The best Cheese Ball recipe has plenty of cheddar cheese, green onions, and seasonings mixed with cream cheese. It's coated in chopped pecans and served with crackers, pretzels, or veggies.
This Cheeseball is the MVP of Easy Appetizers
This Cheeseball is the MVP of Easy AppetizersI can't think of a more classic appetizer for the holidays than this cheeseball recipe. I love how I can prep it up to a week in advance and just pull it out of the fridge and plate it when it's ready to serve. Ignore the bland, flavorless cheese balls in the grocery store–this one is PACKED full of flavor from the cheese, Worcestershire, spices, and a little hot sauce. I have even gifted cheeseballs as neighbor holiday gifts, and I love making mini cheese ball bites for a big holiday appetizer spread.
If you love fun appetizers try my Jalapeño Poppers, Burrata Appetizer, Spinach Artichoke Dip, Pimento Cheese Dip, or Whipped Goat Cheese!
How to make a Homemade Cheese Ball:
Combine: Beat cream cheese until smooth then incorporate remaining ingredients. High quality ingredients make a high quality cheese ball, so make sure to buy a block of cheese and grate it yourself instead of using pre-shredded cheese. Use a spatula to form the cheese mixture into a ball. Spray your hands with non-stick cooking spray as needed so it doesn't stick.
Cover in Nuts: Use whatever nuts you like best, but make sure they are chopped finely. While holding the cheese ball in one hand, use your other hand to gently scoop and press the chopped nuts on all the way around the ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.
Serve: Arrange cheese ball on a platter surrounded by crackers, vegetables, pretzels, or pita bread. Make sure you have a cheese spreading knife! If you use a cracker straight into it, it will break into pieces!
Serve Cheese Ball With:
- Crackers
- Vegetables
- Mini bagels
- Pita bread
- Pretzels
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Recipe
Simple Cheese Ball Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 ounces cream cheese , softened
- 2 cups freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese (avoid pre-shredded cheese)
- 2 green onions , chopped
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Dried oregano
- dash freshly ground black pepper
- 2/3 cup pecans , finely chopped
Instructions
- Mix cheeseball ingredients: Place cream cheese in a mixing bowl then mix until smooth. Add cheese, green onion, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, parsley, garlic powder, oregano. and pepper then mix well to combine.16 ounces cream cheese, 2 cups freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese, 2 green onions, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon Dried oregano, dash freshly ground black pepper
- Form into ball: Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl and gather the mixture into one lump. Lightly grease your hands and form the mixture into a round ball.
- Coat with nuts: Place the pecans on a plate. Hold the cheese ball in one hand and use the other hand to scoop the pecans onto the outside of the ball, pressing them in gently and turning the ball to coat all sides.2/3 cup pecans
- Chill and serve: Cover the cheeseball in cling wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour to allow it to firm up. Remove from fridge about 20 minutes before serving to allow it to soften just slightly. Serve with crackers, pretzels, vegetables or anything else you'd love to dip in cheese!
Notes
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe November 2017. Updated October 2019 and October 2025.
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So easy to Make! I will never spend $5 on a tiny cheese ball again!! Great recipe!
I tried this recipe for my family for the Super Bowl Sunday. And my family really enjoyed it” Thank you for sharing!
This was easy and had tons of flavor…and that’s just what I pinched off the kitchen aid beater. Im betting it will be “super” for the big game Sunday. My new go-to cheeseball recipe. Thanks!
Everyone loved this cheese ball. I did the bucees sweet and spicy ghost pepper sauce instead of hot sauce. Soooo good
I was not looking for a cheese ball recipe, but somehow stumbled upon this while looking up a recipe for squash for my Christmas feast. I’ve had cheese balls at other gatherings (that other people supplied), and I’ve seen them for sale at the store, but for whatever reason, it never occurred to me a person could make one of these in their kitchen. Silly me! Anyway, I figured I would make it for an appetizer for Christmas. It was very easy to make and turned out so delicious! It was perfect and Everyone at my small gathering (It was just my brother and Mom) just loved it and even asked for the recipe. I think it also never occurred to them that one could make a cheese ball at home, either, haha haha!! Thanks for the recipe. So simple, yet so delicious. I will file this away, as it’s truly a great thing to bring to a party (after COVID is over) that will surely impress.
A New Year’s tradition is to make make a cheeseball on the Eve and this recipe did not disappoint!! The only thing we omitted was the green onions since we didn’t have any on hand – and admittedly neither me nor my husband care for them. The flavor was amazing! Wish I could post a pic of us devouring, lol. Thank you for sharing!!
You don’t need to use bare hands to shape the ball. Mound it on the plastic wrap, pull up the edges and twist them together and shape as you like it. I halved the recipe for our 3- person buffet but we have rolled tossed the leftover cheese ball in homemade Alfredo sauce in the past.
I forgot to mention that we followed the recipe and video instructions but ended up with two large cheese balls. Not sure how that happened but a bonus for us!
Two Cheeseballs are Always Better than One!!❤️Thanks for Sharing that!! .. I was going to Add an Extra 8oz of Cream Cheese to make two!! Now I don’t have to!! 🙌❤️🤗
While we all love a cheese ball, for my daughter and her boyfriend a holiday appetizer spread isn’t complete without one. This year, they couldn’t find any in stores, so I said we would just make one. They were skeptical. The task ended up falling to the boyfriend, and I think we were all stunned by how delicious it was. It will be a homemade cheese ball for us from now on, and he will be the chef!! Thanks for this easy and yummy recipe!!
I just made the cheese ball and have tried it and it just seems like it doesn’t have a lot of flavor to it maybe as it marinates overnight maybe the flavors will come
I added bacon to mine and left out the hot sauce and onions and it’s pretty good
I made this on Christmas Eve and served it on Christmas. It had a ton of flavor and everyone loved it and asked for the recipe. I think the fact it marinaded over night in the refrigerator, as you mentioned, helped a lot. If this didn’t have a lot of flavor in spite of letting it rest over night, maybe the hot sauce you used was mild and mine was more spicy?? Just an idea. It could be you are just used to more flavorful things than me so this tasted more bland to you. If you decide to try making this again, maybe increase your spices. For instance, double the hot sauce, garlic and onion.