Smoky Cheese Ball

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I don’t want to brag, but I’ve been told I make a pretty good cheese ball. Oh yeah, life of the party – right here. It’s honestly one of the easiest things to do. It’s so much better than store bought and worth the effort. The goal is to taste like cheese and be able to spread on a cracker. Because it’s so simple, using quality ingredients is mandatory; punishable by… a tasteless disaster! (Possibly.) Over the years I’ve made quite a few variations, and this one is a crowd pleaser every time.

As organic as possible:

1/2 cup Butter (1 stick), softened

12 oz Cream Cheese (1 1/2 bars), softened

1 1/2 tsp granulated Garlic

1/2 tsp Salt

1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 Tbsp Milk

8 oz Smoked Gouda, shredded (can substitute with smoked cheddar)

3/4 cup Pecans

On the day I know I’m going to make a cheese ball, I get out my butter and cream cheese in the morning with my coffee. That way when I feel like getting to it, it’s ready to go. That’s like the extent of the difficulty. When you’re ready to get started I throw everything (except the pecans) in a stand up mixer. Although if you don’t have one, no worries; once everything is soft, it would be easy to mix by hand. Beat until creamy, scraping down the sides.

Now here is the trick for a perfect ball: Line a bowl with two sheets of cling wrap, in a cross pattern, pressing down with extra over the sides. Using a spatula, scoop the cheese into the center of the lined bowl. When all of the cheese is in, wrap the cheese with the plastic until covered and form a ball, pressing the cheese together lightly to rid of cracks and air pockets. Place back into the bowl and put in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. (You can easily make this a day ahead.)

Before serving (or transporting to a Partay) toast the pecans. I like using the toaster oven for small batches like this, but stove top and conventional oven will work too. Heat in a dry skillet over medium heat (watching and tossing) or at about 350º for 6-7 minutes, just until you start catching the aroma of the nut. I don’t like the nuts over toasted for this. Then chop the nuts into small pieces. Remove the ball from the plastic wrap and roll around in the nuts. pressing nuts onto every open space. Don’t worry if the wrap left not-so-pretty lines, they will be covered with beautiful nut pieces! Place on a serving tray with assortment of crackers and spreading knife. Get ready to live.

38 comments

  1. This looks heavenly! Cheese balls are synonymous with holidays at our family gatherings, and your recipe looks fabulous! Mmmmm… smoked gouda and worcestershire sauce… I hope to make it sometime this holiday season. 🙂

    1. Thanks Katie:) Mine too! I have to say one of my favorite ways to eat a cheese ball is while prepping for holiday dinners, preferably while watching a parade;)

  2. Now this looks amazing Sadie. Perfect recipe for me to try for the holidays! Never made a cheese ball before so this will be the first recipe ever. I know I will love it!

  3. Wow Sadie! this Smoky Cheese Ball will be the perfect complement for my wine get together. My friends will go NUTS with this, so I can’t wait to make for this coming Nov 21st. Thank you so much for sharing.

  4. Love This!!! Great party treat even for us LowCarbers. Thanks for sharing. Your absolutely right about good ingredients, they make a huge difference. I bought a less expensive Gouda, disaster! I make a Gouda stuff ‘Shroom. Big mistake. Buy the Good Stuff!

  5. That looks impressive! I have been following your blog for a while but don’t ever get any of your recipes in my feed, for some reason! Just been having a look at what I’ve been missing! 🙂

  6. So, this incredible cheese ball is sitting in my fridge right now! Tastes amazing!! We’re having friends over tonight and I can’t wait to break this out! Thanks for the recipe. 🙂

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