Happy Christmas Eve Eve!! If you’re expecting company, make one more trip to the store and grab a few things to put together this festive Christmas charcuterie board.

christmas tree shaped snack board topped with sweet, salty and savory snacks. this recipe

How to build a charcuterie board

Like my Thanksgiving board, I like to have a nice variety of textures and flavors to keep things interesting and to please as many people as possible. It’s nice to be able to just make one of these up and set it out. Then you know everyone’s happy to get to eat something.

Start with the cheese

I like to use 3 cheeses for bigger boards like this one and 2 for smaller ones. Since this Christmas charcuterie board is all about seasonal flavors, the first cheese I grabbed was the baked lemon ricotta from Trader Joe’s. If you know, you know. It’s literally perfection in a wedge and it only comes around in December.

It’s a nice, soft and sweet cheese that’s bursting with lemon flavor and a creamy texture. Almost like a cheesecake.

I used Brie for the second cheese, cutting out the star on top of the tree. Of course that was the perfect place to put the cranberry raspberry sage jam!!

I’m partial towards spreadable cheese, but I found an amazing cranberry wensleydale at my grocery store. It slices well and was the perfect addition to the board!

Crackers or bread

I always go with either bagel chips or a rosemary sourdough cracker. Sometimes I’ll look harder for something more seasonal, but generally, the bread/cracker/carb is just a vehicle for the good stuff. Try and stick to something neutral with a good crunch.

That being said, everything bagel seasoning as well as rosemary or sage will go with just about anything.

Meats

Just like the crackers, I’m habitual about using the same stuff over and over again. My all time favorite is black pepper salami, since there’s a good amount of spice. But I also like using pate, prosciutto and speck, which is a smoked prosciutto like meat.

christmas tree shaped snack board topped with sweet, salty and savory snacks.

Everything else!

Blood oranges are in season right now, making this board bright and colorful. I always like to use mini, seedless cucumbers for either a palate cleanser or something else crunchy. Including both a vegetable and a fruit keeps the variety going.

Use nuts, Christmas cookies, candy and chocolate to round things out and garnish with fresh herbs as desired!! Merry Christmas!!