Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board - Wholesome Yum (2024)

As I gear up for Friendsgiving (it’s our tradition every year), I couldn’t resist sharing my latest creation — a Thanksgiving charcuterie board that will add something special to any holiday. This easy appetizer has a blend of flavors and textures like my Christmas and Halloween charcuterie board, but with the added bonus of a fun turkey shape. Add this to your list of Thanksgiving charcuterie board ideas to impress your guests!

What To Put On A Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board

This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for a charcuterie board for Thanksgiving, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.

• Turkey Body – For the turkey body, I used a pear cut in half, but feel free to get creative with other fruits like apples, or even a large grapefruit. For the eyes, I used 2 sugar free chocolate chips, but you could also use raisins or small pieces of dark chocolate.
• Cured Meats – For the Thanksgiving turkey feathers, I used salami and prosciutto. You can try adding turkey slices, ham, or pepperoni as well. Alternatively, for a vegetarian option, skip the meats and make it a cheese board by fanning out the cheeses for the feathers.
• Cheeses – Try different types of cheese. I used brie, cheddar, and white cheddar, but you can pick others like goat cheese, gouda, mozzarella, blue cheese, or any mix of hard and soft cheeses you like.
• Fresh Fruits – I included apples, pears, and pomegranate seeds for a burst of seasonal flavors and colors. You can also use dried fruits, grapes, oranges, apricots, berries, or even folded fruit leather for variety.
• Olives – I chose Pimento stuffed olives for a pop of color, but you can use regular green olives, black olives, or Kalamata olives, too.
• Pickles – I included mini pickles (gherkins) on this board, but use any pickles you like.
• Cranberry Sauce – I made sugar free cranberry sauce, but any kind works. It goes well with the crackers and cheeses.
• Fresh Veggies – This board has cucumbers and carrots. Bell pepper strips, celery sticks, or cherry tomatoes would also work.
• Crackers – Use any crackers you like. If you have time, homemade flax seed crackers or crispy cheese crackers are delicious and easy.
• Nuts – Use almonds, walnuts, pecans, or any nuts you prefer. You can also use sunflower seeds or pepitas to make this Thanksgiving charcuterie board nut-free.

How To Make A Charcuterie Board For Thanksgiving

This section shows how to make a turkey charcuterie board, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.

1. Make the turkey body. Cut a pear in half lengthwise for the turkey body. Create eyes with two mini chocolate chips, and use cheddar cheese for the nose and legs. Position the turkey’s body lower on a large board.
2. Create the feathers. Place rolled or folded charcuterie meat around the pear in layers.

3. Place the anchors. Put pimento stuffed olives, pickles, and cranberry sauce inramekinsand arrange throughout the board.
4. Add cheese. Place sliced cheeses throughout the board.
5. Fill in gaps. Place the sliced fruits and vegetables throughout the board to fill in some of the larger gaps.
6. Finish. Add the crackers and nuts to the board to fill in any remaining empty spaces.

More Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board Ideas

You can customize your snack board with ingredients you like and have on hand, but here are some other Thanksgiving charcuterie board ideas for shaping and decorating:

• Larger turkey shape – Instead of only using the meats for the feathers, arrange all your ingredients (except the ones in bowls) in a half circle around the body to make a larger array of feathers.
• Veggie board – Make a Thanksgiving veggie tray by fanning out carrot sticks, cucumbers, celery, broccoli, and cherry tomatoes around a bowl of ranch dressing or hummus.
• Maple shape – Use a maple cookie cutter to cut a maple leaf in the brie, then fill that with pomegranate seeds.
• Thanksgiving decorations – To elevate its festive appeal, add decorative elements like mini pumpkins, colorful autumn leaves, fresh herbs, and decorative gourds.

Storage Instructions

Keep all the foods, except crunchy ones like nuts and crackers, safe in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can also slice everything a few hours ahead before eating.

What To Serve With A Turkey Charcuterie Board

You can’t have a charcuterie board for Thanksgiving without a feast! Here’s what I serve at my annual Friendsgiving:

• Turkey – For a small gathering, a Crock Pot turkey breast or air fryer turkey breast is plenty, but if you’re having a larger gathering, make a whole roasted turkey. I like to serve my turkey with homemade sugar-free cranberry sauce.
• Thanksgiving Sides – Make creamy mashed sweet potatoes and classic creamed spinach. You can also opt for lighter options, like cauliflower stuffing, my favorite cauliflower mashed potatoes, and simple roasted green beans.
• Salads – Balance out those heavy side dishes on your Thanksgiving table with a Thanksgiving salad or butternut squash salad.
• More Appetizers – Add more to your board such as some hard boiled eggs (or deviled eggs), chicken liver pate, or for a sweet kick, chocolate hummus.
• Desserts – You can’t forget dessert! Try a healthy crustless pumpkin pie.

More Easy Thanksgiving Appetizer Recipes

Looking for more appetizers? Try some of my other favorites:

Recipe Card

5 from 5 votes☝️ Click stars to rate or click here to leave a review!

Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board

Create a cute Thanksgiving charcuterie board in the shape of a turkey with meats, cheeses, meats, veggies, and more. Festive and easy!

Prep: 15 minutes

Total: 15 minutes

Author: Maya Krampf from WholesomeYum.com

Servings: 12 (adjust to scale recipe)

See Also

How to Plan the Perfect Friendsgiving Party | Greetings Island

Un-save RecipeSave Recipe Remove Ads

ReviewPrint

US Customary – Metric

Ingredients

Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them.

• 1/2mediumPear▢
• 16ozCheese(I used brie, cheddar cheese, and white cheddar cheese)▢
• 2mediumChocolate chips(or sugar free chocolate chips; for the eyes of the turkey only)▢
• 1cupFall fruits(I used apples, pears, and pomegranate seeds)▢
• 8ozCharcuterie meats(I used salami and prosciutto)▢
• 1cupPimento stuffed olives▢
• 1cupPickles▢
• 1cupCranberry sauce(I used homemade sugar free cranberry sauce)▢
• 1cupFresh vegetables(I used cucumbers and carrots)▢
• 1 1/2cupsGluten free crackers(buy any kind you like, or make homemade flax seed crackers)▢
• 1cupMixed nuts(I used almonds, walnuts, and pecans)▢

Instructions

Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.

1. Using a knife, cut a pear in half lengthwise. This is going to be the body of the turkey. Using cheddar cheese, cut out a nose and two legs for the turkey. Use two mini chocolate chips to create the eyes. Place the turkey’s body lower on the board (I use this one).

2. To create the “feathers” of the turkey, place rolled/folded charcuterie meat around the pear in layers.

3. Place the pimento stuffed olives, pickles, and cranberry sauce in small bowls and arrange throughout the board.

4. Place the remaining cheeses throughout the board.

5. Place the fall fruits and vegetables throughout the board to fill in some of the larger gaps.

6. Add the crackers and nuts to the board to fill in any remaining empty spaces.

Did You Like It?

Leave a rating to help other readers (this also helps me continue to provide free recipes on my site), or get the recipe sent to your inbox.

Rate recipe

Save Recipe

Related Easy Recipes

• Spatchco*ck Turkey

• Mashed Sweet Potatoes

• Fried Brussels Sprouts

• Roasted Root Vegetables

Recipe Notes

Serving size: 1/12 of the large board

Nutrition info does not include chocolate chips.

Nutrition Facts

Amount per serving. Serving size in recipe notes above.

Calories489.2

Fat31.6g

Protein15.5g

Total Carbs35.9g

Net Carbs31.5g

Fiber4.4g

Sugar4.6g

Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.

Course:Appetizer

Cuisine:American

Keywords:charcuterie board for Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving charcuterie board, Thanksgiving charcuterie board ideas

Calories: 489.2 kcal

© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead. 🙂

Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board

Pin It For Later!