Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board Ideas for a Festive Feast
My family loves to eat, and appetizers are always a key part of our Thanksgiving dinners. One of the easiest solutions I’ve found? A Thanksgiving charcuterie board.
At first glance, it may seem overkill given the size of a Thanksgiving feast. But here’s the truth: the turkey doesn’t always finish on time, people skip breakfast to “save room,” and by mid-afternoon everyone’s starving.
Having a grazing board out keeps guests happy, and charcuterie is perfect because it’s festive, versatile, and easy to customize for the season.
In this post, I’ll show you three different ways to customize your charcuterie board for Thanksgiving.
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Basic Charcuterie Supplies & Equipment
There should always be a few basic elements involved in charcuterie.
Charcuterie Supplies
- 1-2+ hard cheeses
- 1-2+ soft cheeses
- 1-2+ dips/spreads
- 2+ types of meats
- 2+ types of crackers
- Fruit/dried fruit/nuts
Charcuterie Equipment
- Charcuterie board (I have a couple from Crate & Barrel and another from Target)
- Cheese knives (mine are no longer available, but this set is similar)
- Mini spoons and forks (also from Amazon)
- Mini ramekins/bowls for dips/nuts (mine are from Sur La Table)
Need a quick refresher on how to put together a basic board? Check out my charcuterie board template.
How to Create a Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board
Before I dive into the three ways you can customize charcuterie for Thanksgiving, I like to start with three simple steps, and the first one is color.
1. Define a Thanksgiving Color Palette
Choosing a color palette is one of my favorite parts of charcuterie because it makes the board both beautiful and intentional. For Thanksgiving, think autumnal shades: reds, oranges, browns, and creams.
I kept my board fairly traditional, but you can absolutely highlight just one of these colors or mix in deeper tones like green or purple for variety.
Remember, your palette comes from the ingredients themselves: cheeses, dips, meats, crackers, fruit, and nuts.
Don’t stress about perfection (and definitely don’t worry if your salami isn’t the “right” shade — if it’s green, please don’t eat it!). The natural tones of the food are what make charcuterie stunning in the first place. Using a palette as a guide will keep everything cohesive while still looking organic and inviting.
2. Select Your Thanksgiving Charcuterie Elements
Once you’ve established your Thanksgiving color palette, it’s time to go shopping!
Trader Joe’s has an excellent selection of charcuterie supplies, and their seasonal products are so fun! If you don’t have access to a Trader Joe’s or are looking for additional options, Safeway’s deli and Whole Foods also have a wide variety of choices.
Smaller specialty grocery stores or wine stores are also good places to look, especially for more unique elements.
Cheeses
When selecting my Thanksgiving cheeses, consider colors as well as flavors, and try to maintain a roughly equal ratio of hard and soft cheeses.
Although I almost always include the legendary Boursin in my charcuterie boards, I found so many seasonal options I wanted to include that I ended up leaving it out. The cheeses below are the ones I selected to create my Thanksgiving charcuterie!
Traditional Brie
Brie is classic and pairs well with a variety of flavors. Also, its richness and decadence really make it feel like a holiday celebration.
Triple Crème Brie with Calvados Apple Brandy
I don’t normally include multiple types of brie in a charcuterie board, but Trader Joe’s came out with this new seasonal option that I couldn’t resist trying! It is so delicious — you can taste the apple brandy, but the brie is still quite savory. It pairs phenomenally with pumpkin butter!
Cranberry Goat Cheese
Since cranberry is a classic Thanksgiving flavor, this cheese is another great addition to your board! This cheese is definitely on the sweeter side, which is nice for balancing out savory or spicy flavors.
Cheddar Cheese with Scotch Bonnet Chili Red Peppers
I chose this cheese for the red-orange color as well as the flavor. It has a unique sweet-and-spicy flavor to it — I have a pretty low tolerance and it wasn’t too hot for me! If you’re looking to spice up your board, this is a great selection!
Gouda
Gouda is a safe and delicious cheese that is always a hit. As a bonus, it pairs well with turkey, so if you have any Thanksgiving leftovers, be sure to save it!
Spanish Cheese Tapas Sampler
For large groups, I always like to include pre-sliced cheese for simplicity. Since these cheeses are sliced into triangles, they were the perfect choice for one of my Thanksgiving board designs (more on that later). I did end up supplementing with some sliced Gouda as well.
Dips
For my Thanksgiving dips, I opted to use Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter and Pepper Jelly — two of my favorite options. I love pumpkin butter with brie (it was particularly good with the apple brandy brie), and pepper jelly pairs well with a variety of soft and hard cheeses. The orange/brown and red colors also go well with a traditional Thanksgiving color palette.
Fig jam, fig butter, or cranberry sauce/relish would also be excellent choices for dips!
Charcuterie
I always try to include at least two types of charcuterie. Since I was aiming for more reddish colors, I chose a variety pack with thinly sliced chorizo and salami with red chili peppers. The spice was quite mild, and I really liked both the color and flavor!
Crackers
It’s a good rule of thumb to include multiple types of crackers for variation. I chose Fig & Olive Crisps and Everything But the Bagel crackers.
Fruit/Dried Fruit/Nuts
For fruit and dried fruit, I used fresh figs, rainbow pears, and dried cranberries. Other options that would be great to include: pomegranate arils, dried apricots, or blackberries.
For nuts, I used the Trader Joe’s Nuts about Rosemary Mix (10/10 recommend), and also threw in a few candied pecans.
3. Choose a Special Feature for Your Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board
The final step in creating Thanksgiving charcuterie is to choose a special feature for your board.
I love creating seasonal charcuterie boards, even when there isn’t a specific occasion! Coordinating unique and seasonal colors, flavors, and textures results in a stunning presentation.
However, for an event such as Thanksgiving, I think it’s fun to really embrace the celebratory element and do something slightly more elaborate.
3 Special Thanksgiving Charcuterie Ideas
Choosing a special feature is what really makes your Thanksgiving charcuterie stand out. Here are the three different options I recommend.
1. Use Brie Cutouts
For an easy twist on a traditional charcuterie board, use Thanksgiving-themed brie cutouts to give your board some Thanksgiving flavor.
I love this option because it’s so simple and the design is similar to a traditional charcuterie board. This gives you the ease and freedom to include all of your preferred flavors and textures without being confined by the limitations of the design.
How to Create Brie Charcuterie Cutouts
To create brie cutouts, you simply need brie and a cookie cutter (needs to be about ½ the width of the brie to allow enough margin).
I ordered this variety pack of mini Thanksgiving cookie cutters from Amazon. They’re about 2 inches big, which works well for average- to smaller-sized brie.
Instructions
- Gently use the cookie cutter to press through the rind. Try to get all the way through the rind, but don’t go too deep.
- Note: If the brie is very soft, some of it may squeeze out from the rind. Be gentle! If this happens, simply use a knife to clean up the sides.
- Remove the rind layer within the cutout area with a sharp paring knife.
- Fill the cutout area with a jam or spread. Be careful not to overfill the area, or it will overflow! Use a toothpick to spread the dip into the smaller areas of the cutout and clean up edges with a paper towel if necessary.
After you’ve created the cutouts, place your cheeses and dips on the board first as per usual and then follow with the charcuterie, crackers, fruit, and nuts!
2. Arrange Charcuterie in a Thanksgiving Shape
Another popular option for making a festive board is to arrange your charcuterie elements in a Thanksgiving shape. This can be a shape unique to Thanksgiving, or it can be more autumnal if you prefer. Some of the most popular choices for this include the following shapes:
- Turkey
- Pumpkin
- Acorn
- Leaf
I chose to create a turkey-shaped board! To do this, I started by slicing a Bosc pear in half and using that as the turkey “face.” Then, I simply added elements of varying colors and textures around it, moving outward.
The key to getting enough depth is to be sure that you tuck the flat elements (crackers, salami, sliced cheese) underneath each preceding layer. After I added all the layers, I used pear seeds, a pecan, and a piece of salami for the turkey’s eyes and nose.
Shaped boards can be both fun and elegant, and are a great way to make your charcuterie feel like Thanksgiving. However, it can be more limiting to include all of the traditional charcuterie elements and still pull off the shape.
As you can see, for this board, I used all hard cheeses that were either pre-sliced or cubed. Although you can still include little bowls with dips or soft cheeses if you like, it doesn’t fit in quite as well with the turkey design.
For that reason, shaped charcuterie is not my first choice for a Thanksgiving board, but it is still a great option! It would also be a hit with kids.
3. Create a Cornucopia
The last special feature for a Thanksgiving-specific charcuterie board that I’m going to talk about is including a cornucopia!
You might be familiar with the concept of a cornucopia, but did you know that this symbol actually dates back to ancient history? This word comes from the Latin phrase, which is translated as “horn of plenty.“
A horn-shaped basket that is typically depicted as overflowing with all different types of food, this image has come to be associated with Thanksgiving. At a time of year when we celebrate the abundance in our lives, a cornucopia helps remind us to be grateful for all we’ve been given.
Since charcuterie boards are also intended to have the effect of brimming over with abundance, pairing charcuterie with this element can be very effective.
If you choose to use this as your special feature for your Thanksgiving board, you can acquire a cornucopia at a variety of retailers. You can also create one yourself using pastry — it’s actually a lot easier than it looks!
How to Create a Pastry Cornucopia
To create a pastry cornucopia, you just need an oven and some very basic supplies. I use a braiding technique, and the pastry is pretty forgiving, so don’t worry if it’s not perfect!
Supplies
- 2-3 containers crescent rolls (or other pastry — if you want to make your own, I salute you!)
- Cooking spray (I like to use PAM with flour, but any spray should work).
- Aluminum foil
- Egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Crumple up aluminum foil to make a rough “horn” shape. This does not have to be exact. Measure it against the size of your charcuterie board to ensure it’s the size you want, and add layers of foil toward the top to make it larger. Once it’s your desired size, spray generously with cooking spray.
- Cut several pieces of pastry into ~1-inch strips, pinch them together into longer strips, and braid. Wrap the braid around the top of the foil horn, leaving about an inch and a half of foil at the top. Press the edges of the braid together.
- Cut remaining pastry into narrower strips (about ½ inch wide), pinch together into longer strips, and create additional braids for the remainder of the cornucopia (you will likely need to do several braids). Then, wrap the braids around the remaining foil, pressing the edges of each braid lightly together.
- Seal any gaps with remaining pieces of pastry.
- Whisk an egg in a small bowl and brush the cornucopia with the egg wash.
- Bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 12-18 minutes, until golden brown. Wait for it to cool, then gently remove the foil from inside. Be very careful and gently wiggle the foil back and forth to release the cornucopia.
After you’ve removed the cornucopia, assemble the charcuterie board as per usual. However, instead of styling your elements around the cheeses and dips as focal points, arrange everything around the cornucopia. This is fun to put together, since you can fill the cornucopia with the charcuterie elements and have it literally overflowing: the picture of abundance!
I chose a smaller board for my cornucopia, which meant I wasn’t able to include all of my charcuterie elements. However, you can adjust the size of your cornucopia and board to accommodate your desired number of guests.
Identifying a color palette, acquiring seasonal supplies, and choosing a special feature for your board can help you take your charcuterie to the next level this Thanksgiving. You can use brie cutouts, arrange your charcuterie in a unique shape, or even create your own cornucopia!
If you’re searching for a unique holiday appetizer this year, consider giving Thanksgiving charcuterie a try.
