This guide will help you choose cheeses, meats, fruits, and other items in the right quantities to make a Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board that you and your guests will love. It’s the perfect Thanksgiving appetizer that you can easily put together in just 5-10 minutes.
Themed charcuterie boards are a fun idea to display all of the fall flavors the season has to offer. In addition to this Thanksgiving charcuterie board, you should also check out my Christmas Wreath Charcuterie Board or Individual Charcuterie Cups.
If you’re also looking for wine or a cocktail to serve with the charcuterie, you’ll want to check out my Best Charcuterie Board and Wine Pairings or my guide on Wine Pairings for Thanksgiving. You can also browse my cocktails page.
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Why You’ll Love This Guide
- It’s easy and quick. Whether you’re a charcuterie board aficionado or this is your first time putting one together, you can easily make this in 10 minutes or less.
- It gives you measurements and directions that are adaptable for any sized Thanksgiving gathering.
- If you are a guest, bringing a beautiful charcuterie board is a welcome addition to any Thanksgiving table. If you are hosting, it keeps your hungry guests at bay while you finish up the last-minute details of the big meal ahead.
Ingredient Suggestions
I have a few suggestions if you are looking for specific items for your Thanksgiving charcuterie board, but as always, I encourage everyone to ultimately pick their favorite things. My list is not comprehensive, but it will get you started.
Cheese – Choose different types of cheeses that vary in texture and flavor. If you want 3 cheeses on the board, you can pick one fresh, soft, and hard cheese each. An example of this would be gruyere cheese (hard), brie (soft), and goat cheese (fresh).
Meat – I often will buy the variety pack of charcuterie meats at Costco. It’s a great value and the easiest option, but if you want 3 charcuterie meats to pick out individually, you could pick mild, medium-bold, and bold flavored cured meats. This might look like prosciutto (mild), coppa (medium-bold), spicy salami (bold).
Fruit and vegetables – Fresh seasonal produce and dried fruits are both a good idea. For this fall board, I used dried citrus, but sugared or dried cranberries would also be a perfect addition. Fresh pear slices, red grapes, apple slices, and/or pomegranate seeds would also be a great choice for a fall charcuterie board.
Nuts – This offers a nice crunch to your grazing board. Roasted, salted, and/or flavored nuts of all types are great ideas. Candied pecans are another great option.
Pickles and condiments – Cornichon pickles, cranberry sauce, olives, and other pickled vegetables help round off the different flavors of your board. I love peppadew and sweety drop peppers.
Bread and crackers – Some fresh baguette slices or a seed/nutty cracker are my top choices. I love the Raincoast Cranberry and Hazelnut Crisps for my charcuterie boards.
Miniature pumpkins or squash for decoration (optional)
How to Build Your Board
There’s really no wrong way to build your board, but the steps below may make it easier for you or more aesthetic.
Step 1: Start with a festive board (optional) and a mini pumpkin or squash for a pop of color. I used a beautiful board shaped like a leaf that I found on a whim from Aldi. I couldn’t find anything similar on Amazon, but I did find this pumpkin shaped charcuterie board that would be equally aesthetic, in my opinion.
Step 2: Add the larger items such as bowls with condiments, large cheese hunks, and larger decorations like the mini pumpkins. You can also add larger fresh fruits like clusters of grapes.
Step 3: Add slices of cheese, meats, and fruit/veggies in a pleasing manner of various patterns, working around the larger items. You can fan the slices in various directions. You can also make a charcuterie rose with thin slices of salami (details below).
Step 4: Tuck smaller seasonal fruits, nuts, crackers, and fall-inspired herbs in the remaining empty spaces. Provide spread knives, cheese knives, and cocktail picks with the plates for easy serving.
How to Make a Salami Rose for Your Board
This isn’t a requirement by any means, but it does elevate the board and doesn’t take any extra time.
To make a salami rose, take a wine glass and fold thin slices of salami in half around the rim of the glass. When you can’t add any more slices, invert the glass onto the charcuterie board and voila! A beautiful salami rose for your board!
Top Tips
- Always have extra bread and crackers, those are typically the first things to run out. You can also save some real estate on your board and have the bread/crackers in a basket or container on the side instead of on the actual board.
- A good glass of wine is an excellent choice for a beverage to go with charcuterie. For more details, check out my Best Wines for Charcuterie Guide or Wine Guide for Thanksgiving Dinner.
How to Prep Ahead
You can make your meat and cheese board the day before and cover it in plastic wrap to store in the fridge up to 1 day in advance. Keep the crackers, bread, and nuts separate and out of the fridge so that they don’t get soggy.
Leftovers and Storage
- Discard any leftovers that have been left out for more than 2 hours.
- Store meat and cheeses in the fridge.
- Wrap cured meats tightly in plastic wrap or store in airtight containers.
- Hard cheeses should be wrapped in wax paper, while soft cheeses go straight into airtight containers.
- Store fruits in containers in the fridge.
- Keep nuts and crackers in airtight containers at room temperature.
- Pickles and dips should be kept in airtight containers and refrigerated.
- Enjoy all leftovers within 3-4 days.
FAQ
Aim for 2-3 oz. of meat per person and 2-3 oz. cheese per person. There are 16 ounces in a pound, so for an 8-person board, you would need 1 – 1 ½ pounds of meat and 1 – 1 ½ pounds of cheese.
What other appetizers go well with charcuterie?
For a Thanksgiving charcuterie board, my Spicy Cranberry Shrimp are the perfect appetizer to go with your board. My pretzel encrusted Air Fryer Calamari is another good seafood option. There is also my Tomato Bruschetta with Whipped Feta, Chicken Marsala Meatballs, or Hummus Pumpkin Dip.
If you want to gussy up your brie or goat cheese options a little bit, you can try my Baked Brie with Fig Jam or Whipped Goat Cheese Crostini – they are both easy fall appetizers.
Related Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board Recipe
Ingredients
- Mini pumpkins and/or fall squashes (optional, for decor)
- 3 or more different types of cheeses (2-3 ounces per person for all cheeses combined)
- 3 or more different types of meat (2-3 ounces per person for all meats combined)
- 2 or more types of fruit and/or vegetables (fresh or dried)
- Condiments of choice (grainy mustard and cranberry sauce are good ones for Thanksgiving)
- Bread and/or crackers of choice
- Nuts of choice (optional)
- Pickled vegetables (optional)
- Fresh fall seasonal herbs (like rosemary or sage)
Instructions
- Add larger items (bowls with condiments, larger decorations, large cheese hunks) to the board first.
- Add sliced cheeses, meats, and fruit/veggies fanned out in various patterns, working around the larger items.
- Add remaining smaller items such as nuts, crackers, and fall-inspired herbs in the remaining gaps.
Notes
- Aim for 2-3 oz. of meat per person and 2-3 oz. cheese per person. There are 16 ounces in a pound, so for an 8-person board, you would need 1 – 1 ½ pounds of meat and 1 – 1 ½ pounds of cheese.
- Pro tip: Always have extra bread and crackers, those are typically the first thing to go. You can also save some real estate on your board and have the bread/crackers in a basket or container next to the board instead of on the board.
- You can make your board the day before and cover in plastic wrap to store in the fridge. Keep the crackers, bread, and nuts separate and out of the fridge so that they don’t get soggy.
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