Thanksgiving Turkey Vegetable Tray

Name: Thanksgiving Turkey Vegetable Tray and Homemade Ranch Dip
Prep time: 45 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: ⅔ cup buttermilk; ¼ cup light mayonnaise; 2 teaspoon 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; 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

Recipe Ingredient Notes

To make this festive vegetable tray, you will need the following 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

How To Make Thanksgiving Turkey Vegetable Tray

Ranch Dip 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.

Vegetable Tray Instructions

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!

Hand dipping a small carrot into a bowl of creamy dip surrounded by broccoli, yellow peppers, cucumbers, and carrots on a woven platter.

A platter of vibrant vegetables arranged in a semicircle with a central bowl of dip. The dip is topped with a small duck made from yellow bell pepper and olives.

Frequently Asked Questions

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 included 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, or cauliflower.

Do you peel cucumbers for a vegetable 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.

Vegetable platter with broccoli, carrots, and peppers arranged around a bowl of dill dip with a duck-shaped decoration made of yellow bell pepper and olives. A hand dips a cucumber slice.

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Questions & Reviews

glear says:

Where do the black olives come in?
Momma Cyd says:

You can place them anywhere on the turkey as a filler.
Lindsay says:

I love this! What a great way to have your kids fill up on veggies!
RC says:

Something is missing from the dip. It is a runny mess.
Bobbi @ Six Sisters says:

Sorry it turned out too runny for you. The texture of the mayonnaise makes a big difference. You can try lowering the buttermilk to 1/3 cup and adding a little more mayo to thicken it up
Mary says:

What is the yellow for the turkey face/eyes
Bobbi @ Six Sisters says:

We used the bottom cut off of a yellow bell pepper for the face. The eyes are just candy eyeballs, or you can use plastic googly eyes if you’re careful to remove them before anyone starts digging in.