This easy Cheese Ball Recipe comes together with a handful of ingredients and a minimal prep time of just 15 minutes! Bacon, cheese, and chopped nuts combine to create a taste and texture everyone will love. It’s perfect for holidays, game days, and any time really!
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Pin RecipeWho doesn’t love cheese balls? They’re fun, savory, and garlicky with the perfect touch of salt. Addictingly delightful with the perfect texture, they are easy to modify for every eater. Time and time again, these cheese balls are a crowd-pleaser for the whole family at any and every event.
This recipe is also perfect to serve alongside my Healthy Buffalo Chicken Dip or this Three-Ingredient Avocado Dip!
Cheese Ball Recipe
You can pack these balls in the kids’ lunchbox, serve them at your next girlfriends’ brunch, or leave them at the buffet table to pick on as a favorite finger food during the next big game day dip spread. Cheese balls are really perfect for any time of year and any event!
Even better, they’re all easy to make. You will love how quickly you can whip up this simple cheese ball recipe. It takes just a few minutes, and you have an appetizer big enough to serve a crowd! Grab some crackers, maybe some celery sticks, and definitely a few graham crackers (yes, graham crackers and cheese balls go oddly well together!). You’ll have a recipe no one can resist.
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Ingredients for Cheese Ball
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Cream cheese – Use block-style cream cheese, not the kind from a tub. Full-fat varieties are best. Just make sure it’s softened!
- Sour cream
- Green onion – thinly sliced
- Worcestershire sauce
- Garlic powder
- Sharp cheddar cheese – shredded
- Bacon – Cook bacon in the oven in the morning, and save some for your cheese ball later in the day!
- Pecans – Almonds would also taste great!
Variations
- Make it dairy-free for your lactose-intolerant loved ones by using dairy-free sour cream and dairy-free cheese. I recommend Kite Hill for the sour cream – it tastes like the real thing! As for the cheese, you really want to get one that will melt to make sure it’s still gooey and delicious. My favorite is CHAO cheddar- it melts easily and bubbles up, too.
- Veganize it by swapping out bacon bits for seitan crumbles. The Chorizo flavored seitan crumbles from Upton Naturals are loaded with Italian seasoning and crisp up well.
- Make a spicy cheese ball by adding red pepper flakes to the mix to taste, and BAM taste explosion!
- Make a cheese ball salad by serving on top of fresh greens like arugula with crisped-up red-onion spirals served alongside thinly sliced raw zucchini and carrots.
How to Make a Cheese Ball
- Mix the cream cheese: Place cream cheese in a bowl, and beat it with a hand mixer until fluffy.
- Add ingredients: Add the sour cream, green onion, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder. Beat until combined. Stir in 1⁄2 cup cheddar cheese and 1⁄2 cup bacon.
- Chill: Chill in the fridge for 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
- Shape: Remove the cream cheese mixture from the fridge, and shape it into a ball. Combine remaining 1/2 cup bacon, chopped pecans, and cheese. Roll the cheese ball in the mixture pressing to adhere.
- Put it in the fridge: Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
- Serve: Remove from the refrigerator, and set out at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before serving.
Quick Tip
If you buy whole pecans, easily chop them in the blender using the pulse setting so they can easily fit into the balls without having big chunks sticking out. Serve these cheese balls with Ritz crackers, raw veggies, pita bread, pretzels, and more.
How to Store a Cheese Ball
Store your cheese ball in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
To freeze, wrap cheese balls individually in plastic wrap (without nuts), and place them in a freezer-safe Ziploc bag, keeping them frozen for up to one month. Thaw in the fridge overnight, and add nuts after the thawing is complete.
FAQs
Traditional cheese balls are a mixture of cream cheese, grated semi-soft or semi-firm whipped cheese, and flavorings of choice.
The longer you chill your cheese balls in the fridge, the firmer they will be. The more time you have to chill the balls, the better.
This recipe can be made up to a week in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Just wait to add the nuts last so they don’t soften. The only problem with this is stopping your family from eating them all! Remember to finely chop your nuts for even distribution around the balls.
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Cheese Ball Recipe
Equipment
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring cups
- measuring spoons
Ingredients
- 16 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 green onion thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 cup crumbled bacon divided
- 1/2 cup pecans
Instructions
- Place cream cheese in a bowl and beat with a hand mixer until fluffy.16 ounces cream cheese
- Add sour cream, green onion, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder. Beat until combined. Stir in 1⁄2 cup cheddar cheese and 1⁄2 cup bacon.1/4 cup sour cream, 1 green onion, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, 1 cup crumbled bacon
- Chill in the fridge for 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
- Remove from the fridge and shape into a ball. Combine remaining 1/2 cup bacon, chopped pecans, and cheese. Roll the cheese ball in the mixture pressing to adhere.1/2 cup pecans
- Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
- Remove from the refrigerator at least 15 minutes before serving.
Great flavor! However, the ingredients list states two cups sharp cheddar and as I read through the recipe it only used one cup of shredded cheese.
We’re glad you enjoyed it, Amy! We use the remaining 1.5 cups in step 4, but you could reduce the amount of cheese if desired.
I added orange peel and dried cranberries and a litte more sour cream and it was Great! My family ate the whole cheese ball!! Thank you for this recipe.
To make this even better, add a small can of crushed pineapple to this, very well drained. You don’t really taste the pineapple so much,but it really really keeps
the ball creamy, softer and you can dip, as apposed to cutting pieces.
I have had family devour the cheeseball when cookies were placed on the table with it.