Easy Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board

This Easy Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board is the perfect appetizer for your special occasion. The best part of this beautiful board is the combination of pumpkin goat cheese whip, cranberry orange sauce, meats, cheeses, fresh fruits, and crunchy crackers and nuts. Serve it as a small family dinner or before your Thanksgiving meal.

I think I may actually enjoy Thanksgiving sides and snacks more than the main dish. This board along with Homemade Sweet Potato Au Gratin, Old Fashioned Candied Sweet Potatoes, Glazed Shallots, Traditional Bread Stuffing and Southern Broccoli Cheese Rice Casserole would make me a very happy girl. I suppose I would need a few desserts too.

What is a charcuterie board? 

A charcuterie board is a tray spread with meats, cheeses, fruit, nuts, crackers, jams, jellies, and other assortments of items. This themed board is perfect for a small family Thanksgiving celebration.

 It’s better than a traditional board with homemade pumpkin goat cheese whip, cranberry orange sauce, delicious meats, fresh fruit, 3-4 different cheeses, olives, crackers, and candied pecans.

These ingredients are creatively arranged in mini bowls around a large square or circular board in different shapes and patterns. Bring your own Easy Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board to your next holiday party for the ultimate ‘wow factor!’

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Perfect appetizer – The smaller items on this board are great portions for an appetizer.
• Easy Thanksgiving charcuterie snack board – Serve this board for brunch or lunch before Thanksgiving dinner.
• Uses seasonal produce – Use fresh fruits available locally for the best fall board.
• Eat it for the main course – This is an easy main course for dinner the week of Thanksgiving. It’s simple to prepare and a great crowd-pleaser.

Ingredients

You can buy the ingredients you need for this recipe at your local grocery store or from an online retailer.

• Pumpkin Goat Cheese Whip – Goat cheese, cool whip, pumpkin butter.
• Cranberry Orange Sauce – Cranberries, sugar, apples, walnuts, raisins, orange juice, lemon juice, spices.
• Meats – Chorizo slices, salami, prosciutto.  
• Cheeses – Blueberry goat cheese, blue cheese wedge, Artikaas gouda, yellow cheddar cheese, white cheddar cheese.
• Additional Ingredients – Crackers, candied pecans, grapes, figs, green olives, cornichons. See my favorite crackers for a charcuterie board. There are so many options!
• Optional Additions – Bosc pear, pomegranate.

Equipment 

Here’s the equipment you’ll need to make the different parts of this charcuterie platter.

• Medium bowl – You’ll need a bowl to whip up the pumpkin goat cheese.
• Hand mixer – An electric hand mixer is the perfect tool for whipping cheese.
• Serving board – Place the ingredients on a beautiful serving platter.
• Cheese knife set – This looks pretty sitting on the side of the board and for cutting hunks of cheese.

Expert Tips

Use these tips to make your own charcuterie board based on your favorite things and a variety of flavors.

• Use any assortment of cheeses you like. Variety is good. Try soft cheeses and hard cheese with added flavors and different colors.
• Make sure you’re buying Spanish dried chorizo, not raw Mexican chorizo.
• Serve this Easy Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board at room temperature for best flavor. Cheese is best served this way!
• Make the Cranberry Sauce and Pumpkin Dip several days ahead of time then just build your board the day of!
• Have fun with it, and make a salami rose!
• If you run out of room on your board, you can always add the crackers and toast to a side plate. My favorite boards to use are these French Charcuterie Boards or a round board.
• Toss apple or pear slices in lemon or apple juice to keep them from browning, or slice them closer to the time you’re serving.
• I like to buy my cheese from Mariano’s or Whole Foods.
• I use Artikaas Gouda cheese on this board.

Serving a meat and cheese board  

Serve this board as an easy Thanksgiving appetizer before your big meal or throughout the day for people to munch on.

You want your meats and cheeses to be closer to room temperature for the best flavor. Use toothpicks or a cheese knife set for easy serving.

Make sure **most** of the items are bite size and easy to pick up with your fingers if needed.

Add other delicious appetizers like pesto artichoke star bread, asparagus tart, roasted garlic spinach artichoke dip, or heirloom tomato galette.

How to make a Thanksgiving charcuterie board 

It’s so much fun to put together a charcuterie board because you can mix and match ingredients and really let your creative side come out to play.

Make the pumpkin goat cheese whip

 Blend all 3 ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer on medium speed until fully combined, light and fluffy. Scoop it into a small bowl and place it on the charcuterie board.

Make the cranberry orange sauce

Follow the simple steps to make this delicious Cranberry Orange Sauce. Scoop a small bowl full and place it on the charcuterie board. This can be made up to 5 days in advance and stored in the fridge in an airtight container.

Build the Easy Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board

Artfully arrange all the ingredients into a large spread. The key here is to create patterns and layers for a beautiful charcuterie board.

Substitutions 

There are so many fun ideas and ways to make a traditional charcuterie board. Here are some other options for this Thanksgiving version.

• Honey – I love Local Hive Honey. They have a lot of different varietals that have unique tastes.
• Peppadew Peppers – These peppers are slightly spicy but not so much that they’ll blow anyone away.
• Hummus – Be creative and pick your favorite flavor. Some options include olive, lemon, roasted garlic, or roasted red pepper.  
• Jam – Add your favorite jam. I like raspberry, orange, or fig jam. 
• Fresh Berries – Try fresh fruit like raspberries, blackberries, strawberries or blueberries. You can also add some dried fruits such as cherries, cranberries, apricots, or figs.
• Marinated artichokes – These have a lot of flavor and go really well with meats and cheeses.
• Seeds – Add a small bowl of pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.

Storage

Refrigerate – If there are any leftovers from your board, you can store meats, cheeses, fruits, and jams in a separate airtight container in the refrigerator.

Reheat – The beauty of a meat and cheese board is that nothing is heated up, so there’s no need to reheat leftovers.

Freeze – Charcuterie boards are meant to be made and eaten within a few days. They’re best served fresh, so there’s no need to freeze leftovers.

FAQs

What are must haves on a charcuterie board?

When making a charcuterie board, the foundation is usually centered around sliced meats and a variety of cheeses, along with crackers, fresh fruits, and dips. I can’t go without some type of olives or jam either! I almost always use grapes too, whether it’s red, green or concord.

What kind of crackers go on a charcuterie board?

You can buy an assortment of crackers from the store, including whole grain, artisan, toasted sesame, and buttery crackers. Around the holidays I like to buy crackers with cranberries in them or rosemary flavored crackers. Both of those go perfectly on a charcuterie board!

What cheese goes well on a charcuterie board?

You get to have fun with this! Soft, hard, salty, sweet, or flavored cheeses are wonderful on charcuterie boards. I always try to include a blue cheese, cheddar, gouda and either goat or brie cheese. The rest is totally up to you!

How much food should I buy for it?

It may seem daunting to buy food for a charcuterie board, but it’s actually very easy. Buy 2-4 types of each category (meat, cheese, crackers, crunchy bits, jams). I usually shoot for 3oz per person if I don’t want leftovers.

I prefer to make sure I have enough, so usually I do a little more than that because sometimes people end up snacking on it again after dinner or the next day. In the case that you want a little extra then aim for 5oz per person.