How To Make Cheese Balls

Cheese balls are a hit at every party and they are super easy to make. These Savory Mini Cheese Balls are made with Kraft Philadelphia cream cheese, fresh herbs, dried cranberries, delicious Planters pecans, and poppy and sesame seeds.

Why You’ll Love These Cheese Balls

Not only are these savory cheese balls delicious, but they are also naturally low in carbs (only 4 grams of carbs per serving). These cute little cheese balls are made with a base of Kraft Philadelphia cream cheese and rolled in your choice of fresh herbs, dried cranberries, delicious Planters pecans, and poppy and sesame seeds.

And since I mentioned a party above, let me recommend that you make one of each – the more the merrier, right? Serving a variety of flavors means that there will be something for everyone.

How To Make Cheese Balls

Making them is really easy. Really. If you can chop nuts, cranberries, and herbs, then you have the hardest part of making these tasty appetizers in the bag.

Blocks of cream cheese, sesame seeds, dried cranraisins, and pecans.

Instructions

Place two tablespoons of sesame seeds, one teaspoon of poppy seeds, and one garlic clove (diced) into a small bowl and mix well.
In another bowl, combine two tablespoons of finely chopped fresh parsley, 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh thyme leaves, one teaspoon of finely chopped fresh rosemary, along with one garlic clove (diced). Stir well.
In a third bowl, combine ¼ cup finely chopped dried cranberries and two tablespoons finely chopped PLANTERS Pecans.

Bowl with various toppings for cream cheese.

Then you need to take one and a half blocks of Philadelphia Cream Cheese and cut it into six pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Roll two balls, one at a time, into each of the bowls of toppings.

Cream cheese balls in glass bowls with toppings.

Be sure to coat the entire cream cheese ball.

Small cream cheese ball in a glass dish with sesame seeds.

Don’t they look cute?

Small cream cheese balls on a wooden board.

Serve them with buttery crackers (for those not worrying about carbs) and some celery sticks (for those who are carb counting).

The cream cheese combined with the toppings makes delicious appetizers. A nice feature about them is that you can make them ahead of time and place them in the fridge.

Recipe Notes

If you find that your refrigerator works a little too well and the cream cheese does not easily form a ball, let it sit out on your kitchen counter for 15-20 minutes so that it can soften.

Feel free to make these to suit your tastes. Other tasty toppings include Cheddar cheese, pepper Jack cheese, a mixture of cheeses, bacon bits, Everything Bagel seasoning, crushed Fritos, chopped pistachios – you get the idea.