Your Thanksgiving guests will love this fun turkey-shaped fall cheese & charcuterie board idea. Includes step-by-step instructions with photos.

If you’re looking for minimal effort and maximum WOW factor, the easiest Thanksgiving appetizer for your table this year is this turkey-shaped cheese and charcuterie platter. I shared a sneak peek on Instagram last week and people went crazy for it! It requires no skill to put together and you can use whatever ingredients you want to fit your style and what you have available.

Read on for how to make this cheese and charcuterie platter for fall!

Turkey Shaped Cheese Platter

I started the platter with sliced persimmons, one of my favorite fall fruits and the perfect shape for the tips of the turkey’s feathers.

For the body, I sliced a pear in half. I decorated it with sliced bits of cheese and sausage for the turkey’s waddle.

Cheese Board Ideas

Obviously, cheese is the star of your cheese board! I used sliced cheese for turkey feathers and then worked in some more of my favorite cheeses on little wooden coasters arranged around the main platter.

Being a Wisconsin girl, I simply can’t have a cheese board without cheddar cheese. It courses through my veins. Despite my birthright, my loyalty now strongly lies with California cheese! This cheese platter reflects that. It’s loaded with cheeses from many of my favorite California creameries. If you haven’t tried Point Reyes Creamery, Cowgirl Creamery, Marin French Creamery, and Belfiore Cheese Company. They are all located within a few hours from us here in San Francisco, which makes them extra special.

In addition to cheddar, I included gouda and Point Reyes Toma to fill out the “feathers”. Then I added Belfiore mini mozzarella balls and Marin French Creamery Brie cheese. Depending on how adventurous you and your guests are, add a strong cheese! Point Reyes Blue Cheese is a great foray into strong cheese without being too stinky.

I choose a variety of cheeses, with different strengths and firmness. Depending on what article you read, there are lots of “rules” to follow when creating a cheese board. I say, pick a few kinds of cheese you know you love and a few that are new to you or take you out of your comfort zone!

Easy Charcuterie Board Ideas

For charcuterie, I chose prosciutto and two types of salami. The sky is the limit though! There are so many types of charcuterie to choose from in all sizes and textures. See more ideas for a charcuterie board in this post.

Dips for a Cheese Platter

For a fall cheese platter, consider serving the dips in carved-out mini pumpkins. Some dip ideas include mustard, jams, fig spread, hummus. I also really love hummus, especially if you work some fresh veggies into your cheese platter.

Crackers & Bread for a Cheese Board

Although bread seems to find its way onto every one of my cheese platters, you don’t have to stop there! Other ideas include parmesan cheese sticks, pita chips, and pretzels. I also really love Raincoast crisps.

A Few Decorations to Finish Your Cheese Platter

To send things home with the fall theme, I finished with a few fake fall leaves and dried Chinese lantern flowers that I paid way to much for but love. Hopefully, they should last the entire holiday season.

Fall Cheese Board Ideas

Here are some other fall cheese board ideas from some of my favorite bloggers!

Ultimate Guide to Planning the Perfect Charcuterie Board:

Autumn Cheese Board from A Dash of Megnut

Perfect Fall Charcuterie from Pure Joy Home:

Trader Joe’s Fall Cheese Board from Life is But a Dish:

Fall Apple & Cheese Board from Bless this Mess

Epic Fall Charcuterie Board from Reluctant Entertainer

Ultimate Autumn Harvest Cheese Board from Host the Toast

Harvest Charcuterie Board from Number 2 Pencil

Thanks so much for reading! For more Sweet in your life, you can find me on Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube, or subscribe to receive a weekly email with new posts and musings from me.

Easy Fall Cheese & Charcuterie Board Idea for Thanksgiving

Author: Kelly Egan - A Side of Sweet
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 15 1x
Category: Appetizer
Method: No Bake
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

2 persimmons, sliced
Salami or other cured meat
1 loaf french bread, thinly sliced
Sliced cheddar cheese
Proscuitto
Sliced cheeses like cheddar, gouda and Pt. Reyes Toma
1/2 pear
1 wheel brie, like Marin French Cheese Brie
1 package mini mozarella cheese balls, like Belfiore Cheese Company
Blue cheese, like Pt. Reyes Original Blue Cheese
Other miscellaneous blocks or wheels of cheeses as desired
Cornichons or mini pickles
Grapes
Honey or honeycomb
Dried nuts
Dried fruit
Crisps, pretzels, cheese sticks and crackers
Mini pumpkins
Dips:
- Hummus
- Jam
- Honey
- Mustard
- Fig spread

Instructions

On a round platter, arrange persimmon slices in an incomplete circle in an overlapping fashion.
Add a layer of large salami, then bread, then cheddar cheese, then prosciutto.
Arrange a layer of gouda cheese, then salami and a final layer of sliced cheese.
Place pear half at bottom of the ring. Cut out small pieces of cheese to make the eyes, beak, and legs. For the black part of the eye, I used a small piece of grape, but an olive would also work. Cut a waddled from sausage.
Arrange remaining ingredients as desired on a food-safe surface surrounding platter. If you don’t have a large platter, a piece of craft paper works well.