Turkey cheese ball

Turkey Cheese Ball Recipe

Our Turkey Cheese Ball recipe instantly adds festivity to any Thanksgiving gathering. It features two kinds of cheese, Dijon mustard and chives for plenty of flavor. This recipe includes instructions on how to dress up your Thanksgiving Turkey Cheese Ball using sliced almonds, veggies and herbs. It’s much easier than it seems and is sure to impress your friends and family.

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Ingredients

For cheese ball

1 lb. cream cheese, room temperature
10 oz. grated cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp. chopped chives
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

For decoration

Toothpicks
1 cup sliced almonds
4 carrots, peeled and cut into long, thin diagonals
6 sugar snap peas, cut in half diagonally
8 parsley sprigs
2 sliced almonds for the eyes
2 apple seeds for the pupils
1 small carrot triangle for the nose
1¼ in. red pepper strip for the wattle
1 thinly sliced carrot round for the hat base
1 thinly sliced carrot strip for the hat top
1, 1-in. chive for hatband
1 parsley leaf for hat plume

Directions

For the cheese ball

  1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together all ingredients for the cheese ball until well mixed. Cover with plastic wrap and chill mixture for at least 3 hours.
  2. After cheese mixture has chilled, divide it into two balls—one large ball for the body and one small ball for the head (use about ¼ cup for the head). Form the body into a round but flattened ball and the head into an oval. Use one or more toothpicks to attach the head to the body.

For decoration

  1. Starting from the back quarter of the ball, place sliced almonds into the cheese ball, point side down, forming rows across the body. Continue forming rows of almonds until you reach the front quarter of the cheese ball. At this point, about ½ of the cheese ball should be covered with almonds—the front and back ends of the cheese ball should remain uncovered.
  2. After almonds are in place, create the back tail feathers with the sliced sugar snap peas and carrot slices. Place these on the turkey body by sticking the slices firmly into the cheese ball. (Have fun with it; it doesn't need to look like the photo.) Finish with sprigs of parsley inserted between the veggies.
  3. To make the head, press on the almond eyes, carrot nose and red pepper wattle. Use a toothpick to dab a little bit of cheese (off the back of the turkey) for “glue” to attach the apple seed pupils.
  4. To make the hat, spread a tiny amount of cheese on the top of the carrot round. Make a circle with the carrot strip and attach to the top of the round. Tie chive around base of hat and add a parsley leaf. Top off Mr. Turkey with his hat, and you're ready to enjoy. Serve with additional veggies and crackers.