Create this beautiful Christmas charcuterie board in the festive shape of a wreath for nibbles at your Christmas party, or anytime during the holiday season as an appetizer.
It is easy to assemble once you have gathered and selected your preferred meats, cheeses, fruits, nuts and other accompaniments.
With a bit of advance planning and careful arrangement of the ingredients, anyone can put together this eye-catching edible wreath that is sure to wow your guests.
Follow our simple step-by-step instructions to create your own charcuterie wreath board. We've also included tonnes of inspiration and great ideas for finger foods to add, from meats and cheeses to fruits and nuts.
The best part, you can let your creativity run wild with the bites you decide to add and your arrangement of them - it's your blank canvas ready to be filled!
Why not try this Christmas hot chocolate with Bailey's whipped cream for afters! For dips to serve with your charcuterie board, have a look at this easy beetroot hummus or this healthy tuna pâté.
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What's to love about board
- Charcuterie boards are perfect for holiday parties and always look impressive and appetising.
- Great as a grazing board when guests are peckish, before or after the main course.
- Quick and easy to assemble.
- Incredibly versatile in terms of the vast array of cheeses, meats, fruits, dips and crackers you can include.
- Can be assembled in advance before guests arrive.
- Easily scalable for any number of guests.
Typical ingredients of a charcuterie board
Cheese
Depending on the size of your board, aim for 3-4 cheeses. Don't add cheese you don't actually like. There is no hard and fast rule that says you have to add blue cheese if you don't *really* love it. The charcuterie police won't come after you.
Ideally, try using a variation of soft to hard cheeses.
Soft cheeses
- Boursin
- Camembert
- Brie
- Feta
- Lancashire
- Wensleydale
- Mozzarella balls
- Brillat
- Savarin
- Explorateur
- Pont L'Eveque
Hard cheeses
- Parmesan
- Cheddar
- Emmenthal
- Farmhouse
- Gloucester
- Gouda
- Havarti
- Isle of Mull
- Manchego
- Red Leicester
- Muenster
- Piave Vecchio
- Jarlsberg.
Meat
Attempt to add at least three different types of meat and cured meats if you're serving a party larger than six people. This recipe only contains two types of meat as it only serves six.
Experiment with salty meats to compliment the cheese, like prosciutto and bresaola. Salami is always a good addition for it's richness and bit of spice. Add some milder meats to cater for those guests who don't like strong flavours, like a good quality ham.
- Pancetta
- Salami - soppressata, finocchiona, genoa
- Prosciutto - Prosciutto di Parma, jamón serrano
- Bresaola
- Parma ham
- Coppa
- Mortadella
- Nduja
- Smoked/cured sausage - chorizo, soppressata, landjäger
- Pâté - chicken liver, duck, hummus
- Terrine - pork, olive, duck confit
- Ham - Serrano, prosciutto, black forest
- Bacon - pancetta, pork belly
Crackers and bread
Crackers or some version of small breads are a great addition to your board. It adds some mildness and texture to the rich cured meats and cheeses.
Add visual and textural interest by serving a variety of crackers both plain in taste, like water crackers, as well as herby crackers or even crackers with a little sweetness, like digestive biscuits.
- Artisan crackers
- Crostini
- Breadsticks
- Water crackers
- Herb crackers
- Multigrain crackers
- Digestive biscuits
- Charcoal crackers
- Seeded crackers - sesame, poppy, flax, sunflower
- Whole grain crackers - rye, multigrain, spinach, roasted garlic
- Flatbreads - naan, pita, lavash
- Crispbreads - Wasa, Ryvita
- Breadsticks - sesame, rosemary, chili-cheese
Fresh fruit, dried fruit and nuts
- Black or green grapes, apple, pear, figs, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries
- Dried apricots, dried figs, dried apple rings, prunes, dried cranberries, dates, raisins
- Cashews, walnuts, pecan nuts, macadamia, almonds, pistachio, candied nuts, brittles
- Stone fruits - cherries, nectarines, plums
- Citrus - clementines, satsumas, blood orange
- Tropical - mango, pineapple, kiwi, starfruit
Preserves
- Jams
- Chutney
- Mustard
- Pickle
- Honey (great with soft cheese!)
Dips and spreads
- Pesto, like rocket pesto and pistachio pesto
- Tapenade.
- Hummus, like bright pink beetroot hummus
- Various flavoured cream cheeses
- Extra virgin oil and balsamic vinegar
- Romesco dip
- Tuna pate
Other great options
- Black or green olives
- Stuffed olives
- Gherkins
- Cherry tomatoes
- Pickled onions
- Radishes
- Sugar snap peas
- Pomegranate seeds
- Sundried tomato
- Celery
- Fresh herbs
- Marinated roasted peppers
- Peppadew
- Jalapenos
- Watercress
- Chives
How to assemble a wreath charcuterie board
Note: Although this recipe creates a wreath shape, you can construct the charcuterie board into any form you'd like. Assemble it directly onto a clean table or use wooden chopping boards/platters.
To stick with a Christmas theme, you can also arrange your nibbles into a Christmas tree shape charcuterie board!
For this festive Christmas wreath you will need:
- A large accessible surface (like a table) or large wooden cutting board that will be big enough to build your wreath on.
- A large dinner plate.
- 4-5 large handfuls of fresh rosemary or thyme (this will depend on how large you would like your wreath to be).
- A pair of scissors.
- Your ingredients.
Step 1
Thoroughly clean and prepare your surface. You can line it with parchment paper (if you're building directly onto your dining table for instance) or use a large wooden board.
Step 2
Place a dinner plate upside down on the surface.
Step 3
Snip the rosemary or thyme into roughly equal lengths and arrange it around the plate. This looks better if you place the sprigs of rosemary at a 45 degree angle to the plate, so it's more of a 'swoop' around the board, and not a sun beam effect.
Step 4
Remove the plate and adjust the herbs as needed.
You can do this part on Christmas Eve to save you time on Christmas day. Just add all your fresh ingredients before your guests arrive and loosely place a piece of plastic wrap over the top to stop the items from drying out.
Step 5
Start with largest items, spacing them evenly around the circle. Then place second largest items next to the first all the way around.
Step 6
Fill in the empty spaces with smaller items like feta, pickles, olives.
Step 7
Chop the salad cress into small pieces and scatter over for colour and freshness.
Step 8
Tidy up the shape by gently adjusting areas that need it. Pull the herb strands from underneath to expose them.
Expert tips
- Use quality ingredients if affordable. Most items are eaten alone, so bad quality is obvious. Balance quality with value. Supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl sell excellent quality cheeses and cured meats at very affordable prices.
- Ensure there is ample of everything. The whole idea of a charcuterie board is that it should look and feel like a feast. You can flesh it out with cheaper ingredients like grapes and crackers.
- Separate soft or messy foods with herbs or small bowls or dishes.
- Carefully inspect fresh fruits, like grapes, and remove any with marks on them.
- Arrange foods in a crowd-pleasing yet minimalist way. Avoid overly handling/manipulating components. Leave the 'salami roses' back in the 70's where they belong. Try to arrange the food in such a way so that it looks natural and handled minimally.
- Don't forget to add some cheese knives, small plates and serviettes.
Storage and food safety for leftovers
Carefully inspect any leftovers before storing them away. Anything that's been smudged in dips or soft cheeses, consider throwing it away.
Cured meats should not sit out at room temperature for longer than 2 hours. If this is the case, throw them away and don't store them again.
- Store any leftover, still fresh meats separately from other items. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap or foil and keep in the fridge for up to 4-5 days.
- Wrap cheeses tightly in wax or parchment paper and then in plastic wrap. Keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- Place any crackers or bread in a zip top bag or airtight container. They will stay fresh for up to 2-3 days.
- Store fruits in an airtight container or bag, lined with paper towels to absorb excess moisture. Berries should be kept in the fridge for only 1-2 days.
- Olives, pickles and jams can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Don't place them back in their old containers, use clean, fresh ones.
- Nuts and dried fruits will last for months stored in the pantry in airtight containers.
- Avoid cross-contamination by keeping meats away from produce.
FAQ
It's a French culinary term for cured meat preparations. Modern boards feature many other complementary foods too. meats.
Shar-KOO-te-ree.
Absolutely, everything on this beautiful board is already gluten free, just replace the crackers you serve with gluten free ones.
Bold, rustic wines like Cabernet, Malbec, Petite Sirah and Zinfandel complement the rich flavours nicely.
More festive recipes
Recipe
Christmas Charcuterie board - Wreath
Ingredients
- 4-5 handfuls rosemary or thyme
- 100 gram Prosciutto - separated and loosely bundled up individually
- 120 gram quality ham - like parma, roma, genoa etc. Loosely rolled
- 150 gram brie - sliced into thin slices
- 150 gram feta cheese - cubed
- 250 gram grapes - red or green, broken into small bunches
- 80 gram olives
- 15 pickled onions
- 3 radishes - sliced thinly
- 3 tablespoons salad cress - chopped finely
Instructions
- Thoroughly clean and prepare your surface. You can line it with parchment paper (if you're building directly onto your dining table for instance) or use a large wooden board.
- Place a dinner plate upside down on the surface.
- Snip the rosemary or thyme into roughly equal lengths and arrange it around the plate. This looks better if you place the herbs at a 45 degree angle to the plate, so it's more of a 'swoop' around the board, and not a sun beam effect.
- Remove the plate and adjust the herbs as needed.
- Start with largest items, spacing them evenly around the circle. Then place second largest items next to the first all the way around.
- Fill in the gaps with smaller items like feta, pickles, olives.
- Chop the salad cress into small pieces and scatter over for colour and freshness.
- Tidy up the shape by gently adjusting areas that need it. Pull the herb strands from underneath to make them more visible.
Notes
Expert tips
- Use quality ingredients if affordable. Most items are eaten alone, so bad quality is obvious. Balance quality with value. Supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl sell excellent quality cheeses and cured meats at very affordable prices.
- Ensure there is ample of everything. The whole idea of a charcuterie board is that it should look and feel like a feast. You can flesh it out with cheaper ingredients like grapes and crackers.
- Separate soft or messy foods with herbs or small dishes.
- Carefully inspect fresh fruits, like grapes, and remove any with marks on them.
- Arrange foods in a crowd-pleasing yet minimalist way. Avoid overly handling/manipulating components. Leave the 'salami roses' back in the 70's where they belong. Try to arrange the food in such a way so that it looks natural and handled minimally.
**Nutritional data disclaimer**
Please keep in mind that the nutritional information provided below is calculated by a third party and we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We try our best to give you the most accurate information, but we do not take responsibility for errors that may be present. Also, the nutritional value of the recipe may change depending on the exact brands and products used. We recommend that you consult with a qualified healthcare professional or registered dietitian for personalised advice on your dietary needs.
Nutrition
For food safety advice, including guidance on food allergies
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