This olive Christmas tree is an impressive 3D centerpiece for your festive table! And it's naturally low in carbohydrates, too!
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You're probably aware that when it comes to the holidays, I *love* creating fun food - and of course keeping it low carb! This isn't the first or even second Christmas tree recipe on this site - it's the third! The first is a Veggie Christmas Tree, and the second is a Christmas Tree Platter made from low carb turkey and cranberry pinwheels!
Update: I've added one more! Check out my cute Christmas tree appetizer - made with just three ingredients!
This dish was inspired by a photo I saw on Pinterest, but sadly the website it links to seems to be down. But I reckoned that it was simple enough to recreate - and here we are!
How to Make a Festive Olive Christmas Tree
For the base of the tree, you'll need a styrofoam cone - mine was about 9" (22.5cm) high. Other non-food supplies are foil and a LOT of toothpicks (I used nearly 250)!
Cover the cone in the foil, then randomly insert some toothpicks. Skewer some green olives onto the toothpicks.
I decided to do a mixture of two thirds green olives, and one third black so that there was some variation but mostly green. Cover the cone with green olives, then fill in some of the gaps with black olives.
Next, add more toothpicks and "decorate" the tree with some small mozzarella pearls. If you've ever set up a game of KerPlunk then you might be getting flashbacks at this point!
If you have any obvious gaps, push some small rosemary sprigs in (you might need to create a hole with a toothpick first).
Finally, use a cookie cutter to cut a star from some cheese. Secure it to the top of the tree with a toothpick.
As you might imagine this does take a little while to create, and you can make it in advance (but on the same day as serving). To keep the olives and mozzarella moist, lightly wrap it in plastic wrap or a large plastic bag and store in the fridge. Remove from the fridge ten minutes before serving.
📖 Recipe
Festive Olive Christmas Tree
Ingredients
Equipment
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Cover the cone in the foil.
- Randomly insert some toothpicks and skewer the green olives onto the toothpicks. Repeat to cover the cone as much as possible.
- Fill in some of the gaps with black olives.
- Next, add more toothpicks and "decorate" the tree with some small mozzarella pearls.
- If you have any obvious gaps, push some small rosemary sprigs in (you might need to create a hole with a toothpick first).
- Finally, use a cookie cutter to cut a star from some cheese. Secure it to the top of the tree with a toothpick.
- See notes for storage details and advance prep.
Nutrition
Notes
- 9" (22.5cm) Styrofoam cone
- Kitchen foil
- 200-250 wooden toothpicks
- small star-shaped cookie cutter The tree can be prepared in advance as long as it is served the same day. To keep the olives and mozzarella moist, lightly wrap it in plastic wrap or a large plastic bag and store in the fridge. Remove from the fridge ten minutes before serving. Nutritional data is approximate as serving sizes vary, but the entire recipe contains 11g net carbs.
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is my best approximation. Net carbs are calculated as the total grams carbs minus the total grams of fiber.
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