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Best Christmas cheeses 2025: Top picks for your festive cheeseboard
Expert-approved options for the ultimate cheeseboard
Tested by Callum BlackFood and Drink Testing Manager
A cheeseboard is the perfect way to round off your festive feast. It encourages your guests to linger around the table and is ideal for grazing on while you argue over board games and enjoy a glass of port or two.
Not sure where to start? The Good Housekeeping Institute has collated the best cheese gifts, hampers and ready-made cheeseboards to help you get ready for the big day, and keep scrolling under our reviews, as we’ve also spoken to the experts to get their tips on how to assemble your cheese line-up of dreams.
Best cheese for Christmas 2025
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How we test Christmas cheese
Our panel of Good Housekeeping Institute experts sampled 25 cheeses from the leading supermarkets and cheesemongers to find their favourites. They were looking for stunning centrepieces that would contribute to a well-curated board, as well as selections that offered a variety of tastes and textures.
Additional points were scored for presentation and tasty extras such as condiments, wine and crackers.
Score: 92/100
If you’re unsure where to start with a cheeseboard, this five-piece French selection of medal winners covers all bases. From indulgent double-cream Maroilles to a funky goat’s cheese, it’s great value, and a good all-rounder. The pack even includes handy name cards to identify each cheese for your guests.
Score: 91/100
A wonderfully creamy cheese bake made with vintage cheddar and a splash of white wine, topped with sage-spiked turkey thigh. Bake in the oven and serve with crusty bread or spoons for scooping. It’s a Boxing Day must-have.
Available 5 November 2025
Score: 86/100
For those who appreciate the finer things in life, there really is no better gift than this four-piece luxury cheese selection from Fortnum & Mason.
Inside, you’ll find generous servings of the brand’s best-selling cheeses — blue stilton, aged cheddar, decadent brie-esque Baron Bigod and lemony goat’s cheese — alongside walnut and seed crackers, fig jam and Fortnum’s spicy Cotes du Rhone.
Score: 85/100
We can’t get enough of oozy burrata in the summer months, and now Tesco has given us a good reason to eat it at Christmas too. The creamy cheese has been paired with hot maple sauce for a little heat, and crunchy pistachio for textural contrast. Try it with a glass of chilled prosecco.
Available 10 November 2025
Score: 84/100
This sweet, giftable set pairs three cheeses with mini pots of honey, and includes poppy‑seed crackers and tasting notes so you can dive straight in.
Testers loved the sharp, salty red leicester with floral, fruity orange‑blossom honey; nutty manchego with Spanish forest honey (a first for us); and the smooth, creamy stilton with light acacia honey. A fun, festive crowd‑pleaser that’s sure to be a talking point this Christmas.
Available 20 November 2025
Score: 84/100
Is it even Christmas without the iconic Stinking Bishop making an appearance? With a soft texture and a strong taste – which isn’t quite as pungent as the name would suggest – this cow’s milk cheese is a very British addition to the traditional cheeseboard.
It also comes as a 500g whole circular cheese and is presented in a wooden case, perfect for gifting or adding to a grazing table.
Score: 83/100
If you’re hosting this Christmas, you might want to consider a cheese tower, rather than a traditional board. This will create real impact, and with four truckles weighing in at 2.8kg, we think it’s great value too. Lucky guests will get to tuck into vintage Red Leicester, and three types of crowd-pleasing cheddar.
Score: 83/100
Sometimes, one hero cheese is all you need. Daylesford’s organic, mature Gloucester is infused with black truffle for a luxurious, earthy flavour, and the generous wheel should see you through the festive period.
Score: 82/100
Combining vintage Red Leicester, cheddar and mozzarella, this ready-to-bake dip has a runny, fondue-like texture that’s perfect for scooping. Fantastic with crudités and crusty bread for Christmas Day or your next cosy night in.
Available 3 December 2025
Iceland Luxury Baking Camembert with Caramelised Red Onion Sauce
Score: 80/100
Iceland’s oozy camembert comes with a sachet of caramelised red onion chutney, making it ideal for a classic cheeseboard, a grazing table or a starter. Sweet and creamy rather than mature and farmy, it’s a crowd‑pleasing share for two.
Available 6 November 2025
These also passed...
- Morrisons The Best Feta, Chorizo and Hot Honey Bake, £3.65 for 150g; Score: 80/100
- Lidl Deluxe Vintage Cheddar Bake, £TBC for 300g; Score: 78/100
- Godminster Red Chilli Devil's Dance Organic Cheddar, £6.50 for 200g; Score: 77/100
How to create the ultimate cheeseboard
The secret to curating the perfect Christmas cheeseboard is to include a variety of textures and tastes to suit every guest. Classic selections tend to include a white or bloomy-rinded cheese such as camembert or brie, a harder, crowd-pleasing option like cheddar or comté, and a stronger blue, such as stilton or gorgonzola.
If you’ve got a whole host of cheese lovers coming for Christmas (or want to eke out the cheeseboard long into the new year), then we advise adding a goat's cheese or something a little special like an Époisses or Vacherin Mont d'Or.
That said, Danielle Bliss, cheese buyer at Paxton & Whitfield, argues that we should simply pick cheeses we love. “Choose cheeses that will make you want to return to the board again and again,” she says. “For example, blue cheese is particularly popular at Christmas, and is at peak quality during the winter months, but if you don’t love blue cheese, don’t feel obliged to include it!”.
“If you’re catering for a group, then three to five cheeses is a good place to start, taking texture, strength and flavour into consideration,” she adds.
“This year I’m loving hard goat’s cheeses that have been made with summer milks. I also adore more unusual alpine cheeses such as Wildblutenkase or Schnebelhorn, which are perfect if you’re a fan of comté and gruyere but are looking to try something new.”
What to pair with a Christmas cheeseboard
“Aged cheddars, blues and washed-rinds are full of umami and lovely sweetness – try them with a sweet, sticky red onion marmalade,” recommends Ned Palmer, cheese expert and author of A Cheesemonger's Compendium of British & Irish Cheese. “Tangy chutneys are splendid with creamy cheeses like the famously aromatic Stinking Bishop or the Brie-style Baron Bigod,” he adds.
As for crackers, he says, “plain, unflavoured biscuits are best, and the bread should be sourdough to allow the flavours to sing.” Though fruits are often found on cheeseboards, it's best to use these as a palate cleanser between each cheese.
What to drink with the Christmas cheeseboard
And for that perfect festive tipple, Ned recommends an “off-dry white wine or lighter red wine with soft tannins and juicy red fruits that will not overwhelm the flavour.” Of course, if you prefer yours with a glass of port or champagne, then that’s encouraged, too.
READ MORE: The 12 bottles you need for your drinks trolley this Christmas
How to serve the Christmas cheeseboard
Ned’s advice is to take the cheese out the fridge at least 40 minutes before serving to avoid chilly, muted flavours. “Serve them in order of intensity, from young and mild to old and strong, and, most importantly, discuss your tasting with your family and friends – proper good cheese should make you happy,” he says.
Stacey looks after all food and drink reviews — from coffee pods and veg boxes, to natural wine and tequila. Stacey is also founder of Crummbs, where she’s written nearly 2,000 restaurant and hotel reviews since 2013. Prior to this, Stacey wrote hundreds of in-depth buying guides for the Independent, i newspaper and BBC Good Food, as well as reviewing restaurants and interviewing celebrities in her column at Balance Magazine. Stacey has also appeared in BAFTA-nominated BBC documentary Blood, Sweat & Takeaways, where she investigated South East Asia's food production industry, appearing on both Newsnight and BBC World Service to share her findings. Regularly checking out the latest restaurants, bars and product launches, Stacey also loves experimenting with recipes at home, and is a WSET-certified wine and spirits expert, with over 10 years of experience in the business. You can follow Stacey on Instagram @crummbs_uk
Callum is our Food and Drink Testing Manager and has been part of the world of professional catering for 10 years, from cheffing to food manufacturing. While working in manufacturing he specialised in bespoke product and menu development for several start-ups and well-known brands such as Wrap It Up! and HOP Vietnamese. He holds the WSET Level 2 in wine, a Level 3 in spirits and has a particular interest in agave spirits.
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