Cheese Ball Turkey Platter

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.

Ingredients

• Town House (or other oval-shaped) Crackers
• thin slices of cheese (I used CoJack, and 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

Supplies

• knife or kitchen scissors
• round cookie cutter
• black and red food coloring markers

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 liked 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.

Make the cheese ball and shape it into a 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 ½ cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese.
   • You can also use the scraps of cheese you have left over 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 ½ tablespoons of ranch dressing and a ¼ 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 ⅓ 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.

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.

Related Recipes

You might like these other cheese ball recipes...

Cheese Ball Cauldron

Reindeer Cheese Ball

Spa Party Cheese Ball

Wedding Cake Cheese Ball

You can find more fun Thanksgiving recipe ideas here.