Christmas Spicy Cheese Ball

Ingredients

• 16 oz / 452 g (2 blocks) Cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup Sour cream
• 1 cup Sharp cheddar, shredded
• 1 cup White cheddar, shredded
• ½ Red bell pepper, finely chopped
• ½ Green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1–2 tsp Hot sauce
• ½ tsp Garlic powder
• ½ tsp Onion powder
• ¼ tsp Black pepper
• ¾ cup Pretzels, finely crushed
• ¼ cup Extra red and green bell pepper, finely chopped, for the coat

Method

1. Beat the cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Fold in both cheddars, the chopped peppers, Worcestershire, hot sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper. Do not add salt. The cheeses already have it.
2. Chill until the mixture is firm enough to shape, at least 1 hour and up to a day.
3. Stir the crushed pretzels with the extra peppers. Roll the cheese into a ball, then roll it in the pretzel mixture until coated.
4. Chill again until you serve it. Put crackers or cut vegetables alongside.

Nutrition

Kitchen estimate only, not lab-verified. A cheese appetizer. Pretzels and cheddar are the salty parts.

Guest diet / allergy swaps

Short kitchen notes for guests. A fuller gluten-free or dairy-free ingredient list, when we have one, is in the panels below.

• Low-sodium friendly

  Do not add salt. Use a lower-sodium cheddar if you keep one, and go easy on the hot sauce. Cheese and pretzels are still salty foods.

• Gluten-free style

  Roll the ball in pretzels labeled gluten-free, or skip the pretzel coat and use the extra peppers plus a few crushed gluten-free crackers. Check the Worcestershire bottle for wheat.

• No fish

  Worcestershire often contains anchovies, which is why fish is listed. Use an anchovy-free bottle, or leave it out and add 1 teaspoon lemon juice.

• Not spicy

  Leave out the hot sauce.