet, something spicy, and something fresh.
    • Have Small Plates Handy. This makes it so your charcuterie board is accessible and people don’t need to stand right there but can make a small plate with their favorites and move along.
    • Shape Ingredients Into a Christmas Tree – this is a great idea for family/kid-friendly parties.
    holiday meat and cheese grazing board made on a marble board set on a wood dining table

    I hope you found some delicious inspiration with this board, and feel confident making a gorgeous spread for your holiday gatherings! And if you need any other charcuterie board ideas, here’s a few for you!

    cheese, cured meats, nuts, fruit and seasonal sweets on a marble board for a holiday party

    More Christmas Day Recipes

    • Easy Pecan Snowball Cookies
    • Festive Christmas Cocktail – The Pink Lady
    • Air Fryer Christmas Donuts
    • Braised Christmas Brisket Recipe with Dried Fruit
    • Cranberry Rosemary Christmas Jam
    • Breakfast Christmas Quiche
    • Festive White Chocolate Holiday Chex Mix

    Tried this recipe? Please leave a comment and/or rating, letting me know how you enjoyed it! Connect with me on Instagram and Pinterest, and never miss a post by signing up for my weekly newsletter!

    cured meat, blocks of cheese, fruit and nuts on a marble snack board

    Christmas Charcuterie Board

    Make your holiday a bit more special with a festive Christmas Charcuterie Board. Add seasonal flavors and greenery to create a snacking board worthy to be called a full meal!
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Pin Rate
    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Total Time: 20 minutes
    Servings: 12 people
    Author:Andrea

    Equipment

    • Large wooden board or marble slab

    Ingredients

    • 1 lb Cured and Smoked Meats
    • 1 lb Assorted Cheeses
    • 16 ounces Assorted Crackers
    • 8 ounces Assorted Olives & Nuts
    • 8 ounces Assorted fruits
    • 8 ounces Assortment of sweets
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Choose your serving platters and utensils
    • Assemble your Cheeses, and then your meats
    • Fill in with olives, nuts and fruits
    • Add your crackers toward the end, to keep them fresh and crisp
    • Create your finishing touches by adding in a few sweets, and some seasonal greens and decorations, such as greenery, non-edible berries, miniature ornaments and holiday votives

    Video

    Notes

    Place crackers last, as to avoid getting soggy.
    Store leftover cheeses in cheese paper.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 600kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 40g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 1668mg | Potassium: 360mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 362IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 122mg | Iron: 4mg
    Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @Howe.We.Live or tag #HoweWeLiveRecipes!

    « Pantry Organization Tips & Tricks
    Festive White Chocolate Holiday Chex Mix »

    About Andrea Howe

    Andrea Howe is the recipe developer and photographer of Howe We Live. She is also a seasoned home cook of over 20 years, for her family of 5. Andrea has spent over 10 years in the food industry, writing for various publications including Babble and Disney. Her work has appeared in Real Simple, Taste of Home, Yahoo, Buzzfeed and ABC News.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. MJ Blackwell says

      December 02, 2022 at 10:46 am

      Your board is very pretty. I like the variety.
      Where were you able to find small wooden bowls, I have been looking. I have several sizes of boards, I like the wooden bowls depending on the occasion.

      MJB

      Reply
      • Andrea Howe says

        December 02, 2022 at 9:35 pm

        Those were Magnolia Home from Target. But I have seen lots of similar wood bowls at Home Goods

        Reply

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