Looking for easy Holiday appetizer ideas? What about making Christmas tree cheese board? This fun Christmas appetizer is ready in no time and it’s so easy that kids can do it!
This post includes tips and FAQs you might have about how to make a cheese board, some tasty recipes for Christmas appetizers as well as fun games for Holiday entertaining.
Wow your guests with Christmas tree cheese board this Holiday season!
Here are 4 reasons to make this Christmas tree shaped cheese board:
- One of the easiest Christmas party recipes to try this Holiday season
- Easily customizable to your liking
- Fun Christmas appetizer
- Easy to assemble
Do I need any special tools to make this Christmas tree cheese board?
No. You only need a chopping board, knife and a star cookie cutter. Plus a large serving tray. I also like to use a baking parchment to line my wooden tray so that any liquids, grease, crumbs stay on the paper which saves me cleaning.
What to use for cheese board?
You can use anything you like: Cocktail onions, cocktail pickles, nuts, dried fruits, salami, deli ham, pate, fresh fruit, berries…
Ingredient Substitutions:
Pretzel sticks – I cut them in halves and place them at the very bottom of my tray. You don’t have to buy a whole package just to make the “trunk”. But if you do, you can serve the rest of them alongside this Christmas tree cheese board. Instead of the pretzels, feel free to use a piece of a celery instead.
Grapes – use any kind you like or omit them completely and use other fruit or veggies instead. If you and your guests like olives, they are a great substitution.
Blueberries – if you don’t want to serve these as part of the Christmas tree cheese board, use dried fruits or nuts instead.
Pomegranate can be omitted completely.
Instead of dried cranberries you can use fresh cranberries.
Rosemary sprigs make your Christmas tree cheese board look prettier, but you don’t have to use it, if you don’t have it on hand.
What cheese to use for a cheese board?
The beauty of a Cheese Board is the fact that you can customize it to your (or your guests’) liking. The same goes for a charcuterie board or antipasti platter (Antipasti Platter).
For this Christmas tree cheese board, I chose red cheddar, white vintage cheddar and blue cheese. Feel free to use what you like the most. Here are some ideas for you:
- Mozzarella
- Monterey Jack
- Gouda
- Goat Cheese
More Christmas appetizers for your Holiday Menu:
Mini Christmas Tree Pizzas are fun Holiday appetizers that kids will love!
Smoked Salmon Bites – these are ready in minutes and taste delicious!
Mango Chicken Appetizers made with puff pastry, these are one of the best appetizers with chicken. You can also use leftover chicken, turkey or rotisserie chicken to make them, which will shorten your prep time!
Waldorf Cheese Ball Bites are bite-size appetizers perfect for the Holidays or New Year’s eve Party.
Caprese Salad Bites are ready in minutes and crowds love them! So why not add them to your Christmas Party Menu?
Planning a Christmas Party and looking for activities to do with your guests?
This collection of 20 Games to Play on Christmas Eve might give you some fun ideas.
Christmas Tree Cheese Board
Ingredients
- 4 ounces Red Cheddar Cheese , cut into bite-size cubes (120 grams)
- 3 ounces White Cheddar , cut into bite-size cubes (90 grams)
- 2 ounces Blue Cheese , cut into smaller pieces (60 grams)
- ½ English Cucumber , sliced
- ½ cup Fresh Blueberries (80 grams)
- 1 cup Grapes
- 6-8 Fresh Rosemary Sprigs
- 4 Pretzel Sticks , broken in half, see note 5
- A handful of Dried Cranberries
- A handful of Pomegranate Seeds
- 1 slice of Cheese , for the star
Instructions
- Arrange the cheeses, cucumber slices, blueberries and grapes on a large tray (or platter/cutting board) to form a tree shape. Use the rosemary sprigs to divide the sections.
- For the tree trunk use pretzels sticks. Using a star cookie cutter, cut out one star out of the cheese and arrange it on top of the tree.
- Fill the gaps with dried cranberries, pomegranate seeds or nuts.
- Serve with pretzel sticks, crackers, celery sticks or crostini.
Notes
- Please take the serving size as a guide only. This cheese board can feed somewhere between 4 up to 6 people. This will depend on many factors – the length of the party, if you are going to serve other appetizers or snacks alongside this cheese board or how hungry your guest will be.
- Feel free to customize this cheese board to your liking. You will find more ideas and detailed substitutions in the post above this recipe card. You can easily double/triple this recipe, just note that if you want to make a large cheese board, you will need a very large tray. Or you can make 2 small cheese boards instead of a large one.
- Cheese – you can use anything you like – Monterey Jack, Mozzarella, Parmiggiano, Gouda, Feta, Goat cheese, …
- Instead of Pretzel sticks you can use celery, almonds, …
- Dried cranberries and pomegranate seeds can be omitted, if you don’t like them.
Mahy says
Oh my – such a fabulous cheese board idea. And cute, too! Definitely on my to-do list this holiday season!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thank you! :) Enjoy!
Carrie says
This is such a fun and cute idea! A good way to sneak a few veggies in too over he holidays!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Absolutely! :)
Kushigalu says
How perfect and cute is this. Perfect for holiday !! Addin it to my to do list.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thank you! :)
Jen says
This is so festive! My family does appetizer type dinners on Fridays and this will be the perfect addition. Thanks for all of the ideas of what to add.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
You are welcome!
Laura says
I love this cheese board tree. It’s so impressive for a party. It makes the perfect centerpiece for a party spread.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Yes, it does! :)