9 Thanksgiving Charcuterie Board Ideas for Festive Holiday Snacking

No matter what your Thanksgiving gathering looks like this year, we've found an Instagram idea you'll want to try: a Thanksgiving charcuterie board. A big grazing board can replace the big traditional dinner this year if you're celebrating with just a few people. And even if you are planning a classic turkey dinner, you'll need something to munch on while you cook all day, and these Thanksgiving-themed boards won't disappoint.

There are more than 3500 posts under #thanksgivingcharcuterie on Instagram, so it seems we're not the only ones intrigued by these delectable holiday displays. We've rounded up a few of our favorite images to help inspire your own holiday snacking. Follow these steps to build your own Thanksgiving charcuterie board, and borrow inspiration from these gorgeous photos to give your board a festive holiday spirit.

We're always thankful for a good cheese tray, and this Thanksgiving charcuterie board from With Love and Brie has it all. It's got the traditional meats and cheeses, but it's topped with tasty treats like golden berries and kumquats, and even a cinnamon and maple syrup whipped goat cheese that has our mouths watering. To make your board extra festive, use miniature alphabet cookie cutters ($14, Amazon) to cut a word or phrase out of cheese.

There's no wrong way to make a holiday grazing board: Our favorite method is to pile it with as many of our favorite goodies as possible. We love how Ashley from Sorrenteaux Boards added festive flair by carving fall leaf shapes into her cheese. To get the look, use a set of leaf-shaped cookie cutters ($10, Amazon).

Move over, roast turkey! This adorable Thanksgiving charcuterie board is the only bird we'll be eating this year. Not only is it much easier to prepare than a traditional Thanksgiving turkey, but it's also the perfect alternative for a small-scale celebration. To make your own, layer cheese, fruit, and crackers on top of a round wood board ($9, Amazon) in color-coordinating rows to mimic the feathers of a turkey.

Set this year's holiday board apart by sticking to a theme. We love how Meg Quinn from Ain't Too Proud To Meg carried a fall leaf theme throughout her board by pairing leaf-shaped chips, cookies, and cheese cutouts with her meats and fruits. And the addition of chocolate turkeys takes the board from fall to Thanksgiving in one quick step. Check out the post on her website to see all of the ingredients she used on her board and learn how to make a perfect brie cutout.

If you're celebrating with just a few people, you may not feel like making multiple full-size pies this Thanksgiving. You can still get your pie fix this season with this genius idea from Amy of A Little Love Designs. She put together a pie-themed dessert board topped with mouthwatering mini pies, so you can snack your way through the dessert table without having a dozen pieces of pie leftover. With the addition of pretty fruits and florals, this might just be one of the most beautiful dessert spreads we've seen.

You don't need to become a master baker to really wow your family this Thanksgiving. Take a few tips from Eden Passante of Sugar and Charm, who created a gorgeous Thanksgiving appetizer spread atop a round serving board. To find out exactly what ingredients she included on the board, check out her blog post with all the details.

If making and filling a real cornucopia feels like too much work for your small family Thanksgiving celebration, why not make a small-scale display on top of a serving board? Maegan Brown of The Baker Mama is the queen of charcuterie boards, and her Thanksgiving-inspired cornucopia (made from chips, pretzels, and crackers) is the perfect way to deck out a traditional meat and cheese board. Once you've finished laying everything out, add a few pretty cheese knives and serving utensils ($7, Amazon) so guests can help themselves.

Brooke Dunigan's Thanksgiving creation is almost too pretty to eat! She paired the typical fruit, cheese, meat, and crackers with festive elements like leaf-shaped cookies, mini pumpkins, and an edible, ''Give thanks.' With its bright red fruits and green rosemary sprigs, you could recreate this design again at Christmas—with an updated holiday phrase, of course.

Thanksgiving is the season to reflect on what we're grateful for, and a gorgeous grazing board would definitely make the list this season! Arranged atop The Giving Board ($30, Love Paper Creations), this spread of orange, red, and yellow snacks has us in the Thanksgiving spirit already.