Christmas Tree Vegetable Platter

This Christmas Tree Vegetable Platter is an easy, fun and festive appetizer or snack to serve during the holidays. It's quick to make and great for parties!

This Christmas Tree Vegetable Platter is a simple veggie tray idea that is perfect for your festive entertaining. It’s so quick and easy to put together, and the veggies are served with a creamy onion, garlic and herb dip. This is the perfect healthy holiday food snack!

I love making this Christmas Tree Vegetable Platter whenever I’m hosting a party or invited to one. I know there will usually be plenty of desserts, so I like having some vegetables for healthy snacking. This is very similar to my Crudite Platter Wreath – another easy veggie tray idea in the shape of a wreath

ARRANGE ITEMS FOR CHRISTMAS TREE VEGETABLE PLATTER

• Broccoli: This makes up the tree. You can also use green cauliflower (romanesco), celery or even asparagus if you’d like.
• Pretzel Sticks: This forms the three trunk of the Christmas tree vegetable platter. You can switch it to celery, the root of broccoli, the root of cauliflower or square crackers.

• Cherry Tomatoes: This makes up the ornaments, and cherry tomatoes are always very popular with crowds. But you can also use carrots cut into rounds, cheese, red peppers, grapes or olives.
• Yellow Peppers: Cutting the peppers into small long strips and overlapping them creates an image of a star. You can also create this from any other yellow vegetables like zucchini, or fruits like pineapple.
• Cauliflower: This is the snow underneath our Christmas tree vegetable platter. It may be hard to replace with other vegetables, but you can substitute with popcorn!

MAKE THE DIP

To accompany all these vegetables is my homemade vegetable dip. I make it with sour cream, veganaise (which is basically a vegan version of mayonnaise), and dried herbs .

Making the dip is super easy, and it just requires a bowl and some mixing. Arrange the veggies on a wooden chopping board in the shape of a Christmas tree, add the dip in a small bowl and serve. It really couldn’t get any easier!

TIPS FOR MAKING THIS CHRISTMAS TREE VEGETABLE PLATTER

1. Buy the vegetables on the day you plan to assemble, or the day before at the earliest so everything is fresh and crisp for the party.
2. Arrange the Christmas tree on a wooden chopping board for easy serving. This would also work on a baking sheet if you don’t have a wooden chopping board or cheese board.
3. Make the dip a few hours ahead of time and keep it covered in the fridge. It will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 5 days, so it’s easy to finish it ahead of time.
4. Boost the color of the broccoli by blanching them. Place the broccoli in boiling water for a couple minutes and then shock it in an ice water bath immediately after. This preserves the deep bright green color of the broccoli and makes them easier to chew.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How do you organize a veggie platter?

I love the festive feel of this Christmas tree platter, but you can enjoy it all year round by arranging the veggies in groups and places a couple of bowls of dip on the board. To make this a larger platter, you can add crackers and breadsticks if you wish.

Can you prepare this Christmas tree vegetable platter ahead of time?

You can chop the veggies and arrange the board ahead of time and cover it with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge. I wouldn’t make it more than about 8 hours ahead of time so that the cut veggies are fresh. The dip can be made a day or two ahead of time and be stored covered in the fridge, just give it a quick stir before serving

Add a healthy twist to your Christmas gatherings and give this a try! It’s so easy and a real crowd pleaser! And the best part of this Christmas tree vegetable platter is that all of the ingredients are raw, so no cooking required. Just clean them, chop them up and arrange! It’s such a fun way to eat your veggies and the kids will love it!