Holiday Cheese Board
Total Time
20 mins
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
0 mins
Rating
5 out of 5 stars
(1)
Ingredients
2-16 servings
- Cheese: I recommend starting with a mix of aged cheddar, goat cheese, blue cheese and/or brie. Then you can also add in Manchego and a wild card cheese of your choice, if you would like.
- Olives/peppers: Red and/or green olives of your choice, plus any extra pickles, cheese-stuffed peppadew peppers, bruschetta spreads, or tapenades that you would like
- Fruit: A red and green mixture of fresh grapes, berries and sliced pears (dried fruit would also be a good seasonal option in the wintertime)
- Crackers/bread: A mix of your favorite crackers and/or fresh baguette slices
- Jams/spreads: Jam, honey, Dijon mustard, and/or pesto
- Nuts: A few handfuls of your favorite nuts (almonds, pistachios, etc.), seeds (pepitas, sunflower seeds, etc.) or candied nuts
- Cured meats (optional): Prosciutto, salami, etc.
- Garnish (optional): Sprigs of fresh rosemary or sage
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Preparation
Step 1
Start with the cheese. Arrange your cheeses so that they are evenly-spaced around the board. Then go ahead and either partially (or fully) slice/crumble each cheese, and place a cheese knife (if needed) nearby so that people can easily serve themselves.
Step 2
Add any jars/bowls. Next, place any jars or bowls full of ingredients that you will be using (such as for olives, peppers, pickles, jams, spreads, etc.) evenly around the board, along with serving spoons (if needed).
Step 3
Add crackers/bread. Place crackers and bread evenly around the board so that they are easily accessible.
Step 4
Add fruit. Use the fruit to fill in some of the remaining holes and add some pretty pops of color to your cheese board.
Step 5
Add nuts. Sprinkle nuts around the board, to fill in any of the final remaining gaps.
Step 6
Add garnish (optional). For a holiday-themed board, feel free to add in a few sprigs of extra rosemary or sage as festive garnish.
Step 7
Serve. Then serve up your cheese board and enjoy!
Step 8
Save recipe for the next time?
Chef's notes
Get the cheese started. If I’ve learned anything over the years with cheese boards, it’s that people are always reluctant to be the first to slice into a block of cheese! I recommend always pre-slicing at least part of the cheese, to make it look a bit more inviting.
Set out a few small bowls for shells/pits. It’s always nice to have a few designated bowls nearby for pistachio shells, olive pits, cheese rinds, etc., so that people do not have to pile them on their plates.
Have backup crackers ready. We almost always end up refilling the crackers and bread when we serve cheese boards, so have extras ready to go!
Don’t forget to cut the grapes. Common cheese board mistake — don’t forget to snip the grapes into smaller, individual-sized bunches. They are much easier for people to grab, and will prevent rogue grapes from accidentally getting tossed onto your floor.
Plan for a good cheese board to spoil everyone’s dinner. Ha, seriously though. If you are serving a cheese board as an appetizer before dinner, plan for smaller dinner portions because everyone will go to town on the cheese board and totally spoil their appetites beforehand. Said from experience. ;)
Please feel free to simplify. ♡♡♡ My sincere hope is that you will just use this post as fun inspiration, because when it comes to a good cheeseboard, you can totally simplify things and go with fewer items (perhaps spaced out into multiple piles) instead of more. I would recommend starting with 1-2 items in each of the ingredient categories listed above, and then you can always add more if you would like.
