This cranberry pecan cheese ball combined creamy cheese with tart cranberries and crunchy pecans, making this the perfect shareable snack for your holiday gatherings! Add it to the table alongside some candied pecans.

As you might recall, I’m not a big fan of cream cheese. However, I am a total sucker for anything that involves white cheddar cheddar cheese – so, cheese balls? I’m all over that.

Cheese balls with cranberries and nuts? Just hand it over and nobody gets hurt.

And that, my friends, is why I made this Cranberry Pecan Cheese Ball.

Ingredients for cranberry pecan cheeseball

8 ounces cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese
2 cups white sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 teaspoon orange extract, optional
½ cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
½ cup pecans, chopped
1 cup whole dried cranberries
1 cup pecans

How to make cranberry pecan cheeseball

In a large bowl using a hand or stand mixer (aff link), beat together cream cheese and cheddar cheese until well combined. If adding orange extract, add it now and beat well.
Add chopped cranberries and stir to combine.
Place mixture in the center of a piece of plastic wrap and cover completely with wrap while forming it into a ball shape. Place in fridge to chill for a couple hours.
Unwrap the ball, place on serving dish and cover the outside with whole dried cranberries and pecans (you may need more or less than a cup each depending on the side of the ball you made).
Serve with crackers, pita chips or pretzels. Enjoy!

Makes a great holiday appetizer

This is the perfect appetizer to set out for your guests while you prepare the main course for your holiday dinner. It’s self-serve, and doesn’t require anything fancy.

Just set out a plate with this bad boy surrounded by crackers, toss a cheese knife (okay, maybe don’t toss it – place it gently) next to it and you’re done.

You don’t have to worry about portion sizes because people can take as little or as much as they’d like.

See? I told you – it’s perfect.

How cute is this little “Gobble Gobble Until You Wobble” placard I got at Target? The answer is “SO cute”.

Anyway. I added a little orange extract to mine, because of course I did. You could add a hint of red food coloring if you wanted to be even more festive. Or you could even add some cranberry puree, it would just be a little bit messier.

How to serve a cheese ball

You want to keep the cheese ball chilled until it’s ready to be served, but once you’ve set it out it will only get easier to cut into.

Frankly, that can only help things once your guests are a few cocktails into the evening – getting the cheese onto the cracker is quite the feat when you’re doing it through an eggnog-induced haze.

This cranberry pecan cheese ball pairs well with a sturdy cracker or pita chips.

How many servings does this cheeseball make?

I find that this is the perfect size for 10 people – so if you have more than that, you might want to make more than one.

Or you could make one GIANT cheeseball and then take a picture of it next to your dog for perspective and send it to me. Because dog.