Christmas Veggie Tray [Tree OR Wreath]

This Christmas veggie tray with dip/s can be shaped into a holiday wreath or Christmas tree for a quick, fun, festive appetizer, perfect for entertaining this holiday season!

Super Festive Veggie Wreath or Christmas Tree Veggie Tray

With all the indulgence that comes with the holiday season, we love to have a few ‘healthier’ options on offer any time we’re entertaining, so people can enjoy lighter nibbling – nothing more so than quick and simple festive Christmas veggie trays with a dip (or dips, plural!).

This holiday season, give your Xmas veggie tray a festive spin by shaping it into a holiday wreath or tree. It looks great, will bring a burst of color to your table, and put you in the Christmas spirit. You might be surprised at how quickly it all gets eaten.

You might also enjoy putting together a tasty vegan wreath charcuterie board and/or to assemble veggie trays for other major holidays – like New Year’s eve, 4th of July, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving.

Why You’ll Love a Christmas Veggie Tray

1. Quick and easy: Throw it together in 10 minutes with minimal hands-on prep.
2. Looks super festive: especially when using this classic hummus, 2 vibrant red and green veggies like juicy tomatoes, crisp bell peppers, and crunchy broccoli florets.
3. Nutritious: Balance your holiday indulgence with this healthy snack loaded with vitamins and minerals while remaining sufficiently satisfied. Plus, it’s easy to cater to various dietary needs, like gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, etc.
4. Can be prepared in advance: For fuss-free holiday entertaining.
5. Super customizable: Keep reading for all the different veggie and dip options. Plus, you can enjoy the selection of vegetables raw, blanched, steamed, and/or boiled.

The Ingredients and Substitutes

The Vegetables

We love combining holiday colors for our holiday veggie trays – like red, green, and white.

• Cauliflower (cut into 2-inch florets)
• Broccoli (cut into 2-inch florets)
• Broccolini (ends trimmed)
• Asparagus (ends trimmed)
• Cherry tomatoes (halved or whole)

Other vegetables that work wonderfully on a Christmas-themed veggie tray include:

• Carrots (batons/sticks or baby carrots)
• Cucumber (batons/sticks, slices, or shapes)
• Snow peas/ sugar snap peas
• Green beans (steamed/boiled)
• Bell peppers (red, orange, or yellow strips)
• Celery (sticks)
• Radishes (whole, halves, slices)
• Baby corn
• Dill pickles
• Olives
• Beets (roasted, steamed, or pickled – include toothpicks or other implements to pick them up with, as they’ll stain fingers)

Optionally, have fun using food cutters – like cucumber or carrot stars, candy canes, etc. Add a touch of elegance with lemon/lime slices and/or fresh herbs to garnish.

The Best Veggie Tray Dips

• Hummus (classic, dill pickle, caramelized onion, etc.)
• Creamy white bean dip
• Vegan ranch dressing
• French onion dip
• Guacamole
• Tzatziki
• Baba ganoush
• Salsa (restaurant-style or tomatillo green chili salsa)
• Spinach artichoke dip (or creamy spinach dip)
• Creamy pesto vegan yogurt dip
• Buffalo dip

Of course, we use vegan versions of each – you can use store-bought or homemade.

How to Make An Xmas Veggie Tray

Prepare the Vegetables

• Before making either of the holiday veggie trays, the first step is to prepare the vegetables. If you’d prefer them raw, you only need to rinse and trim them accordingly.

You could also mix and match by steaming some but leaving others raw. It’s up to you!

• For more tender veg, boil (or steam) them. To do so, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
• Then, in layers, carefully add the cauliflower, then broccoli, broccolini, and finally, the asparagus on top (furthest away from the heat point).

Steam them similarly, placing the ‘hardest’/longest cooking vegetables at the bottom of the basket and the quickest ones on top and steam until tender.

• Cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low, and leave to simmer for 5 minutes. Then, carefully remove the vegetables with tongs and drain them in a colander. Leave to cool.

Try to keep the various kinds of vegetables together/organized, so it’s easier to shape them into a Christmas wreath vegetable tray or Christmas tree veggie tray.

Christmas Wreath Veggie Tray

Christmas vegetable wreaths are super simple and best for serving with one main dip.

• First, place the dip (we used fluffy hummus) in a bowl in the middle of a large round board or dish.

• Spread the broccoli around the bowl to resemble a Christmas ‘wreath,’ making sure the florets face upwards.

• Then, add the remaining vegetables scattered throughout the vegetable wreath in your design of choice. Tomatoes can be added whole or halved.

Optionally create a red bell pepper ‘ribbon,’ by cutting 5 pieces. Two wide strips for the ‘bow,’ a small bit to be the middle, and two thin strips for the ribbons coming down.

Christmas Tree Veggie Tray

With this version, you can create the Christmas tree veggie tray on your board/dish, then place bowls of dips around the outside.

1. Working in layers, use your largest veg to create the widest layer. Aka, the tree ‘base’.

Optionally create a ‘trunk’ for the tree, too, either with vegetables, crackers, or pretzel sticks.

2. Then, continue to place layers of individual vegetables into narrower and narrower layers to create a tree-like triangular shape.
3. Place the cherry tomatoes (whole or halved) over the top, like baubles.
4. Optionally, cut a bell pepper or other ingredient into a star to top the tree.
5. Then, spread the dips around the outside of the tray. You can optionally fill the rest of the tray with crackers as a kind of ‘background.’

Alternatively, place a ‘base’ of broccoli (optionally with sugar snap peas/snow peas on the edges) to create a ‘tree-like’ silhouette’. Then top with ‘decorations.’ E.g., cherry tomatoes, cucumber and carrot slices for baubles, bell pepper strips for tinsel, etc.

FAQs

Top Tips For The Best Christmas Tray

• Use super fresh vegetables: For the best flavor and freshness.
• Enjoy raw or cooked: Some vegetables work best raw (like cucumber and carrots), and some are better steamed/boiled or blanched to take off the ‘raw’ edge (like cauliflower and broccoli). However, it’s up to you what you’d prefer to do.
• Don’t overcook the vegetables: Otherwise, they can become limp and/or mushy. It’s important to place the longest-cooking vegetables closest to the heat point, too.
• Experiment with flavors and designs: Half the fun of assembling an Xmas veggie tray is experimenting with different ingredients/designs.
• Label the dips: If you use multiple dips, it’s a good idea to label them so people know what they’re eating.

Can You Make A Christmas Veggie Tray in Advance?

There are several ways to speed up the prep when creating a Christmas tray, including:

1. Wash and cut the vegetables: Then store them in airtight containers or ziplocks/stashers for 1-2 days in advance. This will work for most of the vegetables.
2. Cook the veg: Ditto the above.
3. Prepare the dips: If you’re making them yourself, this can often be done 2-3 days in advance. In fact, many taste better on day two.
4. Assemble the tray: Yes, you could even assemble the entire tray with the vegetables and dips, then wrap it in plastic wrap and keep it chilled in the refrigerator for up to a day before serving.

We prefer to slice cucumber and tomatoes freshly.

More Christmas Appetizer Recipes

• Mushroom Pate 
• Guacamole Skins
• Easy vegan stuffed mushrooms
• Spinach and mushroom puffs
• Buffalo cauliflower wings
• Vegan pizza rolls

Or browse our list of 50 easy vegan appetizer recipes.

Photos by Alfonso Revilla