Turkey and Vegetable Tray

This turkey vegetable tray is so easy to put together and makes the best healthy appetizer for your Thanksgiving celebration!

Why We Love This Thanksgiving Appetizer

Thanksgiving is one of my absolute favorite days of the year! I love having a whole day to share my love of delicious food with those closest to me.

Between all the turkey, bread, potatoes, and butter that make up so many of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes, it’s good to have something fresh and healthy to snack on throughout the day. Taking the extra time to arrange your veggies into a cute turkey not only makes for a fun and festive centerpiece, but encourages little eaters to dig in!

How to make a turkey vegetable tray

Our turkey vegetable tray is so easy to put together, even the kids can handle it! Start by making the ranch dip.

HOMEMADE RANCH DIP

1. In a food processor, add garlic and herbs and pulse until finely chopped.
2. Add Greek yogurt, buttermilk, salt and pepper. Process until smooth. Transfer to a small serving bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.

VEGGIE TRAY FOR TURKEY

1. Cut cucumbers into rings. Cut the carrots, celery, red bell pepper and yellow bell pepper into sticks. Cut the orange bell pepper in half – the bottom half will be your turkey face. Cut the top half into sticks.
2. On a large serving tray, follow the photo to begin assembling your vegetarian turkey. Start with the snow peas and arrange them in a semi-circle on top of the sheet. Next, place rounds of cucumbers on top of the top peas in the same formation. Then layer carrot and pepper sticks in the center of the tray to resemble turkey feathers.
3. Add the bowl of ranch dip under the pepper sticks. Add broccoli florets just above the bowl. Place the celery sticks vertically under the ranch bowl.
4. For the turkey face, lightly place the orange bell pepper, half cut-side down, on top of the ranch dip. Cut off a beak and scoop out excess pieces of pepper. For the eyes, you can use sliced ​​olives, googly eyes, or candy eyes. Secure with a small dot of ranch dip.

Ingredients:

Turkey and Vegetable Tray

• snow peas– Sugar snap peas work great here too!
• cucumbers– We love using English cucumbers because they have thin skin and small seeds.
• paprika– we used red, yellow and orange peppers for this recipe. You can also use a large pepper for the turkey head and mini peppers (sliced) for the feathers!
• carrots– We sliced ​​regular carrots, but baby carrots would work well too.
• broccoli– try with cauliflower, or mix and match and add both!
• celery

Homemade ranch dip

• garlic
• fresh parsley– here you can use dried herbs if necessary. Reduce the amount used to a third (1 tablespoon fresh = 1 teaspoon dried)
• fresh dill
• fresh chives
• onion salt
• greek yogurt– sour cream also works here
• buttermilk– If you don’t have buttermilk, regular milk is fine
• salt and pepper

You can also use a store-bought ranch dip or dressing, or hummus works great here too. Our pumpkin hummus would be delicious!

That’s all there is to it! Fast, easy and fun. This is a great way to get the kids in the kitchen this Thanksgiving!

More Thanksgiving Recipes:

• 8th ounces snow peas or snow peas
• 2 Middle cucumbers
• 2 Middle carrots
• 1 Middle Red pepper
• 1 Middle orange peppers
• 1 Middle yellow peppers
• 1 Cup broccoli
• 4 Middle celery sticks

ranch dip

• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tablespoon Parsely fresh
• 1 tablespoon dill fresh
• 1 tablespoon chives fresh
• 1/2 teaspoon onion salt
• 1 Cup greek yogurt
• 1/2 Cup buttermilk
• salt and pepper to taste

• Rinse your vegetables thoroughly. Cut cucumbers into round slices. Cut carrots and celery into sticks. Cut the orange bell in half – the bottom half will be your turkey face. Cut the remaining peppers and the red and yellow peppers into sticks.

• On a large oval or round serving tray, start arranging the vegetables. As per the photo, start with the snow peas and arrange them in a semi-circle on top of the tray. Next, place rounds of cucumbers on top of the top peas in the same formation. Then layer carrot and pepper sticks in the center of the tray to resemble turkey feathers.

• Add the bowl of ranch dip under the pepper sticks. Add broccoli florets just above the bowl. Place the celery sticks vertically under the ranch bowl.

• For the turkey face, lightly place the orange bell pepper, half cut-side down, on top of the ranch dip. Cut a beak and a gobbler from the remaining pieces of pepper. For the eyes, you can use sliced ​​olives, googly eyes, or candy eyes. Secure with a small dot of ranch dip.

ranch dip

• Put the garlic clove in a food processor and mince. Put the herbs in the processor and pulse until they are also finely chopped.

• Add Greek yogurt, buttermilk, and salt and pepper. Process until combined. Pour into a small bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Calories: 49kcal | Carbohydrates: 7G | Protein: 4G | Fat: 1G | Saturated Fatty Acids: 0.3G | Polyunsaturated fat: 0.1G | Monounsaturated fatty acids: 0.1G | Trans fats: 0.001G | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 152mg | Potassium: 271mg | Fiber: 2G | Sugar: 4G | Vitamin A: 2844ie | Vitamin C: 62mg | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 1mg

Natalie Monson

I am a Registered Nutritionist, mother of 4, an avid food lover and a strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you’ll find lots of delicious fruit and veg-packed recipes, tips on how to get your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters, and plenty of resources to feed your family.

Learn more about Natalie