Cheese Ball

Every Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember, my family has had a cheese ball for an appetizer.  I have introduced it to my in-laws as well because to me Thanksgiving just isn’t the same without a cheese ball!  I have seen many recipes for cheese balls before but none of them are the same as ours.  I don’t know where my mom got the recipe but where ever it was, we like it!  (Picture doesn’t look very appealing but believe me, it is good!)

Gather items from recipe.  In our family Ranch is a staple so we buy it in bulk at Sam’s Club.  I prefer using Philadelphia cream cheese.  It just tastes better!

Chop the pastrami into small pieces.  The easiest way I have found to do this is with a pizza cutter and just run over it a bunch until it looks like everything is chopped up. 

My chopped pastrami

Dump all of the ingredients into a bowl and get ready to get messy!

Use the best mixing tool in your kitchen, your hands!  I recommend taking any rings off before mixing though, if not, you’ll need them cleaned after you are done.

Enjoy your finished product!  My favorite crackers to eat the cheese ball with are wheat thins.  I think they were made for each other!  I did not roll my cheese ball in walnuts since my husband does not like them.  It is great either way, with or without nuts!

Click recipe to print