The Best Dill Pickle Cheese Ball

This rich and delicious dill pickle cheese ball is one of my best appetizers. A creamy ball of cream cheese seasoned with dill pickles and rolled in more cheese; it can hardly get any better.

Get your crackers ready and dig into this amazingly creamy and savory dill pickle cheese ball! It’s so good, flavorful, and rich tasting that you won’t stop dipping everything into it - the perfect appetizer for your next party, game day, or any other holiday gathering.

Check out another easy appetizer with cucumbers, dill, and cream cheese, this amazing Cucumber Cream Cheese Wraps Recipe. Or see 17+ Easy Super Bowl Appetizers.

Jump to:

• What do we love about this dill pickle cheese ball recipe?
• Recipe ingredients
• How to make this easy cheese ball recipe?
• Expert Tips
• Recipe FAQ
• How to serve?
• More Party Appetizers
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

What do we love about this dill pickle cheese ball recipe?

• The flavors: The use of dill pickles makes this cream cheese ball stand out from the rest of the cheese balls. This is an excellent recipe for pickle lovers!
• Make ahead: You can prepare the ball 2-3 days ahead and store it in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
• Absolute crowd-pleaser: It goes faster than any other appetizer on the table; I can’t even recall how many times I had to hand out the recipe.
• Quicker version: If you don’t feel like it, you don’t have to form the mixture into a ball. Spoon it into a bowl, top it with some cheese, dill, and sesame seeds, and serve it that way. It will taste just as delicious!

Recipe ingredients

• Cream cheese: Full-fat tastes best; there is no doubt about that. If you want to reduce the calories, don’t go lower than 16-17% fat content or mix full fat with lower-fat cream cheese.
• Cheddar: I use sharp, but medium cheddar is also fine. Alternatively, use aged Gouda or another sharp-tasting cheese you like. It’s preferable to avoid mild-tasting sorts of cheese.
  • I shredded the Cheddar I needed for the cream cheese mixture and chopped the amount required for the coating into very small pieces.

• Dill pickles and a little dill pickle juice: The most popular kind of cucumber pickles, a vinegar-based pickle flavored with dill weed and mustard seeds.
• Sour cream: Its primary purpose is to loosen the cream cheese slightly. If you don’t have it, you can replace it with thick Greek yogurt or leave it out and loosen the mixture slightly with 1-2 tablespoons of milk. Don’t add too much, though; the mixture should still be able to hold its shape when formed into a ball.

• Green onions: Very finely chopped.
• Fresh dill: You do need fresh herbs for this recipe. Frozen dill, a very good substitute in most other recipes, is too wet for this recipe, and it won’t look nice if you roll the ball into it. Dried dill is NO option at all!
• Sesame seeds: They add crunch and even more flavor. Ensure you use toasted sesame seeds; they are more flavorful than raw ones.
• Flavoring ingredients: Dijon mustard, garlic powder, sweet paprika, fine sea or Kosher salt, and ground black pepper.

How to make this easy cheese ball recipe?

• Combine cream cheese, pickle juice, and sour cream in a large bowl until smooth. The cream cheese should be at room temperature; it will be easier to mix it (1).
• Add the chopped pickles and the remaining ingredients, except for the sesame seeds, cheese, and dill needed for the coating. Mix well to combine (2). Adjust the taste with salt and pepper.

• Form the cheese ball: Place the cheese mixture on a large piece of plastic wrap (3). Bring up its edges and pull and twist the wrap to form mixture into a ball. Close the wrap, tightening it to smooth and form the ball (4).

• Refrigerate the dill cheese ball for at least 3 hours or until firm. I make the ball one day ahead most of the time; more time spent in the fridge helps get it firm and gives the flavors a chance to develop (5).
• Coat the ball: On a large plate, spread the coating ingredients (finely chopped Cheddar cheese, chopped fresh dill, and toasted sesame seeds) (6). Then, carefully unwrap the ball and roll it into the mixture until evenly coated on all sides. 

Expert Tips

• Don’t use pre-grated cheese for this recipe; it is just not as delicious as freshly grated from a good quality block of cheese.
• Don’t leave the cream cheese ball with dill pickles stand at room temperature for over 2 hours (even less if the weather is hot). It will not spoil so quickly, but it will soften too much.
• It’s preferable to make the pickle cheese ball one day ahead of time; so that the flavors have more time to mingle and develop.
• Simplify the recipe by not forming the ball but serving the dill pickle dip directly from a bowl.
• Toast the sesame seeds if they are not already toasted. Place them in a frying pan without adding any oil. Toast them until they are fragrant and start to pop, shaking the pan very often to prevent them from burning. Transfer them immediately to a large plate and allow them to cool before using them for the coating.

Recipe FAQ

How to serve?

• Serve the dill pickle cheese ball straight from the fridge with the crackers of your choice. Cut some carrots, cucumbers, kohlrabi, and bell peppers into sticks and use them as dippers as well.
• The cream cheese and dill pickle mixture also makes a great bread spread.

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