This is the quickest and easiest appetizer I know of. It takes only minutes to make and can be served almost immediately. You can keep the ingredients on hand for months. Serve with buttery crackers.
This is one of our favorite appetizers for holidays. I make my own dry ranch dressing mix and use a full pound of sharp cheddar cheese. You can use reduced fat cream cheese and not even notice the switch. If you really want the ranch flavor to shine, make this a couple days beforehand and let it set in the fridge.
Read More I changed the sour cream to greek yogurt, added 1 teaspoon of dried onions and 1/2 teaspoon of dried garlic bits, and rolled in dried dill. rolled into a log and let sit refrigerated overnight. A big hit at our large family gathering.
Read MoreThis is one of our favorite appetizers for holidays. I make my own dry ranch dressing mix and use a full pound of sharp cheddar cheese. You can use reduced fat cream cheese and not even notice the switch. If you really want the ranch flavor to shine, make this a couple days beforehand and let it set in the fridge.
Be sure to use the powder DRESSING rather than the powder DIP. The dip has way more salt in it. We have made both kinds. Dip cheese all is way too salty. Just a heads up...
rolled a second one in real bacon bits kids loved them both!
Loved this cheese ball! The cheese, the seasonings are delightful. I do, as a recipe submitter, have a problem with people who change everything in the recipe and then give it a bad rating. If you rate a recipe then make it the way it is specified or don't rate it at all.
I just made this recipe for our cozy New Year's Eve tomorrow night and for our New Year's Day party. I did add a few things like some others suggested. I very rarely make a recipe without tweaking it in some way, so I hope no offense to Castoways, who posted the original recipe. For starters, I doubled the recipe. With that in mind, I added in 2 tablespoons of dried onions, a teaspoon of garlic powder, fresh ground pepper and roughly 4 teaspoons Worchestershire sauce, maybe more. The worchestershire sauce really completed this recipe. It added that little extra something that I thought it needed. I made 2 logs and then rolled them in toasted pecans. This made a delicious cheese spread and is exactly what I was looking for. My family will go nuts over it. I'll be using this recipe again. Thank you so much!
This is quick and simple to throw together and uses ingredients I generally have on hand. I made this to take to a family gathering and it was very tasty. I found that I actually liked this better after the flavors had a chance to meld together and the cheeseball warmed up a bit. I would definitely make this again!
I have been looking for an affordably priced cheeseball for the holidays and tried this. I made 1/2 recipe and I lined a small glass bowl with plastic wrap, spread the mixture in that, and it un-molded very easy in the 5 minutes. I then rolled that in the finely chopped pecans. I thought this wasn't seasoned much. The predominant flavor, as the store bought cheese balls, was the cheese. If for a party, I would at least add some garlic seasoning. I would also experiment with adding pimentos, or some other flavoring or color, depending on the holiday.
This was a huge hit at our latest family gathering. It was a little bit salty for my taste, but that didn't seem to slow anyone down. I like the idea of adding some bacon - will give that a try next time.
I made this for New Year's Eve. It was gone quickly. Everyone commented on how wonderful it was and I was thrilled with how easy it was. I made it the night before and left the ball in the refrigerator overnight. Before serving, rolled it in the chopped pecans. Dynamite! Thanks for sharing.
I changed the sour cream to greek yogurt, added 1 teaspoon of dried onions and 1/2 teaspoon of dried garlic bits, and rolled in dried dill. rolled into a log and let sit refrigerated overnight. A big hit at our large family gathering.
This was SO good. Honestly I thought it might be too salty but it was perfect! I added the pecans to the mixture instead of rolling them onto the cheese ball. You can get very creative with the shape of the ball as well...I formed it into a pumpkin and added a stem to the top. It got rave reviews. Will definitely put this in my keeper list! Thanks!
Good I left out the chili powder as I have another made that is spicy and just wanted a ranch one.
Love this recipe!!! It is super easy to make, its creamy, delicious, and it's something that everyone in my family will eat. Oh and for a little extra crunch I added bacon bits on the inside mixture.
Too salty. Reduce ranch dressing in half or add an additional half block of cream cheese. Presto! Great cheeseball!
This was super easy to make. Would suggest either using 1/2 the amt of ranch or adding extra block of cream cheese. I put real bacon in it instead of pecans.
Did everything but the pecans I fried up some bacon and chopped it fine added some in with the mix and then crusted the outside with it me and the gf absolutley love it..great recipe
I would use lite Ranch dressing over the pkg of Hidden Valley. It was WAY TOO salty for us. Loved the taste but not the salt. And I like salt. I asked my husband as he does not salt anything and he said without all the extra salt this would be perfect. I agree.
This was a big hit! I used bacon bits instead of pecans. I think the bacon bits pulled it all together well.
Delicious! Had this at a party and made it the next day at home.....some health modifications: I used fat free sour cream, reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, low fat cream cheese. Definitely use ranch DRESSING not DIP mix. I also added ~ 1/2 C tofu and decreased cream cheese by ~ 1/4 C. Couldn't taste the tofu in the mix...
I just made this cheeseball. I purchased a Kraft brand ranch dressing & dip oz ounce package. Since other reviewers said the whole packet could be too salty, I only used about 3/4th of the package. I also did as another reader suggested and added Worcestershire sauce and chopped dried onions. It tasted great. This is a good recipe for a change of pace when you don't want the traditional sweet cheese ball made with crushed pineapple. I also put whole almonds on top for the pine cone look.
So good and so easy! Also added a little dried chives and garlic and it was so good! Thanks for the recipe!
I used Colby cheese and skipped the pecans and rolled it in bacon bits. It turned out wonderful and everyone loved it! I agree with people saying to make it the night before so the ranch can Marry-in-ate :)
my friend made it at tonight's church study was so yummy I can't wait to make it...so good that I'm craving right now
My mother-in-law used to make it all the time and added chopped roast beef & ham.
I made this and it was a hit! I added real bacon bits and skipped the pecans. It is super ready to make.
I make this every holiday and it's always a BIG hit. The only thing I do different is I fry a pound of bacon till crispy and crush it up. Then I roll the cheese ball in the bacon till covered. I don't put nuts on the outside just the bacon.
This cheeseball is excellent! The flavor is amazing, and always a hit every time that I make it. The only tweak I make is to roll it in bacon, rather than nuts (because of a nut allergy).
It was really too salty for us. But it would be better to make next time and use a small amount of the ranch dressing packet
Very fast and easy! I made the shape more into a cheese log rather than a ball, and took it and a few sleeves of Ritz crackers to a small party. It was gone in no time and everybody raved about it. Thanks CASTOWAYS!
