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Everyone should have a great Cheddar Bacon Cheese Ball recipe in their recipe collection…this is IT!
This Cheddar Bacon Cheese Ball recipe was created in partnership with the dairy farm families of New England. All opinions are 100% ours.
At your next party or get together, your guests will be so excited to see this Cheddar Bacon Cheese Ball out on the serving platter. After all, what’s not to like? It’s a creamy ball of cheese rolled in chopped bacon?! (And other ingredients too of course.)
And, as the host or hostess of the party, you’re going to love that this easy and delicious Cheddar Bacon Cheese Ball can be prepped ahead of time, then chilled until you are ready to serve.
Cooking with Dairy
The star of this cheese ball is three cups of shredded white cheddar cheese made with milk from local, New England dairy farms.
New England dairy farmers work every day to produce fresh, great tasting, and wholesome dairy products. In fact, more than 99% of the milk produced on New England dairy farms is bottled or turned into cheese, butter, yogurt and ice cream in New England and New York.
How do you make this Cheddar Bacon Cheese Ball?
We selected a sharp, white Vermont cheddar cheese for our cheese ball recipe today – mixing it with other delicious dairy ingredients including cream cheese, sour cream, and some shredded Swiss cheese.
The cheese is also mixed with chopped cooked bacon, sautéed red pepper and sweet onions, chopped toasted pecans, as well other ingredients including apricot jam for a touch of sweetness, a splash of champagne vinegar to add a bright note of flavor among the rich, creamy cheese, plus other seasonings.
The cheese ball mixture is formed into a ball and chilled until firm – then coated with more chopped bacon and pecans, as well as some finely chopped fresh, flat leaf parsley.
Serve this Cheddar Bacon Cheese Ball with crackers on the side. Enjoy!
June is National Dairy Month
National Dairy Month celebrations date back to June 1937 when farmers decided to promote drinking milk, especially during peak milk production times on dairy farms. Today, all delicious and wholesome dairy products are included in the celebrations.
We celebrate dairy for many reasons, including its delicious taste, nutrient-rich nature, its local production, and to acknowledge the dairy farmers that work hard each day to preserve and protect our beautiful New England landscape while producing a nutritious product.
For more information about the dairy farm families of New England, school nutrition, and health and wellness topics, please visit New England Dairy & Food Council and Must Be the Milk.
You may enjoy these other recipes we made with fresh, New England dairy:
- Halal Cart-Style Chicken and Rice with White Yogurt Sauce
- Scalded Milk Cake
- Milk Braised Pulled Pork with Mushrooms
- No-Bake Greek Yogurt Cheesecake Squares
- Lobster Mac & Cheese
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Cheddar Bacon Cheese Ball
Prep time includes time to chill your cheese ball.
Ingredients
1 pound bacon
2/3 cup sweet onion, minced fine*
2/3 cup sweet red bell pepper, minced fine*
1 tablespoon garlic, minced fine*
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
2 tablespoons apricot jam (or other favorite jam or preserves)
1/2 cup pecans, divided
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup swiss cheese, shredded on large holes of a box grater
3 cups sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded on large holes of a box grater
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped fine
Crackers for serving
Instructions
Cook bacon to crisp and drain on paper towels. Crumble into small pieces or chop on a cutting board. Divide in half and set aside.
Reserve two tablespoons of the bacon fat and save the rest for other recipes, or discard.
In a clean pan, heat the two tablespoons of bacon fat and add onions, bell peppers and garlic and saute about four minutes over medium high until soft.
Lower heat to medium and add sugar, vinegar and jam and cook for another minute, then remove pan to cool.
In a small dry pan over medium heat, toast pecans for about 2-3 minutes until browned. Remove to a cutting board and chop fine. Take half the nuts and set aside into a medium bowl.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat cream cheese until smooth then beat in the sour cream. Scrape and beat again.
Add the swiss, cheddar, salt, pepper, half of the chopped nuts, half of the chopped bacon and all of the contents from the pan with the onions and peppers.
Mix with paddle just long enough to incorporate, don’t over mix.
Refrigerate for one hour.
Add the remaining chopped bacon to the bowl with the nuts and stir in the chopped parsley.
Lay out a big piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper and sprinkle half the bacon and nut mixture out.
Use a rubber spatula to gather up the cheese mixture and using your hands, form into a ball shape then set in the center of the topping mixture.
Pour the rest of the topping over the top of the cheese ball then use the plastic or parchment to lift the sides to get the topping all the way around the ball. Roll the ball into the mixture until it is all used.
Place on a serving dish and refrigerate again for another hour.
Serve with crackers.
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Notes
*If you are not comfortable mincing, the onion, bell pepper and garlic, they could be chopped in a food processor.
This looks so good! Can’t wait to bring it to a Christmas party this year.
Hope you enjoy the recipe Jean!
Can you make these ahead of time? I am thinking of making these for a wedding reception the day before.
Hi Cynthia – Yes – this recipe can be made the day before. Hope you and the wedding guests enjoy the recipe!