Jalapeno Popper Cheese Ball

by Mike Hernandez August 15, 2021

OK I'll be the first to admit that before this cheese ball, I was not a cheese ball fan. I can promise that this cheese ball will be the first thing gone and be the first thing people ask you to bribng to any party. It's got the whole package going for it. Good seasoning, shredded cheese, bacon bits, jalapeno pieces, and green onion bits all mixed in with cream cheese, what's not to like?

The base of the cheese ball sits in the refrigerator overnight to let flavors blend and to chill the whole ball, so start the day before you plan to serve it. The bacon that goes into the ball itself will get moist while it's sitting overnight, so while we do call for the bacon to be crisp, just know that the bacon you put into the ball itself will not be crunchy, but it does yield great flavor inside the ball, so don't skimp there. You can experiment with the cheeses to get the right mix for you, but we like both sharp Cheddar as well as the 4-Cheese blend in the photos below. Note in the ingredients that you do reserve some ingredients to "finish" and garnish the cheeseball. If you prefer a little more heat to your cheeseball, reserve some of the seeds from the jalapeños and use them in the base cheeseball. You can also add another jalapeño, but be careful not to adjust the ratio of cheese to "fillings" too much such that it doesn't hold together anymore.

As always, from our table to yours... #SpiceConfidently #EssenceOfFlavor #ChemistryInTheKitchen #CasaMSpice

— Mike Hernandez

ingredients

For the Base Cheese Ball:

2 packages of Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature
2 Tablespoons sour cream
1 Tablespoon Casa M Spice Co® Chain Reaction®
1 Tablespoon Casa M Spice Co® Cattle Drive®
1-1/2 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
5 slices bacon, cooked until very crispy
2 jalapeno chiles, stemmed, seeded, cut into strips, then diced
1/2 cup scallions, green tops only, diced

Pulling It All Together:

1/2 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
5 slices bacon, cooked until very crispy
1 jalapeno chile, stemmed, seeded, cut into strips, then diced
1/2 cup scallions, green tops only, diced

FEATURED QUOTE

If you prefer a little more heat to your cheeseball, reserve some of the seeds from the jalapeños and use them in the base cheeseball.

- Mike Hernandez

LET’S GET COOKING

1.
Put the cream cheese, Casa M Spice Co® seasonings, and sour cream into a large mixing bowl and using a hand mixer, mix very well to distribute the seasonings.
2.
Add the rest of the ingredients for the base cheese ball to the mixing bowl and mix them into the cheese mixture being careful not to over-mix, just mix to combine, then stop.
3.
Turn the mixture out onto one or two pieces of food film to make either one large or two smaller cheese balls. Wrap them tightly with food film, seal well, and then refrigerate at least 24 hours to allow flavors to combine and proper chilling.
4.
When you're ready to garnish the cheese ball(s) and serve them, place the reserved ingredients onto one or two plates (depending on whether you made one large or two small cheese balls) and mix them together, then roll the cheese ball in the "toppings" pressing the cheese ball down to get toppings adhered to it well.
5.
Once the toppings are on, put the cheese ball on a platter with chips around it and serve!
6.
While the cheese ball will refrigerate well, we've never seen one that needed to get refrigerated... they always go super fast.