The Best Dill Pickle Cheese Ball

cream cheese ball with pickles and coated with chopped cheese and dill on a plate with crackers.

This rich dill pickle cheese ball is one of the best appetizers I can imagine. This flavorful cream cheese mixture is seasoned with dill pickles, then coated with cheese and sesame seeds. Serve it with crackers and veggie sticks.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1

Chilling time 2

Servings servings

Calories 150kcal

Author Adina

Equipment

Bowl
Plastic wrap

Ingredients

Dill pickle cream cheese ball:

16 oz cream cheese full-fat, 450 g, Note 1
2 tablespoons sour cream or Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon pickle juice
1 cup dill pickles finely chopped, 145 g
2 green onions finely chopped
1 cup Cheddar finely shredded, 65 g, Note 1
2 tablespoons dill fresh, chopped
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon sweet paprika powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt or Kosher
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Coating:

½ cup Cheddar chopped, 55 g
1 tablespoon dill fresh, chopped
2 teaspoons sesame seeds toasted, Note 3

Instructions

Combine ingredients: Beat the cream cheese, sour cream, and pickle juice until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well to combine. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper.
1 cup dill pickles (145 g) + 2 green onions + 1 cup Cheddar (65 g) + 2 tablespoon dill + 1 teaspoon mustard + ½ teaspoon garlic powder + ½ teaspoon sweet paprika + ½ teaspoon salt + ¼ teaspoon pepper.
Form the cheese ball: Spoon the mixture on a large piece of plastic wrap. Bring up the wrap’s edges, then pull and twist the wrap to form the ball. Close the wrap, tightening it to smooth and form the ball. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or until firm (Note 4).
Coat the dill cheese ball: Spread the coating ingredients on a large plate. Unwrap the cream cheese ball and roll it into the mixture until evenly coated on all sides.
½ cup finely chopped Cheddar cheese (55 g) + 1 tablespoon dill + toasted sesame seeds
Serve with crackers and vegetable sticks (Note 5). The mixture makes a great bread spread as well.

Notes

Full-fat tastes best. 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.
Sharp or medium Cheddar. You can choose another strong-flavored cheese if you like.
Toast the sesame seeds if not already toasted (See blog post for instructions).
I form the cheese balls one day ahead; the flavor will develop during this waiting time, and the ball will be firmer.
Crackers: For instance, Ritz crackers or similar products. Grissini, olive oil and salt crackers, mini-pretzels or pretzel crisps, tortilla chips, spelt crackers, etc., are all great.

Nutrition