How to Create a Turkey Shaped Charcuterie Board

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Looking for the perfect healthy Thanksgiving – we’ve got you covered with these ideas for a turkey shaped charcuterie board! The fun and healthy charcuterie boards are infinitely adaptable and can be the centerpiece of your Thanksgiving appetizer spread. Below you can find 3 ideas for different turkey shaped charcuterie board and platters with complete shopping lists.

The main recommendation for making the perfect turkey shaped charcuterie board is to choose your favorite ingredients and get creative about how you assemble the board or platter.

Why Make a Turkey Shaped Charcuterie Board this Thanksgiving

The first reason to make a turkey shaped charcuterie board is that it is fun! This is a great appetizer to get the kids involved and eating something healthy and fun before Thanksgiving dinner.

A Healthy Start to Your Thanksgiving Meal

Thanksgiving dinner and dessert can be heavy and sweet, so starting out your meal with a healthy and festive charcuterie board is perfect. This charcuterie board is heavy on the fresh vegetables and you can add fruit and nuts to keep then entire dish healthy. Since much of the typical Thanksgiving meal is baked or cooked, these fresh and crispy vegetables are a great way to start the meal.

A Cute and Festive Addition to your Thanksgiving

This dish is so cute and a fun way to start off your Thanksgiving meal. Make your own turkey shaped charcuterie board with your own creative twist. You can see a few fun options below with 3 cute turkey shaped charcuterie boards and one pretty goofy looking turkey platter.

Something for Everyone

One of the benefits of any charcuterie board is that there is something for everyone. With a beautiful board each person can choose to eat carrots, or if they need a little more, they can go for the cheese and crackers or nuts. This is a fun board that has a little something for everyone – you can even turn this turkey shaped charcuterie board in a dessert board by adding some sweet items.

Looking for other fun holiday themed boards? Check out: An Amazing Idea for The Perfect Halloween Candy Board

4 Ideas for a Turkey Shaped Charcuterie Boards

Below you can find 4 different ideas for a turkey shaped charcuterie board. Each board or platter used similar ingredients. Think about shape, colors, and texture when you arrange your turkey board.

The first turkey charcuterie board uses a pear as the turkey body, but you can also use the end of a pepper like the second board below.

The second turkey shaped charcuterie board idea is a bit goofy looking. The pepper body combined with the peanut eyes is a bit silly. This turkey charcuterie board is mostly vegetables with a ranch dressing dip. Substitute hummus or any favorite dip and for this fun platter.

This larger turkey shaped charcuterie board is served on a larger cutting board and uses alternating layers of fruit, cheese, meats and vegetables for the patterns of the turkey’s wings. Get creative in your layering and make sure to separate the different colors.

Unlike the board above, this turkey charcuterie board has the ingredients laid out in lines from the center. Add some nuts, grapes, cheese and crackers for a fun design and a slightly smaller board.

Ingredients for a Turkey Shaped Charcuterie Board

There are so many different ingredients you can use to create this charcuterie board shaped like a turkey. Focus on fresh vegetables, fruits, and basic crackers, cheese, nuts, and meats. The important items to consider for this board are the body of the turkey, the turkey ‘feathers’ and whether you want a dip to go with your charcuterie board.

For the Body: There are a few options for creating the turkey body. A few ideas include half a pear, or the end of a pepper. You could also use part of an apple or other fruit. You will also need to consider the turkey’s eyes. For the pear body below, I used whole cloves, and for the pepper I used peanut halves (but this made the turkey look goofy). You can also use pepper cloves, or other small black objects to make the turkey eyes. You can use either cheese or carrot to make the beak or orange cheese.

For the Wings: The wings are the main part of this charcuterie board. Choose your favorite ingredients and and think about what looks good as the turkey feathers. Here are a few suggestions:

• Carrots
• Salami
• Crackers
• Grapes
• Cucumbers
• Snap Peas
• Cheese
• Peanuts
• Peppers
• Macadamia Nuts
• Dried Nuts

Dips: The final consideration for your turkey charcuterie is a dip. If you want to include a vegetable dip, you can place it one of the board under the turkey body, or put it on the table next to the turkey shaped platter. Choose a vegetable dip for this board such as ranch, onion dip, hummus or guacamole.

Tips for Making a Turkey Charcuterie Board

Creating a turkey shaped charcuterie board is relatively easy. Below are a few suggestions on how to make the best board.

• Cover the entire board – try to use your ingredients to cover the entire charcuterie board or platter
• Lay your ingredients out in either rows spreading from the turkey body, or in rows coming out from the body
• Keep your colors bright, and alternate colors, textures, and shapes to add interest to your board
• Choose healthy ingredients to balance the abundance of Thanksgiving dinner
• Most of this board is forgiving – but take time and be creative with making the turkey body. As you can see from one of the examples in the images above with the pepper body – the wrong eyes or body can make your whole turkey look weird!

Turkey Shaped Charcuterie Board Recipe

Follow along with me on Pinterest for more charcuterie board ideas.