Holiday hosting can be both fun and stressful, with a lot to manage. From food and drinks to decor and family dynamics, it's essential to find ways to simplify the process. When it comes to impressing your guests with delicious party food without spending hours in the kitchen, consider preparing a charcuterie board.
Charcuterie boards, filled with a variety of meats, cheeses, fruits, veggies, nuts, and sweets, are an ideal choice for holiday gatherings. They can feed a crowd, and with a little extra effort, your board can also serve as a decorative centerpiece.
We turned to Instagram for inspiration on creating a delightful Christmas charcuterie board and found numerous creative approaches to assembling a delectable spread that will impress your holiday party guests.
1) Berry and the Boards Christmas Tree Charcuterie
By arranging a selection of green grapes, kiwi, cheese triangles and cubes, berries, dried apricots, nuts, prosciutto folded into a flower shape, and topping it off with an orange slice, you can create a captivating charcuterie tree that will leave your guests amazed.
2) Christmas Charcuterie Wreath
Instead of a traditional holiday wreath, surprise your party guests with a charcuterie wreath, like this one by Honey Plate Co. It's incredibly easy to assemble. Start with a circular serving board and place brie cheese in the center, then surround it with your preferred cheeses, meats, fruits, and nuts to create the "wreath." For a festive touch, add rosemary and pomegranate seeds around the cheese.
3) Christmas Tree with Salami Roses
Creating a Christmas tree-shaped charcuterie board is a fun and festive idea, and this example from Boxed by Christine offers another option. Arrange rows of meat roses, cheeses, grapes, cranberries, and nuts to form the tree shape, and accentuate it with sprigs of rosemary to resemble pine branches. To enhance the theme, they use a Christmas tree-shaped serving plate.
4) Holiday Charcuterie Board with Christmas Candy
You don't necessarily need a Christmas tree or wreath shape to create a festive charcuterie board. A regular board filled with an assortment of meat, cheeses, fruit, and holiday sweets like candy canes, gingerbread men, and peppermint bark can still be a Christmas masterpiece.
For an extra touch, you can elevate the presentation by taking a cheese round and wrapping a few sprigs of rosemary around it to create a mini wreath.
5) Layered Christmas Tree Charcuterie
Another imaginative approach to crafting a holiday charcuterie board involves using rosemary sprigs to construct layers resembling a Christmas tree. This clever technique creates the illusion of a pine tree and offers ample creative opportunities for filling the space between each layer.
User @get.on.me. plate opted for cubed cheese and meats, along with items like olives, nuts, and a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds scattered throughout to mimic ornaments or tree lights.
6) Santa Claus Charcuterie Board
While we've come across numerous charcuterie trees and wreaths, this Santa Charcuterie Board truly caught our attention. User @jenbryantdesign ingeniously utilizes brie cheese and thin salami slices to craft Santa's face and hat. The remainder of the board is filled with an assortment of meats, cheeses, crackers, jam, and peppermint pretzels, making this concept irresistibly festive.
7) Christmas Tree Brie Board
Home Happy Heart transformed a standard circular serving plate into a whimsical Christmas delight with this charcuterie board. Alongside cheeses like mozzarella and cranberry cheddar, they placed a brie round in the center and cleverly cut out a Christmas tree shape, filling it with pomegranate seeds for a delightful touch. How adorable!
8) Dessert Charcuterie Board
Your Christmas charcuterie board doesn't have to follow the traditional arrangement of meats and cheeses. Instead, you can fill your festive party board with delightful desserts like cookies, red and green candies, stroopwafels, and peppermint bark to create a dessert spread that will leave your guests talking. Pair it with some hot chocolate and marshmallows for the ultimate December dessert experience.
9) The Christmas 'Brie' Board
This impressive holiday appetizer features preserved meats, sugared cranberries, nuts, cheeses, berries, and sugared rosemary all arranged in rows to resemble a Christmas tree. While the Christmas tree-shaped wooden board adds to its charm, you can recreate this charcuterie plate with a regular serving board as well.
10) 3D Charcuterie Christmas Tree
Creating this 3D charcuterie tree is a bit more involved than some other options, but the results will undoubtedly impress your party guests. To make it, you'll need a foam cone, plastic wrap, toothpicks, and all the cheeses, meats, and fruits you plan to add. Once assembled, watch as your guests take pictures and rave about your impressive appetizer.