Holiday Appetizer: Bacon Ranch Cheeseball

I am a lazy cook. I have a new found love for cooking, but in all reality I still like things that are relatively simple and quick. When I first took on making this cheeseball I wasn’t expecting it to be one of the easiest things I’ve ever made, but turns out I was pleasantly surprised and it was super simple and I’ve since made it 3x (one of which was made and ate within a 3 hour time span).

If you’re looking for a quick, easy appetizer to take to a holiday get together this weekend you HAVE to try this recipe. I have made it a couple times and it is devoured almost instantly! My favorite part is it has such little prep time and if you’re in a time crunch you can serve it without chilling for the suggested amount of time.

Bacon Ranch Cheeseball

To get started you want to get your bacon cooking. I used almost a whole pack of bacon between adding it to the mixture, plus the outside portion. I bake my bacon in the oven at 375 degrees for about 15-17 minutes.This is probably the longest part of this appetizer “prep”, but you can get the other stuff ready while the bacon is cooking. I use real bacon, but you can definitely just purchase those real bacon crumbles as a substitute. I’ve found the fresh cooked bacon gives it such a yummy taste.

Next you need to pull out two blocks of cream cheese. Throw them into a bowl and start blending them until they’re combined.

Cut up your green onions and get your ranch mix ready. I started chopping by hand, then ended up using my food processor to cut up the green onions. A lot faster that way! Add the onions and ranch mix to your cream cheese and mix them together.

By now your bacon should be ready. Let it cool and then chop it up into tiny pieces. Next you’ll blend in the shredded cheese and about 1/2 cup of the bacon pieces.

Finally, you’ll take the mixture and form it into a ball. I expected this to be a huge mess and very difficult, but it actually is the easiest part! Once your ball is formed you’ll want to roll it into your leftover bacon pieces so the outside of it is fully coated in bacon.

And you’re done! You’ll want to let it chill in the refrigerator for about an hour, but if you’re in a time crunch you can throw it into the freezer for 15-20 minutes and it’s still just as delicious!

Serve with some Ritz crackers or pita chips.

 

INGREDIENTS:

(2) blocks of cream cheese
(1) cup of bacon crumbles
(1) packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dip mix
(1/2) cup of shredded cheddar cheese
(4-5) green onions, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place cream cheese in a medium sized mixing bowl.
2. Blend with mixer until both blocks are combined.
3. Add in ranch dip mix and green onion and mix well.
4. Blend in shredded cheddar cheese and ½ cup of the bacon crumbles.
5. Once mixed, using your hands, form into a ball.
6. Roll the ball into the remaining ½ cup of bacon crumbles.
7. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.
8. Serve with pita chips, crackers, or anything that strikes your fancy 😉
9. Enjoy!