Santa Veggie Tray

Skip the store-bought platters and make this Santa veggie tray instead! It’s a healthy and delicious way to add a little extra holiday cheer to all of your Christmas get-togethers.

Getting in your daily dose of veggies doesn’t have to be boring! For more nutritious appetizers that everyone will love, try this veggie charcuterie board, honey soy mushroom skewers, or balsamic honey grilled Brussels sprouts!

Santa Claus Veggie Tray

Say goodbye to those boring premade veggie platters, this Santa veggie tray is the best healthy appetizer for the holidays! Not only does this veggie tray look adorable, but it has a variety of fresh, delicious vegetables with all kinds of flavors and textures! There’s something for everyone. Complete with some creamy homemade hummus for dipping, your guests won’t be able to get enough. It’s the perfect way to tide over friends and family before the entree is served!

The great thing about making your own veggie trays is that you can customize them however you’d like! I love dipping veggies in hummus. (It also works perfectly as Santa’s face!) But feel free to serve your veggie tray with things like guacamole, ranch dressing, blue cheese dressing, or this tasty whipped feta dip! When I serve this veggie tray, I like to serve up lots of little bowls of dips. This way, there’s a flavor for every craving! Trust me, this Santa veggie tray will be a hit with even the picky eaters in your family!

Let’s Start With the Board!

For this Santa veggie tray, you’ll need a rectangular serving board or cutting board. You want to make sure it’s long enough to fit Santa’s beard! If you don’t already have one, here’s a recommendation for you!

The Recipe Critic Recommendation

Acacia Wood Serving Board

Zassenhaus Paddle Serving Board, Acacia

The perfect rectangular serving board. The acacia wood finish looks great on any dinner table!

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Everything You Will Need to Make a Santa Veggie Tray

Here is everything I used to put this Santa vegetable tray together! Feel free to mix and match veggies however you’d like! Just make sure you’re using nice, fresh vegetables since they’re the star of the show. You can find how much I used of each ingredient below in the recipe card.

Hummus: This is for dipping the veggies in. (And also acts as Santa’s face.) Homemade is always best! Find my quick and easy recipe here.
Bell Peppers: I used red bell peppers, sliced thin, for Santa’s hat.
Mozzarella Pearls: Because who doesn’t love some cheese! I used mozzarella balls the size of cherry tomatoes to add as the fur lining of Santa’s hat.
Cauliflower Florets: These act as Santa’s beard.
Cherry Tomato: Cut this in half to use it as Santa’s button nose! Grape tomatoes will also work.
Large Black Olives: Olives are a must-add for any veggie board at my house. My kids love putting them on their fingers! You’ll want to save a couple to use as Santa’s eyes.
Sliced Cucumber: Not only is cucumber tasty, but it has the perfect Christmas green color!
Sugar Snap Peas: More green for your Santa veggie tray!
Crackers: I love adding crackers to veggie boards to switch up textures. Use your favorite kind here!
Celery: No veggie tray is complete without celery!

How to Make a Santa Face Veggie Tray

Step one, start with the face! I’m using regular hummus as Santa’s face. (I have a great recipe for homemade hummus here!) When deciding where to place the hummus on your board, be sure to leave enough room for both the hat and the beard.

Start With Hummus: On a large rectangular board, spread the hummus on a 6 inch plate. Then place it in the middle of the tray.
Create the Shape of the Hat: Next, add the bell pepper strips into the hat on top of the hummus plate. Add mozzarella balls at the end of the hat and then around the top of his face. (The lining of his hat.)

Hummus, mozzarella cheese balls, and sliced red peppers being shaped to look like a face and Santa hat.

Making a Beard With Cauliflower Florets

Use smaller pieces of cauliflower for the eyebrows and top of the beard. Then reserve the bigger pieces of cauliflower for the bottom of the beard where it’s extra fluffy! Here you’re also going to use olives, half of a cherry tomato, and piece of sliced red bell pepper to craft Santa’s face.

Making Santa’s Face: Start creating the beard-like shape with layers of cauliflower. Add a strip of bell pepper to make his lips, then a cherry tomato for the nose and two black olives for the eyes. Use small pieces of cauliflower for the eyebrows and mustache.

Santa's beard being made out of cauliflower florets.

Making Arms and Assembling the Rest of the Santa Veggie Tray

Now that you’ve got the shape of Santa’s face, beard, and hat done, we’re going to make some arms and fill in the rest of the board! For the arms, you’re going to use the rest of the sliced red bell peppers as well as olives for the cuffs of his sleeves.

Create Arms, Fill in Board With Cucumbers: Fill in the sides of the board with sliced cucumbers, bell pepper sticks for the arms and black olives for the bottom of the arms.
Add Remaining Ingredients: Fill in the rest of the board with small mozzarella pears, sugar snap peas, crackers and celery.

Santa's arms being made out of sliced red peppers and olives.

More Veggie Dips

Fresh veggies are amazing, but a good dip really makes them shine. Ranch dressing is always a must! Hummus is also a great option and is quickly becoming my favorite thing to serve with any veggie charcuterie. Here are a few more tasty dips to try out with your Santa veggie tray. Your guests will love the variety!

Dressings, Sauces, and Dips