Indulge yourself in a delicious blend of tart cranberries and creamy cheese in our cranberry cheese ball. This savory cheese ball bursts with cheddar, cream, chives, pecans, and cranberry flavors. It will be the hit of any gathering and holiday party.
Cranberry Cheese Ball
Appetizers are some of my favorite foods to enjoy. I could go to a restaurant and order only appetizers. Give me a plate of Cheesy Garlic Bread, Flatbread pizza with asparagus, and Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken dip and I will gobble it up. This cheese ball loaded with cranberries, cheeses, chives, and pecans is the perfect finger food when spread on buttery crackers. It’s a crowd-pleasing cheese ball that looks festive during the holiday season.
What You’ll Love about Recipe for Cheeseball with Cranberries
- Not only is it a beautiful cheese ball, it is a huge hit with everyone.
- It can be made in under 20 minutes, which is a big help.
- This can be made a day ahead of time, which helps save time.
Ingredients
- cream cheese – you’ll want this to be softened. So, set it out about an hour prior to making the cheese ball. It’s fine to use either original cream cheese or 1/3 less fat. Either one works just fine in this recipe
- white cheddar cheese – If you can’t find shredded white cheddar cheese then you will need to use a shredder to shred the cheddar cheese. It needs to blend with the cream cheese and big chunks will not work for that
- cranberries – dried cranberries are easily found at most grocery stores. I used sweetened dried cranberries, but you don’t have to use sweetened cranberries. If you don’t use sweetened cranberries in your cheese ball then expect a little bit of a bitter bite to your spread
- pecans – try to find pecan pieces. Even if you find pecan pieces, you will need to crush them even smaller to go on the outside of your cheese ball
- chives – slice your chives into small bits. This will provide flavor throughout the cranberry cheeseball
Expert Tip
I like use a rolling pin to crush nuts for recipes. I usually place the nuts into a large ziptight bag and roll a heavy rolling pin over the nuts to crush them into small bits
Use wax paper or plastic wrap as a way to add the outside covering. Place the nut mixture into the middle of the wax paper or plastic wrap. Pull the plastic wrap up and over the cheese ball to add the nut covereing
How to Make a Cranberry Pecan Cheese Ball
In a medium-sized bowl, add the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup of cranberries, 1/2 cup of the pecans, and chives
Crush the remaining pecans. You can place them in a large zip-tight bag or fold them up in a large wax paper sheet. Use a rolling pin to roll over the pecans – crushing them
Set out a large piece of wax paper. Place the crushed pecans in the center.
Add the rest of the cranberries to the crushed pecans.
Form the cheese mixture into a ball
Place the ball into the center of the crushed pecans and cranberries
Pull up the wax paper around the cheese ball, pushing the nuts and cranberries into the cheese ball
Use your hands to roll the cheeseball over the nut mixture filling in the bare spots of cheese
Cover with cling wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to one day or serve immediately with crackers
Variations
Add a teaspoon of garlic powder for a garlic-flavored cheeseball
Add other white cheese like Parmesan cheese and shredded mozzarella cheese
What to Serve with a Cheese Ball
The best compliment to any cheeseball is a variety of crackers like butter crackers, or artisan crackers.
More finger foods like fiesta pinwheels, or spinach stuffed mushrooms perfectly complement any cheese ball.
On game days, sandwiches like Roast Beef with Pepperoncini, or a classic club sandwich is the perfect main course to serve
FAQs
Club crackers or Ritz are my favorite to serve with a cheese ball. Artisan crackers are also delcious with cheese balls.
Certainly. I love to add an inexpensive ham called Buddig smoked ham to my cheeseballs. It lends a smoky flavor and would go well with the cranberry and cheddar
More Appetizers You’ll Enjoy
Serving Size
This cheeseball will comfortably serve 10 people.
Double the recipe for more
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Cranberry Pecan Cheese Ball
Equipment
- wax paper
- medium sized bowl
Ingredients
- 8 oz. cream cheese original or 1/3 less fat – softened
- 1 cup white cheddar shredded
- 1 cup cranberries dried
- 1 cup pecan pieces
- ¼ cup chives sliced
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl, add the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup of cranberries, 1/2 cup of the pecans, and chives
- Crush the remaining pecans. You can either place them in a large zip-tight bag or fold them up in a large wax paper sheet. Use a rolling pin to roll over the pecans – crushing them
- Set out a large piece of wax paper. Place the crushed pecans in the center.
- Add the rest of the cranberries to the crushed pecans.
- Form the cheese mixture into a ball
- Place the ball into the center of the crushed pecans and cranberries
- Pull up the wax paper around the cheese ball, pushing the nuts and cranberries into the cheese ball
- Use your hands to roll the cheeseball over the nut mixture filling in the bare spots of cheese
- Cover with cling wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to one day or serve immediately with crackers
