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A Fresh Vegetarian Holiday Grazing Board. Made with carrot slices, mini red bell peppers, broccoli, honey crisp apple slices, crackers, and a homemade pistachio crusted cheese ball.
During the holidays, we love to make grazing boards for our friends and family to snack on when we host a holiday party or are together for Christmas festivities.
Since we eat a lot of other unhealthy holiday foods this time of year, we love to make boards that are full of fresh fruits and vegetables. After all…it’s all about balance, right?
Although we love fun, super festive charcuterie boards for the holidays, we thought we would show you a simpler, more practical grazing board we would make this time of year. We almost always have all of these ingredients in our kitchen, so this is something we could whip up in a few minutes.
Additionally, we wanted to include something our mom and grandma love making and eating this time of year… a cheese ball. It’s a holiday delicacy in our family, and we thought it would be a perfect addition to the holiday grazing board.
Whenever and for whoever you’re sharing the holidays with this year, this holiday grazing board would make a perfect addition to your table! Happy holidays!
Check out more charcuterie board recipes here:
Fall Apple Cheddar Charcuterie Board
The Absolute Best Pizza Charcuterie Board
Valentine’s Day Charcuterie Board Everyone Will Love
This post is all about a fresh vegetarian holiday grazing board.
Fresh Vegetarian Holiday Grazing Board
What’s in this recipe?
Carrots: Carrots are one of our favorite vegetables to snack on, and a crowd favorite as well!
Red Bell Peppers: We thought red bell peppers would add a festive red color to the board. Plus they are sweeter in flavor.
Broccoli: Broccoli adds a beautiful green color to the board, and its such a yummy vegetable to snack on as well.
Honey Crisp Apples: We used honey crisp apples on this holiday grazing board, however you can use any type of apple you enjoy.
Taralli Crackers: How adorable are these Taralli crackers? They look like little bagels, but they are buttery, light crackers that pair so well with the cream cheese ball.
Cheddar & Red Pepper Artisanal Crisps: We love these artisanal crisp crackers from Target. There are a several different flavors, but they always pair so well with spreads and jams on grazing boards.
Pistachio Cream Cheese Ball: The pistachio cream cheese ball is a blend of cream cheese, cheddar cheese, garlic, onion powder, dijon and Worcestershire sauce and rolled in roasted pistachios.
How to Make the Holiday Grazing Board
Make the Pistachio Cheese Ball…
You’ll want to prep the cheese ball a few hours or 1 full day in advance so that it can harden properly.
To start, you’ll want to mix your room temperature (not melted) cream cheese, cheddar cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce in a medium size mixing bowl. Mix until the ingredients are fully combined, and place the softened cheese in wax paper. Wrap the wax paper around the cheese. It doesn’t have to form a perfect ball right now.
Place the wrapped cheese in the fridge for about an hour. While it’s chilling a bit, roast the pistachios in a small sauce pan on the oven for a few minutes. Crush the pistachios into small pieces and set aside.
Once the cheese has hardened a bit, remove it from the fridge and form it into a round ball. Roll the ball in the crushed pistachios and place it back in the fridge until you’re ready to make the grazing board.
Prep Your Fruits and Vegetables…
Prepping the fruits and vegetables for the board makes it easier to assemble your grazing board. Start by cutting your carrots, red bell peppers, broccoli crowns, and honey crisp apples.
Decorate the Board…
Now it’s time for the fun part…decorating the grazing board! We always follow our fool proof method to creating the perfect grazing board every time, because it makes decorating the board so simple!
We always start by placing our bigger food items on the board first. In this case, that’s the pistachio cream cheese ball.
Then, add in your sliced vegetables and fruit. Layer in the crackers, and place a small cheese board knife next to the cheese ball.
Finally, serve this board as an appetizer or snack at your next holiday party! It’s so fresh and delicious. It’ll be a crowd favorite!
If you made this recipe, we’d love for you to share with us! Tag us on Instagram, leave a comment below or share on Pinterest!
Fresh Vegetarian Holiday Grazing Board
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 10 people 1x
Ingredients
Pistachio Cream Cheese Ball:
- 8 oz cream cheese (room temp)
- 4 oz sharp white cheddar (grated)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup pistachios (roasted and chopped)
Other Grazing Board Ingredients:
- carrots (sliced)
- red bell peppers (sliced)
- broccoli crowns (shopped)
- 1–2 honey crisp apples (sliced)
- 1 pkg Cheddar & Red Pepper Artisanal Crisps
- 1 pkg Taralli Crackers
Instructions
Pistachio Cream Cheese Ball:
- You’ll want to prep the cheese ball a few hours or 1 full day in advance so that it can harden properly.
- To start, you’ll want to mix your room temperature (not melted) cream cheese, cheddar cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce in a medium size mixing bowl. Mix until the ingredients are fully combined.
- Wrap wax paper around the cheese. Place the wrapped cheese in the fridge for about an hour.
- While it’s chilling, add your pistachios to a small sauce pan over medium low heat. Toast the pistachio for about 5 minutes. Transfer the pistachios to a cutting board and chop the roasted pistachios into small pieces.
- After the cream cheese has chilled, remove it from the fridge and form it into a round ball. Roll the ball in the crushed pistachios and place it back in the fridge until you’re ready to make the grazing board.
How to Make the Grazing Board:
- Start by cutting your carrots, red bell peppers, broccoli crowns, and honey crisp apples.
- Start by placing the pistachio cream cheese ball not he board. Then, add in your sliced vegetables and fruit. Layer in the crackers, and place a small cheese board knife next to the cheese ball.
- Enjoy at your next holiday party with friends and family!
- Prep Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Category: Appetizer, Side Dish
- Cuisine: American
This post is all about a fresh holiday grazing board.
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