Add an eye-catching, festive touch to your holiday party with this Christmas charcuterie board. The simple appetizer includes everyone's favorite sweet and savory items, all arranged into a Grinch-themed charcuterie board.
A fun spin-off of fresh fruit, cheese, and your favorite meats, this dessert board is a great addition to family gatherings! Also, it's perfect for all-night snacking and grazing—which keeps the festive energy high at fun holiday parties!
Plus, the best part? This gorgeous charcuterie board is easy enough to make with your kids, so it's a fun activity to get the whole family feeling spirited during the Christmas season.
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Why you'll love this recipe
✔️ Because it's the Grinch and it's fun!
✔️ It's got all your favorite snacks, bits, and bites!
✔️ Kids big and small will gobble this up! It's perfect for party fun or to be the centerpiece of your dessert table.
Ingredients
For the exact measurements, please refer to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- licorice twizzler sticks
- white chocolate chips
- red food color
- green food color
- mini pretzels
- plain popcorn
- green grapes
- red peanut m&m’s
- yellow m&m’s
- brown m&m’s
- green peanut m&m’s
- pineapple
- white cheddar cheese
Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. For the complete directions just scroll down to the bottom!
- In a large mixing bowl add the white chocolate chips. Melt in 30-second bursts at 50% power in your microwave until nice and melted.
- Drizzle ⅓ of the white chocolate over a tray (lined with wax paper) full of plain popcorn.
- Next, take half of the remaining white chocolate and mix with red food color. Dip pretzels and lay out to dry on a sheet lined with more wax paper. Repeat the same with the green. Use any remaining melted chocolate and coat popcorn/pretzels.
- Print the Grinch online and print it large enough to fit your largest board (chopping board, baking sheet, etc.)
- Cut the licorice sticks and lay them out on the stencil drawing—on the mouth, eyes, and nose. Place the red M&M’s where the nose is.
- Then, fill the eyes with the yellow M&M’s then place one brown in each eye for the pupil.
- Lay out the white popcorn in a line above the eyes for the brim of a Santa hat.
- Start filling in the face of the grinch with all of your green items. The halved grapes, pretzels, and M&M’s.
- Arrange anything red (the pretzels and popcorn) in the hat above. Create a white edge with the white popcorn.
- Finally, create a layer of snow at the bottom using the pineapple, cheese chunks, and any remaining chocolate chunks.
- Now that you have the basic shape made, fill in any empty spaces with the remaining ingredients.
Equipment
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- A large board—use one specifically made to be a cheese board, or improvise with a baking sheet or wooden cutting board.
- Small bowls for melting and tossing ingredients together.
Grinch stencil
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FAQ's
You can! However, just to be safe, I'd first clean the board with dish soap and then cover the board with parchment paper. You don't want to contaminate your food by serving it on a non-food-safe surface!
Nope! You don't have to, but it's a great way to perfectly replicate the Grinch design.
Only an actual Grinch would say "no" to that! This Christmas charcuterie board is great for any holiday season event, from your big Christmas party bash to small holiday gatherings around the tree. Serve it as dessert along with Christmas dinner, or casually munch on it while opening presents on Christmas day.
I don't recommend storing the leftovers this way. The popcorn gets soggy and the licorice a little hard. I've included a better way to store leftovers in the Storage section of this post—scroll down a bit more to find it.
You can google "Grinch stencil" or use the one provided.
Things to know
- Be careful not to overheat the chocolate when melting it. Stir it often and heat just until it's smooth and pourable.
- On the other hand, you can melt the chocolate over a double-boiler on the stove if you don't like to use the microwave.
- Instead of chocolate, you can use colored melting wafers to coat the pretzels. However, I don't think they taste as good as chocolate.
- If your grocery store doesn't sell food coloring, check a local baking or craft store! You can also order it online.
- The fruit doesn't keep very long after cutting it, so I'd recommend making this board the day you plan to serve it.
Build the board where you are placing it for serving. Once everything is in place it can be tedious to move because the ingredients can shift.
Variations
The perfect holiday appetizer is within reach—here are some other fun ways you can switch up this recipe.
Make a Christmas tree charcuterie board by laying out the green ingredients in a Christmas tree shape. Then, use the other candies and popcorn as decor/ornaments and the black licorice as the tree trunk!
Instead of the shape of a Christmas tree or Grinch, arrange the ingredients to make a Christmas wreath charcuterie board! Add a red bow for a perfect final touch.
Go savory! Instead of all sweet treats, use your favorite ingredients from a traditional charcuterie board that fit the color scheme. For example, I like cherry tomatoes, red grapes, and salami roses for red. Black olives, fresh figs, green olives, fresh rosemary, and different meats can fill in the other spots for your Christmas theme!
Plus, the best thing about a Christmas charcuterie board is that you can add or swap pretty much any food items you want—as long as they match the Christmas color theme! For example, use mozzarella balls instead of cheddar, Red Hots or pomegranate seeds instead of red M&Ms, and dark chocolate-covered pretzel sticks instead of licorice.
Storage
Refrigerate—Any perishable leftovers (the cheese and fruit) can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for a few days.
Room Temperature—However, you can keep the candy, popcorn, and pretzels at room temperature in a plastic bag or storage container.
Related recipes
- Perfect for sharing with Santa, White Chocolate-Dipped Oreos are so yummy, it's hard not to eat the ho-ho-whole batch!
- Sweet and salty, these M&M Pretzel Hugs are so addicting and make an ideal snack. Plus, they're also great to give as gifts!
- Brown Sugar Baked Brie is an easy recipe and surprisingly fancy (with so little work!
- Everyone will crowd the snack table when you uncover the bowl of Christmas Puppy Chow—it's an irresistibly crunchy and sweet treat.
Serve with
- Christmas Pepper Jam—great as an appetizer over cream cheese.
- The Stuffed Mushrooms Recipe is a terrific appetizer. You can make these ahead and pop them in the oven just before your guests arrive.
- Reindeer Rice Krispie Treats—a dessert table show-stopper!
- "Snowman Soup" Hot Cocoa—creative and yummy party favors.
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Christmas Charcuterie Board
Ingredients
- 18 black licorice twizzler sticks
- 4 cups white chocolate chips
- red food color
- green food color
- 4 cups mini pretzels
- 4 cups plain popcorn
- 3 cups green grapes washed and cut in half
- 3 red peanut M&M’s
- ½ cup yellow M&M’s
- 2 brown M&M’s
- 2 cups green peanut M&M’s
- 2 cups pineapple cut into chunks
- 1 cup white cheddar cheese cut into chunks
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Instructions
- Find an image of the Grinch on-line and print large enough to fit your largest board charcuterie board, chopping board or baking sheet.
- Lay the stencil for the smile and eyes out on the board.
- In a large mixing bowl add the white chocolate chips. Melt in 30 second bursts at 50% power in your microwave until nice and melted.
- Drizzle ⅓ of the white chocolate over a baking sheet lined with wax paper filled with plain popped popcorn. Mix well with the melted white chocolate. Allow to dry completely.
- Take half of the remaining white chocolate and mix with red food color. Dip pretzels and lay out to dry on a sheet lined with more wax paper. Repeat the same with the green. Use any remaining melted chocolate and coat popcorn/pretzels.
- Cut the licorice sticks and lay out on the stencil drawing - on the mouth, eyes and nose. Place the red M&M’s where the nose is.
- Fill the eyes with the yellow M&M’s then place one brown in each eye for the pupil.
- Lay out the white popcorn, in a line above the eyes for the brim of a Santa hat.
- Start filling in the face of the grinch with all your green items. The halved grapes, pretzels and M&M’s.
- Arrange anything red (the pretzels and popcorn) in the hat above. Create a white edge with the white popcorn.
- Create a layer of snow at the bottom using the pineapple, cheese chunks and any remaining chocolate chunks.
- Add another layer of the black licorice, now that you have the green items to help keep it in place.
- With the basic shape made you can fill in any holes with the remaining ingredients. Have fun with it!
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