Christmas dinner is undoubtedly the best time of year for indulgence — and if you ask us, that includes an abundant holiday cheese board with all the trimmings. But scroll through all of the gorgeous, maximalist boards on Instagram and Pinterest, and building your own might seem like a daunting task.
Luckily, we’ve tapped a range of expert cheese aficionados to share their top tips and Christmas cheese board ideas to help you build a majestic holiday centerpiece. So get your boards ready and prepare to elicit oohs and ahhs from the entire family.
How Many Cheeses Should I Serve on My Christmas Cheese Board?
Courtney C. Johnson, PhD, ACS CCP, ACS CCSE, Co-Owner, Street Cheese LLC, also likes five cheeses on a Christmas board, which, she says, paves the way for “the broadest range of textures, milk types, and cheese styles to add variety and provide more possible pairings with all of the other food on the table.” Emilio Mignucci, Vice President of Di Bruno Bros. in Philadelphia, echoes this recommendation. “We like to use odd numbers because it’s more dramatic,” he says. “Five cheeses is about right.”
Scott recommends an upper limit of eight cheeses, which, he says, “gives you room to play with milk types, textures, shapes, varieties and origins without overwhelming the board (or your guests).” But for Tenaya Darlington, author of Madame Fromage’s Adventures in Cheese, the max can be pushed a bit higher at Christmastime.
“I usually recommend sticking with three to five cheeses on a board, but around the holidays — when cheese shops are most bountiful — why limit yourself?” she says. “During the winter holidays, cheese shops bring in rare cheeses, so it’s a good time to go all out — and also support a local small business.” Of her own Christmas cheese board this year, she says, “I’m going to try very hard to stop at 12 cheeses.”
What Cheeses Should I Serve on My Christmas Cheese Board?
Once you’ve decided how many cheeses you’re serving, it’s time to narrow down the contenders. To do so, our experts recommend seeking a balance of different types of cheeses.
“When selecting cheeses, I think in terms of variety, milk type, texture, shape, origin, and style,” Scott explains. “From there, I build the board with accompaniments that enhance those narratives and flavors, not distract from them.”
Start With An Indulgent Triple-Cream Cheese
Megan Wiggers, Specialty Team Leader and Certified Cheese Professional at Whole Foods Market Huntington Station likes to start her boards with something creamy and indulgent. She typically begins with a triple-cream Brillat-Savarin, Crémeux de Bourgogne from France, or a home-grown Crémont from Vermont Creamery.
These crowd-pleasing cheeses are mild in flavor but richly textured, with flavors that run the gamut from crème fraiche to pure butter. And to top it all off, Kubick notes, “they pair beautifully with holiday flavors like cranberry relish or mulled wine.”
Next, Choose From Crowd-Pleasing Hard Cheeses
Wiggers’ next choice is usually something “nutty and hard” like cheddar or an Alpine Gruyère. These cheeses are typically crowd-pleasers, even among cheese skeptics, seeing as they have none of the unfamiliar stink or ooze of some of their more personality-driven cousins.
“For my family, cheddar is always a winner,” says Wiggers. She notes that its crumbly texture means this cheese lends itself well to being served in chunks rather than cubes, adding aesthetic appeal to the resulting board. And for Darlington, a cloth-bound or bandaged cheddar is particularly welcome at Christmas, “since it comes with a special wrapping.”
The cloth-bound technique hails from England, so it’s no surprise that there are so many British bandaged cheddar offerings. Darlington loves Montgomery’s, while Johnson cites Pitchfork and Quicke’s cheddars as particularly special choices. Or if you’d rather try a homegrown offering, both Darlington and Wiggers like Jasper Hill Cellars Cabot Clothbound Cheddar for what Wiggers terms its “savory, brothy flavor.”
Don’t Feel Limited to Cheddar
But cheddar is far from the only hard cheese option for your board. Scott loves Mitica’s Mahon, a four-month-old cow’s milk cheese from Menorca he dubs “Spain’s answer to cheddar.” The creamy, semi-firm cheese boasts a bold orange rind and a salty tang he loves.
For something with even more umami depth, gouda is a fantastic choice. L’Amuse Signature Gouda, in particular, “has lots of crunchy crystals and notes of butterscotch, which feels very festive,” according to Kubick. Wiggers, meanwhile, recommends Marieke Young Gouda, an “exceptional” raw milk creation made in Wisconsin.
You could also veer into Alpine territory with cheeses like Swiss Gruyère or French Comté. Mignucci likes Comté Sagesse from Essex St. Cheese, while Scott recommends JuraFlore’s 15-month-old Comté, which he says is “aged to nutty, caramelized perfection.”
Add a Flavored Cheese for Special Occasion Flair
Wiggers rounds out her board by next adding something with added flavors, like spices or herbs. Johnson loves Lum Farm Marinated Chevre, a soft, fresh goat cheese from Washington luxuriating in an herby garlic oil. Mignucci prefers to make things really festive by breaking out the truffles with a heady Moliterno al Tartufo. This Sardinian sheep’s milk cheese is infused with black truffle for a doubly rich sensorial experience sure to make your guests swoon.
Finish with a Bang
Last but not least, Wiggers recommends adding “something new or unexpected — dare I say, a risk?” Depending on the adventurousness of the palates you’ve convened at your table, this advice could send you in a range of different directions.
Blue cheese is a staple at an English Christmas — Stilton served with a glass of port is a classic combo. And for Scott, Coltson Bassett is the “gold standard.” “[It’s] the creamiest of the English Stiltons, with a fudgy texture and a flavor that dances between salty, buttery, and sweet,” he says.
For a more local blue cheese offering, Oregon’s Rogue River Blue is a standout. This cheese, which took the top prize in the 2020 World Cheese Awards, features a unique packaging that makes it particularly perfect for Christmas. The cheese is aged wrapped in Syrah leaves soaked in pear brandy, which, Kubick says, makes it look like “a little present.”
But our experts also acknowledge that blue cheese isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. If blue isn’t your vibe, you could veer into washed-rind territory instead. Try Burgundian Epoisses or Soumaintrain, an “ooey-gooey” cheese that’s one of Johnson’s personal favorites.
This slightly stinky cheese family is also home to the one cheese that made it onto every one of our experts’ Christmas lists: Rush Creek Reserve (which was also featured on our list of cheeses for a memorable Thanksgiving cheese board). This creation from Uplands Cheese in Wisconsin was inspired by Swiss Vacherin and French Mont d’Or, both of which are aged in a corset made of spruce cambium, which imparts a slightly woodsy aroma to the umami-rich, almost pudding-like cheese. The American answer to this cheese is a seasonal offering made only with rich autumn milk and released just in time for the holidays.
“Its paste is lush and silky, with notes of toasted hazelnuts, smoked bacon, and alpine pasture,” says Scott. “It’s a seasonal treasure and a showstopper.”
Sample All Milk Types
The most common milk type across the board (pun intended) is cow, but Wiggers recommends mindfully offering at least one cheese made with either sheep or goat’s milk. Within this category, options run the gamut from the mild-mannered, soft-ripened Vermont Creamery Coupole that Mignucci recommends, to a heady French Roquefort, a blue-veined sheep’s milk marvel.
More crowd-pleasing choices might include Petit Basque or Manchego, both of which are pressed cheeses from the Pyrenees with a toothsome texture and melt-in-your-mouth creaminess. Johnson also loves Neal’s Yard Dairy Corra Linn, a sheep’s milk cloth-bound Cheddar from Scotland.
How to Make Your Board Feel Special, Not Crowded
Picking your cheeses is the hardest part of making a Christmas cheese board, but the second-hardest is choosing the right accouterments. Mignucci suggests all manner of “fruits, fresh and dry, roasted and raw nuts, jams, conserves and honeys, plenty of breads (different varieties), crackers, olives and antipasti (raw and cooked veg) and plenty of cured meats.”
That said, Scott notes that it’s important not to overwhelm your board. “I’m all for a generous spread, but I like a board that’s curated, not cluttered,” he says. “Every element should have a reason to be there.”
Johnson agrees. “Professionally, when we build cheese and charcuterie platters for customers, there is some cultural pressure to include lots of accompaniments so that customers feel they are getting the most ‘bang for their buck’ — more volume on the plate, as it were,” she says. But when she’s at home, she says, “I prefer a clean aesthetic and more intentional pairings (if any).”
Choosing Intentional Pairings
To find pairings that will elevate your board rather than crowd it, Wiggers recommends a sort of puzzle piece approach. When choosing additional items for your cheese board, Wiggers says “you want to look for things that add what it’s missing.”
“I almost think about pairings as a color wheel; the opposite sides of the wheel are a complementary color that looks good with your chosen color, and the same can apply to your cheese.”
For example, if you’re serving a super-soft cheese with a mild flavor, she suggests adding “a bold jam or delicate meats like prosciutto,” while Darlington recommends “a head of roasted garlic and some sprigs of thyme.” With an aged cheddar, Darlington suggests a side of chutney. And with a crystallized aged Gouda, candied pecans are the perfect pairing.
Still, it is Christmas. If you want more of a maximalist board, Johnson recommends reining things in by simply considering any accompaniments with three criteria in mind: “One: does it actually taste good with two or more cheeses on the plate? Two: if it is a fresh fruit or vegetable, is it actually in season right now? And three: is this easy to eat or serve to yourself in a shared setting?”
Kubick agrees. “I think maximalist boards are beautiful as long as the accompaniments are chosen with intention,” she says. Given the season, she leans towards sweet and spicy pairings like ginger cookies, spiced cherry preserves, and candied nuts (recipes for which she’s included in her newest book). “For something savory, I like marinated olives and a nice rustic mustard,” she adds. “I also like adding fresh orange slices, since citrus is in season during winter.”
For Darlington, if you go minimalist with the cheese selection, you can go a bit more “wild” with pairings. “Trails of dried apricots, almonds, pomegranate seeds, dried cranberries, persimmon slices, candied ginger, ginger snaps, rosemary sprigs, and even small-kernel popcorn look festive,” she says.
Wiggers, too, opts for a marriage of sweet and savory, citing sour cherry jam, fig spread, prosciutto, Castelvetrano olives, chocolate-covered pretzels or Piedras de luna (chocolate covered cashews) as just some of the additions she’d include. Scott, meanwhile, likes to offer sweetness, savoriness, and a touch of heat with accompaniments like PRiMO’s Strawberry & Ancho Chile Preserves, Savannah Bee Company’s raw honeycomb, Future Favors’ “The Spark” Gochugaru-Citrus Candied Pecans, truffled Marcona almonds, and Red Peruvian Pearl Peppers.
Consider a Concept
If all of these choices seem a touch overwhelming, we get it. If you need a starting point, it can help to narrow your options by giving yourself a theme or planned visual to work with. Kubick sometimes likes to go full concept for her Christmas cheese board, like her Cheese Wreath Plate. It features Rush Creek Reserve as the centerpiece, surrounded by a wreath of slices of Pleasant Ridge Reserve. “There‘s a little Christmas charcuterie bow at the bottom, whole grain mustard, rosemary flatbreads, and lots of solar herbs for garnish.”
To go for a similar approach, choose one show-stopping cheese for your board’s centerpiece. This year, Scott plans to anchor his board with a 350-gram wheel of Bonhomme Brie from Normandy, which he’ll “lavishly” top with Stonewall Kitchen’s Lemon Pear Jam. “It’s a perennial favorite and never fails to draw a crowd.”
Darlington, meanwhile, occasionally grounds her cheese board in one region or family. “I like to pick a single style of cheese — say, Cheddar or Gouda or Alpines — and offer several high-quality versions for guests to taste and compare,” she says. “I find that a board of all Cheddars or all Goudas gets everyone talking and comparing notes — it makes a fun conversation piece.”
