Jalapeno Popper Cheese Ball

Get ready for the holidays with this Jalapeno Popper Cheese Ball! 5 minutes of prep are all you need to make this awesome party appetizer! I’ve loved jalapeno poppers for pretty much my entire adult life. I had never had one until one day when I was in high school we went to a TGI Friday’s and someone ordered one. Having no idea what they were I figured it would be like a spicy mozzarella stick. No part of me expected to find half a jalapeno inside it! Or for it to be so good!

If this sounds a bit crazy let me explain. In our house growing up we ate a very small variety of meals. If it wasn’t Armenian food it was steak or grilled chicken. So things like jalapeno poppers weren’t really a food choice my mom would’ve made for us.

Now that I am in charge of what makes it into the house, jalapenos are one of my pantry ingredients. Every week when I do our main shopping I have a small list of everyday produce ingredients I keep on hand because I always need them including: Parsley, cilantro, jalapenos, green onions, tomatoes, grape tomatoes, lemons, limes, garlic, shallots, fresh ginger, lettuce, carrots, broccoli and yukon potatoes. If you happen to be my neighbor and you ever run out of one of those ingredients I can with 100% certainty let you have any of these because I always have them.

Since I always have jalapenos on hand and the kids and my husband won’t eat them I usually end up slicing them thinly over my food or inside sandwiches if I haven’t used them in a recipe during the week. I’ve gotten pretty creative with them over the years too, adding them to everything from cheesecake (honey cheesecake, this is SO good), grilled cheese, breakfast quesadillas, etc. So when I had some friends coming over for a game night I wanted something that was a throwback recipe to an old school party favorite. It was either going to be this cheese ball or a jalapeno popper fondue. I think I made the right choice because this cheese ball is so easy but so addicting!

Mix half the jalapenos and the parsley together. In a second bowl add the second half of the jalapenos, cream cheese, jack cheese, garlic, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and cumin to a bowl.

The assembly of the cheese ball can be done a couple of different ways. You can either put it in the freezer for 20 minutes to really harden up then roll the mixture in the parsley/jalapeno or if you aren’t as patient as me grab a large square of saran wrap and put the mixture in the middle. Bring the edges together and twist the top to make a small ball.

Finally roll in the jalapenos and parsley. At this point you can either serve it right away (but it would be sort of soft) or  keep it covered/refrigerated until you are ready to serve. Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.