Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board

Thanksgiving charcuterie board with cold cuts, cheeses, and snacks laid out like turkey is a quick and easy appetizer and a great option for a crowd this family holiday season. 

This recipe is probably The Easiest Thanksgiving Turkey Snack Board. Only 10 minutes of prep work and you have a fantastic snack variety for your guests, that you didn’t even have to cook! 

It can feed 16 to 20 people at your Thanksgiving party, and there is always something for everybody on the snack board, no matter how much of a picky eater they are!

And it is only right to celebrate Thanksgiving day when we share food with people we love. Happy Thanksgiving!

What is a Charcuterie board?

Charcuterie is a French term for all cured meats and dry meats and for the place/section at the market where to buy them. A charcuterie board is an assortment of such meats on a wooden board or stone (marble) slab.

The original term didn’t refer to any cheeses, fruits, nuts, or candy at all.

But you know French people they have class and they do many things in a very aesthetic way. So when they had some wine, they were serving themselves a few slices of charcuterie (meats), cheese, and something else.

I imagine the outside world saw that and gasped in awe.

But the real explanation is more basic – from the working class to the upper class, Medieval French ate cured meats to not get sick and preserve food for as long as they could. 

Simple dinners would include charcuterie, cheese, and some fresh local produce. A glass of wine or beer too. Tradition survived.

Eventually, the concept grew bigger and reached the rest of the world where we started calling any snack board a charcuterie board. It also became very trendy with social media since you can make gorgeous charcuterie boards and they present great visual interest.

So now we are making charcuterie boards for weddings, birthdays, and Halloween, and here we are with a Thanksgiving turkey cheese board aka charcuterie board.

What To Put On Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board?

As with a traditional charcuterie board, how much you need to buy will depend on the size board you use and there is no wrong way to do it. 

I like to purchase extra and refill the board as needed. You can also serve the remaining on the side or make an additional board.

At the end of the day, the charcuterie board is highly customizable and you can include all your favorite things, with a variety of meats, a variety of flavors, dried fruit, and so much more.

If you don’t like something on my list, you can easily swap it. I will share some variations below. 

Cold Cuts & Cheese Board

• Salami slices. I love Columbus Salami Trio, and I got one 12-ounce tray for one large snack board.
• Prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella sticks, sliced into thirds (Artisan Wraps, 7 counts)
• Cheeses: I usually have many different types of cheeses, soft cheeses, slices, and cubes. My choices are Bella Rosa Crafter’s Choice sliced cheese variety,  and Colby, Pepperjack, and Monterey Jack cheeses cut into cubes

Crackers:

• I use Assorted round crackers in a box and seasoned square crackers (My brands to go: Toasteds Variety Pack and Great Value Everything Seasoned Crackers)

Veg & Fruit:

• One jar of stuffed manzanilla olives
• Red and black grapes, for serving on the side or on the board if you have more room

The Turkey

Please note, that the turkey here isn’t referring to the meat, but to the super cute bird that we are trying to create with food to be the Turkey Day table centerpiece.

• 1 apple or pear, cut in half, for the turkey body
• whole almonds, for the turkey feathers
• 2 piece pecan halves, for the turkey legs and feet
• 2 candy eyeballs, for the turkey eyes (optional)

PS: You will find so many assorted trays of meats and cheese in Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. Don’t worry that you have to mix and match flavors yourself unless you want to!

What You Need:

• Large board (12×17 inch wooden chopping board shown here).
• To serve: napkins, plates, and toothpick skewers.

How To Assemble Turkey Charcuterie Board For Thanksgiving

Building the board is so much fun! It is also very quick, especially when it is not your first rodeo, but if you want, make it a family activity.

1: Prep work

1. Cut an apple or pear, and pecans in halves. We will use them for the turkey’s body.
2. If you have cheeses that aren’t sliced or cut, cut them. Usually, if it is a cheese like Colby and Monterey Jack, or Pepperjack I do ½-inch cubes and buy sliced cheese.
3. Slice the prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella sticks. I slice them into thirds. 

2: Assembling the Board

As we have a lot of fresh produce, meats, and cheese, do not start to build the board earlier than 2-3 hours before the guests come to your Thanksgiving gathering. 

1. Starting in the center of the bottom of the board, place the halved apple or pear to make the body of the turkey. Make sure to leave a little space under it for the pecan halves that will be the feet. (you can also place down the cracker layer and just fan it out into a rainbow over the turkey.)
2. Add the salami layers halfway on top of the cracker layer. Fan them out to give the appearance of feathers.
3. Using either the cubed cheese or the sliced cheese – add a layer on halfway on top of the salami.
4. The prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella will be positioned towards the top of the board
5. Add the whole almonds around the turkey and then start filling the gaps with more crackers, different flavors of cheese, and olives.
6. You can use the candy eyes for the turkey if desired. And our perfect
    turkey meats and cheese board is ready for your Thanksgiving table!

Serving And Eating The Charcuterie Board

You need to prepare plates, napkins, and toothpick skewers or appetizer forks for your guests. 

You can eat with your fingers from your plate but don’t pick food from the board with your fingers, use skewers. 

If you have toasted or candied nuts, jams, or olives, add a little spoon to make it easier for your guest to take some. 

To serve soft cheese, put a small cheese knife, if there are hard cheeses you can insert the knife right in the cheese.

If you made the charcuterie board a little bit in advance, cover the food with plastic wrap, and keep the jars with the lid on until the guests come.

Possible Thanksgiving Snack Board Ideas  

Remember that the success of a charcuterie board is balance. Foods should complement each other and have good ratios of everything on the board.

Best cured meats and cold cuts for charcuterie snack board

Salami, pepperoni, prosciutto, serrano ham, coppa, chorizo, jerky, Soppressata, or Capocollo are some great ideas and you can find some already wrapped around some cheese.

You can actually use turkey sausages or turkey slices for the Turkey snack board too! 

 Keep in mind that meats are always a huge hit and if you can have some leftovers to refill the board.

Assorted cheeses.

The best cheeses for Thanksgiving are mild or sharp cheddar, smoked cheddar, gouda, Swiss, brie or Camembert, mozzarella balls, burrata, Merlot Bellavitano, Port Salut, blue cheese (Gorgonzola goes well with pears), goat cheese (regular, with berries or herbs), Havarti, jack, muenster, provolone, Manchego, Gruyere, and classic Parmigiano Reggiano.

Try an assortment of sliced cheeses, blocks/wedges to make cubes. If you add any fancier cheeses you can also add honey or cranberry jam to the board as a pairing for cheeses.

Do thin slices to make sure they are easy to serve but not too thin so people can still taste the flavor.

Brie with cranberry jam? Classic! You can cut out any shape on top of the brie and fill it with the jam.

With a wide variety of cheeses (and their high prices), follow a simple rule: one creamy cheese, one soft, and one hard. Try mixing the flavors too. All 3 with strong flavors are not a great idea.

Add crackers.

Try using Ritz crackers, mini pretzels, toasted crackers, pita crackers, crispy kettle chips, or bagel crisps.

Choose a few different shapes, cracker flavors, and textures. You can also use good bread or breadsticks. 

Think about how guests will use them – with spreads or with meats and cheeses.

You can also always pick a gluten-free option. 

Seasonal Fruits and berries.

You can add fresh fruit to the board. Classic choices are red grapes, pomegranate seeds, and dried cranberries.

But if you’re making a Thanksgiving charcuterie board, you can also add clementines, figs, persimmons, sliced oranges, dates, golden raisins, blackberries, raspberries, and cherries.

Choose holiday-inspired seasonal fresh produce: if you’re making this Thanksgiving board think warm abundant Fall, or even if you picked the idea for another occasion see what’s available at the market and brainstorm. 

Side note. The pomegranate looks really stunning on the board and adds color, but a bit messy to eat. 

Nuts & Seeds

Any nuts will work. Most often I use regular pecans or candied pecans.

But you can use pistachios, walnuts, almonds, Marcona almonds (sweeter brother), cashews, hazelnuts and other nuts. Check the prices and decide based on the look.

Nuts can be fresh, toasted, or candied.

Some candied seeds work well too. A delicious example is crispy chickpeas – always a hit.

Sliced veggies always go well with dips – carrots, cucumber, snow peas, celery, and yellow, green, and/or red bell peppers sliced into sticks are some other great options.

Baby carrots will be a cute alternative to sliced carrots. 

Pickled or fermented produce: pickles, pickled beetroot, red onion, sauerkraut, or marinated artichokes. Make sure to place them in small bowls. 

For olive lovers. Olives are so versatile! You can use black or green olives stuffed with cheese, garlic, spicy jalapenos, pimento, or anything else. 

The best part – the stores sell those ready-to-consume so you don’t have to actually stuff anything.

Candy eyes for the turkey are optional. Swap out with peppercorns, cloves, chocolate chips, or black icing. You can even use a sliced piece of cheese cut up to make a beak.

Add fresh herbs such as fresh rosemary, thyme, or sage for added visual interest and to help fill any gaps. 

Flowers can also serve as a decoration and add colors. 

Arrange them on the board last, when everything is already in place.

Spreads, dips, and jams: hummus spread, mustards, tapenade, flavored butter, black garlic spread, pate, pesto, orange marmalade, honey, cranberry, or fig jam are top-of-the-head choices. 

Vegan Thanksgiving Snack Board

You can skip all the meat and cheese and use raw veggie sticks as Turjey feathers and a bowl with a dip or spread as its body (hummus works amazing). 

This easy Thanksgiving charcuterie board can be the perfect appetizer with zero cooking. Take a trip to your local grocery store and pick up delicious food to include such as cranberry sauce, a display of meats, seasonal produce, hard cheese, cranberry goat cheese, pumpkin seeds, aged cheddar, crunchy cracker options, and Thanksgiving cookies that will all make for an elegant fall charcuterie board.

Thanksgiving dessert board. 

Sweet treats, dark chocolate, fresh fruits, nuts with a little honey, and berries will make a great dessert snack board.

Dried fruits, like dried apricots, make a great healthy and sweet addition and may be easier, and sometimes cheaper, to come by. 

Fall-themed candies are sold literally everywhere since Halloween, so you can add mini pumpkins, gummy worms, etc.

I’ve seen beautiful Maple leaf cookies with cream that would be perfect for a sweet snack board. 

And if you add candy and chocolate, it will be a show-stopper for kids’ Thanksgiving. 

What is the 3-3-3 rule for charcuterie board?

To have a balanced snack board for Thanksgiving use the 3-3-3 rule: pick 3 kinds of meat, 3 kinds of cheese, 3 complements (berries, fruit, veggies, nuts, or pickles), and 3 bread or starch options.

Within each category, you can use the 1-1-1 rule: 1 meat/cheese with mild flavor (or soft texture), 1 meat or cheese with a spicier taste, and 1 meat/cheese with strong flavor (hard texture).

The same for fruits can be 1 fresh, 1 dry, etc. You get the idea.

Remember that a charcuterie board is just a snack or appetizer, it doesn’t have to fill everyone!

Have an approximate number of guests and assume that every person can eat 2-4 slices of every item (around 2-3 oz) and use 1 or 2 dips with their veggies choice. 

And you don’t have to serve every possible category of foods, you can keep it simple with meats, cheese, and 1 veggie or fruit. Don’t blow your budget on the appetizer. 

What are the things to avoid on a Thanksgiving charcuterie board?

There is a short list of products that you should never add to the snack board because they either don’t taste good raw or don’t sit out well.

 Vegetables like eggplants, turnips, beets, brussels sprouts, and mushrooms are not really good raw and will not be a hit on your charcuterie board.

Bananas, apple slices, and some pears will brown very quickly and spoil the look, but you can use dehydrated apples or pears. 

Tips For Making The Best Turkey Snack Board For Thanksgiving

• Always make sure the board or tray used is large enough for the crowd you’re feeding. 

For round boards, go for 15 inches.

But if you feel like you have too many people or a table will be too long, it may be a good idea to make two smaller snack boards for each side of the table. 

Or place the large board on a separate small table where everyone can easily access it. 

• I recommend drawing a sketch or having an idea in mind before starting. 

It will help tremendously with layout and knowing what should come first and where to place it. 

• You’ll want to start with the Turkey body first starting down on the bottom. 

That way you can layer up with your ingredients. It will look much neater and be easier for your guests to grab what they want.

• If you skipped the Turkey idea, lay out the biggest items first.
• The cheese blocks will slice neater when they are cold. I cut into cubes with a sharp knife immediately after removing them from the refrigerator.

If you serve hard cheeses, you can actually leave the whole large blocks on the board (with a knife to break off some pieces), they will then go first on the board, since they are very large.

More Tips

• Sliced meats look nicer when we fold them.
• If adding fresh fruit or vegetables to the board, add them right before serving so they stay fresh for as long as possible. Make sure they are all clean, of course, and pat dry. 
• If serving veggies, I would recommend adding a couple of simple Thanksgiving-themed dips to go with them. The same dips will work for crackers too! Win-win. 

Nuts, seeds, and herbs go last to fill in the gaps and bring the whole board together. 

If you love this snack board recipe, you’re going to love these other snack ideas too. Please click each link below to find the easy, printable recipe!

More Great Holiday Snacks

Christmas Cookie Board

Smoked Olives

Smoked Honey

Antipasto Wreath

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