Bacon Ranch Cheeseball

Addictive appetizer alert!! Ladies and gentlemen, do not count on eating one bite, or even two, of this yummy ranch cheeseball.

Our ranch cheeseball is loaded with bacon, green onions and cheddar cheese. Super flavorful, creamy and so addictive. Serve with some crackers or veggies and it makes such an awesome party food and appetizer!

Love a good appetizer and finger food? Also check out my delicious Easy Velveeta Queso, Spinach Pinwheels, Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders, Caramelized Onion Dip and Cranberry Meatballs!

A Ranch Cheeseball Recipe

The idea of a ranch cheeseball is simple, straight-forward yet such a genius.

We are basically combining cream cheese with ranch seasoning mix, and that by itself acts as a base and brings incredible creaminess and flavor to your cheeseball.

And then we add on some of our favorite ingredients to bring up the flavor profile of this ranch cheeseball (but know that you can and should get creative and go beyond what we’ve done)

We are adding some bacon (because bacon makes everything better), green onions, and cheddar cheese to the ranch cheeseball, bumping up the flavor profile and giving it incredible textures.

In addition, this 6-ingredient ranch cheeseball is also ridiculously easy to make, and can be made ahead very easily as well!

Bacon cheddar ranch cheeseball – perfect for the holiday season, game day, parties, potlucks, snacks for the kids, or seriously…any day you feel like you need a little cheeseball in your life for a pick-me-up.

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients needed for this ranch cheeseball recipe, and we will talk more about variations later!

• cream cheese – make sure it is softened before mixing it together
• ranch dressing – we are using the packet ranch dressing that comes in powdered form
• bacon – you can cook your bacon, or even get bacon crumbles as a shortcut
• cheddar cheese – use sharp, medium or mild cheddar cheese
• almonds – I like to get thinly shaved almonds to coat the cheeseball
• green onions – they bring a little burst of freshness to every bite!

How to make Ranch Cheeseball

It truly is EASY PEASY!

There’s the ranch cheeseball base and then we simply add other ingredients to it. But before we do so, let’s get the bacon cooking and prepare the ingredients that goes into our ranch cheeseball…

Cook Bacon

Cook five strips of bacon until it is crispy either in the oven or stove top. If using the oven, cook at 425 for 14-18 minutes, depending on thickness of bacon.

When they are done, cut bacon into small pieces.

Alternatively, if you want a shortcut, grab a bag of bacon bits from the store and use that instead. Bacon is already cooked and chopped up, and I can tell you it really saves time!

I find that if you get good quality bacon bits, they truly taste similar to fresh bacon.

Combine all ingredients

After bacon is done, chop up the green onions and prepare to bring everything together!

Combine all the ingredients (cream cheese, bacon, green onions, ranch seasoning mix, cheddar cheese) in a bowl.

The cream cheese should be slightly soften because it will make the combining process a lot easier.

If you did not get a chance to soften the cream cheese ahead of time, it will still be fine, you will probably need to put in some arm work to evenly combine all the ingredients.

Once the ingredients are combined, shape the mixture into a ball. The easiest way to do this is to wrap the mixture in a clear plastic wrap and gently mold the mixture into a ball with the clear plastic wrap wrapped around it.

Refrigerate cheeseball

Once the mixture is in a ball-like shape, place ranch cheeseball into the refrigerator for about an hour.

Coat in almonds

Once ranch cheeseball is firmed, remove wrap and cover the cheeseballs evenly with shaved almonds.

And it is as easy as that! LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Let me count the many reasons why I love this bacon cheddar ranch cheeseball goodness…

• Deliciousness – Well, duh.
• Simple – as you noticed, it’s SO EASY!
• Make ahead – I love making this ahead of time, or even days, before parties, potlucks, holiday dinners. If I can make anything ahead of time, I DO IT!! It gives me so much more flexibility on the day.
• Bacon, bacon, BACON!!!!

Grab some buttery crackers (or veggies, if you choose to be tad bit healthier…) and dig up some of that ranch cheeseball. Because YOU MUST.

This is one of those appetizers that gets devoured quickly. The combination of flavors of the bacon, chopped green onions, ranch and cheese is out of this world!

That crunch from the almond could be one of my favorite part and the icing on top.

I know I’ll be making these again and again during this holiday season! 🙂 Join me!!!

Variations and Substitutions

As I mention earlier, think of ranch cheeseball as a base and feel free to substitute and bring in all your favorite ingredients and make it your own!

• meat – pepperoni, ham, proscuitto
• cheese – mozzarella, gouda, Colby jack etc work great as well!
• other ingredients – chives, other herbs or spices
• coat it with other nuts – chopped pecans are great on this as well!
• like it spicy? add some green chiles, jalapeño or cayenne

DID YOU ENJOY THIS RECIPE? Please comment below and give us a 5-star rating! This will help others find this recipe on Google and Pinterest. We very much appreciate your help! 🤍

More appetizers!

Here are some of my other favorite appetizers! Check them out!

• Baked Cream Cheese Wontons
• Cranberry Baked Brie
• Avocado Corn and Black Bean Salsa
• Nectarine and Blueberry Brie Bites
• Bacon Deviled Eggs
• Mediterranean Layered Dip (by my friend Kathleen from The Fresh Cooky!)