clickinmyheels

This past weekend we went to a Halloween Bash at our friends’ house. She is the ultimate hostess with the cutest little party table settings and themed decor throughout their beautiful house. Her husband is a kid at heart who really gets into his costume and made us all feel so welcome. Before the party, I looked in old cookbooks and on Pinterest for party food ideas. I gave her three choices of what I could bring to the party. One was a dessert, one was a fall party mix, and one was a cheese ball. She chose the cheese ball so that’s what I made. Now, this is not just an ordinary cheese ball, it is a spicy nacho cheese chip encrusted cheese ball formed in the shape of a pumpkin with stem and all! It’s so cute. Perfect for Halloween or fall party, tailgating, Sunday Football kind of party, or an office party. It would also work for a Thanksgiving Day appetizer. Really it’s good any season of because you can easily “de pumpkin” the cheese ball and enjoy it throughout the year! I saw this great idea at familyfreshmeals.com. You can see the original recipe there. Thanks for the awesome idea and wonderful site.  I made a few changes which are included in my recipe below.

Nacho Cheese Ball

Ingredients:

3  8 oz packages of cream cheese. I used 1/3 less fat version.

2 C crushed nacho cheese tortilla chips. I used Taco Flavored Doritos.

3 TBS salsa

1/2 of a small-medium onion diced fine

1 TBS hot sauce. I used Tapatio

2 teas ground cumin

2 C shredded cheddar cheese

2 slices of Kraft Big Slice Pepper Jack Cheese cut up into small chunks.

Stem from one bell pepper if making cheese ball into a pumpkin shape

Chips, Crackers, Veggies, whatever you want to go with the cheese ball

Instructions:

Soften cream cheese in microwave.

Combine cream cheese, shredded cheese, hot sauce, salsa, cumin, and pepper jack cheese into a mixer. Mix just until blended.

Scoop out mixture and form into a ball. I just scoop it onto a large piece of plastic wrap or two and then bring up the plastic wrap around it like a ball. Place in fridge for a couple of hours or freezer for an hour.

In a quart or gallon size freezer bag, crush up 2 C of nacho cheese tortilla chips. Transfer to a large bowl.

Cut the stem out of a bell pepper and set aside if making into pumpkin shape.

Once the cheese ball has hardened, remove from fridge or freezer and plastic wrap and roll the cheese ball in the tortilla chips until coated.

I made little lines down my cheese ball to look like the ridges of a pumpkin as I coated with the chips.

Place the stem on the top of the cheese ball if making into pumpkin shape.

Surround cheese ball with chips, crackers, veggies or anything you want to serve with the cheese ball.

Now you’re ready for the party!