Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board
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A Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board is the easiest holiday appetizer! Guests will enjoy this festive Christmas tree appetizer featuring plenty of cheese, meat, veggies, nuts and fruit. Super easy to put together with these step-by-step instructions and a festive addition to any party. Deck the halls with this simple snack for guests to nibble on as they mingle. Super fun to customize to your particular tastes.
Charcuterie boards are a hot trend for good reason. They are so easily customizable and work well for any occasion. I had so much fun creating this large Halloween Charcuterie Board complete with chocolate skull centerpiece and this brunch charcuterie board featuring no hot items so guests can graze. I couldn’t resist making a Christmas themed charcuterie board and what better way to do that than with a simple Christmas tree?
Charcuterie Boards
There are so many different styles of boards that work with for charcuterie. The board featured in this post is 19 1/2″ in length with the handle (14 1/2″ without the handle) and 11″ wide. I’ve had this white washed cutting board for a decade so it is no longer available for purchase. But here are some great options I’ve found with similar sizes on Amazon if you don’t already own a cutting board large enough for this project.
- Paten Wood Cutting Board 16.5″ x 10″ (with handle)
- Best Acadia Wood Cutting Board 17″ x 10″ (with handle)
- Rachel Ray Cutting Board 17″ x 12″ (no handle)
- Bamboo Wood Cutting Board 18″ x 12.5″(no handle)
- Handmade Acadia Wood Cutting Board 15″ x 10″ (no handle)
Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board Ingredients
To make this charcuterie Christmas tree as shown, I used the following ingredients:
- cheese: cheddar cheese slices for the star cutouts and cubed cheese in both mild cheddar and pepper jack varieties. But switch these flavors up for your own personal favorites such a sharp cheddar, colby-jack or mozzarella pearls!
- meat: two varieties of salami (dry coppa and sweet soppressata) were used but any of your favorite charcuterie meats can be swapped out.
- fresh fruit: raspberries and cranberries were used for garnish but grapes, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, or pomegranate aerials would also work well.
- fresh veggies: broccoli and cherry tomatoes work great for color and to mimic trees but other veggies such as cauliflower, peppers, cucumber, snap peas, etc would be great options.
- pecan halves: both as the base of the tree and as a section of the tree. Stick pretzels, a celery stalk or almonds would also work for the tree trunk. Take your pecans up another level with these honey roasted pecans!
- fresh herbs: rosemary, cilantro and parsley were used but use your favorite herbs such as thyme, mint, basil, oregano, sage or dill instead.
Other Charcuterie Board Options:
- chocolate: broken chunk chocolate, truffles, almond bark, chocolate covered cherries, turtles, toffee, chocolate covered raisins, dipped pretzels, chocolate covered peanuts, etc.
- trail mix or additional nuts: roasted mixed nuts, cashews, pistachios, almonds or peanuts. Consider flavored nuts or various trail mixes.
- olives: a variety of olives is a great addition to any charcuterie board and pairs well with the meat and cheeses
- pickled items: such as pickles, mushrooms, peppers, garlic, onions, banana peppers, etc.
- dried fruits: including dried cranberries, mango, raisins, apricots, pineapple, etc would look beautiful on this board
- dip: consider offering a veggie dip on the side
- pretzels: stick pretzels work great to mimic the branches or lined up together make a great base of the tree
- crackers: a variety of crackers, especially if using sliced cheeses instead of cubed cheese, is a nice addition
How to Make Cheese Stars
Making a star is the perfect way to finish off your Christmas Tree charcuterie. It is so simple to make them with any sliced cheese you prefer. I happen to have sliced mild cheddar on hand already. I cut them out using three different size star mini cutters. (This set of mini cutters is what I used. It is a great set to have for assorted projects! Inexpensive and includes a storage tin.)
How to Make a Charcuterie Christmas Tree
Building your charcuterie Christmas tree is a lot of fun! Get creative with items you have on hand and with your own preferred placement. There is no wrong way to make a Christmas tree! You can choose to start from the top down or go from the bottom up like I did. Either way works!
I started with fresh rosemary as the base. I love the way the rosemary hangs down over the sides which reminds me of boughs. You could use only rosemary for your tree and I think it would be beautiful! I could only purchase one clam shell of rosemary when I was shopping so I improvised for the rest of the tree with parsley and cilantro. Really any green herbs work well! Next, I added my pepper jack cheese cubes and topped that with a layer of parsley.
I took my two varieties of thin salami slices and folded them into quarters before placing them as the next layer. If you had smaller, thicker salami cuts you could just place them here without the fold. Then I topped the salami with cilantro and added a layer of cheddar cheese cubes.
I added broccoli florets next and decided to skip an herb to separate them since broccoli does well to mimic a tree. Herbs would be harder to notice here anyway.
Next came a layer of cherry tomatoes, more parsley and some pecan halves. (If you have extra cherry tomatoes, also try my hot caprese dip. It is loaded with plenty of cheese and pesto and downright irresistible!)
Christmas Tree Charcuterie Finishing Touches
I topped it all off with a line of three fresh cranberries before finishing it off with a cheddar cheese star.
Next, I added three pecan halves for the base of the tree. Pecans work so well to mimic the trunk but you could use other nuts like almonds or walnuts instead. Pretzel sticks, a celery stalk or dip in small rectangular dish also works well for the tree trunk!
Finally, I added small cranberries and raspberries as berry ornaments and a few mini cheese stars on top of my salami slices.
I’m so pleased with how my Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board turned out! It really is so easy to put together but very festive! Really any holiday party would benefit from a Christmas tree cheese board like this one. Makes a great holiday appetizer or accompaniment to wine. Serve it as a snack board for guests of all ages to munch on before dinner. It is very versatile!
Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board
Ingredients
- 8 oz. cubed pepper jack cheese
- 8 oz. cubed cheddar cheese
- 1 slice cheddar cheese
- 6 oz. thinly sliced salami dry coppa and sweet soppressata shown
- 6 cherry tomatoes
- 1 small bunch of broccoli
- 1/4 cup fresh cranberries
- 1/3 cup fresh raspberries
- 2/3 cup pecan halves
- fresh herbs such as rosemary parsley, cilantro (shown)
Instructions
-
Cut out star shapes using a slice of cheddar cheese (or other flavor). Set aside.
-
Using a medium to large rectangular wooden cutting board, layer ingredients to create a tree shape. Start from the top or the bottom and layer ingredients. Fresh herbs work well between the layers or as filler. Fold thinly sliced salami into fourths. Add three pecan halves at the base for the tree trunk. Use a star at the top to finish off the Christmas tree. Add in fresh cranberries, raspberries and additional small stars to use as Christmas tree ornaments.
Recipe Notes
Other Charcuterie Board Options:
- chocolate: broken chunk chocolate, truffles, almond bark, chocolate covered cherries, turtles, toffee, chocolate covered raisins, dipped pretzels, chocolate covered peanuts, etc.
- trail mix or additional nuts: roasted mixed nuts, cashews, pistachios, almonds or peanuts. Consider flavored nuts or various trail mixes.
- olives: a variety of olives is a great addition to any charcuterie board and pairs well with the meat and cheeses
- pickled items: such as pickles, mushrooms, peppers, garlic, onions, banana peppers, etc.
- dried fruits: including dried cranberries, mango, raisins, apricots, pineapple, etc would look beautiful on this board
- dip: consider offering a veggie dip on the side
- pretzels: stick pretzels work great to mimic the branches or lined up together make a great base of the tree
- crackers: a variety of crackers, especially if using sliced cheeses instead of cubed cheese, is a nice addition
- fruit: grapes, strawberries, blueberries, mandarin oranges, figs, starfruit, kiwi, etc.
- veggies: other veggies such as snap peas, cauliflower, cucumbers, peppers,etc.
More Christmas Appetizers:
Looking for more great appetizers for Christmas? Here some to try at your next holiday gathering!
- Christmas Tree Cake Dip: Jump on the hot holiday trend with this dessert dip made with Little Debbie tree cakes!
- Cranberry Cream Cheese Appetizer: So easy yet so delicious, this simple appetizer works well served hot or cold.
- Spicy Cranberry BBQ Meatballs: These spicy meatballs can be made on your stove top or in your slow cooker to keep warm for guests!
- Rudolph Cheese Ball: This adorable holiday cheese ball is almost too cute to eat. Well…almost.
- Puff Pastry Pesto Trees: All you need are three ingredients to make this tree shaped appetizer.
- Christmas Deviled Eggs: Make this classic appetizer with just a few festive touches added.
- Bacon Dip: This hot bacon dip is the stuff of dreams and will disappear quickly!
