Cheese balls: two homemade recipes and a ready-made crispy option

Short answer: “Cheese balls” are either a starter made of grated cheese, egg and garlic (cold, ready in 15 minutes), fried breaded balls of hard cheese (hot, for beer), or crispy balls of dried cheese that need no cooking at all. Below are two tried-and-tested homemade recipes and an honest comparison with the ready-made option.

Recipe 1. Cold garlic cheese balls (a 15-minute starter)

Ingredients: hard cheese 200 g, boiled eggs 2, garlic 2 cloves, mayonnaise or thick sour cream 2 tbsp, salt, pepper; for coating — chopped walnuts, sesame seeds, paprika or finely chopped dill.

1. Finely grate the cheese and eggs and press the garlic.
2. Mix with the mayonnaise into a firm mixture, season with salt and pepper.
3. With wet hands, roll into walnut-sized balls.
4. Roll in the nuts, sesame seeds or dill and chill for 30 minutes.

The “cottage cheese” variation: instead of hard cheese — 250 g of drained curd cheese with garlic, dill and 1 tbsp sour cream; the balls are softer and lighter, with no mayonnaise.

Recipe 2. Fried breaded cheese balls (for beer)

Ingredients: mozzarella or Sulguni 300 g, flour 3 tbsp, egg 1, breadcrumbs 100 g, oil for deep-frying.

1. Cut the cheese into 2–3 cm cubes (or use mozzarella balls, patted thoroughly dry).
2. Coat in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs; for a thick crust, repeat the egg and breadcrumbs.
3. Freeze for 20 minutes so the cheese doesn’t leak out.
4. Fry in oil heated to 180 °C for 1–1.5 minutes until golden. In an air fryer — 200 °C, 6–8 minutes, sprayed with oil.
5. Serve hot: the cheese inside is stretchy.

Option 3. Crispy dried cheese bites — no cooking

These are cheese balls whose “recipe” is done at the factory: pieces of Gouda, Cheddar, mozzarella or Sulguni are dried under vacuum at 36–38 °C until they turn crispy. The only ingredient is cheese, with no breading or oil, and 42–52 g of protein per 100 g. You don’t cook them — you open the pack. They are useful for homemade balls too: crushed in a mortar, they replace breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan in the breading, and whole, they replace croutons in a salad.

What to choose

For a holiday table — cold garlic cheese balls: quick and always eaten up. For an evening with beer and the urge to tinker in the kitchen — the fried ones. And if you want “cheese balls” right here and now, for the road or to keep in the cupboard, go for snEco dried cheese bites: Gouda for a mild taste, Smoked Sulguni for beer, a 10-flavour set, so you can try everything. For how the dried ones differ from fresh mozzarella balls, see the article mozzarella balls.

Questions and answers

How do you make cheese balls from hard cheese?

Grate the cheese and boiled eggs, add garlic and mayonnaise, roll into balls, coat in nuts or dill and chill for 30 minutes.

How do you fry cheese balls so the cheese doesn’t leak out?

A double coating of breading and 20 minutes in the freezer before deep-frying at 180 °C for 1–1.5 minutes.

Are there cheese balls that need no cooking?

Yes — snEco dried cheese bites: just cheese, crispy straight from the pack, 18 months without refrigeration.

What to try

Dried snEco Cheese “Gouda”, 28 g €3.13 Dried snEco Cheese “Mozzarella”, 28 g €3.30 Dried snEco Cheese “Sulguni”, 28 g €3.13

Author: Vadym Gryshyn, co-founder of snEco