Christmas Cheese Board Grazing Platter

Grazing platters are all the rage these days, and with Christmas right around the corner, why not take your party food up a notch by creating a Christmas Cheese Board?

Imagine the mouth-watering joy that awaits as your guests devour an array of sweet and savoury cheese pairings and festive accompaniments.

Gather your favourite cheese and biscuits, nuts, fruits, chutneys and jams to craft a stunning display of tasty treats – there’s no better way to tantalize taste buds.

Jump straight to the step-by-step recipe card to make a cheese board just like we have.

Or read more below for more cheese board ideas, suitable substitution, hacks and tips on how to create a Christmas cheese board grazing platter at home.

Jump to:

• Grazing Cheese Platter
• Equipment & Decoration
• Christmas Cheeses for Cheese Board
• Cheese Crackers, Biscuits and Bread
• Chutneys for Cheese Board
• Fruits for Cheese
• Nuts
• Optional Extras
• Serving suggestions
• 📖 Step by Step Recipe
• Cheese and Biscuits Wine Pairing
• More Sharing Recipes
• Leftover Cheese Recipes
• 💬 Reviews

If you are looking for non-christmas cheeseboard displays, you will find more cheeseboard inspirations here. We also have an Italian Antipasto platter guide and a ploughman lunch board.

Grazing Cheese Platter

Equipment & Decoration

Start with a large chopping board, big enough for the amount of cheese you are serving.

This Christmas, spruce up your cheese board with some foliage, pine cones, pine branches, mistletoe branches and a few bright red cranberries. These are not edible but add a festive touch.

Add an extra special touch to the moment with some twinkling fairy lights arranged carefully in glass bottles.

And if you want to impress your guests, add a sprig of edible flowers for a touch of elegance. With a little bit of thought, you can turn a simple cheese board into a work of art.

Christmas Cheeses for Cheese Board

Christmas is the perfect time to pick up the endless possibilities of cheeses from the supermarket! If you're looking for advice on what to choose when creating a Christmas Cheese Board, the key is to find a variety of textures - soft, hard and creamy.

Use different cheese strengths and tastes aiming to include mild, medium, strong and vintage cheeses. Get creative and make a cheese board come alive by including a variety of different coloured cheeses.

There's no need to break the bank. Classics like cheddar and brie are fantastic and affordable choices that satisfy many palates. It is easy to vary cheese options depending on your guest's tastes; try to have a wide selection to choose from.

Here are some of the best cheeses for cheese boards, including what we used and suitable substitutions.

Soft Cheese

Let's start with some soft cheese options; we will include what we used and some alternatives.

Brie

Brie is a mild creamy soft cheese, making it a classic addition to any cheese plate. We like to pair it with our homemade cranberry sauce for extra sweetness.

Boursin

As far as soft cheeses go, Boursin has a delightful creaminess on the palate with a gentle garlic and herb flavour, making it a household favourite for many.

Other soft cheeses include Camembert, Cream Cheese, Chevre or Gorgonzola.

Semi-Hard to Hard Cheese

Our next group of cheeses are all semi-hard to hard cheese varieties, ranging from mild to strong.

Cheddar

The most popular British cheese is cheddar, which can be found in various strengths, from mild to strong, depending on your tastes.

We used a vintage extra mature cheddar with a lovely crumbly texture and rich cheesy flavour. But you can add mild or a smooth medium cheddar if preferred.

Other semi-hard cheeses include Gouda, Emmental and Swiss, Colby or Comte.

Blue Cheese

Christmas is the perfect time for blue cheese lovers to indulge, as blue cheese varieties are easy to find this time of year. A Cheese Board should include some sort of blue cheese.

Stilton

Stilton is a popular blue cheese option known for its creamy texture, pungent smell and delicious intense flavour that lingers on the tongue long after each bite has been enjoyed.

There are other blue cheese options, soft blue cheese such as gorgonzola, saint agur or dolcelatte are my favourite.

Try incorporating a lively blue goat's cheese, with discrete blue veining that makes it special and unique, or a blue brie, is a milder, luxuriously oozy and creamy blue cheese.

Flavoured Cheese

Regarding flavoured cheese, we like to pick out a few varieties that go well with other food pairings on our Christmas Cheese Board.

Smoked Cheese

Applewood is a well-known smoked cheddar cheese, but there are many smoked cheeses to choose from.

Wensleydale with Cranberries

Wensleydale is the perfect Christmas cheese board addition, with its medium soft texture and subtle flavour. The dried cranberries add a sweet and sharp taste that works really well; you can also get a dried apricot and Wensleydale.

There is a wide range of flavoured cheese options available, from spicy chilli cheddar, Double Gloucester onion and chives and even truffle-infused varieties.

Colourful Cheeses

The final touch to a Christmas Cheese Board is to include some colourful and fun cheeses.

Red Leicester

We decided to go for a vibrant red in our cheese board this Mature Red Leicester is not only tasty but also looks great on the plate.

Port Wine Derby

Port Wine Derby is an exquisite cheese that combines the creamy, earthy flavor of Derby cheese with a sweet blackcurrant flavour infusion of Port wine.

This combination results in a sweet yet savoury, creamy yet tangy cheese marbled with a deep purple pattern that is one-of-a-kind. 

Artisan Cheese

Artisan cheese is a surefire way to take your Christmas cheese selection to the next level. Not only does artisan cheese offer a delicate flavour, but it also brings with it a certain finesse.

Artisan cheeses come in countless varieties, so no matter the preferences of your guests, you're sure to find something special for everyone that will leave them delighted. 

We love this article by the English Heritage which tells you the history of cheese in Britain

Cheese Crackers, Biscuits and Bread

There's nothing like a platter of Christmas cheese and crackers to get you into the festive spirit. But with so many different types of crackers on the market, it can be tough to decide which ones to serve.

Crackers

Carr's cheese melts are cheesy, thin and crispy, making them the perfect base for various kinds of cheese. Table water crackers are a classic choice with various flavours, including rosemary and sea salt, black pepper and sesame seed.

Jacobs cream crackers are classic and versatile. We served Ritz, a light and crunchy salted cracker around the Boursin. They are great for dipping into the soft cheese. Ryvita thins are another good choice, thin slices of seeded crackers.

At Christmas time, in the UK you can buy a selection pack of cheese biscuits. Whatever your preference, there's a cracker that will pair perfectly with your Christmas cheese platter. You could even make your own cheese crackers at home.

Bread

You can serve the cheese grazing platter with bread or slice of bread roll instead of crackers or some breadsticks.

Biscuits

Hovis crackers (digestive biscuit) are thick and hearty, ideal to eat with heavier cheeses.

Or, for a truly sweet Christmas treat that the kids will love, add some mini gingerbread men when serving!

The gingerbread men add a cute Christmas idea to a cheese platter. The kids love it!

Chutneys for Cheese Board

To ensure that your cheese board is truly festive, be sure to include a selection of pickles, jams and chutneys.

Red onion chutney or Branston pickle is the perfect partner for a sharp cheddar. Cranberry Sauce pairs perfectly with a creamy brie.

Sweet chilli jam is an excellent accompaniment for all cheese. A drizzle of sweet honey works well with goats cheese.

We ran out of room, but don't forget pickled onions and cornichons make a great addition to the Christmas grazing platter. They give food a bit of a tangy-sweet flavour. The pickles will add a complex, interesting flavour to any kind of cheese. 

Fruits for Cheese

A cheese board is not complete without some fruit to balance out the richness of the cheese.

Green and red grapes are a classic pairing, but any type of fresh fruit will do.

Fresh fig and dates add a punch of sweetness. Smaller dried fruits, like cranberries or apricots, make great space fillers between cheeses.

No matter what fruits you choose, they should complement the flavours of the cheese and create a well-rounded presentation.

Nuts

A selection of nuts also makes a wonderful addition to the cheese board. Including the right kind of nuts can create a delicious contrast to the sharp flavours.

Walnuts offer crunch and a fragrant nuttiness and pair well with almost any cheese. While pistachios add a depth of flavour and a lovely shade of green to your board.

Wasabi peanuts add an unexpected touch of heat that brightens up creamy cheeses.

Other nuts to include almonds, pecans, and cashews. Add the nuts at the end to fill in gaps on the Christmas platter.

Optional Extras

Fresh herbs add a pop of colour, but they can also enhance the flavour of the cheese. Just make sure to chop the herbs fairly finely so that they don’t overwhelm the cheese.

Olives, sundried tomatoes, pepper dew peppers or add some cold meat to make it a cheese charcuterie instead.

Serving suggestions

A course of cheese and biscuits can be a very pleasant addition to any Christmas or boxing day celebration.

Try serving as a delicious starter or dessert course.

Fill those inevitable lulls in conversation when all the different family members come together for the festive period.

When served at the right time, it can bring everyone around the table closer together as they nibble away on festive treats and gives guests a chance to try various cheeses.

📖 Step by Step Recipe

Cheese and Biscuits Wine Pairing

Cheese and Crackers paired with a great glass of wine is an absolute match made in heaven. With so many different cheese flavours, one can get creative when pairing with their favourite wines.

While the idea of pairing wine with cheese may feel daunting at first, it can actually be a lot of fun (especially if you’re a foodie)!

Keep in mind that generally, the best way to pair wine and cheese is to pick wines and cheeses from the same country.

Its a good idea to have a selection of red, white and sparkling wines available. Generally speaking, wine and cheese of equal intensity work best. So don't pair a full and complex flavour against a delicate one.

Remember, the more acidic the wine, the more it helps cut through fattiness in food products and saltier cheeses work well with a bolder wine.

Port is another popular tipple with cheese, a heavy fruity and sweet wine which will work well with strong and intense flavours.

Cider is crisp and sweet drink with a hint of acidity, that bring a brightness that cuts through creamier texture cheeses.

More Sharing Recipes

Looking for more sharing recipes for charcuterie and sharing platters.

Leftover Cheese Recipes

If you have leftover cheeses from the cheese board you can always use them up in some of our cheese recipes.

We hope you found this information useful to help decide on which cheese and biscuits to use on your DIY Christmas cheese board.

Whatever fruits, nuts and cheeses you choose to add to your grazing platter, the important thing is to experiment and have fun.

Tell us in the comments your favourite cheeses, crackers, nuts and fruits you love to combine with cheese.