Kids have so much fun arranging this simple turkey cheese platter with a variety of cheese, meat, and crackers. Then they have even more fun eating it!
Special opportunities to connect and make memories are more important than ever with the 2020 holiday season making many of the usual family traditions impossible.
Making a cute turkey shaped appetizer is a wonderful way to connect with your kids during Thanksgiving season. You can even coordinate to make a turkey cheese platter together over video chat with extended family members!
How to make a turkey cheese platter
We’ve got step by step photos to help you easily make your own turkey cheese tray. There is also a video of making the turkey cheese tray if you scroll down to the recipe. Let’s get started and make cooking time connecting time!
Ingredients
- 16 ounce package cracker cut cheese
- 16 ounces salami
- 12 ounce package round crackers
- 5 ounces pepperoni
- 1 green pear
- 2 raisins
- red bell pepper
These are the exact ingredients I bought to make the turkey cheese platter in the photos and video. We had lots of meat and crackers leftover, which we were happy with.
You can definitely add more rows and pack the “tail feathers” for your cheese board turkey in tighter if you’d like to use up the meat and crackers. That will also make your turkey feed a larger group.
Instructions
Step 1: Starting at the outer edge of a round platter, arrange overlapping rows of meat, cheese, and crackers.
Step 2: Slice the pear in half, and place the half with the stem in the center bottom of the platter. Fill in any bare spots on your turkey cheese platter (to the right and left of the pear) with additional “tail feathers”.
Step 3: Use the big end of a frosting tip to cut two circles out of a piece of white cheese. Squish the raisins flat and place on the white cheese circles, then set the eyes onto the pear.
Step 4: Cut a small triangle of yellow cheese for a beak, and slice a bit of red pepper with a vegetable peeler or paring knife to make the turkey’s wattle.Â
Step 5: Cover and refrigerate if not serving immediately.
Turkey Cheese platter tips and variations
If you eat dairy but not meat, don’t feel like this has to be a meat and cheese turkey platter. You can make it a turkey shaped cheese and cracker platter using a variety of cheeses and crackers!
Another option would be to swap the meat for fruit like apple slices and tangerine segments for a turkey fruit and cheese platter.
How far in advance can I make this turkey cheese platter?
I would not make this turkey shaped meat and cheese platter more than 4 hours in advance. The crackers will start to get soft.
If making in advance, be sure to cover tightly with plastic wrap to keep the cheese and meat from drying out. You can also have additional fresh crackers on the side for serving.
Pin to Save for Later
Don’t lose this recipe! Save the image below on Pinterest, then leave a photo of your turkey cheese tray in the comments of the pin once you make it. We love seeing your creations!
More turkey shaped foodS
Turkey Cheese Platter
Turn a variety of cheese, salami, and pepperoni into a cute turkey cheese platter for an easy Thanksgiving appetizer. The pattern in the picture is a good sized appetizer for up to 10 people, and doesn't use up all the ingredients. You can can make more and tighter rows to add in additional servings and use up the ingredients.
Ingredients
- 16 ounce package cracker cut cheese
- 16 ounces salami
- 12 ounce package round crackers
- 5 ounces pepperoni
- 1 green pear
- 2 raisins
- red bell pepper
Instructions
- Starting at the outer edge of a round platter, arrange overlapping rows of meat, cheese, and crackers.
- Slice the pear in half, and place the half with the stem in the center bottom of the platter.
- Fill in any bare spots to the right and left of the pear with additional "tail feathers".
- Use the big end of a frosting tip to cut two circles out of a piece of white cheese. Squish the raisins flat and place on the white cheese circles, then set the eyes onto the pear.
- Cut a small triangle of yellow cheese for a beak, and slice a bit of red pepper with a vegetable peeler or paring knife to make the turkey’s wattle.
- Cover and refrigerate if not serving immediately.
Notes
I used two types of salami, and pepperoni. But you could use all pepperoni or all salami. You could even use folded slices of prosciutto!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
20Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 348Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 803mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 1gSugar: 7gProtein: 9g
This nutrition info is based on 20 servings using ALL of the ingredients.
