Description
This Jalapeño Popper Cheese Ball combines cream cheese, sharp cheddar, smoky bacon, pickled and fresh jalapeños, green onions, and toasted panko in a festive football-shaped appetizer. Serve it with crackers, pretzels, vegetables, or apple slices for game day, tailgates, or Super Bowl parties.
Ingredients
Scale
- 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, freshly shredded
- 1/3 cup chopped green onions, divided
- 1/2 cup diced pickled jalapeños, drained
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 3 slices bacon
- 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 2 fresh jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped
- 1 slice mozzarella or white cheddar cheese
- Crackers, pretzels, vegetable sticks, or apple slices, for serving
Instructions
- Add the softened cream cheese, shredded cheddar, pickled jalapeños, garlic powder, salt, and about 2 tablespoons of chopped green onion to a medium bowl.
- Beat with a hand mixer or stir firmly with a fork until the mixture becomes smooth and evenly combined.
- Scoop the cheese mixture onto parchment paper or a cutting board and shape it into a ball.
- Flatten the top, pinch both ends, and gently press the center until the cheese ball resembles a football.
- Cover and refrigerate the cheese ball for 15 to 60 minutes if it feels too soft to coat.
- Chop the bacon and cook it in a hot skillet until crisp.
- Transfer the cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and leave a small amount of bacon fat in the skillet.
- Add the panko breadcrumbs to the skillet and toast them for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until golden.
- Let the bacon and toasted panko cool completely.
- Combine the bacon, toasted panko, remaining green onion, parsley, and finely chopped fresh jalapeños.
- Press the topping mixture firmly over the entire football-shaped cheese ball.
- Cut one long strip and several short strips from the mozzarella or white cheddar slice.
- Place the long cheese strip down the center of the football and arrange the shorter strips across it to form laces.
- Serve with crackers, pretzels, vegetable sticks, or apple slices.
Notes
- Drain the pickled jalapeños thoroughly so the cheese mixture stays firm.
- Microwave the cream cheese for about 30 seconds if you need to soften it quickly.
- For more heat, add extra jalapeños, hot sauce, or red pepper flakes.
- For a milder cheese ball, remove all seeds and inner ribs from the fresh jalapeños.
- Let the bacon and toasted panko cool before coating the cheese ball.
- Replace regular panko with certified gluten-free breadcrumbs for a gluten-free version.
- For a vegetarian version, omit the bacon and add extra toasted breadcrumbs, chopped pecans, or vegetarian bacon pieces.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 minutes
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Mixing and Shaping
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 104
- Sugar: 1
- Sodium: 157
- Fat: 9
- Saturated Fat: 5
- Unsaturated Fat: 3
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 2
- Fiber: 0
- Protein: 4
- Cholesterol: 27