This healthy appetizer board is perfect for entertaining on Thanksgiving in a festive and colorful way (I mean does it get any cuter than a vegetable turkey head?). Perfect for friends, families, or children to enjoy, this appetizer is served with my vegan ranch dressing, but you can also serve it with your favorite Thanksgiving inspired dip. It’s super simple to make and takes no more than 20 minutes to prep.
For this recipe, you will need:
- Celery: one full bundle
- Red + Orange Peppers: I like using these colors since they’re bright and festival
- Carrots: peel and slice your carrots into even sticks
- Cucumbers: an English or larger cucumber is idea
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Broccoli: this will be raw and cut these up into florets
- Chocolate Chips (optional): these are for the turkey eyes
- Cashews: these are for the ranch dip and they need to be soaked in warm water first
- Apple Cider Vinegar: you can substitute with any mild vinegar like rice vinegar or use a small batch vinegar from your local natural grocery store or farmer’s market
- Lemon Juice: this is best to make your own by using fresh lemons
- Salt
- Onion Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Black Pepper
- Parsley: use fresh parsley is you can or otherwise dried is fine
- Dill: Use fresh dill if you can or dried dill is fine as well
- Circle Tray: this appetizer looks best on a round serving tray
Tips:
- You can cut the vegetables a day before and store in the refrigerator in a sealed container and then run them under water again to refresh these before you serve them
- You can make the ranch dressing a day before and store in the refrigerator in a sealed container
- You can swap out some of the vegetables like cauliflower or snap peas for cucumbers for example and use what you already have in your fridge
- Cut the vegetables into sizes that are ideal for dipping
- Arrange right before you plan to enjoy
How to Store:
- Store any leftover vegetables or dressing sealed containers in the refrigerator for up to 2 days
Other Thanksgiving recipes to try:
Easy Almond Shallot Green Beans
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
Grilled Brussels Sprouts Skewers with Balsamic Glaze
Thanksgiving Turkey Vegetable + Dip Board
Ingredients
Turkey Body
- 1 bunch celery, cut into thin 3 inch pieces
- 2 red peppers, sliced thin
- 4-6 carrots, peeled and cut into 3 inch pieces
- 1/2 large cucumbers, sliced ½ inch thick
- 10 cherry tomatoes
- 1 small head broccoli, cut into smaller pieces
Turkey Head
- 1 red bell pepper
- 2 chocolate chips
- end of a carrot for the nose
- thin piece of yellow or orange bell pepper
Ranch Dressing
- 1 cup cashews (soaked in hot water for 10 minutes)
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- sprinkle black pepper
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped or 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tbsp fresh dill
Instructions
- Cut all of your vegetables for the dip board.
- Make your ranch dressing by soaking cashews in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain the cashews and add all of the dressing ingredients to a food processor or high speed blender and blend until smooth.
- Place your dip into a small bowl and then place it on the circular tray.
- Start with your celery and place those pieces around the entire outer part of the circle tray making the turkey tail.
- Then place your carrots around the tray slightly overlapping the tips of the celery.
- Next, place your peppers around the tray so they are slightly overlapping the carrots.
- Then place your broccoli florets around the dip bowl.
- Place the cucumbers between the broccoli and the peppers then sprinkle in the cherry tomatoes between the cucumber pieces.
- To make the turkey face, first cut off the base of the pepper. Then cut the end of a carrot or use the tip of a baby carrot to make the beak (use the end of a toothpick to hold this in place), a sliver of a yellow or orange pepper for the snood, and two chocolate chips for the eyes (I used mayo for the eyeballs).
- Serve and ENJOY!
Did you make this recipe?Tag @girlswhoeat!
