Pumpkin Shaped Cheese Ball (Easy Fall Appetizer)

This festive Pumpkin-Shaped Cheese Ball is an easy Fall appetizer you’ll love! With just a few simple ingredients, it’s cheesy and rich. This perfect appetizer would be great to serve at Halloween, Thanksgiving, or any Fall party in between!

Pumpkin-Shaped Cheese Ball

One of my favorite things in life is Fall and pumpkin season. Another favorite thing is hosting a party.

Why? I love to love on people and I also love making food and I especially love “wow”ing friends with festive foods that are so much fun to look at and delicious at the same time (mostly the delicious part). This pumpkin cheese ball does it all! 

First, who doesn’t love a good cheese ball? I mean, seriously… it’s cheese. This one has both cheddar and cream cheese, so it’s double the yumminess.

It has subtle fresh vegetable flavor with the red bell peppers plus the creamy texture is complimented by the crunch and chunkiness of the peppers.

Pumpkin-Shaped Cheeseball – Not Pumpkin Flavored

This is no ordinary cheese ball. It has an adorable pumpkin shape that will make it a hit everywhere you take it.

PS – just in case you were still unsure… this cheese ball is pumpkin shaped, not actual pumpkin flavored. This is a cheesy, savory pumpkin cheese ball that you can serve with crackers, pretzels, corn or tortilla chips or fresh veggies!

Why You’ll Love This Pumpkin Cheese Ball

The real question is “what’s not to love” about this pumpkin shaped cheese ball recipe?

• First, it’s cute and festive. Using the real bell pepper stem as the pumpkin stem and making a few lines in the sides, it looks like the cutest little pumpkin you’ve ever seen.
• It’s made with very common ingredients – nothing fancy or hard to find. This is one of those delicious recipes that is made from very easy-to-find ingredients!
• Versatile – you can easily change up the flavors in this pumpkin-shaped cheeseball recipe. I have some suggestions below but the sky is the limit for great flavor!
• You can make it ahead of time, which makes party prep one step easier if this is on your menu!
• This homemade cheese ball is perfect as a Halloween Cheese Ball OR a Thanksgiving appetizer. This time of year you will have so many places to take this great appetizer and impress!

Equipment Needed

• Electric Hand Mixer
• Bowl
• Spoon
• Large Piece of Plastic wrap
• 3-4 Thick Rubber bands or String (Baker’s Twine)

Ingredients

The ingredients for this tasty cheese ball are common and easy to find. 

Cream Cheese – I much prefer full-fat cream cheese for this recipe but you could use low-fat if you want. Have it at room temperature for easier mixing.

Cheddar Cheese – It’s super important that you use fresh shredded cheese for this recipe. It’s stickier and helps the cheeseball come together a lot easier than pre-shredded cheese. You can use mild cheddar or sharp cheddar or any (orange) variety in between.

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Salt & Pepper

Red Bell Pepper –  a green bell pepper would work just as well – I just like the color contrast of the red.

Green Onion (or Scallions)

Crackers, Chips, Pretzels or Fresh Veggies for Dipping

Find the complete recipe with full ingredient list measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

How to Make a Pumpkin Cheese Ball

This is a simple recipe! Follow the steps below to make this above-average cheese ball and wow your guests!

1. Beat the cream cheese until nice and smooth.
2. Then add the spices and half of the shredded cheddar cheese. Keep mixing until the cream cheese mixture is thoroughly combined.
3. Stir in the diced green onions and red pepper (saving the stem for later).
4. Form the cheese ball mixture into a round shape. It will be sticky!

5. Divide the rest of the shredded cheddar cheese and place half of the cheese on a plate. Transfer the cream cheese ball onto the shredded cheese and press it down. 
6. Roll and add more cheese as needed until all sides of the cheese ball are completely covered. Keep it in the ball shape and make sure all of the cream cheese is covered with shredded cheddar.
7. Place cheese ball on a large sheet of plastic wrap and wrap it up! Double wrap if possible. 
8. Use 3 rubber bands (or kitchen twine) to wrap around the ball to form the pumpkin shape with the long indentations.
9. Place the wrapped cheese ball in the fridge for at least 90 minutes to firm up.
10. When you’re ready to serve your cheese ball pumpkin, remove the rubber bands and cling wrap, stick the pepper stem on top of the cheese ball and serve with your favorite crackers!

Pro Tips

• Trouble shaping the pumpkin? If you have difficulty shaping the pumpkin cream cheese ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and shape it first.
• Halloween Party – Cut some pepper into triangle shapes for eyes and nose, plus one long piece for a mouth, and make your pumpkin look like a Jack-O-Lantern. Then you’ll have the best Halloween Cheeseball! You could do something similar with pieces of black olive!
• Mini Pumpkin Cheese Balls – Skip the rubber bands and make mini pumpkin cheese balls about 1 inch in diameter. Break pretzel sticks in half and use the for the “stem” of each small pumpkin. Guests can also serve themselves by picking up each tiny pumpkin with the stem/pretzel. See a similar mini cheese ball recipe here.
• Different Stem – If you didn’t save your pepper stem or want to use something else for the stem in this cheese ball recipe, you could try a giant pretzel rod, a baby pickle and some basil leaves, or even a celery stick!
• Skip the Pumpkin. If having a cheese ball shaped like a pumpkin is not important to you, you can skip the shaping steps and just roll the ball of cream cheese mixture in shredded cheese, wrap in plastic wrap and chill it as a traditional cheese ball.

Recipe Variations 

Cheese balls are so forgiving – you can mix in just about anything you want to change the texture and flavor! Here are some of my favorite things to mix into a cheeseball:

• Bacon Pieces
• Lump Crab Meat
• Shredded Beef
• Chopped Nuts
• Chopped Jalapeno
• Dry Ranch Dressing Mix
• Dry Taco Seasoning Mix
• Garlic & Parmesan Cheese
• Everything Bagel Seasoning
• Cayenne Pepper (for a little kick)
• Worcestershire Sauce (just a dash – you don’t want to add too much liquid to this recipe)

What to Roll a Cheeseball In

Want to add more texture to this Halloween cheese ball recipe? Instead of rolling the outside in shredded cheese, roll it in crushed Nacho Cheese Doritos or Cheese Puffs.

You still get the orange color and cheesy flavor but you get the crunch and the perfect texture of crushed chips!

One of the main reasons I love this is it’s a cheese ball recipe without nuts. But since nuts seem to be the go-to coating for cheeseballs, you could default back to that and roll this cheeseball in chopped pecans or walnuts. Of course, you lose the orange color of a pumpkin but it would still look like a “fall” appetizer.

Serving Suggestions 

Make this pumpkin shaped cheeseball for Halloween, a Fall party, or a Thanksgiving Cheese Ball. Everyone will ask for the recipe! And you can change up what you use for dipping… 

Things to dip into your cheeseball:

• Any and all varieties of savory crackers will work! Sturdy crackers are best because this cheeseball will be firm!
• Pita Chips
• Tortilla Chips
• Corn Chips
• Bagel Chips
• Fresh Veggies – carrots, celery sticks and sliced peppers are good options!

Storage Directions

Refrigerator – Rewrap leftovers in plastic wrap or place them in an airtight container. Store them in the fridge for up to 5-6 days.

Do not freeze this cheeseball.

FAQ

More Delicious Appetizer Recipes

• Maple Candied Bacon (Million Dollar Bacon)
• Easy Marinated Cheese (Marinated Christmas Cheese)
• Crack Corn Dip with Fritos
• Baked Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips (Oven or Air Fryer)
• Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dip
• Easy Turkey Veggie Tray for Thanksgiving