Festive Holiday Cheese Board

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
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Use my tips for an epic holiday cheese board that will impress your guests this winter.
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Planning on entertaining for the holidays? Remove some of the stress from holiday hosting by serving an epic holiday cheese board as a starter. It is a great way to take care of the appetizers ahead of time so you don’t have to worry about it while you’re preparing the entrees.

Festive Holiday Cheese Board

festive holiday cheese board with assorted cheese and charcuterie

How to Prep the Board in Advance

I often set up my cheese board earlier in the morning or afternoon before an event and then wrap the board or platter in plastic wrap and refrigerate it until about an hour before I’m ready to serve it.

A tip from cheesemongers: you don’t want to serve cheese straight out of the fridge; cheese should be served at room temperature. This allows the flavor of the cheese to shine.

How to Choose the Cheese

Don’t be afraid to pick a variety of different types of cheese – there are so many good ones out there! For my cheese board, I like to go with a soft bloomy cheese with a rind like Brie (try freezing it for 15 minutes then using cookie cutters to cut it into fun shapes), a tangy goat, an aged Cheddar (I like sharp Cheddar), and a potent blue and a hard cheese like Parmesan or creamy Boursin. These are all good, basic options that can be found at any grocery store or cheese shop.

Once you have established your favorite cheeses, you can start to explore other varieties. To lean into the holiday spirit I love a goat cheese studded with cranberries or rolled in chopped herbs like thyme and rosemary. No matter how many fancy cheeses I buy I promise Boursin will always be the one to be eaten first so I always include it on my cheese board.

Arrange an odd number of cheeses across different areas of the plate, making sure to separate those with similar textures to create visual variety. While cheese can stand out on its own, pairing it with cured meats and other snacks arranged in an aesthetically pleasing way can transform your board into a true work of art.

How to Arrange the Board

Place the variety of cheeses on various ares of the board. Spreading out different textures encourages guests to explore the board fully, transitioning from soft and creamy cheeses to firmer or crumblier varieties, offering the best tasting experience. It’s best to choose a few different kinds of cheese that contrast well – for example a creamy cheese, a hard cheese and a funky cheese.

Then I flesh out the board by arranging the charcuterie around them. I like to create a fun salami rose to add some texture. You can also fold the slices into halves or quarters and layer them around the board.

I then fill in the rest of the gaps with nuts, fruit, crackers and slices of baguette. As you can see, I like to go “above and beyond” and when I do, it’s all about the accompaniments that fill in the gaps and are used to garnish the board.

I love to add a selection of three to five charcuterie options to my cheese boards. I always go with prosciutto – a crowd pleaser – and then I rotate my other selections of cured meats.

salami rose

How to prep elements to include on your board

Make a Salami Rose 
  1. Take one slice of salami and place it halfway over Around the mouth of a shot glass or narrow champagne flute. 
  2. Add another slice of salami, overlapping them slightly, continuing the process around the rim of the glass, ensuring the slices overlap evenly. Repeat layering slices to create a petal effect (I use about 15 slices) to form the rose. 
  3. Flip the rose and onto your serving service, lifting the glass away to show the rose. 
How to Make Dried Citrus 
  1. Bake the citrus slices. Heat the oven to 250ºF (120ºC). Arrange the citrus slices on a silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake, flipping the slices every 15 minutes until the citrus slices are completely dry but not brown, about 1 hour (depending on the size and thickness of the slices – some may finish sooner than others).
  2. Let cool. Remove to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely.Slices can be made and stored up to 3 weeks ahead of time. 
Baked Crostini Recipe
  1. Dip bread in oil. Heat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Dip one side of the baguette slices into the oil and place on a baking sheet with the oil-dipped side facing up. Repeat with the remaining slices.
  2. Bake crostini. Next, bake until crisp, about 15 minutes. Remove and let cool.
dried citrus closeup

Choosing the Accoutrements

For the winter holidays I add some seasonal fruit like quartered pomegranates leaning into the colors red and green if possible. Some halved figs and dried fruit for people to snack on also make great additions. Nuts like almonds or walnuts make the perfect snack to accompany cheeses. Marcona almonds might be my favorite to include. This small, rounded variety of almonds is imported from Spain and is typically sold blanched, roasted and sprinkled with salt. Fruits and nuts are also great to make the board look more full.

Some great serving ideas:

  • Pomegranates, cut into sections
  • Figs, cut in half
  • Slices of dried fruit (like apples or citrus)
  • Cranberries (take them to the next level and sugar them)
  • Dried fruit like cranberries or raisins (golden raisins look great!)
  • Truffle Marcona almonds
  • Walnuts (try candying the nuts!)
  • Garnish with fresh herbs like sprigs of fresh rosemary or oregano
festive holiday cheese cheese and charcuterie

Tips for Cheese Boards

Trying to decide how much cheese to buy can be stressful. When I am planning my shopping list I typically allot 2 ounces of cheese and 1 ounce of charcuterie per person – this board serves 10 to 15 people. I usually opt to buy a little extra just to be safe – I would always rather have leftovers then run out of food!

If I am serving a large party (over 20 people) I will buy a few backup cheeses to replenish when they run out. Then the board isn’t overwhelmed by a ton of different cheese selections and the cheese is always fresh.  

You can arrange your cheeses simply on a cutting board though I like using a marble board or slate especially for holiday entertaining. Use these tips for the most epic holiday cheese board!

 Cooking with Cocktail Rings Blogger Kylie Mazon-Chambers shares cranberry goat cheese

Other Recipes to Try

If you enjoy this recipe, I recommend checking out these:

Festive Holiday Cheese Board

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festive holiday cheese board with assorted cheese and charcuterie
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Serves 10

Ingredients:

  • 6 ounces chèvre (goat cheese)
  • 1 tablespoon chopped thyme
  • 6 ounces sharp Cheddar, thinly sliced
  • 8 ounces double cream Brie
  • 4 ounces Parmesan, roughly chopped into chunks
  • 6 ounces blue cheese, (I chose a mild Saint Agur)
  • 6 ounces prosciutto
  • 4 ounces Calabrese salami
  • 2 ounces mortadella
  • ½ cup marcona almonds
  • ¼ cup walnuts
  • 1 medium pomegranate, quartered
  • ¼ cup dried cranberries
  • 1 small honeycomb
  • 10 medium cornichons
  • 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
  • Baguette, sliced and grilled
  • Assorted crackers, as needed
  • Rosemary sprigs, for garnish
  • Dried citrus, for garnish

Instructions:

  • Arrange the cheeses on a large cheese board.
  • Arrange charcuterie around the cheese.
  • Fill in the board with the almonds, walnuts, pomegranates, cranberries and honeycomb.
  • Add the mustard and cornichons to small bowls and arrange on the board. Serve with the bread, crackers and breadsticks. Garnish the board with sprigs of rosemary and dried citrus.

Nutrition:

Calories: 546kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 43g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 100mg | Sodium: 1366mg | Potassium: 388mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 753IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 410mg | Iron: 2mg
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 This post is sponsored by Diamond of California Nuts – all opinions expressed are my own. 

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