This easy Santa Claus Veggie Tray is a fun and festive way to serve fresh vegetables at a Christmas party! Made with just a few ingredients, this quick setup can be customized with your favorite veggies and dip.
Not only is this vegetable platter a delicious treat, but it also makes a festive centerpiece that adds holiday cheer to any gathering! Packed with fresh vegetables, this tray is the perfect healthy option for any holiday party.
Kids will love it, and it’s sure to be a hit at work parties, book clubs, church events, or any large gathering. I love transforming simple ingredients into a holiday-themed appetizer like this, and whoever you serve this to will surely appreciate your efforts!
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Ingredients
See recipe card for exact amounts.
Ingredient Notes
We kept our tray simple and budget-friendly with easy-to-find ingredients.
- Dip – we chose to use ranch dip for Santa’s face on this particular Santa veggie platter, any dip will work.
- Cherry Tomatoes – these are perfect to make Santa’s hat, grape tomatoes are also a great option.
- Cauliflower Florets – perfect for Santa’s beard.
- Broccoli Florets – no veggie platter is complete without broccoli.
- Baby Carrots – we use this as filler at the corners of our board.
- Celery – a great filler for around Santa.
- Black Olives – sliced black olives make perfect eyes.
- Mozzarella Pearls – these are used for the fluffy trim and ball on Santa’s hat, plus everyone loves cheese!
Equipment Needed
- One large serving platter, tray or sheet pan. I use a rimmed baking sheet for my Santa snack board because it is the largest item I have in my kitchen. A large cutting board can be used if that’s what you have.
- One small shallow bowl for the dip. You can use a small plate or buy the dip in a small shallow container.
How to make Santa Claus Crudités
- Start by washing and drying all of the vegetables.
- Cut the celery stalks, broccoli and cauliflower. Slice one olive into thin rounds to create Santa’s eyes and a couple of cherry tomatoes to create the nose and mouth. The nose is the end of one tomato and the mouth is a tomato cut into fourths lengthwise.
- Place a small round plate or shallow bowl filled with dip in the upper middle of your serving tray. Place the tomatoes in the shape of a hat and the cauliflower florets in the shape of his beard.
- Place the olive slice eyes, cherry tomato nose and mouth onto the dip to make the face. Then add mozzarella balls for the fluffy parts of the hat.
- Add the remaining vegetables around Santa.
- Fill in the hat with additional tomatoes and cheese balls so it’s nice and full.
Tips
- Start out with just one layer of tomatoes and one layer of mozzarella pearls for the fluffy parts of the hat. You will fill these in more after the other veggies are in place.
- My rimmed baking sheet is 12″ X 18″ X 1″.
- I use a round creme brulee ramekin that is 4 1/2″ wide for the dip.
- Prep all of the veggies so you can refill your tray as needed.
Substitutions
- There are many delicious dips that could be used on this Santa vegetable tray, some ideas are hummus, ranch dressing, onion dip, whipped feta, or whipped cream cheese dip.
- Not a fan of tomatoes? Use thin red bell pepper strips to make the hat.
- Peeled cucumber slices can be used instead of cauliflower to make the beard.
- Any of the filler vegetables can be swapped with another veggie if you don’t care for the ones I have used.
- Don’t like olives? Use something else for the eyes like small radishes or carrot slices.
Check out my Easter Candy Charcuterie Board, it’s sure to be a hit too!
Try these festive recipes too!
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You can whip up a large batch of these addictive treats in just a few minutes.
Made with just a few simple ingredients to keep your holiday party stress-free and delicious.
Did you love this recipe?
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Santa Claus Veggie Tray
Ingredients
- 1 tub dip
- 1 head broccoli
- 1 head cauliflower
- 1 bunch celery
- 1-2 pkg cherry tomatoes
- 1 pkg baby carrots
- 1 can black olives
- 1-2 pkg pearl mozzarella balls
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Instructions
- Washing and dry vegetables.
- Cut the celery stalks, broccoli and cauliflower. Slice one olive into thin rounds to create Santa’s eyes and a cherry tomato to create the nose and mouth. The nose is the end of one tomato and the mouth is a tomato cut into fourths lengthwise.
- Place a small round plate or shallow bowl filled with dip in the upper middle of your serving tray. Place the tomatoes in the shape of a hat and the cauliflower florets in the shape of his beard.
- Place the olive slice eyes, cherry tomato nose and mouth onto the dip. Then add mozzarella balls for the fluffy parts of the hat. Add the remaining vegetables around Santa. Fill in the hat with additional tomatoes and cheese balls so it's nice and full.
This is a colorful and delicious and festive veggie tray!!!
Thank you!