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This Santa charcuterie board gives your typical Christmas snack board a jolly makeover. Host the best holiday get-together with this customizable centerpiece!
The holidays are fast approaching, and if you don’t have a Christmas snack board yet, this Santa charcuterie board will surely bring cheer to your holiday gatherings.
Top Santa’s Nice list and host the best Christmas party with this very merry Santa Claus charcuterie board!
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It’s filled with cheese, meats, fruits, and nuts for guests to munch over. ?
Got completely wrapped up in holiday tasks? Don’t worry!
This Christmas Santa charcuterie board comes together so easily, you can even have kids help you build it.
What is a Santa Charcuterie Board?
This Santa Claus charcuterie board is a Christmas snack board arranged to look like everyone’s favorite Christmas figure: Santa Claus.
The holiday feast features classic charcuterie items like cheese, meats, nuts, and fruits. But instead of laying them out over a rectangular board, we’ll use a round platter and place the items to form the familiar jolly old man. ?
I have always been a fan of fun food presentations for different occasions (check out our Thanksgiving turkey board and Halloween pumpkin board!)
So, for the most wonderful time of the year, it’s only fitting to have a festive platter.
I’m sure kids and adults alike will be captivated by this Santa charcuterie board. It’s just so cute and creative!
The unique arrangement made simple snacks more enticing, and I bet this Santa is a great way to spark conversations.
Why You’ll Love This Christmas Snack Board Idea
- Fun To Make And Eat: This Santa Claus charcuterie board is a party snack platter that hosts will love making and guests will enjoy eating. It only requires simple ingredients, and building the board is as easy as wrapping boxed presents.
- Centerpiece-Worthy: Match the season’s festivities with a unique Christmas snack board worthy of being front and center on your holiday table and social media page!
- For Your Artsy Side: What better time to embrace creativity than the merriest time of the year? Play with different colors, add your favorite treats, or involve your loved ones in making this Santa charcuterie board.
What Does a Santa Snack Board Taste Like?
This Santa snack board is a mix of savory and sweet.
Those who love savory snacks can choose from different types of cheese, ham slices, tomatoes, olives, and nuts.
The sweetness with a bit of tartness from grapes and mixed berries is also enjoyable between each bite of crunchy nuts. ?
It’s a simple Christmas snack board to give everyone something to munch on while catching up or waiting for the main dishes at the gathering.
The beauty of charcuterie boards is you can also do so many variations for your Santa Claus platter.
Consider what your guests will like, or experiment with unexpected food pairings.
Serve everything from sweet and salty to soft and crunchy in one colorful and festive Christmas charcuterie board.
Ingredients For a Santa Claus Charcuterie Board
- Round slice of cheese – You can pick any wheel of cheese you like and take a round slice for Santa’s face.
- Braided string cheese – For Santa’s hair, we’ll use string cheese!
- Mozzarella balls – Great for snacking and will make up Santa’s beard in our Christmas Santa charcuterie board.
- Cherry tomato – We’ll use a tomato for Santa’s nose.
- Strawberries – Sliced strawberries will become our hat for Santa.
- Blueberries – We’ll fill the rest of the board with colorful fruits like blueberries.
- Grapes – Perfect for grabbing and snacking! You can also use other fruits or candies.
- Olives – We’ll use sliced olives for Santa’s eyes!Â
- Honey – Honey pairs well with sweet and savory snacks, but feel free to add more dips on your Santa charcuterie board.
- Ham – We’ll arrange ham slices and add ham roses to this platter for more savory options to snack on. Other cured meats are also delicious for this snack board.
- Pistachios – Pistachios just remind me of the holiday season. You can also pick your favorite nuts and fill the gaps in the board with them!
- Almonds – For something sweet that fits the Christmas season, try candied almonds with cinnamon.
Tools Needed To Prepare a Christmas Santa Charcuterie Board
- Knife for slicing the ingredients
- Round charcuterie board for arranging the snacks
Ingredient Additions & Substitutions For Christmas Charcuterie Board
Santa’s hat and beard
Make this delightful snack board with whatever you like!
Want more savory bites? Swap strawberries with pepperoni for Santa’s hat.
Looking for more sweet snacks? Make Santa’s beard with marshmallows instead of mozzarella balls!
Santa’s face
Instead of a cheese slice, you can use a dip as the Christmas charcuterie board’s focal point/Santa’s face.
Make a quick sour cream dip by mixing sour cream, mayo, and your choice of herbs and spices. This one is delicious with vegetable sticks!
Or, for the fruits and other sweets, try a creamy dip made from marshmallow fluff, cream cheese, and vanilla extract and pour it into a round bowl for Santa’s face.
Green and red candies
Let’s add more holiday colors to this Santa-themed charcuterie board. You can’t go wrong with green and red candies.
How Do You Make a Santa Charcuterie Board?
Ingredients:
- 1 round slice from a whole wheel of cheese
- 7 braided string cheese
- 1 cup mozzarella balls
- 1 pc cherry tomato
- 1 cup strawberries
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 cup grapes
- 1 cup olives
- 1/4 cup honey
- 10 slices ham
- 1/4 cup pistachios
- 1/4 cup almonds
Tools you need:
Instructions:
STEP 1: Gather the ingredients for your Santa charcuterie board.
STEP 2: For Santa’s face, cut off a small portion from the bottom of the cheese circle.
STEP 3: Place the semi-circle in the center of the charcuterie board and add the braided string cheese for Santa’s hair. For his beard, use mozzarella balls.
STEP 4: Cut an olive in half for Santa’s eyes and place a cherry tomato in the center of his face for the nose. You can also slice off a small portion of the tomato to keep it from rolling.
STEP 5: Slice strawberries and arrange them on top of Santa’s head for his hat. Add a cheese circle for the “pom-pom” on the tip of Santa’s hat. Then, place the honey beside Santa’s face.
STEP 6: Fill the upper half of the Christmas snack board with blueberries, grapes, and olives.
STEP 7: Roll the ham slices into a rose and add it to the other side of Santa’s face. Fill the rest of the board with the remaining ham slices, pistachios, and almonds.
What To Serve With This Santa Charcuterie Board
Serve this Santa snack board alongside your favorite holiday drinks! Munch on these snacks in between sips of traditional eggnog or peppermint schnapps.
If you want more finger foods for the party, you can make other themed charcuterie boards to celebrate the season.
Our Christmas wreath charcuterie board and Christmas tree charcuterie board will look amazing alongside Santa. ?
Oh, and let’s not forget cookies for Santa Claus!
Try something other than sugar cookies and make festive treats like white chocolate-dipped cookies and cozy chai-spiced cookies.Â
Tips About Making a Christmas Snack Board
- To make Santa’s beard, slice several pieces of string cheese thinly. Braid and twist the pieces to create different textures.
- This delicious board will also look good with salami roses. They’re super easy to make. You only need to layer salami slices on the rim of a wine glass.
- Serve this Christmas snack board at room temperature. And for the best textures, flavors, and food safety, do not leave the platter sitting out for more than 2 hours.
How To Store This Christmas Santa Snack Board
- Fridge: Refrigerate your leftovers from this Santa snack board in separate containers for a day or two. For the nuts, you can store them at room temperature.
- Freezer: I don’t recommend freezing this festive snack board, as the flavors and textures might become less enjoyable after thawing.
- Reheating:Â You don’t need to reheat this Christmas charcuterie board if you made it a day in advance and stored it covered in plastic wrap in the fridge. However, take it out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving since the snacks are more delicious at room temperature.Â
What Kind of Platter Can I Use for This Santa Charcuterie Board?
This Santa Claus charcuterie board uses a round charcuterie board, but you can also use a rectangular platter, especially if you need to accommodate more food items.
Remember to also pick the right size of charcuterie board based on the number of people you intend to serve.
Large Christmas parties will, of course, need a large platter.
How to Decorate a Christmas Charcuterie Board?
One of the most gorgeous ways to decorate a Christmas charcuterie board is to fill the gaps and spaces with vibrant fresh fruits, sprigs of fresh herbs, and edible greenery.
Load the festive board with red and green fruits like pomegranate arils, green grapes, kiwi slices, or raspberries.
Then, scatter sprigs of rosemary and sage leaves around the board to give it a holiday wreath vibe.
You can also arrange the finger foods as Santa Claus, like what we did for this Christmas snack board, for a festive touch. ?
FAQ About Christmas Snack Boards
How to make a holiday butter board?
A butter board is a board covered with soft butter and topped with various ingredients and decorations. For Christmas, your holiday butter board can feature dried fruits, toasted nuts, fresh herbs, and jam arranged like a wreath or Christmas tree.Â
Are butter boards replacing charcuterie boards?
Butter boards are trendy nowadays. However, not everyone can consume butter, and some might not even like the dairy product. These limitations make it unlikely for butter boards to replace charcuterie boards.
How do you calculate charcuterie?
Hosting a Christmas party? To ensure you’ll have enough for your guests, you can allocate around 3 ounces of snacks per person.Â
What kind of cheese is good for a Christmas charcuterie board?
You can put any cheese you like on your Christmas charcuterie board, but you can’t go wrong with cheddar, brie, mozzarella, and manchego for variety and versatility. You can also cut them in fun shapes to match the festive theme!Â
What drinks to serve with a Christmas snack board?
Serve your beautiful holiday board with cozy beverages and holiday cocktails like hot chocolate, apple-cinnamon cider, gingerbread martini, old-fashioned hot toddy, or mint chocolate Irish cream liqueur.Â
Santa Charcuterie Board
This Santa charcuterie board gives your typical Christmas snack board a jolly makeover. Host the best holiday get-together with this customizable centerpiece!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Gather the ingredients for your Santa charcuterie board.
- For Santa's face, cut off a small portion from the bottom of the cheese circle.
- Place the semi-circle in the center of the charcuterie board and add the braided string cheese for Santa's hair. For his beard, use mozzarella balls.
- Cut an olive in half for Santa's eyes and place a sliced cherry tomato in the center of his face for the nose.
- Slice strawberries and arrange them on top of Santa's head for his hat. Add a cheese circle for the "pom-pom" on the tip of Santa's hat. Then, place the honey beside Santa's face.
- Fill the upper half of the Christmas snack board with blueberries, grapes, and olives.
- Roll the ham slices into a rose and add it to the other side of Santa's face. Fill the rest of the board with the remaining ham slices, pistachios, and almonds.
Notes
- For Santa's beard, slice string cheese thinly and braid the strings together. You can also twist some pieces to create texture.Â
- Besides ham roses, you can also make salami roses for this Christmas snack board! Just layer salami slices on the rim of a wine glass.Â
- For the best textures and flavors, serve this Santa charcuterie board at room temperature or between 67 to 70°F. It's also best not to leave the platter sitting out for more than 2 hours.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 57Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 117mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 4g
* Please note that all nutrition information are just estimates. Values will vary among brands, so we encourage you to calculate these on your own for the most accurate results.
Conclusion
Looking for inspiration for your next Christmas snack board?
Arrange classic faves like cheese, ham slices, nuts, and mixed fruits as an oh-so-cute Santa charcuterie board!
We’ll use cheese for his face, beard, and hair, then add details like his eyes and nose using tomato and olives. He’ll have strawberries and cheese for his hat, and then we’ll fill the rest of the board with more delicious snacks.
This Christmas charcuterie board is super easy to build, and you’ll for sure have fun making it!
Want more beautiful boards to wow your guests? Go beyond cheese and crackers and make these for your next holiday party: