• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Hungry Happenings

  • ABOUT
    • About/Contact
    • Work With Me
    • Featured On
  • EXPLORE
    • Hungry Happenings Blog Posts
    • Travel
    • Readers’ Gallery
    • Hungry Halloween
      • Crafts and Decor
      • Halloween Party Games
      • Templates – Printable Templates for Halloween Crafts and Recipes
    • Roundups
  • MY BOOK
  • CHOCOLATE MAKING COURSES
  • HOME
  • RECIPES
    • ALL 1000+ Recipes (loads slowly)
    • Dessert Recipes
    • Decorated Cookies
    • Decorated Cakes
    • Cheesecake Recipes
    • Everyday Desserts
    • Homemade Candy
    • Everyday Meals
  • HOW TO
    • Chocolate Making Tips
    • Make Modeling Chocolate
      • Modeling Chocolate Recipe and Tutorial
      • How to Color Modeling Chocolate
      • How to Store and Work with Modeling Chocolate
      • How to Fix Greasy Modeling Chocolate
      • How to Fix Dry Modeling Chocolate
      • Use Colored Candy Melts to Make Candy Clay
    • Candy Clay Creations
    • How To Color White Chocolate and Candy Melts and Paint Candy Molds
    • How to Use Food Coloring Markers
  • HOLIDAYS
    • ALL HOLIDAY RECIPES
    • Valentine’s Day
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Easter
    • 4th of July
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
    • New Year’s Eve
    • MORE HOLIDAYS
      • Mother’s Day
      • Father’s Day
      • April Fools
      • Chinese New Year
      • Cinco de Mayo
      • Day of the Dead
      • Earth Day
      • Hanukkah
      • Mardi Gras
  • PARTY FOOD
    • Super Bowl
    • Graduation
    • Birthday Party
    • March Madness
    • Summer Fun
    • Baby Shower
    • Wedding Shower
    • School/Teacher
    • Movie and T.V. Characters
    • Kid’s Treats
    • Fun Party Recipes
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball Turkey Platter

November 23, 2020 This post may contain affiliate links.

This Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball Turkey Platter is big enough to feed a hungry crowd on Thanksgiving. It’s super cute too and will really make your table look festive and fun. 

bacon ranch cheese ball decorated to look like a turkey is surrounded by cheese topped cracker feathers

What party would be complete without a platter or plate of cheese? Whether you like to serve cheese slices, dips, or cheese balls to your party guests it can be fun dressing them up for the holidays. This Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball Turkey Platter will look amazing on your table this Thanksgiving.

I’m going to guess that you have seen pictures of Turkey shaped Cheese Platters online and perhaps you have even made one. They make great appetizers for a large crowd for Thanksgiving. I’ve wanted to make one for years and am excited to finally share my version of this fun Thanksgiving appetizer with you.

If you follow me here you know how much I love making fun cheese balls. I’ve made so many including a Cheese Ball Cauldron, Mini Melting Snowman Cheese Balls, Baby Chick Cheese Balls, Birthday Cake Cheese Balls, Wedding Cake Cheese Balls, and even a Spa Party Cheese Ball that looks like a woman getting a facial. So for my cheese platter turkey, I just had to include a cheese ball.

image of the turkey shaped cheese ball surrounded by feathers made using oval crackers and leaf shaped cheese cut-outs

How to make a Turkey Cheese Ball

Supplies and Ingredients:

  • Town House (or other oval-shaped) Crackers
  • thin slices of cheese (I used CoJack, Sharp Cheddar in orange and white)
  • leaf-shaped plunger cutter or metal cookie cutter
  • bacon ranch cheese ball (recipe below)
    • cream cheese
    • ranch dressing
    • cheese (I used the scraps from the slices)
    • Worcestershire sauce
    • bacon
  • knife or kitchen scissors
  • round cookie cutter
  • black and red food coloring markers

how to cut leaf shaped cheese to use to make a turkey cheese platter

How to make the cheese and cracker turkey feathers:

  1. Cut leaf or oval shapes out of the cheese slices.
    • You can use a leaf plunger cutter which makes cutting the leaves super fast and easy.
    • Or use a leaf-shaped cookie cutter.
    • Or simply cut them out using kitchen scissors or a knife.
    • You just want the cheese to be slightly smaller than the cracker so you get a lot of color contrast and some dimension to the turkey feathers.
  2. Set one slice of cheese onto each cracker.
  3. Arrange the crackers into 4 rows of “feathers” in a half-moon shape.
    • Start by placing one cracker in the center at the top of your platter then arrange the top row of crackers going down towards the bottom of the platter.
    • Set the first cracker of the second row in the center overlapping the bottom edge of the cracker above it.
    • Continue around overlapping the crackers as you go.
    • You want to pack these crackers in so there is very little space between them.

What type of cheese should I use?

  • Use any cheese you like but be sure it has some nice color to it.
  • I chose Co-Jack and Sharp Cheddar and like how they looked.
  • You can add spicier cheese like pepper jack or milder cheese like Colby.

Do I have to put cheese slices on the crackers?

  • No. If you want to just serve the turkey cheese ball with crackers that will work too.
  • I added the cheese to add some color to my platter.

Can I add meat to my turkey cheese platter?

  • Yes, slices of pepperoni, salami, or summer sausage would be great additions.

collage of images showing how to make the cheese ball turkey

Make the cheese ball turkey.

  1. Combine 8 ounces of softened cream cheese with 6 ounces of cheese.
    • You can weigh out 6 ounces of cheese or measure out 1 1/2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese.
    • You can also use the scraps of cheese you have leftover after cutting all the leaves. I used 6 slices of Co-Jack cheese and 9 slices of Sharp Cheddar cheese for my leaves. After weighing those scraps I needed to add one more slice of cheese to get to 6 ounces.
  2. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of ranch dressing and a 1/4 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce.
  3. Stir until well combined.
    • I like using a food processor to make my cheese balls but a mixer works well too.
  4. Scoop out about 1/3 of the cheese ball mixture and place it in a bowl filled with 1 cup of finely chopped bacon.
  5. Roll that into a ball coated in bacon.
  6. Remove from the bacon and set aside.
  7. Scoop out the remaining cheese mixture into the bowl of bacon, reserving about a tablespoon of the soft cheese to use later.
  8. Roll that into an oval-shaped body for the turkey.

cut the white cheddar cheese eyes and draw on black food coloring pupils then cut an orange beak and wattle and color the wattle red, cut two orange cheddar cheese feet, then decorate the turkey cheese ball

Decorate and assemble the turkey.

  1. Set the body section of the cheese ball in between the cracker leaves leaving room for the head.
  2. Use a small amount of the reserved cheese spread to attach the head to the body.
  3. Cut out two round eyes from a slice of white cheese and draw on pupils using a black food coloring marker.
  4. Cut out a beak, a wattle, and two feet from a slice of orange cheese.
  5. Color the wattle piece using a red food coloring marker.
  6. Let the colored pieces dry before arranging them on the turkey cheese ball.
  7. Attach the pieces using some of the soft cheese spread.
  8. Serve to your Thanksgiving dinner guests.

How far in advance can I decorate this Thanksgiving appetizer?

  • No more than an hour before your party guests arrive.
  • You can cut out your cheese slices and keep them wrapped in plastic wrap, stored in an airtight container or zip-top bag for up to a few days.
  • The cheese ball can also be made and refrigerated for several days but don’t decorate it with the eyes, beak, wattle, and feet until it comes out of the refrigerator. Those cheese slices will dry out if not wrapped well.
  • Do not refrigerate the crackers or they will get soft.

Video…

 

Printable Recipe

5 from 2 votes
bacon ranch cheese ball decorated to look like a turkey is surrounded by cheese topped cracker feathers
Print
Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball Turkey Platter
Prep Time
45 mins
Total Time
45 mins
 

Dress up your cheese ball for Thanksgiving by turning it into an adorably cute turkey complete with cheese and cracker feathers, cheese eyes, a beak, wattle, and feet. 

Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Keyword: bacon ranch cheese ball, turkey cheese ball
Servings: 24
Author: Beth
Ingredients
Cheese & Cracker Feathers
  • 15 slices orange or orange and white cheese (cheddar, Co-Jack, etc.)
  • 60 oval crackers
Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball Turkey
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 6 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups or use scraps from cheese ball)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons ranch dressing
  • 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 cup finely chopped bacon
Turkey Eyes, Wattle, Beak, and Feet
  • 1 slice orange cheese
  • 1 slice white cheddar cheese (or any other white cheese)
  • black and red food coloring markers
Instructions
Cheese & Cracker Feathers
  1. Cut 4 leaves out of each slice of cheese and set one slice on each cracker. 

  2. Arrange in four rows in a half-moon shape on a large serving platter, overlapping the crackers as you go, leaving an opening on the interior of the half-moon for the cheese ball. 

Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball Turkey
  1. Stir together the softened cream cheese, shredded cheese (or scraps from above), the ranch dressing, and Worcestershire sauce until well combined. 

  2. Scoop about 1/3rd of the cheese spread into a shallow bowl filled with the bacon. 

  3. Coat the cheese spread in the bacon and roll it into a ball.

  4. Set aside.

  5. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the cheese spread for later. 

  6. Roll the rest in bacon shaping it into an oval-shaped turkey body.

  7. Set the turkey body in the opening in the crackers. 

  8. Attach the cheese ball head using some of the reserved cheese spread. 

Turkey Eyes, Wattle, Beak, and Feet
  1. Cut two circle-shaped eyes out of the white cheese and draw on pupils using a black food coloring marker. 

  2. Cut out a triangle-shaped beak and a teardrop-shaped wattle from the orange cheese. 

  3. Brush red food coloring over the teardrop-shaped wattle. 

  4. Cut two triangle-shaped feet each with 3 toes. 

  5. Attach the Turkey Eyes, Wattle, Beak, and Feet to the cheese ball using the remaining cheese spread.

  6. Serve and enjoy!

This recipe was originally published on November 8, 2018.

You might like these other cheese ball recipes…

Rudolph cheese ball with bacon antlers on a white platter with bowls of star shaped and Christmas tree shaped crackers and a snowflake cheese knife all on a blue snowflake background.

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer Cheese Ball with Bacon Antlers

Cheddar Bacon Cheese Ball Cauldron is a magical Halloween appetizer.

Cheese Ball Cauldron decorated with colorful peppers, poppy seeds, and guacamole

cheese ball shaped like a woman's face covered in a green guacamole mask, cucumber eyes, red pepper lips, and mozzarella head wrap

Spa Party Cheese Ball – cheese ball shaped like a woman’s face covered in a guacamole face mask

wedding cake cheese ball decorated with yellow daisies

Wedding Cake Cheese Ball decorated with yellow daisies

Dress up your holiday table with some cute Thanksgiving food. Your family will adore these sweet and savory Thanksgiving recipes.

You can find more fun Thanksgiving recipe ideas here.

Filed Under: Thanksgiving Recipes Tagged With: Appetizers, cheese, Cheese-Balls, turkey

The Sugar Academy Chocolate Making Courses
Previous Post: « Thanksgiving Treats – Chocolate Pretzel Scarecrows
Next Post: Red and Green Rice Krispies® Treat Christmas Pinwheels »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tavette

    November 9, 2018 at 11:52 am

    He’s JUST adorable!!! He looks like he’s watching who’s plucking his feathers 🙂

    Your instructions and videos are so thorough. Congrats.

    Us big folks and the little ones will surely get a kick out of this.

    Tavette

    Reply
    • Beth

      November 9, 2018 at 4:19 pm

      LOL! You are right.
      I’m so glad you find the instructions and video helpful. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. 🙂

      Reply
  2. The Partiologist

    November 11, 2018 at 6:59 am

    How fun to serve a turkey cheese ball platter, love the idea!

    Reply
    • Beth

      November 11, 2018 at 1:44 pm

      Thanks I’m so glad you like this turkey cheese platter.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

WELCOME!

See all recipe categories

The Sugar Academy Chocolate Making Courses

Footer

Popular Kid Friendly Recipes

Halloween Mickey Mouse Oreo Cookies decorated using candy clay are fun to make for your Halloween parties.
Turn Reese's Cups into sweet little otters then use them to create some adorable Sea Otter Cupcakes. These treat will be perfect for you Finding Dory Party.
Mickey Mouse Galaxy Cookies - chocolate cookies topped with chocolate ganache and galaxy sprinkles.
Decorate this cute Olaf Mickey Cake for your Disney Frozen party. It's easy to create using a simple cake decorating technique.
This Winter Wonderland White Chocolate Popcorn speckled with candy snowflakes and blue sprinkles would make a great treat for a Frozen party, a nice gift for Christmas, or a wintertime snack.
Movie Night Snacks featuring Disney and Pixar Toy Story 4 Mozzarella Shapes from Farm Rich

Hungry Happenings is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and occasionally writes sponsored posts which will be disclosed within the post. We value your privacy. Please read our Privacy Policy, Disclosure, and Terms of Service.

Search Hungry Happenings by Category

Copyright © 2021 Hungry Happenings