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    Home » Recipes » Easy & Beautiful Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board

    Easy & Beautiful Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board

    Published: Nov 27, 2019 · Modified: Oct 18, 2022 by Andrea Howe · This post may contain affiliate links.

    107 shares
    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

    Learn how to make this easy Thanksgiving charcuterie board that you can assemble in less than 30 minutes. It has something for everyone, from salty meats to sweet snacks, making it the perfect appetizer for your Thanksgiving dinner or Fall event. And after making my spooky Halloween Charcuterie Board, you’re now a pro at assembling a gorgeous cheese board in a flash!

    Thanksgiving charcuterie board on a round wooden board filled with persimmons, figs and goldenberries

    You may be asking how a Thanksgiving charcuterie board is really any different than a traditional charcuterie board, and that would is a great question! The main difference is that you’re going to add seasonal touches for fruits, sweets and decorative items. Think bright orange persimmons, deep purple figs and bright red cranberries. This is where you can add in a fruit spread like my cranberry freezer jam or pretty sugared cranberries. And don’t forget the cocktails! This maple Sazerac or Apple Cider Moscow Mule would be *perfect*!

    So don’t over think it. If you’re already a pro at making your own charcuterie board, all you need to do is add some seasonal flair! Let me show you.

    Jump to:
    • Why you’ll love this beautiful charcuterie board
    • Ingredients you’ll need
    • Step-by-step instructions
    • Expert tips and tricks
    • More Charcuterie Boards
    • Easy Thanskgiving Charcuterie Board

    Why you’ll love this beautiful charcuterie board

    • Easily customizable and versatile – as long as you have the basis of every good charcuterie board, cured meats and cheeses, you can a variety of other foods to fit a wide range of tastes.
    • Quick to assemble with no cooking! Wow guests with this pre-party spread, without ever having to turn on the oven.
    • So pretty it’s a decorative centerpiece and meal in one! I often skip a floral arrangement and opt for making one of my boards the centerpiece.
    • Great family friendly meal idea for a relaxed night at home. This board doesn’t have to be saved as an appetizer to the big meal on Thanksgiving. Instead, you can serve fun snack boards as dinner for a casual and cozy Fall night at home.
    persimmons, brie cheese covered with honeycomb, salami and nuts all spread out on a round wooden board

    Ingredients you’ll need

    The word charcuterie literally means a store or collection of cold cooked meats. So the basis for any board must include a variety of meats. What else though?

    • Serving board & utensils. A rectangular board like a nice wood cutting board, or a circular board found here. It will also help to have a small bowl or two to hold various items, cheese knives and perhaps little serving picks or forks.
    • A variety of 3-4 different types of cheeses. I usually go for at least 1 hard cheese and 2 soft cheeses. A wedge of brie is always a great option, as well as goat cheese or a light and fragrant Humboldt Fog. For hard cheese, you can’t go wrong with a nice Parmesan or Asiago. Or something not quite as firm, like a farmhouse Irish cheddar.
    • A mix of delicious savory meats, or else it’s not a true charcuterie board! Thick cut peppered salami, thin prosciutto and sopressata are all great ideas.
    • Olives, nuts, pickles and crackers. You want a mix of crunchy textures, and a variety of flavors.
    • Dips and spreads that complement the cheeses are a great way to add unique flavors. Think fresh honeycomb, fig jam or a tapenade.
    • Fresh fruits and crispy vegetables are always a good idea, because they help cleanse the palate with something mild and refreshing. Red grapes, berries, figs and as shown here, persimmons. I often add dried fruits as well, such as craisins, figs or apricots.
    • Sweet treats to serve as a dessert. I love chocolate covered nuts, themed cookies, dark chocolate or fall themed sweets like candy corn are all fun ideas.

    There really is no wrong way to put together a fall charcuterie board so have fun with it and make it suited for your own friend’s and family’s taste preferences.

    Step-by-step instructions

    Creating a beautiful board is so simple I promise you’ll have it down in a flash. Start by grabbing all of your ingredients, plus the serving platter and utensils and bowls you’ll be using.

    round wooden board filled with hard and soft cheese and cured meats
    Begin by arranging the cheese and meats on your serving platter, leaving plenty of space in between to add other items

    Begin by arranging the cheese and delicious meats. There is no perfect way to do this, so just sorta spread them out on the board, leaving space in between to add the other ingredients.

    seasonal fruits like figs and persimmons and goldenberries are added to a Fall themed charcuterie board
    Next, add in fresh seasonal fruits

    Next, add the food items like fresh fruits, then raw nuts and olives or pickles. Once the main ingredients are in place, add in the crackers, to keep them as fresh as possible.

    nuts, olives and sweet chocolate covered almonds are added to a seasonal Fall charcuterie board
    now add in nuts, seeds, olives and sweet items. The very last food item to be added are crackers

    Finish your board by adding in a sweet treat or two, and then fill in any empty spaces so the board looks really full and bursting with food.

    seasonal items like mini pumpkins are added to a Thanksgiving themed charcuterie board
    Lastly, add in seasonal decorative items that fit with the theme. Mini pumpkins are a perfect addition

    The very last thing I do to complete my fall-themed charcuterie board is to add in decorative items. Think mini pumpkins or dried florals like the wheat stalks I picked up from Trader Joe’s.

    Expert tips and tricks

    I have built dozens of grazing boards for a variety of different occasions. Here are a few of my best tips I can share to help you make your own Thanksgiving charcuterie board (or any grazing board for that matter).

    • Shop your pantry first: If you do a decent job keeping your pantry stocked with non-perishables, you’ll likely find some fun ingredients to use first. Fancy crackers, nuts, jarred olives and little sweet treats can be picked up when on sale and stored for your next occasion.
    • Check Home Goods: Home Goods is one of my favorite places to stock up on unique snack items, especially jars of beautiful olives, chocolates and crackers, and are priced really well. Occasionally you may even find honeycomb! And of course it’s a great place to buy boards in different shapes and sizes.
    • Check Trader Joes: Trader Joe’s has fantastic prices on cheese and seasonal non-perishable snack items.
    • Get your meats from the deli: Buy cured meats from the deli counter, as the prices are usually cheaper by the pound, and you can more easily stick to a specific budget by only buying what you need.
    • Buy seasonal: Buy seasonally appropriate fruits, as in-season fruit will usually be a lot cheaper.
    • Saving leftovers: I typically save just the cheese, meat and possibly hams or dips, and ditch the rest. The reason why is the other nibbles are little finger foods people are often reaching their hands in and picking at. With cheeses and meats they are (hopefully) using a knife or fork to serve. I wrap leftovers in plastic wrap or cheese paper.
    A finished fall Thanksgiving charcuterie board filled with hard and soft cheeses, a variety of cured meats and seasonal fruits

    I hope you have found some inspiration as well as useful tips in this post. I would love to see your Fall board, so please tag or dm me your version! Whether you’re having a small family thanksgiving celebration or a giant extended family huge blowout, I hope it’s a good one! May you be blessed with full bellies and hearts!

    A large charcuterie board made for the Fall season with orange persimmons, figs and mini fresh pumpkins

    More Charcuterie Boards

    If your Fall charcuterie board was a bit, think ahead and pin or save these other spectacular boards for the upcoming holidays!

    • Christmas Charcuterie Board
    • New Year’s Feeling Good Fresh Veggie Crudité Board
    • Valentine’s Day Dessert Board

    Easy Thanskgiving Charcuterie Board

    The perfect Thanksgiving charcuterie board to serve at your next Fall gathering or Thanksgiving feast! A beautiful mix of cheeses, meats and seasonally vibrant fruits!
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Prep Time: 25 minutes
    Total Time: 25 minutes
    Servings: 12 people
    Author:Andrea

    Equipment

    • Serving Platter

    Ingredients

    • 1 lb Cured Meats
    • 1 lb Assorted Cheeses
    • 16 ounces Assorted Crackers
    • 8 ounces Assorted Olives and Nuts
    • 8 ounces Assorted fruits fresh and/or dried
    • 8 ounces Assorted veggies
    • 4 ounces Dark chocolate and other assorted sweet treats
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Choose Your Serving Platters And Utensils
    • Assemble Your Cheeses
    • Then Your Meats
    • Fill In With Olives, Nuts, And Fruit
    • Last The Crackers (To Keep Them Crisp!)
    • Finishing Touches – fill in little holes with more meats, veggies or sweet treats

    Video

    Notes

    Choose a hard, soft and mild spreadable cheese to get a nice assortment that will satisfy many tastes.
    Avoid very ripe cheeses if you’re serving beyond your personal preferences. Some guest may not love smelly cheeses 🙂
    Keep extras close by so you can easily and quickly fill in as needed.
    *Nutrition calculation is a very rough estimate only

    Nutrition

    Calories: 555kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 0.003g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 1675mg | Potassium: 333mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 1319IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 120mg | Iron: 3mg
    Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @Howe.We.Live or tag #HoweWeLiveRecipes!
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    About Andrea Howe

    Andrea Howe is the recipe developer and photographer of Howe We Live. She is also a seasoned home cook of over 20 years, for her family of 5. Andrea has spent over 10 years in the food industry, writing for various publications including Babble and Disney. Her work has appeared in Real Simple, Taste of Home, Yahoo, Buzzfeed and ABC News.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Lori says

      October 18, 2022 at 7:59 am

      5 stars
      I can’t wait to follow your charcuterie styling this Thanksgiving! Especially love the “crackers last” tips I never knew that!!

      Reply
    2. Susie says

      October 18, 2022 at 7:44 am

      5 stars
      Love your styled Thanksgiving Charcuterie! I am going to copy yours exactly for Thanksgiving afternoon.

      Reply
    3. Daniela says

      October 11, 2020 at 10:45 pm

      Wowie I love this and love all the colors on your board! So perfect for the Holidays! Your pics are stunning :).

      Reply
    4. Connie says

      October 11, 2020 at 10:01 pm

      No matter what I find on charcuterie boards, I’m always amazed on how pretty they look. They always look so fancy! Loved the gif too!

      Reply
    5. Gunjan says

      October 11, 2020 at 9:32 pm

      I have bookmarked this page because I am definitely serving this beautiful and delicious charcuterie.

      Reply
    6. kerri says

      October 11, 2020 at 6:42 pm

      i am all for an awesome charcuterie board. i have not been able to make mine look like this, it’s incredible. my next board, i’ll be using this as my guide!

      Reply
    7. Chandice Probst says

      October 11, 2020 at 1:16 pm

      I love making charcuterie boards! And persimmons are my favorites I love that you used those as well… Such a great variety of things here for a beautiful board!

      Reply
    8. Marisa F. Stewart says

      October 11, 2020 at 9:40 am

      Excellent instructions and I can tell you I’d rather graze on all those delicious appetizers than head to a main meal. I love the way you arranged everything makes it colorful and appealing to the eye. My tummy is growling with me looking at the photo.

      Reply
    9. Heidy M says

      October 09, 2020 at 6:27 am

      I made this charcuterie board for our employees and they went crazy over it. I loved how simple it was to make look amazing by following your instructions. I will be making a mother one for Thanksgiving and New Year’s!

      Have a great day
      H

      Reply
    10. Gourmet Vegetarians says

      October 07, 2020 at 6:16 pm

      Love your animated graphic for your chacuterie board, it looks so cool!! Always love making a platter so great to get inspo on how others do it 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
    11. Debra says

      October 07, 2020 at 10:39 am

      Nice! Love the step by step photos…I can replicate….and so many creative ideas as to what to put on there that is colorful and interesting. Thanks.

      Reply
    12. veenaazmanov says

      October 07, 2020 at 9:12 am

      Thanks for such an innovative idea. This is so perfect and I just love all of it. Presentation yum.

      Reply

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    Welcome to Howe We Live. I’m Andrea, a passionate home cook and mother of 3. I’ve been cooking and writing about healthy eating for almost a decade, and my number one goal here is to help you develop the tools needed to throw together a great meal at home that is both delicious, and healthy-ish. All eaters are welcome here! Read More

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