Christmas Charcuterie Board

This Christmas Charcuterie Board has a red, white, and green theme for a festive spread! Follow the step-by-step instructions to learn exactly how to put it together to create a beautiful board for your holiday events.

holiday cheese board on a dining table

A Red, White, and Green Cheese Board!

My Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board has been such a successful post, and it’s one of my favorites of all time on the blog! While Della helped me create that board, this one I dreamed up ingredient by ingredient until I had a red, white, and green theme going.

zoom in of charcuterie board ingredients

charcuterie board from the back side

I’m sure you guys have some ideas for even more ingredients you could add!

The key to a beautiful cheese board is to fill in all the spaces so it looks plentiful and abundant!

cheese board from above zoomed out on a dining table

Once again I made this step by step so you could see how everything comes together. I followed the same technique as last time anchoring with the cheeses and meats, following with fruit and crackers, and ending with the smaller pieces like nuts and herbs. It’s really quite easy!

zoom in of red peppers, almonds, and sliced manchego on a cheese board

Once you get the hang of the technique, you’ll be able to design your own boards using whatever ingredients you choose.

Holiday Charcuterie Board Ingredient List

christmas charcuterie board groceries ingredients laid out

Cheeses

I used the same trio as last time: a triple cream brie, a sharp cheddar, and a firm manchego. I think it’s always great to have one to serve with preserves (a goat cheese log rolled in rosemary would also be especially festive!), one to cube, and one to slice. Come to think of it – the manchego could have been dressed as little Christmas trees if I’d turned the triangles 90 degrees!

Meats

A trio of Spanish meats will give you some variety. I could have used two of these because the meats go fast! Look for one that has two different shapes – long prosciutto and little salami rounds.

Fruit

Fresh fruit, thinly sliced, and dried fruit. Pomegranates are especially festive, as do plump dried cranberries or cherries. Green pear, red apple, either kind of grapes, berries – stay in your color theme and there are tons of options!

Vegetables + Dip

I added red and green peppers and cucumbers to my board plus a vibrant green vegan kale pesto for dipping. A white herby ranch or cream cheese-based dip would be great too!

Crackers

The little red beet crackers were perfect for my theme! I also love the little toast-shaped crackers for the holidays. Regular white-ish crackers will do too. I skipped the yellow cheese straws for this year.

Nuts + Olives + Decor

You can’t have a cheese board without truffle almonds! A tin of holiday nuts would serve you well here – smoked almonds, cashews, candied pecans, etc. I tucked sprigs of rosemary from my garden and used a fig spread to decorate the brie.

Something Sweet

I think for a holiday board a little sweetness really rings true to the season. While dark chocolate almonds would have been nice, they didn’t fit my color scheme! So instead I used peppermint meringues from Trader Joes! Little perfect clouds of seasonal surprises on top added the perfect festive touch.

charcuterie board on a table with red berries in a pitcher and a stack of plates

Your Shopping List

Many of these can be found at Trader Joe’s. Otherwise look for comparables!

Block of sharp white cheddar
Triple Cream Brie
Block of aged manchego
Package of charcuterie meats
Fig & Olive crisp crackers
Box of assorted crackers
Red beet crackers
Truffle or smoked almonds
Green olives
Red and green bell peppers
Cucumber
Pesto for dipping
Raspberries
Pomegranate
Red grapes
Green pear
Dried cranberries or cherries
Dried Fuji apples
Peppermint Meringues
Fig preserves
Fresh rosemary

The Video!

How To Assemble Your Christmas Charcuterie Board

cheeses on a cutting board GIF

1: Prep your ingredients on a separate cutting board

Unbox crackers
Keep the brie whole
Cube the cheddar
Slice the manchego in triangles and stack vertically. Once you have a tower, you can turn on its side to be seen as zig zags on the board.
Roll the longer meats into cigars
Fold circle meats into “flowers” by folding in half and folding in half again
Wash and slice fruits and vegetables into thin slices or strips
Pour vegetable dip into a little bowl

cheese board ingredients prepped for styling

2: Arrange cheeses evenly across the board.

3: Add meats in curved line around cheeses, arranging the longer rolls as vertical as possible

cheeses and meats on a cutting board

4: Arrange bowls of dip and olives

cheese, meats, and green olives with pesto dip

5: Add fruits and vegetables all around board

6: Decorate with crackers in stacks and rows

crackers added to cheese board gaps

7: Fill in edges and holes with nuts, dried fruit and herbs

adding nuts and herbs to the cheese board

8: Add preserves to brie and meringues on top!

finished cheese board with cheese, meats, fruits, veggies, nuts, dips, crackers, meringues

If you’re taking your board outside or need a germ-safe way to share this, consider mini to-go containers like this Picnic Cheese Board. Just divide up and pack everything inside of a holiday themed to go box (like these) or holiday tin and enjoy one per family. Leave a cheese board on your friends’ doorsteps instead of cookies this year!

holiday cheese board from the side