Mini Cheese Balls | Appetizer Recipe (2024)

Mini Cheese Balls are the perfect individual appetizer idea. Whether it’s for the holidays, game day, or watching an award show on TV, these cheese balls are ideal! If you’re looking for individual appetizer ideas, these mini cheese balls need to be on the menu. Grab the recipe below.

Mini Cheese Balls Appetizers

Whether you are entertaining for the holidays, game day parties, or even an appetizer to serve next to the desserts you are serving up at a birthday, these cheese balls are delicious. This pandemic has turned us upside down and inside out, but along the way, we’ve learned some things and unlearned so many more. And with no end in sight, the holidays are going to be somewhat unfamiliar as well. We are going to entertain less, and when we do, we can rest assured the guest list will be populated with fewer family and friends.

The food is still important.

But just because we’re entertaining small groups doesn’t mean the food needs to be no less important. Our cheese balls were created with guests in mind. They’re easy to grab, which makes any get-together better for you and your guests.

Here’s what you’ll need to make our Mini Cheese Balls Appetizers

Cream Cheese. This is the base ingredient for just about any cheese ball you’ll ever create. I love cream cheese because it’s easy to work with and is the “glue” that keeps the rest of the components playing well together.

Parmesan. Romano. Asiago. I love cheese blends, and this particular one is a favorite because the flavors are all kinds of savory. However, do you and use whatever cheeses blow your hair back.

Garlic. Peppers. Green Onion. Parsley. Adding lots of fresh ingredients goes a long way to up the ante and take an ordinary cheese ball to flavor town.

Seasoning. I kept the seasoning simple and added OLD BAY® 30% LESS SODIUM SEASONING and freshly cracked black peppercorns for this recipe.

Mixed Nuts & Wasabi Peas. Yes, instead of one particular kind of nut, I used a cupful of mixed nuts to switch things up. I also tossed in a half cup of Wasabi peas to give these cheese balls a barely-there pinch of heat.

Why Do You Have To Have Room Temperature Cream Cheese

When making a cheese ball, your cream cheese must be softened and at room temperature. The reason being is cream cheese is very stiff, and it will not mix well if you don’t let it warm up beforehand.

You will also get a creamy texture when you mix it up if you use room temperature cheese.

Can I Make These In Advance

You can make these bite-size cheese balls a day in advance. Just roll them and store them on the platter and cover well or place them in an airtight container.

Now you can leave the cracker out, and then right before you serve, stick your crackers in, and then you are set to serve up.

Expert Tips For Making Cheese Balls

• You need to make sure that you use a cookie scoop. This is going to allow you to have evenly shaped cheese balls.
• If you want to make one large cheeseball instead of mini ones, go right ahead.
• You can use any cracker to stick in the cheeseballs or even reach for a pretzel to add to the cheeseballs.
• Leave some of the seeds from the jalapenos to help spice up the flavor of the cheeseballs if you want to amp up the flavor.

Check out this Holiday Savory Cheese Ball and this other cheese ball recipe: .

How Long Will Cheese Balls Last

Depending on the ingredients will depend on when you will need to toss out your cheeseballs. It would be best if you looked at what ingredients will expire first. If it has chopped veggies or herbs, you might find it only stores for 3-4 days in the fridge. Or if there is meat, you most often don’t want to go longer than three days.

Mini Cheese Balls Appetizers

15 Servings

Ingredients:

• Two 8-ounce packages of cream cheese at room temperature
• 3/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup grated Asiago cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp everything bagel seasoning
• 1 medium jalapenos peppers with the pith and seeds removed and minced
• 1 each mini peppers, red, yellow, and red with the pith and seeds removed and minced
• 1/2 cup parsley wash and stems removed then chopped
• 1 cup mixed assorted nuts
• 1/2 cup Wasabi peas crushed

Directions:

1. Into a medium-size bowl, add the softened cream cheese, parmesan, asiago, romano, garlic, everything bagel seasoning, jalapeños, mini-tri colored peppers, parsley, and mix well. Set mixture aside.
2. Put the assorted mixed nuts and the wasabi peas into a food processor and pulse until the mixture is chopped and coarse, spoon the mixture onto a plate and shake slightly to spread the mixture out.
3. Using a 2 tbsp scoop, scoop a portion of the cream cheese mixture into your palm and work into a ball, then dredge through the chopped nut mixture, repeat the steps until the last cheese ball is complete.
4. Place the mini cheese ball appetizers onto a serving tray or divide it onto a separate plate. Place a cracker into the top of each mini cheese ball. Serve.

You have the recipe, and before you know it, the holidays will be here! So, if you’re all about serving up individual portions, then our Mini Cheese Ball Appetizers will be just what you need to be the hostess with the most! Oh, by the way, these mini cheese balls are perfect for game day too, or a couple’s night-in date night!

Other appetizer recipes to try:

17+ Game Day Appetizers

17 Appetizer Ideas For New Year’s Eve

Black Bean Salsa Dip