Thank you to Food Should Taste Good for sponsoring this post!
The cheese ball needs to make a comeback.
But not as a repetition of history.
No, the cheese balls of yesteryear deservedly earned a bad rap. You know the ones: A mass of sticky artificial orange industrial goo (ie, Velveeta) squished into a ball, rolled in some nuts and served with crackers. By the time this round object masquerading as cheese had been sitting at room temperature for 37 minutes it became so unappetizing in appearance that the party guests began drifting further and further away from the table.
Fortunately in recent years cream cheese has taken the place of the unidentifiable orange stuff. Its tangy, neutral flavor is the perfect base for any number of fun flavor combinations.
I think I’ve only ever made a grand total of four cheese balls in my life. But this one has led me to an irrevocable decision: Cheese balls need to make a regular appearance in my home. They’re just too good not to.
Today’s cheeseball features the Christmas colors of red, white and green in the form of smoky bacon, sweet dried cranberries, cream cheese and green onions and those flavors accompanied by Cheddar cheese, pecans and kicked up several flavor notches with blue cheese. It’s delicious!
Even our 3 year old daughter thought so because within the course of 10 minutes she made no less than 12 trips back to the plate to reload.
You already know we’re fans of Food Should Taste Good chips for a number of reasons (they’re all-natural, certified gluten-free, vegan and kosher. No MSG, no GMO’s and made with simple, wholesome ingredients). For this cheese ball I wanted to try their sea-salted brown rice crackers (for my GF readers, they’re gluten free) and I opened up a box. Our kids both went to town on them, scooping up the cheese ball. By the time they had their fill of everything my husband and I stared at the few remaining morsels. “I’ll make another one,” I announced. And I did. And it won’t be the last.
Super easy to make, you can shape this into a cheese ball or into a log or any design you heart desires. Either way, it’s going to be a hit!
For best results just be sure to let the cheese ball sit in the fridge for at least a few hours so the flavor have time to meld.
Let’s get started!
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl.
Stir or knead together until thoroughly combined.
Shape into a ball (or log if preferred) and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 2 days.
Toss the outer layer ingredients to combine and spread them out on a plate. Roll the ball in them to even coat the outer layer.
Serve with crackers and enjoy!
- 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese
- 4 strips thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 3 tablespoons chopped pecans
- 3 tablespoons chopped dried cranberries
- For the outer layer:
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 2 tablespoons chopped pecans
- 2 tablespoons chopped dried cranberries
- 2 tablespoons crumbled bacon
- Food Should Taste Good Brown Rice Crackers (or crackers of choice) for serving
- Place all the ingredients in a bowl and stir or knead together until thoroughly combined. Form the mass into a ball or log (whichever shape desired) and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least one hour or up to 2 days.
- Toss the outer layer ingredients together and spread them out on a plate. Roll the cheese ball in them to evenly coat the surface.
- Serve with crackers.
A special thank you to Food Should Taste Good for sponsoring this post! As always, all opinions are entirely my own.
I can almost taste it through the screen. That cheeseball looks amazing. I love all the colors and detail. Such great photos too. Yum!
You certainly had me at bacon and blue cheese but wow, wow, wow! What a show-stopping appetizer this is – so gorgeous and packed with delicious flavors, too!!! Pinned, too. 🙂
I want to dive into this cheese ball! It looks heavenly!
Cheese balls are one of my favorite appetizers to whip up – I love how they’re so easy to make and customize! The flavors going on here look delicious!
Wowza! What an amazing combination!
oh how I remember those glowing orange cheeseballs, there always seemed to be at least one at every family gathering. this one is just gorgeous,a nd I’m sure just as tasty
This is SO perfect for party season! Can never go wrong with bacon 😀
I love this holiday treat!
Love the combination you have of blue cheese, cranberry and bacon! I bet this would be a hit at a holiday party!
This cheeseball looks perfect for holiday parties. If I saw this at a party you could find me parked next to it eating it all 🙂
I have never made a cheese ball but clearly that needs to change. This looks perfect for holiday entertaining! I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday.
Haha yes I know exactly what you mean about those unappeetizer Velveeta based cheese balls. This sounds nothing like it though and looks festive and delicious. Love those gf brown rice crackers too!
I have never made a cheese ball before, but this looks so amazing!!!
That cheeseball is beautiful. I love making cheeseballs during the holidays! Bacon and cheese, YES please!
Okay I’ll admit – I’ve NEVER actually tried blue cheese. Been too fearful. But you make it look so tasty! Okay I’m heading to the supermarket 🙂
This looks so pretty,like a big jewel! I bet it tastes amazing. I found a recipe for some great looking crackers as well this morning (Cafe Sucre Farine), I think the two recipes would fit together perfectly.
What a great use of cranberries! I love a good cheese ball! Will definitely make this soon!
This looks so good, I’d skip the crackers! Beautiful appetizer for serving at parties this time of year.
I love how Christmas-y this looks! And it sounds delicious. We always had cheddar beer cheeseballs–also delicious but a different animal completely. I want to try this one. And don’t you love when the kids love something you made like that?
Wowie! I just love this cheese ball — one of the prettiest I’ve seen. Great ingredients, too. I need to bring more cheese balls into my life, too! Thank you!
Seriously that looks like a CHristmas ornament!! Love it. I think I need to make a cheese ball! And we LOVE Food Should Taste Good crackers, too!!
I have to confess that I’ve never made or had a cheeseball. And they weren’t a staple of the parties of my childhood. But this one is super tempting with those festive colors and tasty flavors!