Keto Cheese Ball

Every party or special occasion calls for a delicious cheese dish. A keto cheese ball is the perfect appetizer for your next get-together!

WHAT IS A KETO CHEESE BALL?

A cheese ball is a delicious retro appetizer famous across the country. Growing up, it was likely a cheese ball graced the table each time there was a party or family get-together.

Traditional cheese balls are a mixture of cream cheese, grated cheese whipped smooth with a few added flavorings. They are then shaped into a ball and rolled in nuts.

They are then served with a “crunch” such as carrots, celery, or crackers.

This recipe, however, leaves out any unnecessary extras in order to make a yummy, keto cheese ball full of fats and deliciousness! It’s sure to please your whole family or party guests!

KETO CHEESE BALL INGREDIENTS

Before you try to make this recipe, make sure you have the following ingredients on hand.

• 1 (8-ounce package) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 3 strips very crispy bacon crumbles
• 1/2 bunch chives, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• kosher salt, to taste

After you have all of this, you’re set and ready to make a cheese ball!

HOW TO MAKE A KETO CHEESE BALL

1. Mince garlic and then add a pinch of salt
2. Mash the garlic and salt mixture until a paste forms
3. In a medium-sized bowl, stir garlic paste, Worcestershire sauce, shredded cheddar cheese, and cream cheese together until well combined
4. Form a ball out of the cream cheese
5. Refrigerate for 20 minutes, or until the cream cheese has firmed slightly
6. On a plate or another flat surface, add bacon crumbles
7. Take the cheese ball and roll it in the bacon
8. Grab your favorite “crunch”, dip, and enjoy!

DO I HAVE TO USE CHIVES?

Well, no, you don’t. However, they are a delicious component to this dish and really make the overall flavor amazing. Having said that, if you aren’t a fan of chives for whatever reason, you can leave them out.

If you decide to leave them out, we highly recommend utilizing the optional cream cheese component of the recipe. This allows for another flavor added to the palette of this recipe.

While cream cheese and bacon are both delicious, the two ingredients by themselves are not as satisfying as they are with chives.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT CREAM CHEESE…

Picking cream cheese isn’t an overly hard task, but care should be taken to ensure you select a good quality cream cheese. Below are a few things for you to consider when standing in the cheese aisle ready to buy.

HOW TO PICK THE RIGHT CREAM CHEESE

When choosing a cream cheese, always be sure to check the carbohydrate content. Depending on the brand, carb content can change drastically.

Generally, cream cheese should contain no more than 1 gram of carbohydrates per ounce. If there is more than this, the cheese may contain extra ingredients or fillers. Neither is useful or something you want to be ingesting.

Depending on your area and what is available in your store brand, you might be forced to choose brand name cream cheese. If this is the case, the price will be somewhat higher, but the nutrition will be keto-approved.

HIGH-FAT VERSUS LOW-FAT CREAM CHEESE

Watching fat content on a keto/low-carb diet isn’t a concern. Fat is what makes both ways of eating work their proverbial “magic.”

When choosing a cream cheese for this recipe, never opt for a low-fat version. As you probably know, anything that has been purposefully lowered in fat has a higher level of sugar.

In fact, not only is there more sugar, there is often more ingredients as well. This, of course, defeats our mission to eat a few “extra” ingredients as possible.

SAY NO TO NEUFCHATEL CHEESE

As you’ve probably seen at some point in your grocery store visits, there is a cheese packaged and sold alongside cream cheese. This cheese is called Neuchtafel cheese, and upon first glance is the same thing as cream cheese.

What you don’t see at first, however, is that this cheese has a lower fat content and higher water content than cream cheese. While it’s not a huge difference, it isn’t worth using for keto recipes.

The moral of the story is, say no to Neufchatel!

WHAT “CRUNCH” SHOULD BE USED WITH THIS DIP?

Truly, the answer to this is up to you. The easiest and most widely used crunch would be pork rinds. Of course, if you can find them made fresh, they are absolutely amazing.

There are other options out there, such as cheese crisps, and keto crackers. If you have a favorite crunch, either made or bought, use it with this dip. There is really no wrong answer here, just use what you like the best!

HOW TO SOFTEN CREAM CHEESE

Softening cream cheese for this dip is incredibly easy. Just leave it out on your kitchen counter for a few hours before you plan to make this dip and the cheese will be nice, soft, and ready to use!

CAN I MICROWAVE CREAM CHEESE TO SOFTEN IT?

No! If you try and take this route to soften the cheese, you’ll end up with cooked cream cheese, instead of simply softened cream cheese.

It takes some time but softening cream cheese the normal way (discussed above) is the absolute best way to achieve the softened final result.

STORING LEFTOVER CHEESE BALL

Storing any cheeseball leftovers you may have is super easy and simple!

Just put remaining cheeseball into an air-tight container and toss it into the refrigerator! That’s it!

HOW LONG WILL THIS CHEESE BALL KEEP?

In the fridge, this cheese ball should keep for several days. If, however, you haven’t finished it off after 5 – 6 days, it’s best to discard the leftovers.

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