This Christmas cheese ball recipe makes a delicious appetizer for holiday entertaining. It’s easy to make with simple ingredients and the festive green and red colour means it’s pretty as well!
Holiday appetizers are just the best, aren’t they? We love a good appetizer any time of the year but appetizers made for the holidays are truly something special. This cheese ball recipe is one of my favourite savoury Christmas appetizer!
We are not that big into the whole red-and-green-Christmas theme for home decorating, but when it comes to Christmas treats we are all for it. The diced red and green pepper in the coating of this Christmas appetizer is so festive and cute and it gives a really great Holiday touch!
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Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe:
- full fat cream cheese
- white cheddar cheese
- orange cheddar cheese
- red bell pepper
- green bell pepper
- sea salt
- black pepper
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- smoked paprika
- Worcestershire sauce
- sriracha
- pecans
This cheese ball recipe is best served with your favourite crackers, breadsticks, or even homemade crostini made from toasted baguettes. But whatever you serve it with (veggies are an option too!!), it’s sure to impress your family and friends this holiday season. Especially when you tell them you made it ahead of time and just pulled it out the fridge when it was time to serve!!
Time needed: 2 hours and 15 minutes
Here are some tips to make the best cheese ball every single time:
- Use full fat cream cheese.
Low fat cream cheese contains a high water content and therefore doesn’t solidify properly, even in the fridge. To help keep its shape, use full fat cream cheese.
- Don’t forget the seasonings.
Nothing is worse than a bland cheese ball – make sure to use lots of delicious flavours including dried fruit, herbs and spices.
- Use freshly grated cheese.
Pre-grated cheese sold in bags at the grocery store contains fillers to prevent the cheese from clumping up in the bag. This can make your cheese ball difficult to shape, so using freshly grated cheese is best.
- Refrigerate before serving.
Wrap the cheddar ball in plastic wrap (tightly) and refrigerate for about 2 hours or overnight before serving. This will help the cheese ball keep its shape when you serve it to your guests.
- Don’t forget the crust.
Roll the cheese ball in chopped nuts, chopped dried fruit, crumbled bacon, or crushed tortilla chips or pretzels to create the perfect crust!
Can this cheese ball be made nut free?
Yes, roll the ball in chopped pretzels instead of chopped pecans use chopped pretzels in the same measurements.
How best to store this Christmas cheese ball?
The cheese ball, when wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, keeps well in the fridge for one week and in the freezer for up to a month. Defrost before serving.
We hope you love this cheese ball recipe as much as we do! Let us know in the comments below, what’s your favourite holiday appetizer? We’d love to know!
Looking for more recipes like this? You’ll LOVE these!
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Christmas Cheddar Cheese Ball
Recipe: Ingredients
- 16 ounces full fat cream cheese (about 500 grams)
- 1/4 cup full fat sour cream
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (we like 1 cup each white and orange cheddar)
- 1 red bell pepper finely diced
- 1 green bell pepper finely diced
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- sea salt (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- a dash of Sriracha or your favourite hot sauce
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans (for the outside of the cheese ball, OR use the same measurement of chopped pretzels instead of nuts for a nut-free version)
- breadsticks, crackers, pretzels, or veggies for serving
Recipe: Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream and shredded cheese with a rubber spatula or with a hand mixer (if desired).
- Add half the diced peppers (reserving half of each colour for coating the cheese ball later), and add the pepper, salt (to taste), and garlic and onion powders, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce.
- Stir well to combine and using your spoon or spatula, roll the mixture into a rough ball shape.
- Place a large piece of plastic wrap on your work surface and add the cheese ball onto the plastic wrap. Using the plastic wrap, roll the cheese ball into a smooth ball shape wrapping it tightly in the plastic.
- Chill the cheese ball in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight (overnight is best).
- Before serving, remove the cheese ball from the plastic wrap and roll it in the chopped pecans and the remaining diced red and green peppers until the cheese ball is covered evenly with the chopped pecans.
- Serve immediately on a platter with your favourite crackers, pretzels, baguette slices, or veggies.
Recipe: Notes
Recipe: Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
It looks amazing
Thanks! Let us know what you think when you make it!
Excellent flavour and texture … and so easy! Love the nut-free option of using shopped pretzels instead of nuts…
We’re so happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback!