Smoked Salmon Cheese Ball

smoked salmon cheese ball on plate

Ingredients:

  • 16 ounces cream cheese
  • 12 ounces smoked salmon, or regular salmon plus 1 teaspoon liquid smoke (see notes above)
  • 2 tablespoon sour cream
  • 1/2 cup red onion, finely diced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
  • 1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp fresh herbs (chives, parsley, dill, etc), chopped

Instructions:

  • Add the cream cheese, sour cream, salmon, red onion, and lemon pepper to a mixing bowl.
  • Use your hands to mix everything together. Alternatively, you could use a stand mixer.
  • Form the cheese mixture into a ball with your hands. The cheese will be soft, but it will firm up once chilled. If you feel it's too soft to make a ball, you can chill it for 30 minutes.
  • Mix together your chopped pecans and fresh herbs. Place them in a single layer on a plate or cutting board.
  • Roll the cheese ball into the pecans, until the entire outside is coated.
  • Serve immediately with crackers or veggie slices or refrigerate the cheese ball, until desired. The flavor becomes more intensified the longer the ball sits in the fridge. So you can certainly make this the day before it's needed.
     

Recipe from Downshiftology.com with Lisa Bryan