This post contains collections of products that I personally recommend (it may contain affiliate links).
What is a Charcuterie Chalet?
Imagine the most adorably decorated gingerbread house, but with all savory ingredients. That’s it! A charcuterie chalet is like a savory cheese board house, all dressed up for the winter holiday! Pretzel windows, salami-tiled roof top, and all of it dusted with parmesan cheese, it’s so darn cute. Who wouldn’t love this?!
Obviously I had to jump on this new fad. Here’s my take on the trend with a few extra suggestions thrown in for good measure. And here’s my IG REEL for a full 360-degree view of the Meat Mansion I created. For other Christmas ideas, check out the Christmas section of the blog, including my Charcuterie Tree and Charcuterie Wreath. You can also search all holiday board ideas by section on this site. And, for a non-holiday version of antipasti, make my Italian Antipasti Platter.
Building the Structure of Your Chalet
Make it easy on yourself! Find a gingerbread kit and build off that. Zero judgement here, because that’s what I did. I used this Gingerbread Mansion, but Target also smaller options like this Gingerbread House kit and ready-built options like this Gingerbread House and these mini pre-built holiday homes
I’ve heard of people making the structure from flatbread, which is some varsity-level food art right there. I’m no architect, and I’d honestly rather be decorating than frustrated by building the base. But you do you! It’s an option, and the important part is to make this fun and festive.
The Base
One of the most common questions I recieved on instagram after posting was, “what is the base?” So in addition to using a gingerbread kit to build the home, I placed everything on a Lazy Susan so that I could really get a good look at every side. I love being able to show off the full 360° view!
Once the main house elements were done, I covered the Lazy Susan in cream cheese and parmesan sprinkles (more on that below). This helped the landscaping elements stick.
Ingredients to Make it a Winter Wonderland
I’ve made mine all savory. But you could do a mix—some savory items, with some sweet ones too. You know I love a dessert cheese board. It really comes down to the shapes and colors you want to add in.
Besides the gingerbread house, think about what elements you want to have on your chalet: windows, landscaping, roof, and trimmings and characters. These should start to inform the colors, shapes, textures you want to look for in your ingredients. Here are some ideas based on what I made and what I’ve seen others make….
The House Details
- Cream cheese is your best bet for charcuterie chalet glue. Use it to make a beautiful, smooth snowy drift (on the rooftop or elsewhere).
- Salami and charcuterie are key. I placed salami rounds on the roof to make cute looking tiles. You could also make salami (or ham, or prosciutto!) rosettes for decoration around the chalet. Full tutorial here on making salami rosettes.
- Pretzel snaps (grid squares) make the perfect windows. You could also try triscuits
- Dried fruit is a good option for decor. I used half slices of dried oranges as window awnings/coverings.
- Longer crackers like these rustic bakery flatbreads cut in half work as great doors. Just draw on doorknobs with these edible ink markers. I also used these to for the chimney on top, securing the four sides with cream cheese.
- Pretzel sticks give off a great log-cabin vibe. I used a few sizes and shapes for different aspects of the decor: windows, roof eaves, and some for “logs” in front of the chalet. I used the same buttery pretzel twists in this Fall Cheese Ball Bites board.
Landscaping
- Rosemary makes for great trees and garden-like additions. Stand them up tall and affix them to a few more pretzel twists to help them stand. Or just lean them against the chalet.
- Mushroom and thyme make for the cutest little planters around the chalet. I added some sugared cranberries for extra dimension. See this sugared cranberry Instagram Reel for the step-by-step instructions.
- Sage is such a beautiful herb, and fragrant too. I piled leaves of it into circles to make wreaths on the front and back of the house.
- Marcona almonds (or regular almonds) make a great pathway up to the doorstep.
- Cut up tiny thyme sprigs along the almond walkway to create a cute landscaping detail. I just stuck them into the cream cheese/parmesan base on the lazy susan.
- Green olives could come in handy for garden landscaping too.
Characters
- Brie bites are so adorable. All piled up they make a pretty great snowman. Mine are secured with a skewer. I drew on the eyes, mouth and carrot nose with the edible ink markers. I get my brie bites at Trader Joe’s, but I also linked to some on amazon if you don’t have access to TJ’s.
- Babybel cheese is a staple on my boards (like these PAC MAN with edible eyes). So it was a no-brainer to make a snowman and a Rudolf with them. Again, I used the edible ink markers for help with the faces and Santa suit. I used extra wax from the Babybels to create the red noses. For Santa, I added in a provolone beard and furry hat and stuck them on with cream cheese. See more details on my IG Reel How-To (coming soon).
- For Santa’s Sled, I used a double layer of La Panzanella Original Mini Croccantini Crackers, then laid down a few bread stick pieces to the front of the sled.
- Black olives put on skewers would make adorable looking penguins. I’ve seen these with mozzarella or cream cheese for the white belly.
Extras
- Any firm cheese, like a regular cheddar or provolone, can be cut out into shapes for bigger elements—like stars, Christmas trees, Sanata, reindeer, or snowflakes (as did with the snowflake. I love making provolone ghosts (for Halloween boards), cheese leaves (for Fall boards), but you could use more wintery shapes here.
How to Make it Sparkle
This was the most fun part! Grate some parmesan into a bowl. Sprinkle it on top of your salami rooftop. Add it to any snowy sections you made with cream cheese. And give the rest of the yard a nice soft dusting of parmesan snow. This will really set it up to look so wintery (and yummy!).
How to Cheat … Full Disclosure!
In all honesty, I knew this would only be posted on social and not eaten, so I brought the big guns. And by big guns, I mean my tiny glue gun. Yep, it just wasn’t possible for me to hold up the house without it.
Obviously this makes the chalet inedible. Only use glue if you’re not planning on eating it. If you do want to make these and eat them too (duh, why wouldn’t you?!) you can use the royal icing that you would usually use on a gingerbread house. Or cream cheese—just make sure to keep it cold. If it gets too warm it won’t hold much up.
A big THANK YOU to my friend, Alexandra Olin for helping build this meat mansion.
360 video of the Chalet
Here’s a video of the full chalet.
Show Me Your Chalets
I hope this post inspires you to create the infamous #CharcuterieChalet. Nothing makes me happier than seeing the food art you create from my tips. If you make a “Meat House” (hehe) inspired by this post, please tag me at @ainttoooproudtomeg so I can see and share!
And, If you liked this recipe, please rate and review.
Other Resources
Check out these charcuterie chalet roundups from PopSugar and The Spruce for more inspo.
Charcuterie Chalet Recipe
Description
Ingredients
Cheese
- Cream Cheese
- Babybel Cheese
- Mozzarella
- Cheddar
- Provolone
- Grated Parmesan
Meat
- Salami
Produce
- Mushrooms
Carbs
- Gingerbread House Base
- Pretzel Snaps
- Pretzel Sticks
- Rustic Bakery Flatbreads
Accouterments
- Dried Oranges
- Edible Ink Markers
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Sage
- Marcona Almonds
- Green Olives
- Black Olives
Seriously such a cute idea! The Brie has snowman and the rosemary wreath! I love it! Such creative ideas!
Love this!! Will try to recreate next year ????
This is absolutely too cute to eat! I love it!
This is the most adorable chalet I’ve seen!
You always have the cutest ideas!!
So Cute!! Great spin on the traditional gingerbread house!
This is cutest thing ever! What an amazing centerpiece for the season. Meg has done it again.
Such a fun twist to a gingerbread house! I love the elegant feel that the meats/cheeses add to this….such a great centerpiece for a holiday dinner party.
I was challenged by a friend to recreate this masterpiece!!
Not even going to try ????
This could be a new tradition! While the kids are putting together their sweet treat gingerbread houses, I can be working on my charcuterie chalet! Love it! ????
Love this – so cute for the holiday
It’s not only beautiful and looks delicious! BUT You’re such a thoughtful blogger, I love the detail and explanation step-by-step you put into this post! Thank you! 🙂
So cute and the only “gingerbread house” I’m interested in! Would love to make this for a holiday party,
Most delicious gingerbread house I’ve seen. Great spin on a classic!
Ok if this isn’t the cutest thing EVER. I need to try one!
What a fun project that is sure to bring many smiles!!
This is so cute and original! I totally want to make this with/for my nieces and nephews once covid is over!
Absolutely my favorite charcuterie chalet! .You inspired me to make my own version. It was so much fun! Mine was a rustic cabin and the base was a TJ gingerbread kit. I posted it at #charcuteriechalet. Yay!!
Sorry! I forgot to rate before I hit “post”.
no worries. thank you so much for the support!
Adorable!
So cute!!
You are the queen of boards! I’m blown away by your creativity!
thank you soooo much! happy holidays!
i LOVE this as an alternative to a gingerbread house full of sweets/candy ! the meat on the roof caught me off guard ???? definitely going to try this out myself!!!
I have got to try this for Christmas Eve! Thanks for the inspiration!!
This is amazing – daunting but amazing.
Great ideas
I love this idea for the holidays! I definitely used it as inspiration for my rendition!
This made me laugh! Super duper cute.
I can’t wait to try this with my kids!
Such a cute idea! Love the marcona almonds walkway, the Brie Bite Snowman, Babybel Santa, and mushroom/thyme flower pots!
I love this! I plan on pinning it and trying it next year for Christmas.
Adorable and creative! Almost too cute to eat!
I can’t wait to make a char chalet with kiddo! Such a great idea! Thank you!
This is so creative! Love using savory items for a gingerbread house!!’p
This is amazing! The Brie snowman is my favorite part ⛄️
I love this! I definitely want to try my hand at making one soon!
I love this! So cute! It’s a work of art.
Love this blog. I always check it out before attempting my charcuterie creations. Thanks, Meg! You’re an inspiration ❤️
So adorable. Can’t wait to try it!
I attempted to make this today, it was not at beautiful as yours but it was such a huge hit!
Lovely. Such a creative idea and less sugar.
I love this trend! So fun, and thanks for the tips and inspo.
This so cute! I don’t know that I’m skilled enough to make it (LOL) but I’m obsessed!
FANTASTIC!!! We host a gingerbread house building competition for our teens & their friends and I’ve been looking for a challenge for them. This is it! Charcuterie Chalet Building Competition 2021!!!!
Oh, Wow this looks amazing ????!
Love what you do! So amazingly creative!
Love this! You are so creative
Delicious and fun!
Have a bunch of leftovers in our fridge and this was a perfect use for them tonight, thanks for the inspiration! My family had fun constructing and devoured it afterward 🙂
Charcuterie chalet >>>> gingerbread house. Such an adorable, festive, and delicious activity for the holidays!
I am obsessed with this charcuterie chalet! Gonna for sure make this!! ????????✨❤️
I am obsessed with this charcuterie chalet!! ????????✨❤️
I love how gorgeous this looks!!
Such a cute idea!
Looks too good to eat!
If only I had seen this before my gingerbread house contest!!! Easy win! (And more tasty )
I would love to make one! This is so cute!!
Wow this looks so difficult to make, and it’s making me really hungry! Well done!
this is the most creative gingerbread house i’ve ever seen. adorable!!!!
Your work is amazing! So creative & festive!
Such a creative idea! Looks awesome!
My 4.5yo is a major cheese connoisseur (he says his favorite cheese is manchego ????????????♀️) & asked if we could build this instead of a “lame” gingerbread house ????????
hahaha! he sounds like the perfect child!!
Can’t wait to try this!
Ok this is seriously a highlight of the season. And it has been so fun seeing what Meg has inspired. Absolutely loved this. I attempted to make one and had so much fun with my family. Who needs gingerbread when you have meat and cheese?! 🙂
What a great idea! Love this!
There’s no place like home and no place like your #charcuteriechalet! This is comepletely incredible. I’ve never made a gingerbread house as it’s too sweet for me. This however I can’t wait to make a holiday tradition! #justcallmegretel #homefortheholidays
Love this idea! Perfect idea for the holidays instead of the sugary gingerbread for those in the family who prefer something savory!
Loved your creativity. The pretzel windows and Orange slices are adorable. I am going to give this one a try. Thank you. ????
I am not that into charcuterie chalets but this one is really cute!
Super cute!
Fantastic pictures and a great idea for the holidays!
Ah this is perfect! Especially for those of us who don’t like sweets! A great salty alternative to a holiday tradition ☺️
Loved this chalet idea! I tried to replicate it but it didn’t look nearly as good. I used peppered salami as the roof to try to make it look like shingles (ha my bf is in roofing so we thought it was funny). I did make the Brie bite snowman so that was pretty awesome! Thanks for the blog post and always inspiring us!
The peppered salami idea sounds awesome! I like that your bf gave his professional consulting advice.
The charcuterie houses are all the rage this season but your Charcuterie Chalet is the best I’ve seen on any social media platform. Thank you for such a beautiful creation and the detailed blog post on how to recreate it.
I love this idea so much! I can’t wait to try it out!
Ok first of all, this could not be any cuter!! Secondly, I love that you just continue to show how charcuterie has no limits!
Love the chalet! Will def try it this season!
Such a cute, savory alternative to the candy gingerbread house! Love
When I saw this on insta I SCREAMED at how creative this was!! You inspire me to build boards and I’m so thankful for your account!! 🙂
Thank you so much! I love that you find inspiration here 🙂
Wow! So amazing! Always a huge fan of your beautiful boards.
This is amazing! What a great idea!
Love this idea!
I will trying this recipe!
The whole things is so adorable! So many cute touches…I think the sage wreath is my favorite ❤️
Incredible!!
This is the most creative charcuterie I have ever seen. I shared it on my Instagram but going to re-share as I could not get a full shot. Just fabulous.
Wow this takes holiday house building to another level ????????
This is so creative!!
I’m SO doing one of these next year!! I would love to this year, but without any events I’m afraid I’d eat it all myself???? They are so amazing!
This is the most fun holiday house! Can’t wait to make my own!
This is so festive and fun. I’d rather make this with my daughter than a house with candies because this could double as dinner while we build!
Too cute and creative! Loved the details! Good instructions!
I love this so much! I can’t wait until Christmas next year to make one!
I love this. Definitely would want to eat one but way to adorable
What great creativity. It’s a grownup version of a gingerbread house!!!
You always come up with the cutest ideas! Charcuterie boards are perfect for every occasion.
Love this idea! Especially the babybel snowman — so cute!!
Love this!! Will try to recreate next year ????
Oh this is too cute. I bet my kids would devour this. I love all your boards but this was is sooo cute.
Love the honesty in this post! I’d have brought out the glue gun on minute 1! 🙂 So impressed with your creativity and ingenuity!
First of all, could this be any more festive?! It is perfect! I so appreciate that you’re willing to pull back the curtain to walk us through all the details and share your suggestions. Can’t wait to make my own!
Such a great idea for a fun foodie centerpiece!
love a good salami roof! Pinning this for next year!
Love this!!
Omg this is adorable! Love your work! ????
This is one of my favorite holiday ideas ever! Super cute and unique. Thank you fir sharing!
So cute! I need to get organized and try this!
I did not do so well making a regular gingerbread house this week with my family, but the idea of making a Charcuterie Chalet is oh so exciting!! I cannot wait to try and make this for my family
Loving this savory twist of a gingerbread house!
Can’t wait to try this!!!
Made the crans soaked a bit longer to add sweetness. ????
My family would FLIP if I made this for Christmas. Thank you for the ideas!
Can’t wait to make this on Christmas Eve with my family! ❤️ Adorable and Yummy!
Super cute!! And I laughed so hard at the end when you gave the full disclosure on the glue gun!!! I was totally wondering how I might keep it all together if only wanting to do one for show!!!
Super cute!! Just love your posts and tutorials!!!
I tried this challenge and you blew my little chalet out of the water!! So good!
Wow this is amazing.
This is amazing. I just want to recreate this and cozy up to The Holiday ✨
I have seen so many charcuterie chalets this season but none compare to this one! What a nice and refreshing take on it! Love how this one isn’t as meat heavy as the others! I will definitely be copying this recipe!!!
So creative!
This is the an edible house that I’d actually want to eat. I’m not a big gingerbread fan, but meat and cheese—oh yeah!
Love this! So creative and I can’t wait to attempt one of my own.
Love this one! You are so creative- the details down to the little shrubs along the walkway, it’s just wonderful!!
Such a cute idea. Maybe too cute to eat though ?????
So cute…perfect addition to the Christmas table.
I can’t wait to make this with my kids next year! It is beautiful and we have charcuterie almost daily for lunch, so they would totally be on board with this charcuterie chalet!
Amazing!!!!
So many great ideas to try out!!!
WOW! This is absolutely incredible ???? the reindeer & Santa are so cute
Love it! My friend Hannah is obsessed as well!
So cute! Making this for New Year’s Eve!
This is my kind of ginger bread house. I will be making this on Christmas Day.
Cute spin to the traditional gingerbread house. Will be attempting to make it for Christmas.
Awesome snowman!
Delicious!
Very much in the spirit !!!!!!!!
I love all these amazing boards!! I’m definitely looking forward to making a couple of them for Thanksgiving and Christmas for the Hostess and we can’t forget about the children having one all to themselves. Something nice to put out after all the cleanup is done with a nice bottle of wine (Thanksgiving) or Adult Hot Chocolate board (Christmas.) Thank you so much for narrowing down my ideas 💡 because I had absolutely no idea what to bring with me. The unfortunate part is I go to both houses for the same holidays that means 3 boards for each holiday. But I do have a question… Would it be bad manners to ask for my boards back? I wouldn’t ask but as you know the boards are and can be quite expensive!