Move over chips ‘n’ dips, there’s a new centrepiece set to steal the show this Christmas! Christmas wreath charcuterie boards are a delectable edible festive decoration guaranteed to wow your party guests. We’re so excited by these, and you just have to get on board! The whole Families Magazine office is drooling over these Christmas charcuterie wreath ideas, and we all know what we’ll be serving up at our next festive family gathering.
Ingredients for your charcuterie Christmas wreath
Charcuterie in old French literally means cooked meat. Nowadays the term encompasses a variety of delicatessen items, fruit, savoury wafers and biscuits, and complimentary dips, spreads, and finger foods artfully presented in a way that tantalises the tastebuds and encourages indulgence. Try these “charcuter-wreath” ingredient ideas that everyone will love:
Meats to use for your Christmas wreath charcuterie
- Thinly sliced salami
- Cured ham (e.g., prosciutto)
- Pate
- Pepperoni
- Sliced chorizo
Cheeses for your Christmas charcuterie wreath
You want a mix of soft and hard cheeses of various strength, flavour, and texture. Consider cheeses with added fruit and herbs for a burst of Christmas colour. We like:
- Soft cheeses like herb-rolled brie, creamy Camembert, and goat milk cheese
- Shaped cheese like mozzarella balls
- Firm cheese like strong cheddar, edam, and gruyère
- Hard cheese like pecorino
- Colourful cheese like those filled with dried fruit (cranberry cheese is very festive!)
- Crumbly cheese like feta and blue cheeses
Fruits for your Christmas charcuterie wreath
We’re lucky in Australia that our traditionally festive fresh fruits are all so colourful! Your Australian Christmas charcuterie wreath will be bursting with colour and flavour with these fresh and dried fruits:
- Cranberries – the obvious Christmas choice!
- Cherries – no Aussie Christmas is complete without them
- Pomegranate – a rich colour and versatile décor item
- Grapes
- Blueberries
- Apricots – fresh or dried
- Strawberries
- Star fruit – crisp and zingy
- Watermelon – the perfect accompaniment to feta and mint
- Mango
- Fresh and/or dried figs
- Red apple
- Cumquats
The perfect complementary items for a charcuterie wreath
Choose a mix of sweet and savoury items to add colour and texture. We like:
- Olives
- Nuts, especially walnuts and hazelnuts
- Quality chocolate pieces
- Fresh honeycomb
- Pickled vegetables and antipasto
- Pastes and jellies (e.g. quince and fig)
- Fancy crackers and wafers
- Decorative items like pinecones, ribbons, fresh rosemary sprigs, and herbs
Presenting your Christmas charcuterie wreath
With a charcuterie wreath, it’s all about the presentation. Presentation is key to creating the wow factor, so consider your layout and your finishing touches.
We found a selection of boards that will work perfectly here.
- Build your board by laying out all the cheeses, then the meats, and fill in gaps with fruit and other accompaniments
- Fold, layer, or wrap meat slices into ‘roses’
- Cut cheese into bite sized shapes with festive cutters
- Add lots of greenery (rosemary looks a lot like pine sprigs!)
- Add ribbon, pinecones, or small baubles for an authentic Christmas wreath appearance
- Don’t forget cocktail sticks (for picking up olives) and the cheese and pate knives!
If you don’t feel confident in your creativity, just remember wreaths are round and fairly symmetrical in design and you can’t go far wrong. We found these amazing charcuterie Christmas wreaths online.
Festive fruit
We love how the creator of this colourful charcuterie wreath has cut a star out of the soft cheese and filled it with pomegranate seeds. And the salami roses are amazing! Recipe from The Recipe Critic.
Follow that star!
Stars and triangles add an extra dimension to this festive charcuterie wreath. If you can’t find star shaped crackers, use slices of star fruit instead. Find out how to make this board from The Baker Mama.
Sweet and… salami!
We love the soft green and gold of this charcuterie wreath. The recipe is from The Gifted Wreath, and includes a tutorial on how to make simple salami roses.
Perfectly pro-portioned
This is the perfect Christmas charcuterie wreath for passing around. Each serve is ready to go with meat, cheese, olives and tomatoes on a flavour-filled skewer. Image from charlotsofflavours on Instagram.
Bursting with colour
Edible blooms, fresh, dried and candied fruit, yoghurt-coated pretzels – it would be impossible to “pick delicately” at this eye-popping feast! Credit goes to onboard-byashely on Instagram.
Merry and bright
We just love how pretty this board looks – the red fruits and green foliage are so festive. Credit for this one goes to Cynthia B via All Recipes.
Take three!
There’s a “rule of three” that can be applied to charcuterie boards: three different cheeses, three different meats, three different biscuits, and three different accompaniments). This wreath keeps it simple with three cheeses and meats, garnished with olives and rosemary sprigs. It is so quick and easy to make, but looks spectacular. We found this at Number 2 Pencil.
More charcuterie board inspiration
We love to share, and charcuterie boards are the perfect platter for sharing. If you want more inspiration for creative share platters, you’ll love these:
- Hot Cocoa Charcuterie Boards – delicious creamy cocoa with decadent sweet treats.
- 10 Inspirational Pavlova Boards – the deconstructed dessert everyone will love.
- Ploughman’s Platter with Whipped Feta Dip – a grazing board perfect for picnics and lunches.
PS. If you don’t have the perfect platter at home to serve these, check out this range here.
