Thanksgiving Cheese Ball
Making a Thanksgiving cheese ball will be a new tradition after you see how fun and easy it is with this recipe. A cute little turkey that everyone will love to eat!
Of course you can also make one that you don’t decorate but this one is so much fun with the turkey theme for Thanksgiving. Anytime you need a delicious ands simple cheeseball recipe you can try out this recipe.
If you want bite sized cheeseballs that you can serve up for appetizers and more, check out my Healthy Cheese Ball Recipe!
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Cheeseballs are a great holiday treat because they can serve as an appetizer, a side dish, a snack between meals, or a cute edible centerpiece if you are making this Thanksgiving cheese ball with the turkey decor!
I love that it’s such an easy recipe to make. It can be served with more pretzels, chips, crackers, or even fresh veggies. There’s something for everyone that you can circle up around this cute little turkey so each guest can enjoy the tasty treat.
What will I need to make a homemade Thanksgiving cheeseball?
This recipe uses cream cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, pecans, pretzel sticks, pretzel rods, candy eyes, candy corn, and some royal icing (or hot glue if not eating the decorative part)!
Some of these items are just for decorating and if you really don’t want to be bothered with that portion you don’t have to do it. You can just make the cheese ball portion and serve it up with your choice of crackers, pretzels, chips, veggies, etc or dipping.
Feel free to skip the decorating part if you don’t want to deal with it. You can also use a hot glue gun instead of a royal icing pen in order to make the process quicker…you just can’t eat the turkey decorations then!
Here are some kitchen essentials that I like to have on hand when making recipes like this:
Making healthy meals is a breeze with these kitchen essentials. Keeping things like this on hand makes my life so much easier in the kitchen.
Some things that are great to have on hand when prepping meals like this is a cutting board, sharp knives, and storage containers.
You can also benefit from a good non-stick skillet, a kitchen scale, measuring cups, and this awesome strainer tool!
How to make a homemade cheeseball turkey:
Cream the softened cream cheese in a stand mixer for a few minutes Add the shredded cheese and mix for 1-2 minutes until fully incorporated.
Using your hands, gently form the cheese mixture into a ball. Place the cheese ball in a sheet of plastic wrap (you can continue to shape the ball once you have it wrapped up).
Place the ball in the refrigerator for a at least 2 hours to firm up.
Remove the cheese ball from the fridge. Open the plastic wrap and gently roll it in the chopped pecans, fully coating the exterior of the ball. Place back in the sheet of plastic wrap and place it back in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
To make the turkey head, cut/break the pretzel rod in half. Using your royal icing pen or hot glue gun (IF NOT EATING THE PRETZEL ROD) “glue” the eyes onto the top front of the pretzel rod. Place the Candy Corn upside down and glue for the beak.
When you are ready to serve, set your cheese ball out for 10-15l minutes to soften. Add your pretzel stick tail feathers to the back of the ball and gently slide the pretzel rod down into the front of the turkey. Surround with crackers and Enjoy!
Looking for more recipes that you can make for the holidays?
Here are some other appetizers and snacks that are great for the holidays. You can whip these up to add to your meal plans and menu now as you do your planning! Check out all the delicious flavors and variety you can add along side this Thanksgiving cheese ball recipe.
- Instant Pot Thanksgiving Sides
- WW Thanksgiving Sides
- Weight Watchers Thanksgiving Recipes
- Healthy Cheese Ball Recipe
- Pumpkin Cheese Ball Appetizer Recipe
- Thanksgiving Cheese Ball Recipes
Printable Thanksgiving Cheese Ball Recipe:
Thanksgiving Cheese Ball
Making a Thanksgiving cheese ball will be a new tradition after you see how fun and easy it is with this recipe. A cute little turkey that everyone will love to eat!
Ingredients
- 8 oz. Package of low fat cream cheese, softened
- 1 Cup shredded low fat cheddar cheese
- 1/2 Cup pecans, chopped
- Pretzel sticks
- 1 pretzel rod
- 2 Candy eyes
- 1 Candy Corn
- Royal Icing Pen (or glue gun if not eating this part)
Instructions
- Cream the softened cream cheese in a stand mixer for a few minutes Add the shredded cheese and mix for 1-2 minutes until fully incorporated.
- Using your hands, gently form the cheese mixture into a ball. Place the cheese ball in a sheet of plastic wrap (you can continue to shape the ball once you have it wrapped up).
- Place the ball in the refrigerator for a at least 2 hours to firm up.
- Remove the cheese ball from the fridge. Open the plastic wrap and gently roll it in the chopped pecans, fully coating the exterior of the ball. Place back in the sheet of plastic wrap and place it back in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
- To make the turkey head, cut/break the pretzel rod in half. Using your royal icing pen or hot glue gun (IF NOT EATING THE PRETZEL ROD) “glue” the eyes onto the top front of the pretzel rod. Place the Candy Corn upside down and glue for the beak.
- When you are ready to serve, set your cheese ball out for 10-15l minutes to soften. Add your pretzel stick tail feathers to the back of the ball and gently slide the pretzel rod down into the front of the turkey. Surround with crackers and Enjoy!
Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 293Total Fat 20gSaturated Fat 9gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 43mgSodium 252mgCarbohydrates 23gFiber 1gSugar 17gProtein 6g
As with any of our recipes, carb counts, calorie counts, WW points and nutritional information varies greatly. As a result, your nutritional content depends on which products you choose to use when cooking this dish. The auto-calculation is just an automated estimate and should NOT be used for specific dietary needs.
This is darling and looks delicious. I’ll be featuring it tomorrow at Thursday Favorite Things!
Cheese balls are one thing I look forward to with the holidays. Thanks for sharing an easy and delicious looking recipe. This post will be a feature this week. #HomeMattersParty