‘Tis the season to wow your guests with this festive Christmas tree charcuterie board. It’s easy to put together and customisable so you can use all your favourite snacks. This post is less of a recipe and more of a guide on how to put together this gorgeous charcuterie tree.
With a range of different textures and flavours, this is an appetizer with something for everyone. Start with delicious deli meats, add rich cheeses, sweet fresh and dried fruits, crunchy crackers and aromatic herbs.
Charcuterie boards are great for entertaining. They offer delicious and luxurious ingredients in appetizer form and they have something to please everyone. They also look so impressive, they’re immersive and can be prepped ahead of time. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love a grazing platter so you really can’t go wrong.
For dessert, try this pavlova grazing board.
Table of contents
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Ingredients you’ll need
This Christmas grazing platter is so simple to make and very easy to customise to your tastes. Below, I’ll go through the ingredients I used and some possible substitutions but really the combinations are endless.
And while some of the ingredients can be expensive for a small piece, you don’t need to spend a fortune to have a gorgeous Christmas grazing platter.
Meats
It’s technically not a charcuterie board without cured meats so load up on delicious deli meats and make sure to use very thinly sliced meats. Just about any sliced meats will work here but aim for a variety of flavours.
- Used here: Prosciutto, ham and salami. I used three different types of salami, one for the rose that crowns the tree, sticks for the tree trunk, and a different flavoured one as part of the meat-tinsel.
- More options: Pastrami, serrano ham, jamon, chorizo (this can be cooked too), mortadella, thinly sliced turkey, roast beef.
- Budget-friendly: Forget the prosciutto and opt for 2 different types of ham – maybe a honey-flavoured ham and a nice Virginian ham. Get the meat from the deli section of your grocery store instead of choosing the pre-packed varieties.
Cheese
Again, go for variety of flavours and also a variety of colours. In total there are 6 cheeses on this Christmas tree charcuterie.
- Used here: Vintage cheddar, red leicester, cranberry cheese, brie, cream cheese roll and swiss cheese for the triangles at the edge and for the little stars.
- More options: You can choose a blue cheese if you know there are fans of it. I like to leave the brie whole so that it doesn’t melt all over the board and other ingredients. Cubed marinated feta or baby bocconcini (mini mozzarella balls) are great too. Try other cheeses too: Edam and gouda are lovely and creamy. Manchego cheese has a rich and tangy flavour. Pepper jack cheese or another chilli cheese adds a wonderful kick and is great for the guests that love a bit of spice.
- Budget-friendly: The cheeses actually go a long way but stick to 2-3 types of firm cheese (maybe a marinated feta, a gouda and a vintage cheddar) and cut them into smaller pieces. You could use the gouda in place of the Swiss cheese here. Leave off the brie and add a delicious dip in its place.
Fruit
Use a variety of fresh and dried fruits keeping in mind different colours to keep it bright.
- Used here: Raspberries, blueberries, cherries, grapes, dried apricots, dried orange slices and, for a briny and savoury flavour, pitted sicilian green olives.
- More options: Cranberries (fresh or dried) would be lovely here for a pop of red colour. Add different types of pitted olives – some marinated, some plain. Kiwi fruit, green grapes or something else bright and green. If using apples or pears, make sure to dress them in just a little lemon juice to prevent oxidisation. Dates are good too – even better if you fill them with goats cheese and drizzle with honey. Pomegranate seeds add a little tang, crunch and they look beautiful. And figs are an absolute classic with cheese and meats.
- Budget friendly: Stick to what is in season to keep costs down. Try using melons which can be cut into cubes and go a long way. You can also keep costs down by adding sliced cucumber in place of more pricey fruits as it will still give a refreshing flavour.
Other ingredients
Aside from what’s mentioned above, I’ve added a few other pieces.
- Pecan nuts: You can use any nuts you like though even seeds like pepitas are great for a little crunch.
- Rosemary: This not only gives the Christmas tree charcuterie board a pine Christmas tree feel, but it also adds a lovely comforting aroma. Grab loads and don’t be afraid to add plenty. Make sure to give it a wash and dry first, especially if you’re grabbing it off the neighbours rosemary bush.
- Crackers: Add a variety of crackers and/or bread on the side.
- A drizzle of honey over the brie: it’s gorgeous, tastes amazing and don’t forget to have a cheese knife on the side for the brie.
- More options: You could add other items that go great with a grazing platter like pickled onions or relish in a little pot. Chicken liver pate or duck pate is also really luxurious and delicious. Marmalade or jam is another lovely option. And cherry tomatoes are a beautiful addition.
How to make a Christmas charcuterie board (step by step instructions)
Start by getting out all your ingredients and group them into meats, cheeses and fruits. At this point, it can all look a little overwhelming but follow the steps and it’ll come together easily and beautifully.
- Start by prepping your ingredients.
- Cut cheddars or similar cheeses into cubes.
- Cut the already sliced cheese into triangles and a few stars.
- Break the grapes up into groups of 5-6 grapes.
- Wash and dry the fresh fruits.
- Cut the salami sticks in half and tie them together with some twine.
- Break the rosemary up into pieces about 10cm/4in long.
- Cut the salami slices in half or arrange some into a rose (see further down the post).
At this point, if you’re prepping ahead of time, place the ingredients into airtight containers ready for when you want to assemble. Your Christmas tree cheese board is best assembled close to serving time and will take around 10-15 minutes if all your ingredients are prepped.
- Photo 1: Now to turn it all into that Christmas tree shape. Cut a piece of baking paper into a tall triangle to use as a guide the lay it down on your serving board. Arrange the triangles of sliced cheese along the sides (these will form part of the branches).
- Photo 2: Add the rosemary sprigs above and below the triangle slices. Add the brie in the larger portion of the tree shape. Add your salami rose to the top.
- Photo 3: Concertina the halves of salami, holding a whole batch together with one hand while you concertina the next one with your other hand. Arrange the concertinas to look like meat tinsel.
- Photo 4: The prosciutto is a little more fiddly to concertina but do the same there too, arranging them on a different angle. You can also just create little piles of prosciutto in a line.
- Photo 5: Roll full slices of ham into a thin log, then cut into 3 pieces and arrange them in different spots too.
- Photo 6: Start adding the cheeses in piles of cubes wherever you like, trying to keep similiar colours separated if you have them.
- Photo 7: Add a bit more cheese cubed or sliced cream cheese log like you see here.
- Photo 8: Add the fresh fruits, with small piles here and there, breaking up similar colours.
- Photo 9: Add the dried fruits, nuts and olives using them to fill in bigger gaps.
- Photo 10: Finishing touches now. Add in pieces of dried orange if using. Add your salami tree trunk and the star to the top of the tree. Lastly, add some more small sprigs of rosemary throughout the charcuterie tree.
- Not shown here: Add more smaller cheese stars – just 3-4 – to give a pop of festive fun. Drizzle a little honey over the brie. On the side, add your crackers or bread.
How much cheese do I need for my grazing board?
I like to do around 50-70g (2-3oz) per person of cheese and a little less of meats to serve it as an appetiser. Along with all the fruits here, this grazing board could comfortably work for 10-12 people based on these amounts.
I like to offer 3-4 varieties of cheese so there is something for everyone. All told, this charcuterie tree has 6 types of cheese but you can certainly reduce the types and just add more piles of each one.
If you aren’t sure your guests will get through the full amount, just hold back some of the cheese and meat and top the board up as it gets eaten.
Other ingredients you can add to your board
Bite sized marinated or pickle items like cocktail onions, mini gherkins or mini pickled pepper. Stuffed peppers are lovely too and look very festive.
Feel free to add some relishes or fruit paste too which go beautifully with cheese.
What board to use for a charcuterie board
You can use anything as a charcuterie board from a perfect sized large serving board to a large chunk of wood. If using a piece of wood not made for specifically for serving food, make sure it is not a toxic wood to begin with, then clean it well with soapy water before covering well with plastic wrap. Lay some baking paper or parchment paper over the top to make it look a little nicer.
You could use 2-3 large chopping boards side by side too.
Another option, especially if your guests will be spread out, is to create two smaller charcuterie trees on large sheet pans.
Tips and tricks
If you want your Christmas tree charcuterie board to really impress your guests and be an absolute hit, stick to these little tips.
- Load it up: Try to make sure there are no gaps or fill the gaps with more of your ingredients or pretzels or crackers.
- Don’t skip the rosemary: Fresh rosemary doesn’t just have a wonderful aroma, just simply having that splash of green leaves transforms this from a triangle grazing platter to a Christmas tree grazing platter.
- Add necessary ustensils: Make sure to add a cheese knife for the brie. If you’re adding other ingredients not included in this recipe, make sure you have any utensils available that your guests might need. Toothpicks or cocktail sticks are great if you have things like cocktail onions or mini gherkins.
- Small plates and napkins: Your guests will eat more if you give them a plate or napkin to add their selectons to.
- Don’t feel like doing the meat tinsel look? No worries, just roll your deli meats and place them in a pile or just slice the meat slices in half, then arrange them fanned out. As long as the general tree shape is there (and you keep the rosemary), it’ll still look like a gorgeous charcute-tree!
Most importantly, get creative
Use this post as a guide and get creative designing your Christmas grazing platter. Don’t like nuts? Leave them off. Don’t like brie? Add a dip in its place. Want to add pretzels? Have at it. Want to turn the brie into the star on the tree? Go for it. This is your platter and your Christmas and your guests so do what you love and have some fun with it.
Did you try this Christmas tree charcuterie board?
Leaving a rating and comment below the recipe is so helpful!
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Ingredients
- 150 g cheddar cheese notes 1
- 100 g red leicester cheese notes 1
- 100 g cranberry cheese notes 1
- 1 small wheel of brie notes 1
- 6 slices swiss cheese notes 1
- 1 small log crusted cream cheese notes 1
- 100 g prosciutto, (thinly sliced)
- 24 slices salami, (thinly sliced)
- 4 twiggy sticks / salami sticks
- 8 slices ham, (thinly sliced)
- 5 small bunches of grapes
- 1 punnet raspberries
- ½ punnet blueberries
- 1 cup fresh cherries
- ⅓ cup dried apricots
- 1 cup pitted sicilian olives
- ½ cup pecans
- 12-15 sprigs of rosemary 10cm/4in
- Dried oranges slices optional
- Honey optional
- 2-3 cracker varieties to serve
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- 1 large board or 2 cutting board
Instructions
- PREP, PREP, PREP: Once the ingredients are prepped as below, you can store them in airtight containers overnight ready to lay out closer to serving.
- Cut a star out of 50g of the cheddar using a cookie cutter and set it aside. Cut the remaining cheddar, red leicester and cranberry cheeses into cubes and set aside.
- Cut the Swiss cheese into quarters on the diagonal so you get triangles and set aside.
- Slice the cream cheese log into rounds.
- Cut the prosciutto pieces into 2 long strips.
- Cut 8 of the salami slices in half. With the remaining 16, press them over the rim of small glass, going round and round, overlapping by just a little until they’re all done. Turn the glass upside down and you have a salami rose for the top star of the charcuterie tree.
- Cut the twiggy sticks in half and tie together with a piece of twine – these will be the tree trunk.
- Wash and dry the fresh fruit.
- ASSEMBLY: See the images within the post above for the assembly, step by step.
- Cut a large tree shaped triangle from a piece of baking paper or parchment paper, about 30cm/12 in wide and 45cm/18in high. Place it onto a large board (or place two boards together).
- Take 3 triangles of swiss cheese, layer them, fanning the ends out slightly and place near the bottom corner of the paper triangle – half off the paper. Repeat with the remaining swiss cheese, place 4 along each side at even intervals.
- Place sprigs of rosemary between each of the Swiss cheese portions, so they’ll hang out to look like branches.
- Add the salami rose to the tip of the tree and place the brie somewhere in the bottom third of the tree.
- Now create meat tinsel by concertina-ing the salami first then place it on a diagonal across the paper tree allowing the concertina to expand. Repeat with the prosciutto or just create little piles of prosciutto in a diagonal row. 2 rows of each is perfect.
- Roll up the slices of ham then cut in three. Stand upright as another meat-tinsel row.
- Add the cubed cheeses in 3 of the large spaces and the sliced cream cheese in another.
- Add small piles of fruit, here there and everywhere – a few clusters of grapes, a group of cherries, a group of raspberries and so on.
- Add the dried fruit, nuts and olives in the same way with each in a couple of small piles.
- Add the finishing touches, including your salami stick tree trunk. Add the orange slices if using, tucking them in so they just stick out here and there. Add the cheese star to the salami rose at the top. Add more smaller sprigs of rosemary through the tree. Finally a drizzle of honey over the cheese.
- Serve immediately with crackers, pretzels and/or bread slices.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Ingredients in this recipe card are to make the exact design you see here but feel free to get creative, add the cheeses and meats you love. Add relishes, mini gherkins or cocktail onions if you like. Swap the fruits for just about anything in season. Figs are great with grazing platters, melons are easy to cut up and go a long way. If you use apples or pears make sure to dip them into some acidulated water first. The most important things are to keep it colourful, separate similar colours and just have fun with it. And the rosemary – don’t skip the rosemary as it makes it more tree-like.
- If you’re on a budget, check out the post for some cost saving options whilst still giving you an epic Christmas charcuterie board.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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