This Thanksgiving charcuterie board provides a festive touch and features meats, cheeses, fruit, nuts, crackers, and more. This easy meat and cheese board appetizer will wow your guests and is sure to be a crowd-pleaser on your Thanksgiving table.

Every single Thanksgiving, my mom, my sister, and I all get together and come up with a plan for the dinner. And, without fail, every single holiday dinner is late. Maybe the turkey takes too long, or the gravy doesn’t thicken up, or a dozen other reasons.

In general, we had never really been a big appetizer family. But we learned many years ago that we needed to have something for the kids and the adults to snack on while they were smelling all the enticing aromas and their bellies were starting to growl.

So, we all contribute a delicious appetizer or two, including our favorites such as my Slow Cooker Cranberry Meatballs, these mouth-watering Cranberry Brie Bites, and our kid-approved Chocolate Covered Strawberry Turkeys.

My brother-in-law took it upon himself to make a turkey or Thanksgiving charcuterie board that we munch on until our Thanksgiving dinner is ready. And he’s made one every year since then!

They’re easy to make, look fancy and impressive, and please even the pickiest eaters with their variety of textures and flavors. In the last few years, I’ve had a blast making seasonal and holiday versions of the very popular charcuterie board appetizer.

Why You’ll Love This Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board

Popular and festive appetizer for the holiday season.
Provide a variety of flavors, textures, and colors to please everyone.
Easy to customize and tailor to any dietary needs.
No cooking involved – saves premium stove and oven space!

I’ve published several festive charcuterie board ideas for major holidays, including:

What To Include On A Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board

The best charcuterie boards include a variety of options to make the perfect appetizer for a crowd. Holiday-themed board possibilities are endless and only limited by your imagination. Here are just some ideas of traditional Thanksgiving flavors to help you build your own fall charcuterie board!

Cheese – Include several types of cheese, including hard, aged cheese (Parmigiano, aged cheddar, and Gouda), and soft cheese, such as goat cheese, brie, camembert, and blue cheese. Creamy cheeses, such as brie, are also a popular choice.
Meat – Although your board could be centered around only one meat, I usually prefer to include a variety of meats. Great options include whole-cured, thin-sliced meat like prosciutto, pepperoni, thin turkey slices, & serrano ham, as well as casing-style types of meat like salami and summer sausage.
Seasonal fruits – Pick fall fruits that include both fresh fruit and dried fruit. Great fresh fall fruit choices include apples, pears, grapes, persimmons, fresh figs, and pomegranate seeds. Great dried fruit options include cranberries, figs, dates, golden raisins, and dehydrated fruit such as apples and pears.
Vegetables and olives – These provide a savory complement to the fruit. Grab olives from the olive bar at your grocery store. Also, include any combination of radishes, cucumber, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, or pickled vegetables.
Nuts and seeds – Crunchy nuts provide a great opportunity to include more texture variety. Think about adding spiced, roasted, glazed, candied, or raw nuts. Pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds are also great additions.
Spreads – Think of this as a way to complement the cheeses on the board. Savory offerings could include Dijon mustard, pesto, or tapenade. Sweet offerings could include fig jam, cranberry sauce, various preserves, cranberry jam, or honey.
Crackers & mini toasts – There are so many options! Choose from things such as traditional water crackers, mini toasts, rye crackers, Italian crackers, artisanal fruit & nut crackers, or French baguette. I like to include a couple of options.
Fresh herbs – These are completely optional, but make a great addition for visual appeal. A sprig or two of herbs (such as rosemary, thyme, or sage) tucked into your board design offers more color and texture.

What Not To Put On A Charcuterie Board

I recommend avoiding strong-flavored foods that could clash with the other items on the charcuterie board. For example, brined pickles or jalapenos may not pair well with other ingredients.

Turkey Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board Ingredients

Here’s a rundown of what I used on this fun holiday charcuterie board. For more recipe details (including ingredient amounts), please check out the handy recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Cheese – I cubed some pepper jack cheese, cheddar cheese, and aged goat milk cheese.

Meats – I used pepperoni slices and salami slices.

Crackers – Use your favorites. I used three different types: rosemary entertainer crackers, sesame water crackers, and flatbread everything crackers.

Fruit – For fresh fruits, I had a pear, grapes, and sliced apples. For dried fruits, I used raisins and dried cranberries.

Nuts – For this Thanksgiving charcuterie, I included almonds, halved pecans, and shelled walnuts.

Extra – I added a playful element but putting candy eyeballs on the pear turkey.

How To Make A Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board

Use these simple steps to make your own Thanksgiving-themed charcuterie board.

Make the turkey pear – Slice your pear length in half. Cut a thin slice of cheese into the turkey‘s legs. Cut a small triangle of the cheese for its beak. Place the beak where the mouth would be and add the candy eyes.
Add your cheese to the charcuterie board – Create a rainbow effect up and over the pear to look like a turkey with its feathers. (the order I used was Gouda, cheddar cheese, and pepper jack)
Add the meat – Take your sliced salami and fold it in half. Add your salami after the cheese, then add the pepperoni.
Add your crackers into another row past the meats.
Fill 2 small bowls with raisins and dried cranberries. Place them on the board.
Add grapes on the stem and apple slices.
Fill the remaining gaps in your charcuterie board with walnuts, almonds, and pecans.
Serve and impress all your Thanksgiving guests!

Tips For The Perfect Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board

For your board, you can use a large, nice-looking cutting board, or a beautiful charcuterie board.
Don’t feel pressure to use the exact same items I used on this board! Just use foods that your guests will enjoy and fit the general theme.
After you cut the apple slices, immediately transfer them to lemon water (or apple juice) to prevent browning.
I think it’s easier to grab a cracker from the edge before venturing in for the toppings, so I added them as the outermost “feathers.”
Add additional small bowls with sauces or dips, if you want them.

Make Ahead Instructions

You can assemble your Thanksgiving board up to 8 hours before you plan to serve it.

Cover the board with plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to eat.

Pro Tip: I recommend leaving off any wet items that aren’t in a bowl, as well as the crackers (which may get soggy or stale), and just add them both immediately before serving.

Great Charcuterie Board Storage Tips

If you have any leftovers (and that’s a big IF), I recommend storing all refrigerated items (meats, cheeses, sauces, spreads) separately. Room temperature items can be stored in airtight containers.

I hope you love your Thanksgiving charcuterie board as much as I loved making it!

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Turkey Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board

Yield: 6-8 servings

Prep Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour

This Thanksgiving charcuterie board features meats, cheeses, fruit, nuts, crackers, and more. This easy appetizer will wow your guests and is sure to be a crowd-pleaser at your Thanksgiving gathering.

Ingredients

Cheese:

3 oz pepper jack cheese, cubed
3.5 oz cheddar cheese, cubed (reserve half an ounce for your turkey’s legs and nose)
2 oz aged goat milk cheese, cubed

Meats:

2 ounces pepperoni slices
3 oz salami slices with cracked pepper, folded in half

Crackers:

3.5 ounces of your favorite crackers (I used three different types for variety: rosemary, entertainer crackers, sesame water crackers, and flatbread everything crackers.)

Fruit:

1/2 lb green grapes
1 small, red apple, sliced thin
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 pear, sliced long ways

Nuts:

1/2 oz almonds
1.5 ounces halved pecans
3 ounces shelled walnuts

Extra:

2 candy eyeballs

Instructions

Prep your turkey pear! Slice your pear length in half. Taking a thin slice of cheese, cut them into the turkey‘s legs. Using a small paring knife, cut a small hole at the bottom of the pear, then stick in the cheese legs. Cut a small triangle of the cheese for its beak. Place the beak where the mouth would be and add the candy eyes.
Add your cheese to the charcuterie board, creating a rainbow effect up and over the pair. This will make your pair look more like a turkey with its feathers. (the order is Gouda, cheddar cheese, and pepper jack)
Take your sliced salami and fold it in half. Add your salami after the cheese, then followed by pepperoni.
Add your crackers into another row past the meats.
To 2 small bowls, add your raisins and dried cranberries. Place them on the board.
Add your grapes on the stem (this helps the grapes from rolling off your board) and your apple slices (another tip for the apple slices is to immediately transfer them to lemon water so they don’t brown).
For the remaining gaps in your charcuterie board add your walnuts, almonds, and pecans.
Serve and impress all your Thanksgiving guests!

How To Make A Cute Turkey Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board

Why You’ll Love This Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board