Make this delicious Christmas tree charcuterie board to serve at your next holiday gathering. It’s the perfect festive appetizer or snack.
Charcuterie boards are an excellent way to feed a group of people. They offer a variety of flavors and foods in a beautiful display. It’s the perfect party appetizer.
This Christmas tree charcuterie board is perfect for holiday gatherings. It combines the flavors of a charcuterie board with a fun Christmas tree design. After all, food is better when it has a theme. At least I think so.
This festive Christmas tree shaped charcuterie, or charcutertree (ha!), is a great centerpiece for any holiday snack table.
What’s On This Christmas Charcuterie Board
- Pretzel sticks
- White cheddar cheese
- Olives
- Herb-crusted salami
- Blackberries
- Yellow cheddar cheese
- Raspberries
- Rolos
How to Build a Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board
The top is the best place to start building a Christmas tree charcuterie board. Place a star dish near the top of the board. That way you know exactly how much space you have for each tree layer.
After the star, build the tree trunk near the bottom of the board. Pretzel sticks are the perfect trunk!
The first layer of my charcuterie tree is white cheddar cheese. Cut your cheese into cubes. Cubes are easier to pile and stack. That gives your layers more height and dimension.
The next layer is an assortment of marinated olives. Drain the olives and pat them with a paper towel to absorb excess moisture. That way the olive juices don’t spread to other foods on the board. Pile the olives as high as the cheese for a cohesive look. Next is the salami layer.
How to Fold Salami
For this charcuterie board, the best way to fold the salami is into quarters. So fold it in half, and then fold it in half again. Arrange the salami quarters facing in opposite directions. This helps hold each quarter in place and keep it from unfolding. It is helpful to hold a stack of 5-6 salami quarters in your hand. Apply a little pressure. And then place each stack on the board.
Next is the layer of blackberries. Blackberries have such a rich flavor. They are perfect for a charcuterie board full of other bold flavors.
Then add a layer of yellow cheddar cheese. My layer is made of Cracker Barrel mini cheese cubes. Prepackaged cheese cubes take the prep work out of creating this charcuterie board.
Above the next layer of cheese, there should be just enough room for a layer of raspberries. They add a lovely pop of color to this charcuterie Christmas tree.
Finally, fill the star-shaped dish with Rolos. These chocolate and caramel candies are the perfect sweet compliment to the rest of the board. Plus, they are small so they fill the small star dish wonderfully. And, most importantly, they are wrapped in gold foil.
The gold star at the top is the perfect topper for a Christmas tree charcuterie board.
I also added a few sprigs of rosemary around the board. The rosemary tucks nicely into the layers. It provides a visually lovely finishing touch to the charcuterie tree.
Additional Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board Food Ideas
The possibilities for food layers for this charcuterie tree are practically endless. But here are a few additional ideas:
- Sugared cranberries – They are tart, and sweet, and add a lovely pop of red to the board.
- Grapes – If you don’t like olives, substitute them for grapes. You can use purple or green grapes. Or a mixture of both!
- Mini cheeseballs – Either purchase or make your own mini cheeseballs. They are a great way to incorporate soft, spreadable cheese into this board.
- Proscuitto – Another delicious cured meat option.
- Pepperoni – When creating charcuterie boards I want my kids to eat, I use pepperoni. They love it. And adults eat it too!
- Werther’s – Instead of Rolos, fill the star at the top with gold wrapped Werther’s Originals instead.
- Mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – Mini Reese’s cups are also wrapped in gold foil. That makes them great for the star!
What Size Charcuterie Board To Use
My board is 18″ x 14.” It’s a large board. But not too large that it costs a fortune to fill it with food. I purchased my board from HomeGoods. It’s a great place to find cheese boards on a budget. But I’ve linked a few similarly sized options below.
The star dish is from Target. It is plastic, dishwasher safe, and less than $5. Little dishes like this are perfect for decorating charcuterie boards!
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Can I Make This Charcuterie Board in Advance?
All of the ingredients for this Christmas tree charcuterie board may be prepared and stored in the refrigerator in advance. However, I don’t recommend preparing the board itself more than a few minutes before serving. First, for food safety reasons. Cheese and meats shouldn’t sit out for more than a few hours. Second, the juices from some of the ingredients could drain out if the board is left in the refrigerator for too long.
*Remember, never store meat or cheese from a charcuterie board back in the refrigerator. If the meat and cheese have been out for more than an hour or two, just throw out the leftovers. And throw away any fruit or food that was touching the meat as well.
This fun Christmas tree charcuterie board is the perfect appetizer for a holiday party or Christmas celebration. It’s sure to impress your guests!
More Fun Christmas Snack Ideas
Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board
Equipment
- 1 rectangular cheese board
- 1 star shaped dish
Ingredients
- pretzel sticks
- white cheddar cheese cubed
- olives
- herb-crusted salami
- blackberries
- yellow cheddar cheese cubed
- raspberries
- Rolos
Instructions
- Place a star dish near the top of the board.
- Build the tree trunk near the bottom of the board using pretzel sticks.
- Cut cheese into cubes.
- Fold salami into quarters. Stack closely together to maintain the shape.
- Add the first layer of white cheddar cheese above the pretzel stick trunk.
- Add the additional layers, working your way up the board. Each layer should maintain the same height but have a slightly smaller width than the previous layer.Olives, salami, blackberries, yellow cheddar cheese, and raspberries.
- Fill the star dish with Rolos.
- Garnish the tree using sprigs of fresh rosemary.
