Ultimate Crudité Platter

Move over, grocery store veggie tray - here's the ultimate crudité platter for any party! Full of sweet & savory components, it's a delicious appetizer.

The Ultimate Crudité Platter

I love a good crudité platter. I feel like they get a bad rap because the grocery store versions with the sad celery, raw cauliflower, and grubby carrots are never the most exciting appetizer at a party, but this board fixes that by being bright, fun, and delicious! It’s a yummy mix of fresh things, salty/savory bites, and even a sweet element from the delectable Tart Cherry Thyme Compound Butter.

Each little recipe is made up of super simple combinations of creative ingredients that, together, make a really unique crudité platter! I brought this board to my family’s Father’s Day gathering a few weeks ago, and it got gobbled up in minutes.

The Ultimate Veggie Crudité Platter

This recipe comes from the gorgeous book Platters and Boards by Shelly Westerhausen of the blog Vegetarian Ventures. It’s filled with recipes to create fun, beautiful, yet very doable spreads for any occasion. There’s everything from a Beach Board, to a Holiday Hosting Spread, to a Lazy Sunday Brunch Board.

What I love most is the part where Shelly talks about how a board can be blank canvas for your creativity… or your leftovers. “It’s a great way to use up whatever vegetables, cheeses, jams, or meats you have hanging around your refrigerator, or use it as an opportunity to try new foods. Take a trip to that new cheese shop you’ve been meaning to visit or spend some time in the bulk section of your grocery store.”

The Best Vegetable Crudité

How to Make the Best Crudité Platter

The best crudité boards include a mix of these components:

  • Lots of fresh veggies – I use tomatoes, blanched snap peas, Persian cucumbers, and carrots.
  • A creamy dip – This one is a luscious lemony white bean dip that whizzes up easily in the food processor.
  • Something salty – Marinated Feta with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Thyme, and Garlic plays this role here. It’s tangy, briny, and so fresh with the addition of the thyme leaves. It added a wonderful pop of flavor to this veggie platter.
  • Something sweet – Tart Cherry Thyme Butter is the perfect addition to this mix. It’s SO easy to make, and it was a delicious sweet, creamy topping for soft baguette slices.

I served my board with baguette, but any carb, like good crackers or pita chips, or a mix of crackers and bread, is the perfect finishing touch.

The Best Crudité Platter

Crudité Platter Variations

While I’m obsessed with this veggie crudité, you can easily change out the components in each category. Here are some suggestions:

  • Fresh veggies Use whatever’s in season! Broccoli, cauliflower, celery, red peppers, green beans, or radishes would all be good choices.
  • A creamy dip – If you’re a fan of dairy-based dips, one would be great here. You could also try this curried red lentil hummus, beet hummus, or vegan pimento cheese dip.
  • Something salty – Cheese is never remiss on a crudité board, so try adding your favorite soft and hard cheeses. I’m a particular fan of aged cheddar and brie. You could also add some savory roasted nuts for crunch or some marinated olives for briny flavor.
  • Something sweet – Good fruit preserves would be an easy substitute for the butter, especially if you’re adding cheese to your platter. Fresh fruit, like apples and grapes, is also good alongside the savory components.

Vegetable Crudité Platter

If you love this vegetable crudité platter….

Try one of these favorite appetizer recipes next:

For more appetizer ideas, check out this post with 50 easy appetizers.

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Ultimate Crudité Platter

rate this recipe:
4.78 from 9 votes
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Serves 6 to 8
This crudité platter is a guaranteed hit at parties! Full of crisp, creamy, sweet & salty components, it's a fun, delicious appetizer from the book Platters and Boards by Shelly Westerhausen.

Ingredients

Marinated Feta

Tart Cherry Thyme Butter:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons dried tart cherries
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons honey or pure maple syrup

Herb-y White Bean Dip:

For serving:

  • 2 Persian cucumbers, sliced
  • 1 1/2 cups blanched snap peas
  • 3 rainbow carrots, chopped
  • 2 heirloom tomatoes, sliced into wedges
  • 1 baguette, thinly sliced

Instructions

  • Make the Marinated Feta. Layer the thyme, feta, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and peppercorns into a 16-ounce jar. Top with enough olive oil so that the ingredients are submerged. Chill until ready to use. (If the olive oil thickens in the fridge, let it sit at room temp until liquid.).
  • Make the Cherry Thyme Butter. Combine the butter, dried cherries, thyme, honey, and salt in a food processor and process until the butter is smooth and the ingredients are incorporated. Transfer to a serving dish or store chilled, wrapped in parchment paper.
  • Make the Herb-y White Bean Dip. In a food processor, pulse the cannellini beans, olive oil, basil, thyme, rosemary, lemon juice and zest, salt, and pepper until combined. With the food processor running, slowly add the water and process until smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl.
  • Assemble the platter with the cucumbers, snap peas, carrots, tomatoes, baguette, the marinated feta, the cherry compound butter, and the herb-y white bean dip.

 

25 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it)




  1. Sandi
    10.05.2023

    3 stars
    I’m not sure what I did wrong, but my butter, cherries, and thyme won’t mix together; the whole cherries fly to the side of the food processor. I tried the blender and same thing. I might just have to go to mortar and pestle… Thoughts? Thank you.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      10.09.2023

      Hi Sandi, it’s possible your cherries weren’t soft enough, you could try soaking them in warm water for a minute. And/or it could just be a difference in food processor – you could try chopping the cherries a little bit before you add them. Hope that helps!

  2. Barb Grappone
    08.21.2023

    Do you leave the marinated feta ingredient whole to serve? You don’t mix together as a dip?
    Do you break pieces of feta to serve on baguette??
    Not sure how this is served, please explain
    Thanks
    BG

  3. alie
    11.20.2022

    how long would the white bean dip last in the fridge after????

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.22.2022

      Hi Alie, I’d keep it up to 5 days.

  4. Bridget Dono
    04.18.2022

    5 stars
    I made this platter in its entirety, and I was impressed. The Marinated Feta is to die for. The cherry butter was a hit, too. The only element that was largely ignored was the bean dip. I would not make that again. Ina Garten makes an Israeli Salad that is superb, and I’d probably make the hummus from that recipe instead. Thanks for the great ideas!

  5. Kari
    01.14.2022

    I’ve made this platter twice now and it is so easy to make and easy to impress guests with! All of the dips are fabulous and the different vegetables make it interesting. Of course, everyone always loves the cherry thyme butter!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      01.15.2022

      I’m so glad you’ve loved it!

  6. Brianne
    11.07.2021

    5 stars
    Wow the butter is unbelievably good! We enjoyed all the elements but the butter is next level.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.07.2021

      I’m so glad you loved it!

  7. Mac Cutting Boards
    07.09.2018

    I love this idea! Usually, I do a meat platter for serving. Who knew you can do a veggie platter. I’m having a “duh” moment. LOL

  8. Susan
    07.09.2018

    5 stars
    I made this last night for a small gathering of friends. Everyone loved it! The herbed bean dip and marinated feta were both delicious but the cherry thyme butter was the definite favorite! This is so much better than the usual veggies plus ranch dressing or hummus. Very easy but it looks elegant. I will be making this again very soon!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      07.11.2018

      Hi Susan, I’m so glad it was a hit! I’m still dreaming about that cherry butter myself 🙂

  9. Gaby Dalkin
    07.06.2018

    Never met a veggie platter I didn’t like!

  10. Aditi Chawla
    07.06.2018

    This looks so so delicious!!! I love the colourful look of this veggie platter and I’m sure it would turn out delicious too. Can’t wait to prepare this for my next get together!

  11. sabrina from newkitchenlife.com
    07.05.2018

    what a great platter for entertaining since I agree with you about the sad grocery cauliflower, etc, especially since the mid-week 4th is carrying on entertaining through the weekend, thank you!

  12. Yolanda from veganpepper.com
    07.04.2018

    I love the idea of preparing a dish like this! Perfect for these warm days of summer (at least in Belgium). It’s a shame I cannot prepare the marinated feta because I’m vegan, but I’m sure I will find a good alternative to share with some friends during the weekend! I will definitely give this dish a try 😉

    • LMartin
      04.16.2022

      5 stars
      What about trying tofu, marinating it in the same ingredients as the feta?

  13. Brittany Audra @ Audra's Appetite
    07.03.2018

    To be honest, I didn’t expect to be so excited and drooling over a veggie-focused crudite board!!! Those dips are AMAZING…can’t even decide which one to try first! 🙂

  14. Leslie
    07.03.2018

    Now that is a delicious looking spread! Yum I’d like to give the feta and tomato spread a try! I need more veggies in my life anyway.

    • Deborah Floyd
      02.05.2021

      I can’t find the recipe for the cherry thyme compound butter? Help!! 🙂

      • Jeanine Donofrio
        02.05.2021

        Hi Deborah, it’s in the recipe card at the bottom of the post (just above the comments). I hope you enjoy!

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.