Christmas Charcuterie Board

This Christmas charcuterie board is the best for the holiday season. It's a great addition to holiday parties, Christmas Eve dinner, and family gatherings.

When I throw parties, I always think about how to make it memorable. I love to help create wonderful memories to look back on for years to come. Parties are excellent at helping create fun memories.

I look back on my childhood when my mom did so much to make holidays memorable. I cherish those memories and now want to help create those moments for my friends and family.

I try to do the same now like when we made this Elf pancake spaghetti for my son's Christmas Eve birthday. He loved it!

Our Christmas side dishes with prime rib and beef tenderloin are easy recipes that are great options for Christmas dinner. We also love these Christmas crockpot recipes. They help make preparing a meal much easier and make less mess.

You should definitely try out our Christmas reindeer Chex mix recipe and hot cocoa bar. It is awesome to make with your kids and is a great treat for an upcoming holiday party. Of course, your kids will also love making these green Christmas drinks.

Charcuterie boards are super versatile and are perfect any time of year. This holiday board makes the perfect holiday appetizer. With all of the festive colors and delicious treats, everyone will love it.

I especially love how the greenery on this board (and the circular shape) makes it look like a Christmas wreath. Of course, food should be delicious, but I believe it should be pretty too!

You can easily add our snowman cheeseball or Christmas cheese ball to your board for a fun surprise for your guests.

Our Halloween charbooterie board, taco charcuterie board and Valentines charcuterie board are great examples of that.

Why you should make this recipe

• It can act as a main course or a side dish, perfect for our Bethlehem dinner
• Its wreath shape makes this board a great way to spread Christmas cheer.
• This recipe is absolutely perfect for a Christmas party.
• It is a unique recipe that others may not have had before.

Ingredients needed

• Sliced meats - Pick out your favorite meats. I used mine to make the salami roses.
• Cheeses - Use a mixture of hard and soft cheeses (like Boursin).
• Green herbs - These green herbs help create the wreath look of this board.
• Jam - We like to use fig jam or any other seasonal jams.
• Produce - Seasonal produce and fresh fruits (pomegranate seeds, oranges, persimmon, and cranberries) are delicious on this board and help create holiday vibes.
• Vegetables - Use whatever vegetables you want, but we recommend green olives and cucumbers.
• Nuts and crackers - Add nuts, crackers, and anything else to fill the empty spaces.
• Decorated sugar cookies (optional)- I love sugar cookies, so I try to implement them into any party menu.

How to make this Christmas charcuterie board

Grab a board

You need a great base to make a festive charcuterie board, so finding the board you will use for this recipe is essential. A round board works well with this wreath-like board, but any shape will do.

Place cups and little cheese knives where you would like them on the board. Space them out evenly while noting where you want the ingredients to go.

Fill the cups

Add some dips, sauces, or berries to the little cups on the board. You can also add pickles or any other wet ingredients.

Putting the wet foods in cups will keep the juices from running on the other ingredients. You do not want soggy crackers!

Add cheese

Now it is time to add cheese around the board. Choose delicious cheeses that you like and have a mix of hard cheeses and soft cheeses for a variety of flavors.

I recommend having at least three varieties. Some types of cheeses you could try are goat cheese, pepper jack cheese, cheddar cheese, and mozzarella balls.

Make salami roses

A salami rose makes this perfect holiday charcuterie board even more beautiful. So we like putting a couple of these roses on the board.

They are super easy to make! Just put some salami pieces together to make it look like a rose.

Add the rest of the food

Now, add a variety of meats, crackers, fresh fruit, and vegetables to the board. Black olives, carrots, cucumbers, berries, and nuts are great ideas for foods to add.

Cherry tomatoes and green grapes also work well. Add these snacks to the board to create a colorful, gorgeous charcuterie board.

Garnish

Because this is a Christmas charcuterie wreath, adding green herbs gives the board a "wreath" look. I find that garnishing makes a board even more beautiful.

I like filling empty spaces with fresh herbs for the finishing touch. This board is so pretty that you will want to photograph it.

Tips for recipe success

• Fresh pomegranates - I love to add fresh pomegranates to this board because of their delicious flavor.
• Use green foods - Use green foods to create the wreath look.
• Use little cups and bowls - The cups or bowls on the board are especially great for berries, olives, and anything with “juices,” so they don’t get your other board ingredients soggy.

Storage and Freezing

Storage - It is best to put all items that need refrigeration, such as cheeses, meats, and dips, into containers. They can then be refrigerated until you want to enjoy them again. 

Crackers, fruits, cookies, and non-refrigerated items can be placed in containers and bags and stored at room temperature.

Freezing - We don't recommend freezing after assembling the board.

FAQ

What fruits are good on a winter charcuterie board?

Any seasonal fruit works well for this kind of board. Citrusy fruits, like oranges, tangerines, and clementines, are especially great around the winter.

Apples are also tasty and pair well with cinnamon, which is a fantastic winter flavor. Cranberries are also a fantastic option.

How long can the board sit out?

It is best practice to refrigerate meats and cheeses after 2 hours. Fruits, nuts, crackers, and dips can be kept out longer, but the cheeses and meats should not be kept out longer than 2 hours.

Ways to enjoy

This Christmas charcuterie board recipe would pair perfectly with our cranberry mocktail. Cranberries are already a scrumptious Christmas food, so a cranberry mocktail makes sense.

We would also recommend our best Thanksgiving punch. Even though it is a Thanksgiving drink, you can (and should) still have it at Christmastime. It has a pomegranate flavor, so it also pairs well with this charcuterie board.

More holiday beverages you should try are our Valentines, Halloween, and 4th of July mocktails. Each has its own flavors that match their respective holiday perfectly. Grandpa Bob's homemade root beer is another drink you can't miss.