Mini cheese balls of homemade pimento cheese are rolled in a coating of crispy bacon, toasted pecans, and minced fresh jalapeños and then speared with a pretzel stick for fun, easy-to-eat appetizers!
Well, the Super Bowl countdown is officially on! So who are you rooting for…the Seahawks or the Patriots? I don’t really have a vested interest in either team this year. But I do love football, and I do love the commercials, and I absolutely adore football-watching grub…so you can bet I’ll be tuning in!
For me, the hardest part is deciding which recipes to make for the big game. Does one go for slow cooker soups and/or chili? Sliders? Pizza? Chips & dip? Cheesy bread? All of the above? Or how about something a little bit fun and a little bit different, but with a combo of flavors that’s still very Super Bowl-ish?
Today I bring you Pimento Cheese & Bacon Mini Cheese Ball Bites! If you’ve been following Five Heart Home for awhile, you may already be familiar with the Mini Cheese Ball Bites that I shared a few Christmases ago, flavored with bleu cheese and dried cranberries. That post has actually become one of my most popular recipes of all time, and I recently noticed that it was getting included in various Super Bowl recipe round-ups around the web. It was being coined as a “slightly more upscale” football-watching snack, and that got me to thinking…what if I kept the mini cheese ball bite concept but ditched the bleu cheese and cranberries for some classic game day flavors?
Soooo…say hello to mini cheese balls formed out of a homemade pimento cheese that’s loaded with cheddar and cream cheese and peppered (ha) with pimentos. Now you could always just stop with pimento cheese for game day…after all, it would be perfectly delicious slathered on crackers or as the star of a grilled cheese sandwich.
But while I realize that pimento cheese is pretty hard to top, I think that rolling it in a coating of diced bacon, toasted pecans, and minced fresh jalapeños takes it up a notch…or twelve! The saltiness of the bacon, crunch of the nuts, and the heat of the jalapeños combine to throw a little fiesta in your mouth. And don’t forget the pretzel sticks to skewer each cheese ball bite for festive and simple serving. Do these just scream Super Bowl party or what?!
So do you tune in on Super Bowl Sunday? And if so, do you care about the game or are you just in it for the snacks? Whether you’re a football fan or not, I hope you have a chance to try these Pimento Cheese & Bacon Mini Cheese Ball Bites sometime! They’re easy to make, fun to serve, and tasty to eat. Oh, and in case I neglected to mention it, they’re bursting with cheese and bacon. Make ’em for the big game, make ’em for another party, make ’em for breakfast…just make ’em. 😉
Mini cheese balls of homemade pimento cheese are rolled in a coating of crispy bacon, toasted pecans, and minced fresh jalapeños and then speared with a pretzel stick for fun, easy-to-eat appetizers!
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 8 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, freshly grated
- 1 (4-ounce) jar diced pimentos, drained
- Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 18 ounces bacon, cooked until crisp and finely diced (about 1 1/2 cups diced)
- 1 1/2 cups pecans, toasted and finely chopped
- 1 to 2 jalapeños, minced (seeds & membranes removed)
- Pretzel sticks
Instructions
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, garlic salt, onion powder, and cayenne. Scrape bowl and mix in grated cheddar and diced pimentos until well combined. Season with salt and/or black pepper, to taste. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until firm.
- In a medium bowl, combine diced bacon, chopped pecans, and minced jalapeños. Using a spoon or a small cookie scoop, form heaping tablespoons of pimento cheese into balls. Roll each pimento cheese ball in the mixture of bacon, pecans, and jalapeños, pressing coating into cheese so that it adheres.
- Refrigerate cheese balls until firm, and keep them chilled until ready to serve. Just before serving, skewer each cheese ball with a pretzel stick.
Notes
To toast pecans, spread out on a sheet pan and baked in a preheated 350°F oven until lightly toasted and fragrant, 7 to 10 minutes. Allow pecans to cool before finely chopping them.
As long as you remove the seeds and membranes from the jalapeños and very finely dice them, they shouldn't be too spicy. Use as much jalapeño as you wish, however, based on your personal preference.
If you'd like to use the Pimento Cheese recipe for purposes other than mini cheese balls, increase the mayonnaise to 1/2 cup. The reason the amount of mayo is slightly reduced for these cheese balls is to make sure the mixture isn't too soft to roll into balls.
You can make the cheese balls ahead of time, but don't insert the pretzels until just before serving or they will become soggy.
Mini Cheese Ball Bites adapted from Five Heart Home.
Pimiento Cheese adapted from All Recipes.
More Super Bowl snacks…
Slow Cooker Root Beer Pulled Pork Sliders with Creamy Broccoli Slaw
Cheesy Pull-Apart Bread with Bacon, Garlic, Cheddar, & Swiss
Slow Cooker Creamy Black Bean & Chicken Soup
Meaghan | Cook. Craft. Love. says
You know what any pimento cheese recipe means in my house? More for me!! I’ll definitely be adding this to our game day menu just so I don’t have to share 😉 I’m a football lover too but had my heyday during college bowl games!
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Ha, Meaghan…sounds like a pimento cheese recipe in your house means ALL for you! 😉 And I’m with you…college football is my absolute favorite, but since that’s over for now, I’m making due with NFL for a few more weeks… 😉
Rachel (Rachel's Kitchen NZ) says
I do love the look of these and the addition of the Pretzel sticks as holders – brilliant.
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Thanks so much, Rachel! I think it’s a nice bonus to be able to eat the skewer… 😉
Audrey says
Wow! That’s a lot of awesome in one little snack! Pinning!
found this on the Lou Lou Girls Linky
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Ha, Audrey…well, if anything can improve pimento cheese, it’s bacon (and pecans, and jalapenos)! 😉 Thanks so much for hopping over…hope you’re having a great week!
Carol at Wild Goose Tea says
I live in Seahawks country—-so if you don’t have a team—GO SEAHAWS!!! These little guys are adorable. And yes I am looking for appetizers!!!!!
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Congrats on your team making it to the Super Bowl, Carol! My SIL is from the Seattle area, so I guess that’s more of an allegiance than I have to New England. 😉 Enjoy these little cheese balls if you have a chance to try them, and I hope you’re having a fabulous January! 🙂
LZ Cathcart says
These look absolutely divine! I love mini everything with food! Great Idea!!
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Thanks so much…I’m a sucker for mini food, too. 😉 Happy Friday!
Sherry says
These photos are amazing! Thanks for linking up to Funtastic Friday. Hope to see you again this week.
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Thanks for hosting, Sherry, and thanks so much for hopping over to say ‘hi!’ 🙂 Happy Friday!
The Better Baker says
So stinkin’ cute! What a fabulous idea..and the thought of using a pretzel stick to spear them just blows me away. More work for you..but that only means more AAAHHH’s & OOOHHH’s too. Brilliant! Again, so happy you share your creativity with us at Weekend Potluck. XO
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Thank you (as always) for your sweet words, Marsha…happy Friday! 🙂
Lisa/Syncopated Mama says
I love the idea of using a pretzel stick for mini cheese balls! Pinning!
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Thanks, Lisa! It’s nice to be able to eat the pretzel stick when you’re done instead of having to worry about throwing away a toothpick. 😉 I appreciate the pin!
Lou Lou Girls says
You always bring the most delicious things to our party! Thank you. Pinned and tweeted. We feel honored that you take the time to stop by our party. I hope to see you on Monday at 7 pm. We love to party with you! Happy Sunday! Lou Lou Girls
Sharon - Her Organized Chaos says
Can I give you my address so you can send me this?! Wow. These look delicious! I’ve never made anything like this. Can’t wait to try it! I’m going to share this. Thanks for linking this up at Totally Terrific Tuesday last week. It is live right now! Can’t wait to see what else you have to share! Hope to see you there!
Sharon
herorganizedchaos.com
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Ha, Sharon…I’ll send you a dozen of them right away! 😉 Thanks so much for stopping by to say ‘hi,’ and I hope you’re having a fabulous week! 🙂
Tracy says
This was delicious! I made them for a small bites wedding shower and everyone loved them. This recipe was a big hit. Everyone needs to try this one.
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
It makes me very happy to hear that these were a hit at the wedding shower, Tracy! Thanks for taking the time to come back and share that. 🙂
Jayme says
I would love to make these a day ahead. The crispy bacon doesn’t get soggy if made a day ahead? Thanks for the great recipe
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Hi Jayme! Well, since the bacon gets chilled when you make this recipe, it definitely doesn’t stay crispy in the sense that it just came out of the oven. But it doesn’t turn soggy in an unpleasant way either. I don’t really notice a difference in the bacon whether I make these a few hours ahead of time or a couple of days ahead of time, so I think you should be fine. 🙂 Enjoy!
Mar says
Has anyone ever made the mini balls ahead of time, frozen them amd then when thawed inserted the pretzel?
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Hi Mar! I’m always a little leery of freezing cream cheese-based recipes for fear that the consistency will change upon thawing. So I haven’t tried doing so with this particular recipe. Good luck if you decide to try it, and definitely don’t insert the pretzel until just before serving!
Lizzard in the Kitchen says
Made these for a holiday party and they were a hit! Everyone liked the use of pretzel sticks for the skewers. I’ll be making these again.
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
I’m so happy to hear that, Lizzard…thanks for coming back to let me know that these were a hit! And I agree…it’s always fun to be able to eat the skewer. 😉
Cecile Roy says
My friend served this as a dip – it was soooo delicious!!!
Samantha at Five Heart Home says
Great idea and a lot less work! 😉 Thanks for sharing.