A Christmas charcuterie board is as much decoration as food. It sits in the middle of the room all afternoon, so it should look festive, last well, and keep people picking without spoiling dinner. Red and green fruit, a shape everyone recognizes, and a small bowl of something unexpected, like pale clusters of pickled white shimeji, do most of the work.
Here is what to put on a Christmas board, eight ideas from a wreath to a Christmas tree board, step-by-step instructions for the tree, and how much to buy.
What to put on a Christmas charcuterie board
Cheese
Three kinds: a soft one like brie or a cranberry goat cheese, an aged one like white cheddar or Comté, and a blue or a smoked gouda. Cubes and slices are easier to shape into wreaths and trees than wedges.
Meat
Prosciutto and one or two salamis. Folded salami makes red "roses" that suit a Christmas board.
Red and green fruit
Pomegranate seeds, cranberries, red and green grapes, strawberries and kiwi. Rosemary sprigs read as pine and smell like the season.
Nuts and something sweet
Candied pecans, Marcona almonds, a few squares of dark chocolate, and a small dish of honey or fig jam.
Crackers and bread
Two kinds, one plain and one with seeds or herbs. Add them last so they stay crisp.
The 3-3-3-3 rule
The popular formula is three cheeses, three meats, three starches and three accompaniments. It is a starting point, not a law: on a holiday board, color and contrast matter more than the count.
Pickles
The thing that keeps a rich board from tasting all the same. Pickled mushrooms are savory as well as sharp, and they look striking in a small bowl in the middle of a wreath:
- White shimeji, in pale, snowy clusters, is the light, bright thing on a board of heavy ones.
- King oyster, in thick coins with truffle oil, is the showpiece, and the meatiest choice for a vegetarian board.
A small bowl of each covers a board for six to eight. Mix them in a Build Your Variety Pack, with crimini for the antipasto or the Christmas morning Bloody Marys.
8 Christmas charcuterie board ideas
1. The wreath
A round board with a ring of rosemary sprigs, then cheese, folded salami and fruit laid around the ring, with a bowl in the middle. Cherry tomatoes and mozzarella balls read as red and white; green olives finish it. Keep the ring about two inches wide so it reads as a wreath from across the room, and put the pickled mushrooms in the center bowl.
2. The Christmas tree
The most searched Christmas board of all, and easier than it looks. Instructions below.
3. The candy cane
Cherry tomatoes and mozzarella balls in alternating rows, curved into a candy cane, with basil at the crook. Light, fresh and naturally in Christmas colors.
4. Red and green
Pomegranate seeds, cranberries and red grapes on one side; green grapes, Castelvetrano olives, kiwi and rosemary on the other.
5. The snowy white board
Everything pale: brie, white cheddar, goat cheese, green grapes, white chocolate, and the pale clusters of pickled white shimeji, which look as if they were picked for the theme.
6. The Eastern European Christmas Eve table
In Polish and Ukrainian families, mushrooms, dried or pickled, are a staple of the Christmas Eve supper, the Polish Wigilia among them. Serve them with herring, rye bread, sour cream and onion, and a cold shot of vodka for the grown-ups.
7. The vegetarian board
Leave out the meat and let the mushrooms do its job: thick coins of king oyster where the salami would go, marinated vegetables, roasted nuts, three cheeses, fruit and good bread.
8. The Christmas Eve antipasto
An Italian spread for the night before: cured meats, mozzarella, roasted peppers, artichokes and pickled crimini. Here is how to build an antipasto platter.
How to make a Christmas tree charcuterie board
- Pick a long board and imagine a triangle, point at the top, about two-thirds of the board's length.
- Lay the bottom row first, the widest: a line of cheese cubes.
- Build up in rows, each a little shorter: salami folded into quarters, green grapes, white cheddar cubes, red grapes, pomegranate seeds.
- Add the branches: tuck small rosemary sprigs between the rows.
- Add the trunk: two or three crackers or a short stack of pretzel rods below the bottom row.
- Top it with a star cut from a slice of cheese with a small cookie cutter.
- Set the bowls beside it: pickled mushrooms, olives and crackers around the tree, never on it, so the shape stays clean.
How much to buy
As a starter before Christmas dinner, plan on about 2 to 3 ounces of meat and cheese combined per person. If the board is the meal, as at a Christmas Eve open house, double it.
- 6 guests: about 1 lb of meat and cheese, and 1 jar of pickled mushrooms.
- 12 guests: about 2 lb, and 2 jars of different varieties.
- 20 guests: about 3 lb, and 3 jars.
What not to put on a Christmas board
- Anything that needs a knife and fork. A board is finger food.
- Wet things straight on the wood. Brine and juice soften the crackers. Use small bowls.
- Soft cheese in a warm room for hours. Set out half and refill from the fridge.
- Too many similar things. Three salamis look like one. Variety of color and texture matters more than quantity.
Make it ahead
- The day before: buy everything, toast the nuts, cube and wrap the cheeses.
- An hour before: lay out the shape, bowls first.
- Last: drain the pickled mushrooms for five minutes and add them straight from the fridge, then the crackers.
Don't leave the board out for more than two hours.
Order in time for Christmas
Orders usually ship within one to two business days and arrive three to five business days after that, so order by the second week of December.
If the jars are a present, give them to someone who already loves pickles, olives or a good board, and tuck in a note with three ways to use them, so the jar ends up on a board rather than at the back of the cupboard. A 6-Pack makes a proper Christmas gift, and a 2-Pack is the right size to bring to someone else's dinner.
Christmas charcuterie board questions
What do you put on a Christmas charcuterie board?
Three cheeses, one or two cured meats, red and green fruit like pomegranate, cranberries and grapes, rosemary for color, nuts, something sweet, two kinds of crackers, and something pickled, like cornichons or pickled mushrooms.
What is the 3-3-3 rule for a charcuterie board?
Three cheeses, three meats and three starches, often with three accompaniments too. Treat it as a starting point.
What should you not put on a charcuterie board?
Anything that needs cutlery, wet foods placed straight on the board, and too many similar items. Keep brined things in small bowls.
Is it cheaper to make your own charcuterie board?
It depends on what you put on it, but making your own lets you choose every item, buy only what your guests will eat, and use what is already in the fridge.
The short version
Pick a shape, a wreath or a tree, and build it in red, green and white. Keep the meat modest, put pickled mushrooms in small bowls, add them last and cold, and don't leave the board out more than two hours. For the pickles, read the best pickles for a charcuterie board. When you are ready, build your pack.