Make a fun turkey charcuterie board and crudites to add a festive touch to the appetizer table this Thanksgiving!
While I may start decorating for Christmas in mid-November, I certainly don’t forget about Thanksgiving! I love gathering with my family and loved ones around the dinner table. It’s a great time to be together without the distractions of gifts.
Since Thanksgiving often gets overlooked, I wanted to make something to add a little more magic to the table. I created an adorable turkey charcuterie board for the appetizer table! It’s made with veggies, cheese, and salami. The vegetables lighten the appetizer. Which is perfect when you need to leave room for turkey and stuffing!
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Try this adorable turkey board to add a little extra splash of fun to your Thanksgiving table!
What Do I Need to Make a Turkey Charcuterie Board?
This fun Thanksgiving charcuterie board is incredibly simple to make. It combines crudites and traditional charcuterie ingredients. Crudites is basically a fancy word for a veggie tray. And traditional charcuterie is a combination of cured meats and cheese.
To Create This Turkey You Need:
- Carrots
- Celery
- Cucumbers
- Artisan crackers
- Cheese
- Salami
- Eye sprinkles
Serve a cheese ball, veggie dip, or hummus for dipping the vegetables alongside the board.
How to Make a Turkey Charcuterie Board
The Crudite Layers
Start with the turkey feathers, which are made with carrots, celery, and cucumber. Peel the carrots and cut them into long sticks. They should be roughly 6″ long. Fan the carrots out on a round cheese board.
Next, slice the cucumber into 6″ sticks as well. Then fan the cucumber out over the carrots. The cucumber should overlap the carrot sticks, but leave about 3″ of carrot visible.
Finish the vegetable portion of the turkey with the celery. Cut it into 6″ long sticks as well. Then fan it out over the cucumber. Again, it should only overlap about 3″ of the cucumber.
Pro Tip: Use a vegetable peeler to peel the back of the celery. This removes the celery strings. It makes celery easier and more enjoyable to eat.
The Charcuterie Layers
Next, lay down about 4 overlapping pieces of salami. This will be the body of the turkey. The base layer of salami acts as a guide for shaping the crackers and cheese. It also adds height to the rest of the salami.
Fan out the artisan crackers over the celery. The crackers need to overlap each other and the celery. Use the salami as a guide for the shape of the crackers. Ideally, some of the crackers should be on either side of the salami. This creates a full look of feathers.
The cheese is the next layer. I used Manchego cheese for this step. Manchego is typically sold in a wedge with a rind. When this cheese is cut, it’s in little triangles. Which is perfect for the feathers. If you don’t like manchego, any wedge of cheese works!
Fan out the cheese so it overlaps the crackers using the salami base as a guide. The cheese should also overlap the salami base. Cheese should wrap around the top half of the salami base.
Creating the Turkey Body
Finally, assemble the turkey body. Lay about 4 overlapping slices of salami over the salami base. It will also cover some of the cheese. Lay another 4 overlapping slices at a slight angle to the right and left of the base. Both sides should slightly overlap the center and come together at the base.
Finish the body with a final set of 4 overlapping salami slices in the middle. Then add two sprinkle eyes and a small carrot triangle for the beak.
Voila! An adorable turkey-shaped charcuterie board for Thanksgiving!
Other Charcuterie Ingredient Ideas
The key to any good charcuterie board is to use foods you like! This turkey board can be created with many different ingredients!
Several other ideas include:
- Bell pepper slices
- Pretzel sticks or rods
- Rolled Proscuitto
- Sugar snap peas
- Pepperoni
- Apple slices
- Berries for the smaller feathers
- A pear for the turkey body
Charcuterie Board Must Haves
To create this fun turkey charcuterie board you will need a few key items.
- Large round charcuterie board
- Vegetable peeler
- Cheese knife or Paring knife
- Chef’s knife
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Other Fun Holiday Charcuterie Boards
- Candy Cane Charcuterie Board
- Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board
- Christmas Treats board
- Cheesegiving board
- Halloween dessert board
Turkey Charcuterie Board
Equipment
- 1 round cheese board
Ingredients
- 6 carrots peeled and cut into sticks
- 1 cucumber cut into sticks
- 4 stalks celery peeled and cut into sticks
- 1 package rectangle Artisan crackers
- 1 wedge cheese cut into triangles
- 4 oz thinly sliced salami
- 2 eye sprinkles
Instructions
- Peel the carrots and cut them into 6" long sticks. Fan the carrots out on a round cheese board.
- Cut the cucumber into 6" sticks. Then fan the cucumber out over the carrots.
- Peel the celery and cut it into 6" long sticks. Then fan it out over the cucumber.
- Lay down about 4 overlapping pieces of salami near the bottom of the board.
- Fan out the artisan crackers over the celery. They need to overlap each other and the celery.
- Fan out the cheese so it overlaps the crackers using the salami base as a guide. The cheese should also overlap the salami base.
- Lay about 4 overlapping slices of salami over the salami base. It will also cover some of the cheese.
- Lay another 4 overlapping slices at a slight angle to the right and left of the base. Both sides should slightly overlap the center and come together at the base.
- Finish the body with a final set of 4 overlapping salami slices in the middle.
- Add two sprinkle eyes and a small carrot triangle for the beak.
- Serve with a dipping sauce or hummus for the vegetables.
