This turkey shaped kids veggie platter is the perfect healthy side dish to serve at Thanksgiving! It’s a fun way to serve fresh vegetables and your favorite dip. I’ll show you exactly how to transform your traditional vegetable tray into the shape of a turkey!
Healthy & Fun Turkey Shaped Kids Veggie Tray How To
Sometimes the easiest way to make healthy choices at meals is to transform food into something really fun. That’s exactly what we’re doing with this turkey veggie tray!
Way cuter than what you’d find at the grocery store, but still incredibly easy to make.
This is a fun kitchen activity to do with little kids! If you find yourself with a veggie-reluctant kid, bringing them into the kitchen to help and be involved with new foods can help with pickiness.
The more we expose kids to new foods and let them explore in a safe and fun environment, the more open and willing they may become to try the new foods.
I find when my kids help out and take ownership, they are more excited to try something new!
So once the veggies are cut up, have fun creating this together! You’ll create memories in the process and end up with a really cute Thanksgiving appetizer!
What kind of dip to use?
The dip bowl can be filled with any kind of dip, but I’ll share a few of my favorites that all go really well with raw vegetables.
Ranch dressing – The most classic dip for a vegetable platter. You can use your favorite store-bought brand, or opt to make your own. It’s really simple to make, and my kefir ranch dressing is super delicious!
Spinach artichoke dip – Warm and tasty, healthy homemade spinach artichoke dip pairs perfectly with crunchy veggies. Store-bought is a great option here too!
Buffalo chicken dip – A delicious dip on its own, my buffalo chicken dip is super healthy and made with spaghetti squash in it as well!
Roasted red pepper pesto – With even more vegetables to add to the mix, this red pesto recipe adds really great flavor and a fun different color to the turkey veggie platter.
Yogurt dill sauce – A twist on tzatziki, this yogurt-based dipping sauce is a great way to change up your traditional dip while still having the overall look the same as it would with ranch dip.
What you need for a homemade veggie tray
Scroll down to view the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions.
- dip of choice
- red bell pepper
- yellow bell pepper
- broccoli crown
- cucumbers
- baby carrots
- candy eyes
How to make a turkey-shaped snack platter
Step 1: Create the turkey face by slicing the bottom of the red bell pepper off. Slice the remaining red bell pepper and the yellow pepper into thin strips.
Step 2: Separate the broccoli florets and slice the cucumber into thin slices. Make turkey legs out of carrots and the turkey mouth out of a carrot end with a mouth cut out.
Step 3: Now assemble! Add the dip in a small round bowl, cucumber, carrots, bell peppers, broccoli, and lastly the red bell pepper turkey face. Use a little dip on the back of the eyes to keep them in place and then lastly the carrot mouth and carrot legs.
Watch me make a turkey veggie platter
The full how to video can be watched below, or on my YouTube channel!
More fun holiday veggie tray ideas
Swap this turkey idea for a Christmas tree veggie tray!
Use a square dish for the dip and use that as the base/stump of a tree.
Assorate the colorful veggies in the shape of a tree, ending with a star at the top of your Christmas tree veggie platter!
There are my different ways you could go with this fun kids’ veggie platter. Try turning it into a Santa hat (use red veggies for the hat!), the Grinch, or a holiday star.
How to store
You can prepare this kids veggie tray on a large serving tray and have it ready to go a couple of days in advance.
Be sure to wrap plastic wrap around the entire thing to keep it fresh and refrigerated and not stored at room temperature if you have any dip involved.
After serving this, you can store any leftover vegetables in an airtight container in the fridge and enjoy healthy food all week!
Substitutions
Below you’ll find a list of substitutions that will work well in this crudite platter recipe.
If you try something different out, please leave a comment below letting us all know how it turned out!
Dip of choice – Our go-to is kefir ranch dressing, but go with what you like! Many of our favorite veggie dips are listed above, but almost anything will work here.
Bell peppers – Any color of bell peppers will work for the face of the turkey. The sliced bell pepper sticks can be replaced with other stick-shaped veggies – try green beans, celery sticks, or snap peas.
Cucumber – Thinly sliced fresh zucchini is a really good substitute for cucumber. You can also use mini cucumbers here. For a different color, use cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes around the edge of the platter.
Baby carrots – Instead of baby carrots you can use whole carrots that are cut into carrot sticks. If you have rainbow carrots available, those would be a fun addition to this platter!
Broccoli – Cauliflower would be a great alternative to broccoli as it gives that fluffy look from the florets.
More recipes you’ll love
Turkey Shaped Kids Veggie Tray
Ingredients
- 1 cup dip of choice
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 broccoli crown
- 1-2 cucumbers
- 1 cup baby carrots
- 2 candy eyes
Instructions
- Create the turkey face by slicing the bottom of the red bell pepper off. Slice the remaining red bell pepper and the yellow pepper into thin strips.
- Separate the broccoli florets and slice the cucumber into thin slices. Make turkey legs out of carrots and the turkey mouth out of a carrot end with a mouth cut out.
- Now assemble! Add the dip, cucumber, carrots, bell peppers, broccoli, and lastly the red bell pepper turkey face. Use a little dip on the back of the eyes to keep them in place and then lastly the carrot mouth and carrot legs.
Nutrition
If you try this kids veggie platter recipe, I’d love it if you left a star rating and comment below letting me know how it turned out!
XO
Heather
