Wow your guests while staying on plan with this simple yet beautiful THM friendly Christmas wreath charcuterie board!
My family and I really enjoy charcuterie boards. They are fun, tasty, and easy to do. Plus, they are perfect for parties because they make an excellent and edible presentation piece that multiple people can enjoy. And this Trim Healthy Mama friendly Christmas wreath charcuterie board is perfect to enjoy this Christmas holiday season!
What is a Charcuterie Board?
I won’t go into too much detail over what a charcuterie board is here, because I’ve already done that! But to put it simply, a charcuterie board (this Christmas wreath charcuterie board or any other charcuterie board) is a board, sheet pan, or other hard surface (I’ve even seen them done as a grazing table where an entire table or countertop is covered!) where various meats, cheeses, crackers, spreads, fruits, veggies, and so on are arranged. They are usually served as a snack or appetizer, but we like to enjoy it on occasion as our meal!
What’s on My Christmas Wreath Charcuterie Board?
If you’re wondering what I used on my Christmas wreath charcuterie board, here you go! I also included this in a printable recipe card towards the end of this post.
- Grapes — My son washed the grapes then patted them mostly dry with a towel. Next, he used scissors to snip them into smaller clusters of about five to six grapes each.
- Strawberries — To make the strawberries look fancier, I cut each one into slices without cutting all the way through then fanned them out. This was a little trick I learned when I worked in the cafeteria at Focus on the Family. Here is YouTube video I found that shows how to do this.
- Crackers — Most of this Christmas tree charcuterie board was easy to keep on plan, but crackers are more trifficult (tricky plus difficult–if you watch Bluey, you know what I mean) especially because Trim Healthy no longer sells their Shameless Crackers. But I found a couple of on plan options at my local grocery store. One are Whisps (these are the yellow ones in the picture) which are made of cheese. They’re pretty yummy. The other I probably won’t buy again because they weren’t that good. They are Simple Truth Organic Grain Free Keto Seed Crackers (made mostly of, you guessed it, seeds; available at King Soopers), but my family and I now fondly refer to them as Cardboard Crunchies. Off camera, I also had some Cheez-Its and water crisp crackers for my hubby and kids to enjoy.
- Salami — I purchased a package at my local grocery store that contained three different types of salami. Then my middle kid made them into roses! It is SO easy to make salami or pepperoni (and probably any other kid of sliced, round meat) into a rose. My middle kid made a tutorial on our Facebook page if you’d like to learn how to make a salami rose.
- Prosciutto — Prosciutto ham always makes its way onto our charcuterie boards. This somewhat salty, thinly sliced meat can be rather expensive if you get a certain brand. At our local grocery store (King Soopers), it is about $9 if you buy the package by the cheese section, but only about $5 if you buy it by the deli case (Private Selection Old World brand). Your grocery store may be same, so definitely look (or ask) around!
- Summer Sausage — This is quite plentiful this time of year! Always be sure to read the ingredients so you avoid it without sugar or corn syrup (if it has sugar, ensure it is no more than 2 grams per serving to keep it on plan).
- White Cheddar Cheese — Towards the bottom of our Christmas wreath charcuterie board are slices of white cheddar cheese. I bought these across the aisle from the cheese case at King Soopers because it was cheaper there (and my family doesn’t know the difference).
- Stilton Cheese with Blueberry — I actually like the raspberry cheese better, but they didn’t have it this time. However, the blueberry cheese was super super yummy also. In the Christmas wreath charcuterie board picture, this is the crumbled cheese that kind of looks like blue cheese.
- Smoked Gouda — This is another must have on every charcuterie board for our family because we all love it. For this board, I cut it into triangle slices and alternated them standing up (this is the white cheese to the upper right on our Christmas wreath charcuterie board).
- Herbed Cheddar Cheese — I bought the yellow herbed cheddar cheese (the yellow triangles) from the discounted basket in the cheese case.
- Brie Cheese — In the center of our Christmas wreath charcuterie board is a smaller wheel of brie cheese. I used a small (mini) Christmas tree cookie cutter (any small cookie cutter will do, or you can try to free style cut with a knife) to cut a tree-shaped hole in the center. I only pushed the cutter about a quarter inch deep then carefully pulled it out and the tree-shaped chunk came out. Then I filled it with a dollop of my sugar free raspberry jalapeño jam (which, by the way, tastes AMAZING with just about any cheese or meat). If I had some sugar free mint jelly (green), I would have totally used that to make the Christmas tree cutout green.
- Honey — I used some local honey because it tastes really good on various cheeses. My family mostly enjoyed this, but I did enjoy a drizzle or two as well. Honey is on plan in small amounts.
- Artichoke Dip — The white stuff in the mini mason jar to the lower left is my artichoke dip. I chop up the artichokes to tiny little chunks so it is easier to spread on a cracker or cheese.
- Raspberry Jalapeño Jam — This is another regular occurance on our charcuterie boards. It tastes so good with so many cheeses and meats! You can get this raspberry jalapeño jam recipe on my website.
- Rosemary — One of the last things I added just before serving (and I’d recommend leaving this and the cranberries off until last minute if you are transporting this Christmas wreath charcuterie board) are several fresh sprigs of rosemary. This really gives the board that wreath look. I encircled the center brie cheese with a few sprigs and of course the outer edges.
- Candied Cranberries — To give the Christmas wreath charcuterie board even more of that Christmas wreathy look, I candied some cranberries and set them strategically with the rosemary. I followed this recipe for sugar free candied cranberries only instead of erythritol to coat the cranberries (gives it that candied crystalized or snow covered look), I used granulated Lakanto monfruit sweetener.
Christmas Wreath Charcuterie Board Recipe
Below is the recipe that lists what I used for my Christmas wreath charcuterie board. However, the sky’s the limit! You don’t have to just use these ingredients, or any of these ingredients at all. Charcuterie boards are very flexible! For more on plan ideas, visit my charcuterie board ideas article.
Christmas Wreath Charcuterie Board
Equipment
- small cookie cutter
Ingredients
- grapes
- strawberries
- on plan crackers (see article for ideas)
- salami
- prosciutto
- summer sausage
- smoked gouda
- herbed cheddar cheese
- brie cheese
- honey (optional)
artichoke dip (chop the artichokes into tiny bits)raspberry jalapeño jam other charcuterie board items of choice
For Wreath Garnish
- fresh rosemary sprigs
sugar free candied cranberries
Instructions
- Slice cheeses to desired shapes. Transfer spreads to desired dishes (I used mini mason jars). Make salami and/or pepperoni roses as desired.
- Press a small Christmas cookie cutter about 1/4" into the center of the brie cheese and carefully lift to remove shape. Fill the resulting hole with a dollop of jam.
- Arrange items on charcuterie board however you like.
- To garnish, arrange the rosemary sprigs around the center brie cheese and around the outside edges. Randomly place the candied cranberries. If transporting the charcuterie board, place the rosemary and candied cranberries last minute at your destination.
Comments