This Festive Antipasto Skewers Christmas Wreath is an amazing Christmas appetizer idea! Made with peppered salami, mozzarella balls, olives, cherry peppers, artichokes and fresh basil. An easy appetizer that’s perfect for the holidays.
An Easy and Beautiful Christmas Appetizer
Today is the day. Mike has his company Christmas party and it’s something I look forward to every year. It’s the one time that I, as the bosses wife, get to meet and interact with all his employees including spouses.
We have a dinner, drink cocktails (which let’s be honest, it’s like a truth serum for some people haha) and then we give out gifts. Usually afterwards we’ll go out to spend more time with every one. AND Mike and I book a hotel room so we get to wake up late the next morning, do brunch and finish the last of our Christmas shopping without kids.
It’s glorious!
But before all that goes down. I had to prep a lot of stuff to make tonight happen.
Plan the food menu and set the “bar menu” for the party all while staying in budget. Communicating decorations AND most importantly buying the gifts for all the employees. We don’t buy all the same gift, that would be easy. We buy gifts thinking of what employee might like. It’s hard but worth it in the end. Ya know.
All that to say, I’m tired. Going to get my hair done and then going to chill the rest of the night. Whew! But before I do that I’ve giving this amazing Christmas Wreath Antipasto Skewer appetizer recipe to ya. Because it’s fancy, easy with a touch of playful and totally needs to be at your next Christmas party! In fact, I may make it for the Christmas party I’m going to tomorrow!
What Are Antipasto Skewers?
Traditionally, Antipasto is the first course of an Italian meal. It’s a combination of olives, cheese, artichokes, marinaded mushrooms or vegetables and cured meats. Antipasto Skewers are basically using all of these ingredients and putting them on a skewer.
How to Make Antipasto Skewers as a Christmas Appetizer:
- First, select the ingredients you’d like to use for your antipasto. (cured meat, various cheeses, vegetables, marinaded vegetables, olives and fresh basil)
- Lay the ingredients out in front of you so they are easily accessible.
- On a skewer, alternate the antipasto ingredients so there is at least one of each item on the skewer.
- Cover and place in the refrigerator for up to one day or serve immediately.
How to Display Antipasto Skewers?
Once your Antipasto Skewers are made you can display them in a variety of ways. Most people put them on a cheese board or plate. However, if you’d like to be festive you can arrange them in a shape. (ex. a Christmas Wreath, Valentines Heart, Thanksgiving Turkey or 4th of July Firework) Be creative.
Can You Make Antipasto Skewers in Advance?
The short answer is yes. If depends on how marinated your ingredients are. If you’re using a lot of marinaded vegetables or cheeses I recommend not making it ahead of time so you keep all the flavor. However, if you’re trying to save time then yes you can make it one day ahead of time and cover in the refrigerator.
What I love about this recipe is:
- How flexible it is. You can basically make it your own and pick out the vegetables, cheeses and cured meats you want. There is no set “recipe.” Well, kinda but not really.
- It’s delicious!
- It’s beautiful.
When I posted a picture of this on Instagram I had so many people tell me how beautiful it was and how much they wanted the recipe. All that to say, I guarantee it will be the show stopper at your next holiday party. It’s super easy to make and guarantee to please!
Bon Appetit friends! Happy Weekend!
Christmas Wreath Antipasto Skewers
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 30 skewers 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Assemble
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
Description
This Festive Antipasto Skewers Christmas Wreath is an amazing Christmas appetizer idea! Made with peppered salami, mozzarella balls, olives, cherry peppers, artichokes and fresh basil. An easy and healthy appetizer that’s perfect for the holidays.
Ingredients
- 30 wood skewers (3-4″ long skewers)
- 30 baby mozzarella balls
- 30 basil leaves
- 10–15 cherry tomatoes
- 30 slices peppered salami (or regular salami)
- 10 whole artichoke hearts, halved
- 20 large green olives, pitted (you can get flavored if you’d like)
- 30 large black olive or large kalamata olives
- 10 cherry peppers, halved
- fresh rosemary sprigs for garnish
Notes
- Line up all your ingredients so you’re ready to assemble antipasto skewers.
- To each skewer add mozzarella ball, basil leaf and salami. From there I mixed and matched the rest of the ingredients! Hint: have fun with this. I made each of my skewers different.
- Get a round serving platter and place assembled skewers in the shape of a wreath. Depending on the size of your platter you may need to do a double layer of skewers. Than stick pieces of fresh rosemary in random places underneath the skewers to make it look like a christmas wreath.
- Store in refrigerator until ready to serve. (can be made one day ahead of time)
Want More Healthy Appetizer Recipes?
Caprese Chicken Skewers with Balsamic Reduction
Spinach Artichoke Dip Wonton Bites
Herb Cream Cheese Cucumber Bites
Baked Mozzarella Sticks with Wonton Wrappers
28 comments on “Festive Antipasto Skewers Christmas Wreath”
Hi Krista! Did you use hot or sweet cherry peppers? I’m having trouble finding any hot options. Thanks!
I use sweet cherry peppers. They are usually in the condiment aisle by olives, pickles and such
Took this for Christmas Eve and it was a huge hit!! Thank you for sharing!
It is one of my favorite holiday appetizers! I am so glad you enjoyed it!
I made this with vegan pastrami. LOTS of compliments. It looks amazing and tastes great. Pretty easy to make too. Thank you for sharing this!
Fabulous idea – I am going to make this on Christmas day!
This is amazing!!! Would love to make but having trouble finding this kind of platter with a hole cut out of the center. Do you know where to find?? THanks 🙂
Thank you! As far as the platter maybe crate and barrel or sur la table would have a platter like that.
Thanks for sharing! I wonder if some grapes and pomegranate seeds would fit in well?
Hey Vanessa, I’m sure you could scatter them on there. But the grape might be a little different because most of the ingredients in here are salty and briny.
This looks so good! What a fun way to arrange this appetizer!
Thank you Suzanne.
Hi! I’m super excited to try this recipe out for a Christmas Party I’m attending in about a week. I was curious…are any of the ingredients in your recipe items that need to be marinated? And, what length of skewers? Thank you!
They do not need to be marinated but you can use marinated if you like. I use a 3-4″ long skewer so you can fit all those ingredients on.
Can you please tell me the length of skewers that you used
Sure, I use 3-4″ skewers
Simply gorgeous. I have a question for you what size skewer did you use please
Hey Mary, I use 3-4″ skewers. You can find them at the grocery store.
This is not only delicious but also GORGEOUS!
Love this gorgeous appetizer idea! So fun!
This is so creative! I just might make one for my upcoming parties!
These are so gorgeous! Picture-perfect!
Oh my goodness! How awesome is this wreath! This is genius!
This is amazing! I love it!
This looks like the perfect holiday party platter! I think I will give this a try at our Christmas party this weekend!
This will definitely wow my guests! What size skewers did you use and how many layers because the length and the “fullness” of the wreath looks perfect! Also, what type of artichochoke hearts and cherry peppers did you use? I think if I used the marinade with oils it would be messy? I know its whatever one prefers but that are your thoughts? Thank you for this share. I’m super excited to make this for my Christmas guests!!
Hey Renee,
Your guests are going to love it. I use the artichoke hearts that are in water. But you would use the marinated if you want, same with the cherry peppers. I try to try to reduce the fat and extras and usually the marinated ones are sitting in oil. Trust me this will be flavorful. As far as the skewers I use -3-4″ skewers. Happy eating!
This is so Beautiful as well as tasty, you have out done yourself, Merry Christmas!