Decorate this cute appetizer for your Halloween party or Thanksgiving table! It's a lot easier than it looks and the southwestern flavor is out of this world!
Next time try this creamy pumpkin cheesecake dip or cute Halloween Rice Krispie Treats. They're perfect for those of you with a sweet tooth!
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❤️ Why you'll love it
- this pumpkin cheese ball recipe is so stinkin' cute
- decorate as a jack-o-lantern for Halloween or just a plain pumpkin for snacking on before Thanksgiving dinner. It's always a huge hit and disappears fast!
- make ahead easy!
Y'all, this pumpkin shaped cheese ball is the cutest party appetizer ever! I used spicy cheese puffs for the outside but you could use plain ones if you don't want them to be spicy.
You can't go wrong with the flavors of spicy ranch seasoning, green onion, bell pepper, and sharp Cheddar cheese in a cream cheese spread!
🧾 Ingredients
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- spicy Ranch seasoning
- Cheddar cheese (any kind but we like sharp Cheddar)
- cream cheese
- green onions
- bell pepper
- cilantro
- spicy cheese puffs I used Ghost pepper cheese puffs by H-E-B but if you aren't near that grocery chain try these Jalapeno Cheetos.
🔪 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.
This cute, fall pumpkin cheeseball looks complicated but it's really not! It's the perfect appetizer for your Halloween party or Thanksgiving table!
- Chop the vegetables.
- Mix cream cheese and other cheese ball ingredients to the bowl of an electric mixer.
- Beat on medium speed until smooth. Form into a ball the shape of a pumpkin. Don't worry about the sections, yet.
- Put the cheese puffs in a blender or food processor and turn into fine crumbs.
- Place the cheese mixture on a sheet of plastic wrap covered with the cheese puff crumbs. Gently push the crumbs into the cheese ball until it's covered. Pull the sides of the plastic wrap up and over the pumpkin cheese ball. Wrap firmly in the plastic wrap and add rubber bands to make the pumpkin shape.
- Chill overnight then carefully remove rubber bands by gently cutting them off with scissors.
- You may need to press more crumbs into the cheeseball "pumpkin".
- Add a green pepper stem and serve with crackers and crudités.
To serve
Place pumpkin cheeseball in the center of a platter or tray and surround it with tortilla chips, Ritz crackers, crudités, slices of toasted baguette, pretzels, plenty of fresh vegetables, and other dip-ins.
Let the it stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving.
🥄 Cook along!
🥄 Equipment
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You'll need the following items to make this jack-o-lantern pumpkin cheese ball successfully.
- large rubber bands
- plastic wrap
- blender or food processor
- stand mixer or hand mixer
🥫 Storage
Wrap the cheese ball in plastic wrap (or put in an airtight container) and store in the refrigerator for up to 14 days. Let come to room temperature before serving.
You can also freeze it! Wrap it in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil, and place it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then let come to room temperature before serving.
Whether you refrigerate it or freeze it you'll probably need to reapply the cheese puff crumbs before serving.
💭 Tips
Expert Tip: The crumb coating will start to disappear when it's in the refrigerator. Keep enough cheese puffs on hand to add more crumbs to the outside before serving.
- Make sure everything is at room temperature before mixing.
- For best results use regular cream cheese not whipped, low fat, or fat free.
- Nacho chips, tortilla chips, and Cheez-it crumbs all work for the crumb coating on this pumpkin cheeseball. Just make sure whatever you use has an orange cast or it won't look like a pumpkin. You want a nice orange color.
- For best results chop any vegetables you put in the cream cheese mixture in small pieces.
- Cut the green pepper top in sort of a wedge shape to make the pumpkin stem. It will fit into the "pumpkin" better that way.
- You can also make the pumpkin stem on top of the cheese ball with an upside down broccoli floret if you prefer not to use bell peppers.
- You'll need to wrap the rubber bands tightly around the cheese ball to make the pumpkin shape.
- If you don't want to use rubber bands you can use kitchen twine as well. Make sure you tie it firmly around the wrapped cheese ball to make the sections like a real pumpkin has.
- Cut the rubber bands off rather than pulling them off. You'll protect the shape of the pumpkin that way.
- I used black olives to make the eyes and mouth but you could use other condiments - sliced pimento stuffed green olives, for example.
👩🍳 FAQs
Usually some sort of cheese and seasoning whipped into a base of cream cheese that's shaped into a ball and rolled in crumbs or nuts.
It depends on the flavor of the cheeseball. Crackers, tortilla chips, toasted baguette slices, and crudites are delicious with a savory cheese ball. Apple slices, pear slices, graham crackers, and sugar cookies are good with a more sweet cheese ball.
If it's tightly covered and refrigerated it will last for 2 weeks.
📖 Variations
There are a lot of different ways to vary this recipe.
- Use crushed chips like nacho flavored Doritos or Fritos for the crumbs
- Add a tablespoon of finely chopped garlic to the cream cheese mixture
- Add ¼ cup chopped cilantro or basil to the cream cheese mixture
- Use onion soup mix in place of the spicy Ranch
- Add finely chopped celery
- Add finely chopped poblano pepper
📚 Related recipes
Here are more of my favorite Halloween recipes!
📞 The last word
This is not my original idea - at least how it looks. I saw this pumpkin cheese ball shape all over the Internet by different companies and several different bloggers so I honestly don't know who thought of it first.
It's one of the Halloween recipes I've been using for years though, and the spicy cheese puff coating was a stroke of pure genius. It was the best way I could think of to get rid of a bag of stale ghost pepper cheese puffs.
I love this adorable pumpkin shaped appetizer for Halloween parties, fall get-togethers, and it even makes a great Thanksgiving snack!
Such a cute idea for this time of year! If you're doing a party check out this Halloween meatloaf from my friend Deb at Bowl Me Over!
It's the best cheese ball for fall because you don't have to make it a jack-o-lantern with the black olives but can leave it plain. That way it works all season long!
It makes a pretty centerpiece when it's surrounded by crackers and tortilla chips. And seriously... who can resist that cute pumpkin look?
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Cheese Ball
Print Pin Recipe SaveIngredients
- 16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup Cheddar, shredded
- 2 tablespoons spicy ranch dressing seasoning
- ⅓ cup bell pepper, finely chopped
- ⅓ cup green onions, sliced
- 1-½ cups cheese puffs, I used H-E-B Carolina Reaper but Flamin' Hot Cheetos puffs or plain Cheetos puffs are fine.
- 1 cup cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
Step one
- Let two (8-ounce) packages cream cheese come to room temperature.
- Grind the Cheetos to a powder in the blender.
- Set aside.
Step two
- Add the room temperature cream cheese to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
- Mix on medium speed, stopping to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula every few minutes until the cream cheese is smooth.
- Add the spicy Ranch seasoning, the shredded cheese, the bell pepper, and the green onion and beat until well mixed and the ingredients are distributed through out the cream cheese mixture.
Step three
- Place a double layer of plastic wrap on the counter.
- Add a layer of the ground up Cheetos.
- Spoon the cheese mixture into the middle of the Cheetos and use the plastic wrap to help shape it into a ball.
- Add more of the Cheeto crumbs and continue to shape the mixture into a ball.
- Continue adding crumbs and shaping with the plastic wrap until the cheese is covered with the Cheeto crumbs and is in a ball shape.
- Bring the plastic wrap up tightly around the cheese ball and press it together to seal.
- Add another layer of plastic wrap tightly around the cheese ball.
- Use doubled rubber bands to create the indentations that make the "pumpkin" shape.
- Chill overnight.
Step four
- Before serving cut the rubber bands off carefully.
- Use the bell pepper stem as the stem end of the pumpkin.
- Garnish with fresh cilantro.
- Use ripe black olives cut into triangles and attached with toothpicks to make eyes and mouth if you'd like it to look like a Jack-o'-lantern.
- Serve with chips, crackers, and/or crudites.
Notes
- Make sure everything is at room temperature before mixing.
- For best results use regular cream cheese not whipped, low fat, or fat free.
- For best results chop any vegetables you put in the cream cheese mixture in small pieces.
- Cut the green pepper top in sort of a wedge shape to make the pumpkin stem. It will fit into the "pumpkin" better that way.
- You'll need to wrap the rubber bands tightly around the cheese ball to make the pumpkin shape.
- If you don't want to use rubber bands you can use kitchen twine as well.
- Cut the rubber bands off rather than pulling them off.
- I used black olives to make the eyes and mouth but you could use other condiments - sliced pimento stuffed green olives, for example.
Nutrition Facts
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We'll never share your email or send you spam. Pinkie swear.First published August 4, 2021. Last updated October 28, 2021 for Editorial adjustments, to add the step by step story, and variations.
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