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 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.
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
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
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!
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
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.
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.
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.
Enjoy More Delicious Thanksgiving Recipes
Looking for more delicious side dishes for your Thanksgiving meal, we have got you covered. Check out our comprehensive collection of Thanksgiving recipes here.
- Easy Homemade Rolls
- How To Make Turkey Gravy from Scratch
- Homemade Cranberry Sauce
- Parker House Rolls
Thanksgiving Turkey Vegetable Tray 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
Ranch Dip
- 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
- 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
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
Questions & Reviews