With Turkey day right around the corner, it is time to break out our Thanksgiving turkey vegetable tray recipe and homemade ranch dip. Not to mention it makes for a great vegetable turkey centerpiece!
Who doesn’t love a great Thanksgiving turkey vegetable tray recipe and homemade ranch dip? It is a one-of-a-kind platter that you, your family, and all guests will love.
You can make it up the night before you need it if you have room in the fridge or chop everything ahead of time and place it all on the platter the day of. Either way, it is one of the more simple holiday vegetable trays that does not require any baking.
It is probably one of the more kid-friendly recipes that the kids can dig into while they are waiting for the feast to start. I always love having our setting out so it is ready to go and people can munch on it as the day goes on.
And don’t forget that this is an easy healthy appetizer that you can put together and be sure everyone will like. For more easy trays like this one, take a look at our Vegetable Dill Dip Recipe, Easy Mediterranean Dip Recipe, or even change it up with something like our Big Game Day Treats and Family Friendly Charcuterie Board.
Ingredients You Need to Make Our Thanksgiving Turkey Vegetable Tray Recipe and Homemade Ranch Dip:
- Buttermilk
- Light mayonnaise
- Worcestershire sauce
- Onion powder
- Dried onion flakes
- Garlic powder
- Chopped chives
- Chopped dill
- Chopped parsley
- Salt
- Pepper
- Green bell pepper slices
- Red bell pepper slices
- Yellow bell pepper slices
- Orange bell pepper slices
- Baby carrots
- Broccoli, cut into florets
- English cucumber slices
- Black olives
- Any other vegetables you like
- Candy eyeballs or “googly” plastic eyeballs
How To Make Our Thanksgiving Turkey Vegetable Tray Recipe and Homemade Ranch Dip:
When you are ready to assemble your vegetable turkey tray start by making the homemade ranch dip.
Get out a medium mixing bowl and pour in the buttermilk, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, onion flakes, garlic powder, chives, dill, and parsley and whisk it all together.
Once you have all the put in, sprinkle in some salt and pepper to your taste, whisk it together and then pour it into a small bowl.
Place the small bowl at the bottom of the tray to use it as the body of the turkey.
Then take one of your bell peppers and slice off the bottom to use it as the turkey’s face and put it near the top of the bowl.
For the beak, take an orange bell pepper and slice it into a triangle and place it on the bottom of the bell pepper, and then place two of the candy eyeballs to complete the turkey face.
Now wash and cut all of your vegetables and dry them off.
Then begin to start assembling the turkey by arranging the first layer of “turkey feathers” along the outer edge of the platter.
NOTE: To create the best shape for the turkey, it would be best to use a large circular plate or platter.
Now, continue layering the vegetables in a rainbow shape or half circle, making sure to overlap the vegetables to make them look more like the feathers of the turkey. Add olives as a filler or a contrast half circle.
Keep making the layers until you reach the turkey body aka the vegetable dip bowl!
Then either carefully wrap the turkey veggie tray with plastic wrap or serve it right away and enjoy!
To Make this Thanksgiving Side Dish You Will Need:
- Large circular platter (one like THIS would be great!)
- Medium mixing bowl
- Small serving bowl
- Knife
- Cutting board
How to Make Homemade Buttermilk
I’ll be honest, I’ve never been one to always have buttermilk on hand. So, if you didn’t plan on needing buttermilk, or the store was out, rest assured you can always make your own!
Actually, once I realized I could make my own buttermilk with Tastes Better from Scratch’s recipe, I stopped buying buttermilk altogether. You can make it with everything you already have at home.
What is Normally on a Vegetable Tray?
You can choose what vegetables you want to serve based on what you like or what you think others will like. Here is a list of the vegetables we like to serve on our vegetable trays:
- Bell peppers
- Chopped broccoli
- Grape or cherry tomatoes
- Carrots
- Snap peas
- Cucumbers
- Pickles
- Sliced radishes
- Cauliflower
Should You Peel a Cucumber for a Veggie Tray?
Often times people will peel part of the cucumber on a veggie tray. But honestly, that is more based on looks rather than out of necessity. So you can choose which you like better.
Leaving the skin on the cucumber will add more color and fiber, but if you prefer cucumbers without the skin, then I would suggest doing what you like best.
How Do You Cut Broccoli for a Vegetable Tray?
For broccoli, you will want to cut them into smaller, bite-sized pieces. I also like to leave a little bit of the broccoli stalk on too to give people to hang onto when they are dipping the broccoli into your homemade ranch dip.
Should You Peel a Cucumber for a Veggie Tray?
To make this recipe even easier you can just buy your favorite veggie dip and use that in place of the homemade ranch dip. While I love this ranch dip, Thanksgiving can be crazy busy, and buying the dip might make your life easier and that is awesome.
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Pick Out Your Favorite Thanksgiving Side Dishes:
- Caramel Apple Jello Salad Recipe
- Slow Cooker Corn On The Cob Recipe
- Air Fryer Parmesan Broccoli Recipe
- Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits Copycat Recipe
- Red Potato Salad Recipe
- Instant Pot Sweet and Spicy BBQ Beans Recipe
- Blueberry Fluff Salad Recipe
- Texas Roadhouse Rolls Copycat Recipe
You Can Never Have Enough Tasty Dip Recipes to Serve or Bring During the Holidays. Give These a Try!
- Caramel Apple Butter Dip Recipe
- Instant Pot Spinach Artichoke Dip
- Spooky Halloween 7 Layer Dip Recipe
- Toffee Apple Dip Recipe
- Easy French Onion Dip (5 Minute Recipe)
- Easy 2 Ingredient Cream Cheese Fruit Dip Recipe
- Green Goddess Vegetable Dip Recipe
- Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Fruit Dip Recipe
- Skinny Taco Dip Recipe
- Creamy Pistachio Fruit Dip Recipe (2 Ingredients)
- Slow Cooker Spinach Artichoke Dip Recipe
- Kid Friendly Charcuterie
Thanksgiving Turkey Vegetable Tray Recipe and Homemade Ranch Dip
Ingredients
Ranch Dip
- ⅔ cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup light mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon dried onion flakes
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon chopped chives
- 1 Tablespoon chopped dill
- 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
- salt and pepper, to taste
Vegetable Tray
- 1 green bell pepper sliced into strips
- 1 red bell pepper sliced into strips
- 1 yellow bell pepper sliced into strips, except cut off the bottom to use as the turkey face
- 1 orange bell pepper sliced into strips
- 1 pound baby carrots
- 1 head broccoli cut into florets
- 1 English cucumber sliced
- 6 ounces black olives 1 can
- Your favorite vegetables that you want to include
- Candy eyeballs or "googly" plastic eyeballs
Instructions
- To make the dip, whisk the buttermilk, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, onion flakes, garlic powder, chives, dill and parsley in a bowl; add salt and pepper to taste.
- Place dip in a small bowl.
- Place bowl at the bottom of a large serving platter, as this will be the body of the turkey, take one of the bell peppers (any color you want) and slice off the bottom – this will be the turkey's face. Place it near the top of the bowl. You can also make a beak out a piece of the orange bell pepper if desired and place eyes on the turkey face as well!
- Wash, cut, and prep all the vegetables, then start assembling them by arranging the first layer of "turkey feathers" along the outer edge of the platter (I recommend using a large circle plate or platter).
- Continue layering the rest of your vegetables in a "rainbow formation" (or half circles) on your platter, surrounding the "turkey body" (aka your vegetable dip). Add in olives in any half circle on your turkey or as a filler. Be sure to slightly overlap each layer of vegetables so that it looks like turkey feathers.
- Continue until you have used up all your vegetables and serve!
Notes
- You can also use a store-bought veggie dip if you don’t want to make your own!
Nutrition
Equipment
- Large Circular Platter
- Small Serving Bowl
Recipe Details
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