Must-Have Items For Your Christmas Charcuterie Board

While the word charcuterie refers to meat alone, no modern charcuterie board is complete without at least a few good kinds of cheese. Generally speaking, you'll want between two and five ounces of cheese per person — lean toward the higher end of that range if the charcuterie board is intended to be the main event — and you should assemble a few different types that represent multiple textures as well as tastes.

In the hard cheese category, Cooking with Cocktail Rings shares the sage advice to "serve at least one cheese that people are familiar with" so even picky eaters can (and will) dive right in. Classic Parmesan or a firm cheddar both fit that bill. A rich, aged Gouda is another safe bet. Other good options include nutty gruyere, salty manchego, and mild Colby cheese.

If you start with large and thin enough slices of very firm cheese, you can use mini cookie cutters to create festive shapes like trees and stars, as Food, Pleasure and Health adorably demonstrate.

Even if you don't get that cute, it's a good idea to cut your hard cheeses into cubes or triangles before placing them on the board, and let them come to room temp so the texture and taste aren't dulled by the lingering chill of the fridge.

A charcuterie board without meat is just a fancy cheese plate, and there's nothing wrong with that! But for omnivores, the animal protein is an essential element — and the choices are astounding. But don't let the prospect of what kind of meats to put on a charcuterie board overwhelm you. As with your cheese selection, the key is to offer a few different types of textures and tastes.

Soft slices of prosciutto or jamon nestle up nicely next to firmer cured sausages, and both happily share space with chewier salami, in slices and/or nuggets. While some people like to provide a knife for everyone to slice their own, you'll save space on your board and make things easier by pre-cutting whole salamis and sausages into bite-size pieces yourself. In addition to texture, pay attention to flavor and aim for a mix of mild and salty with smokier and sharper notes.

When it comes to how to arrange them on the board, Food52 has some tips on styling charcuterie. Those eye-catching meat roses and salami rivers are easier than you might think. For smaller coins cut from pencil-thin salami, overlap them like shingles to save space and look fancy.

Plan on roughly the same amount as cheese: between two and five ounces of meat per guest (you can squeak by on the lower end if you're serving other dishes too).

When you're wondering what spreads to put on a charcuterie board, you're probably thinking along the lines of condiments, and those are certainly essential — but first, a word on dips.

If you have a super-runny, ultra-creamy cheese already, and/or a spreadable meat product, this is a less critical component, but it is undeniably lovely to provide some sort of especially luscious substance on your charcuterie board. Since this is Christmas, you get major bonus points for dips that are naturally tinted red or green. Consider swirling cream cheese with pesto for a quick, herby dip, make a cold spinach artichoke dip (easier to incorporate as opposed to one you need to serve warm), or try a sundried tomato dip.

Or, just go with what you love, like a classic caramelized onion dip or crowd-pleasing everything bagel dip and scatter some minced sundried tomatoes and fresh green herbs on top to garnish with a little holiday flair. As with your cheeses, you should let your dip or spread come to room temperature so it's not too cold and stiff to slather or scoop.

To provide a solid base for all the other elements you assemble, at least one or two bready items are de rigueur. Crackers are the classic choice and are always welcome, but very small rounds of toasted bread from a slim baguette are a nice touch too. Try to hit the same goal here of offering more than one taste and texture — for instance, pick at least two different types of cracker, like a buttery club cracker and a crunchier seeded variety.

Those dark crackers studded with cranberries and pistachios that are often found above the cheese case (or at Trader Joe's) add a certain richness both visually and otherwise, but they can be too much for the texture-averse. In that case, a nice herb-flecked cracker still looks festive. The Cheese Professor got some expert recommendations for specific brands of store-bought crackers to seek out.

If you want to go the extra mile, try making homemade crackers that can be shaped with mini cookie cutters into Christmas trees, candy canes, and snowflakes. This cheddar cheese cracker recipe from Bakepedia will work wonderfully. Or, try easy parmesan pesto twists, which Jo Cooks makes with store-bought puff pastry (try half with basil pesto and half with sundried tomato pesto for Christmas colors).

While fresh fruit adds all-important juiciness, sweet-tart notes, and a range of crisp, soft, and tender textures, don't forget about dried fruit for filling out your charcuterie board — literally, in some cases. Smaller dried fruits in particular can be useful for physically filling in gaps on the board between other ingredients, but they're not just for show.

Dried cranberries and cherries are pleasantly chewy and tart, as are slightly stickier and sweeter golden raisins. If you find flame raisins, their deep reddish shade is especially nice for a color-coordinated board. Dried figs bring a subtle, seedy crunch. Shatteringly crisp apple and pear chips can even act as sweet stand-ins for crackers as people build their bites.

Dixya Bhattarai of Food, Pleasure, and Health likes to stuff dates with goat cheese and pumpkin seeds for a multi-textured punch of sweet-salty flavors all in one bite on her board.

When deciding on which dried fruit to add, if there's anything you're unlikely to finish up in other applications, take the advice of Fav Family Recipes and buy small quantities from your store's bulk bins instead of an entire pre-packed box or bag.

Some people like to include fresh vegetables on their charcuterie board, while others think all lightly blanched and raw veggies should stay in their lane (i.e. on a crudité platter). Most can agree, however, that something pickled is a perfect addition to any meat and cheese plate.

You can add whatever pickled vegetables you prefer, but if you can find them, bright red peppadews not only look amazing but taste incredible, sweet, sharp, and spicy all at once. Some stores stock jars of them with the other pickles, and some cheese counters sell them, either stuffed with parmesan or plain. Pickled cherry peppers make a fine alternative, though they don't taste quite the same (Cook's Illustrated says you'll miss out on a certain sweet complexity).

If you're going green, don't limit yourself to the usual pickled cucumbers, zucchini, or even green beans and artichoke hearts. These sweet pickled grapes with white wine vinegar and cinnamon are a delightfully unexpected addition that's also super easy to make. You can choose red or green grapes, but plan on giving them at least two days to marinate in the fridge before you serve them.

Once you've chosen your components, all that's left to do is arrange them. If that seems like the most daunting part, there are plenty of online tutorials and tips. Blog Mom on Timeout suggests paying attention to color and texture when deciding where to put each element and separating similar ones with contrasting ingredients. Other tips include placing your small bowls down first, as "they are great to lean crackers against, pile dried fruit next to, stack cheese by, etc." and adding fresh herbs as a finishing touch.

Seriously, don't forget the garnishes. For a Christmas charcuterie board, fresh rosemary is probably your best friend. It looks like pine needles, smells fantastic, and handily fills in any gaps in your board, or frames it nicely around the edges. While you won't be picking it up to nibble, every time someone brushes it, it sends up a wonderful fragrance that adds to the experience — and it's a sturdy herb, so once your board is barren, wash off the sprigs and save them to cook with later. Fresh thyme and fresh bay leaves also work well, but any woody or fluffy herbs are fair game.

Pomegranate is another favorite charcuterie board garnish. Broken-open pomegranate halves do look beautiful, but they can't be easily eaten. A better option may be to scatter individual seeds in strategic places, like Lexi's Clean Kitchen, or position clusters of arils you've already separated from the shell and pith like Damn Delicious did for a holiday cheeseboard.

Obviously, most of what ends up on your charcuterie board will be edible, but one non-food item that makes a huge difference is the humble cheese spreader. This small, rounded knife is the perfect size for serving creamy cheeses that don't have enough structural integrity to be picked up on their own, as well as any and all condiments, dips, and spreads joining the party. For looser things like honey and preserves, very small spoons are also handy.

Full-size butter knives and other utensils will work in a pinch, but their length makes them more unwieldy and prone to falling out of place (and getting in the way of other elements).

If you plan on making Christmas charcuterie an annual tradition, it's worth investing in a set of small spreaders topped with wreaths and the like. Or consider a less figurative approach, like this cheeky little set of spreaders from Etsy. Their inscribed messages to spread love, joy, peace, and hope are certainly seasonally appropriate, but fit to use all year round as well.

Now armed with the knowledge of everything you need for the best Christmas charcuterie plate, you'll have no trouble pulling it off — and probably no trouble polishing it off either. If you find bits and pieces remain, however, check out these leftover charcuterie board ideas in case you get tired of simply snacking.