Thanksgiving Platter Guide: How to Build a Savory & Sweet Charcuterie Board
Sep 28, 2023 Updated Oct 08, 2025
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Table of Contents
- What to Serve on a Thanksgiving Platter: Sweet & Savory Pairings to Try
- My Thanksgiving Cheese & Dessert Platter: Pairings I Used & Loved
- How to Incorporate Fall Colors & Tastes for Thanksgiving
- How do I Make the Brie Leaf Cut Out?
- Beverage Pairings for Your Thanksgiving Board
- FAQs
- Show Me Your Thanksgiving Boards
- Thanksgiving Cheese & Dessert Board Recipe
- SHOP THIS POST
A sweet and savory Thanksgiving platter is a perfect add to a Friendsgiving potluck or your family’s Turkey Day table. The best thing is that, while I love to serve this as a Thanksgiving appetizer, you can enjoy it all-fall-long–I especially love the Brie cut-out leaf!
For other autumnal ideas, check out my Elevated Fall Cheese Board, Cranberry Cheese Ball, Pumpkin Baked Brie, Fall Burrata Board, and Caramel Apple Bar.
What to Serve on a Thanksgiving Platter: Sweet & Savory Pairings to Try
When it comes to pairing cheeses with sweet and savory elements, you want to look for contrasting or complementary flavors (or textures!). Complementary means pairing similar flavors, like nutty gouda with almonds. Contrasting is the opposite; think salty blue cheese with sweet honey or candied pecans. Here are some ideas for fall flavor combos that cover both categories!
| Cheese | Sweet Elements | Savory Elements |
| Brie | Pomegranate seeds, fig jam, or cranberry compote | Fresh rosemary, prosciutto, spiced pecans |
| Aged Gouda | Apple slices + caramel drizzle, dates, apple butter | Roasted pecans, roasted almonds, smoked sausage |
| Chevre | Dried cranberries, honey, or pomegranate, lemon curd | roasted veggies, pistachios, pancetta |
| Blue Cheese | Candied pecans, honeycomb, pears, dark chocolate | Sea salt almonds, Bacon-Wrapped Dates, caramelized onions |
| Sharp Cheddar | Apple or pear slices, maple butter, fig jam, cherry preserves | Smoked turkey, salami, roasted almonds, pickled onions |
| Mimolette | Dried apricots, persimmons, honey roasted almonds | Salami, turkey slices, olives, prosciutto |
| Smoked Gouda | Sugared cranberries, apple butter, maple syrup | Pumpernickel slices, caramelized onions, candied bacon |
My Thanksgiving Cheese & Dessert Platter: Pairings I Used & Loved
This board has a balanced mix of savory cheeses, charcuterie meats, nuts, seasonal produce, and sweet treats. The sweet and creamy brie pairs beautifully with the sweet and tart produce, savory, herby rosemary, and rich chocolates. The mimolette is perfect with the savory salami, crunchy chips and pecans, and sweet maple cookies.
On This Board
Cheese
- Brie, wheel with leaf cut-out
- Mimolette, sliced
Meat
- Salami, folded
Produce
- Persimmons, sliced
- Thomcord grapes
- Raspberries
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Blackberries
Carbs
- Maple Leaf Cookies
- Trader Joe’s Leaf Chips (GF)
Accoutrements
- Chocolate Turkeys
- Chocolate Pumpkins
- Roasted Pecans
Garnish
- Fresh rosemary sprigs
- Pomegranate seeds
Ingredient Swaps
Vegan Cheese
- Rebel Cheese Cave-Aged Brie
- The Uncreamery Classic Brie
- Rebel Cheese Smoked Cheddar
- Däre Smoked Cheddar
Gluten-Free Options
How to Incorporate Fall Colors & Tastes for Thanksgiving
Leaf shapes all around!
- Leaf chips from Trader Joe’s. These are only on shelves for a limited time. Make sure to grab a few bags as soon as they come in stock in early October! They taste just like regular corn chips, colored with red beet, carrot, and pumpkin. They are stunning and so seasonally appropriate. If you can’t find these from Trader Joe’s, any other Fall colored veggie chips will do the trick!
- Maple leaf cookies. These are so great to have on your board. Actually, they are a favorite of mine to put on many Fall and Winter boards. Rest assured, these maple leaf cookies are in stock at both Trader Joe’s and Costco all year long.
- Brie cutout. This is really the showstopper. It elevates the board and really drives home the Fall theme. More on how to do this below.
So much orange!
- Pumpkin chocolate-covered pretzels from World Market. I cannot guarantee these are still in the store, but any fun, fall-colored pretzels will work (I’ve seen blueberry-flavored purple ones at Sprouts that would work just as well). I love these because they are the perfect mix of sweet and savory.
- Rich orange cheese. I love using Mimolette on Fall boards, like my Elevated Thanksgiving Board. You can also check out Mimolette on my French Cheese Board. The dark, rich orange color is so pretty. The sharpness of the cheese flavor is great paired next to sweets and mild flavors. If you don’t like Mimolette, aged Gouda or cheddar work great (they’ll both be a little lighter in orange color but still just as good).
A variety of produce!
- Persimmon slices. I still don’t know why many people don’t eat persimmons like this. They are so sweet and soft—the perfect flavor addition to a cheese board. Just make sure you put out ripe persimmons. If these don’t appeal to you, dried persimmons are a great swap.
- All the berries! In California, we are blessed with tasty berries all year ‘round, so I continue popping them on my boards throughout the seasons. However, this might not be the case where you live (quite frankly, they are expensive in most places in non-summer months, so feel free to omit). As always, favor the produce that’s in season where you live. Apples, pears, carrots, sugared cranberries (not raw ones!), figs, and grapes are great November fruits. You can add your favorites!
How do I Make the Brie Leaf Cut Out?
I love adding a brie cutout to a themed board. Whatever shape you choose will reinforce the theme of your board. A full tutorial of how to do a brie cutout is in my 4th of July, Proud to Brie and American cheese board post.
For this leaf-shaped cutout, I filled mine with pomegranate seeds, which honestly makes it look a bit like the red maple leaf on a Canadian flag—even more reason to serve this for Canadian Thanksgiving! Pomegranate seeds are seasonal and so festive. You just want to make sure whatever you put in the middle is small and goes well with brie cheese.
If you are doing this for another season, or don’t want the fruit inside, you can always use your favorite jam flavor instead. The flavor pairing you choose will really make this special—fig jam? raspberry preserves?—make it your own!
Beverage Pairings for Your Thanksgiving Board
You know I love to pair cheese boards with wine, but there are a lot of other options that will pair well with these flavors, too! Since most of the board is paired with the cheeses, I used the brie and mimolette to guide these choices as well:
Non-Alcoholic
- Apple cider
- Ginger beer
- Root beer
- Apple Ginger Fizz
- Harry Potter Pumpkin Juice
Alcoholic
- Light-bodied red wines, like pinot noir and beaujolais
- Mild, slightly fruity white wines, like Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc
- Champagne or sparkling wine
- Pumpkin beer
- Spicy Bourbon Pumpkin Smash
- Spiced Apple Margarita
- Lambrusco Smash
FAQs
Shop at Trader Joe’s for affordable cheese swaps, focus on the seasonal fruit that is available in your area, and/or buy your snacks in bulk from Costco.
6 to 10 people. For Thanksgiving-type dishes, there is more wiggle room since there is so much food, people can enjoy a little bit of everything.
This board is so easy to make and has limited prep, so you hopefully won’t need to make it too far ahead! If you want to prep the leaf cut-out, you can do it up to 24 hours before serving. Just make sure you keep the cut cheese sealed in plastic wrap or a cheese bag in the refrigerator.
– The beauty of berries and grapes is that they won’t brown, but they do break down! Keep them refrigerated in separate containers until serving.
– If you do serve sliced fruit, like apples, don’t slice them until just before serving if possible! If you need to prep them ahead, you can soak the slices in salt water for 5 minutes and rinse before serving to delay browning.
14.5 inches in diameter, like this round wood tray.
Show Me Your Thanksgiving Boards
I hope this post inspires you to create sweet & savory Thanksgiving platters. Nothing makes me happier than seeing the beautiful snacks and spreads you create from my tips. If you make something inspired by this post, please tag me at @ainttooproudtomeg so I can see and share!
And, if you liked this recipe, please rate and review.
Thanksgiving Cheese & Dessert Board
Ingredients
Cheese
- Brie wheel with leaf cut-out
- Mimolette sliced
Meat
- Salami folded
Produce
- Persimmons sliced
- Thomcord Grapes
- Raspberries
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Blackberries
Carbs
- Maple Leaf Cookies
- Leaf Chips
Accoutrements
- Chocolate Turkeys
- Chocolate Pumpkins
- Roasted Pecans
Garnish
- Fresh rosemary sprigs
- Pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- Fill a small bowl with blueberries and place the Brie cut-out on top. Then place the bowl and the brie wheel in the center of the board to anchor it. Fill the cut-out part of the brie wheel with pomegranate seeds.
- Fan the salami and leaf chips around the Brie wheel, then add the produce around the outside of the bowl being sure to separate similar colors.
- Add the mimolette, persimmons, and leaf cookies around the outside edge of the board.
- Fill in any empty spots with pecans, chocolate, and any remaining produce. Garnish with rosemary to serve.
Where do you find the chocolate turkeys? so cute!
Those were from Trader Joe’s. They normally have them every year.
Cranberries are really sour, so this ends up tasting like Sour Patch Kids. In a good holiday way. However, expect them to still be pretty sour.
Love the colors! Hoping to get my hands on the Trader Joe’s leave chips one day.
Absolutely love this one! It is so fall and festive, and easy to put together. It was a big hit for thanksgiving!
Festive and delicious. So good on the eyes too
Absolutely love the board! Was so excited when I received my “The cheeseboard deck!” You take away all excuses of someone being able to create a beautiful landscape with food !!
This board is stunning! You’ve got to snag those Trader Joe’s seasonal items early though!