Dairy Free Cheese Ball Recipe (Gluten Free)

Serve this dairy free cheese ball as an appetizer at your next party or gathering! This allergy friendly cheese ball is so delicious and creamy that no one will miss the dairy. This recipe is also gluten free and nut free and goes great with crackers and veggie slices.

Looking for a crowd pleasing appetizer for your next party that’s also allergy friendly? Our easy dairy free and gluten free cheese ball is a great appetizer that even people without food allergies will still enjoy.

This is a recipe that I’ve been wanting to make for a while since I never really got to enjoy cheese balls at any gatherings we’d go to since they were always made with real dairy. Our recipe is also covered in bacon (no chopped nuts), so it’s safe for people with tree nut allergies as well.

The great thing about this cheese ball is that it’s not only dairy free, but it’s also gluten free and soy free depending on the cream cheese you use!

Our allergy friendly cheese ball is:

• Dairy free
• Gluten free
• Can be made vegan (skip or swap out bacon)
• Peanut free
• Tree nut free and soy free (depending on your choices for cheese and cream cheese)

How to make a dairy free cheese ball

Here are the steps for making our allergy friendly cheese ball, it is pretty easy to make with a few steps.

This is just an overview of the steps, the full recipe card is at the end of the blog post!

1. In a large bowl, use the hand mixer to mix the dairy free cream cheese until it is softened a bit and creamy.
2. Add the dairy free cheddar cheese, 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the chopped bacon, the green onion, dairy free parmesan, the garlic powder, and black pepper.
3. If you’d like some spice in this cheese ball, you can add some the red pepper flakes as well.
4. Mix everything together first, taste test, and then add the Cajun spice if you think this needs some more salt and spice. Mix everything together until combined well.
5. Line a bowl with plastic wrap with plenty of excess plastic hanging over the sides for gathering up. Place the cheese ball mixture in the bowl, gather the edges of the plastic wrap around the mixture and form into a ball.
6. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or until firm.
7. Before serving, spread out the rest of the bacon on a cutting board or a piece of parchment paper and roll the cheese ball in the bacon to cover the cheese ball.
8. Sprinkle the cheese ball with chopped green onions or chives and red pepper flakes (if you want).
9. Serve with allergy friendly crackers, plantain chips, veggie slices, or whatever you like! Store in the fridge for up to 3 -4 days.

We served ours with gluten free pretzel crisps, Simple Mills almond crackers (my daughter can now have almonds!), Barnana thick cut plantain chips (check the label for cross contamination warnings on this brand), and veggies. Choose the crackers and crisps that work best for your allergies with this cheese ball.

I discovered that veggie slices actually work a little better for this cheese ball than veggie sticks like we show in our photos. Both work fine, but cucumber and carrot slices work great if you want something to spread the cheese on besides crackers.

Tips for making our easy cheese ball recipe

The dairy free parmesan is optional in this recipe and we added it for flavor. I recommend using it in moderation since the Violife parmesan is rather salty and too much of it will result in a salty cheese ball, especially if you use it with salted crackers.

I suggest mixing everything together without the Cajun spice first, then taste test it to check the salt level. Then add the Cajun spice if you think it needs more salt. This recipe includes a lot of salty items (like the cheeses and the bacon), so make sure you taste test before adding the cajun spice so it’s not too salty.

The cheese ball can be made ahead and chilled for a day or 2, but I recommend not rolling it in chopped bacon until right before serving since so that the bacon looks fresh. Serving with cold bacon on the outside won’t look as appetizing as serving it with fresh bacon crumbles!

If you want more color on the outside of the dairy free cheese ball, you can also sprinkle it with chopped green onions or chives right before serving as well (like we did in the photos).

What to do with your leftovers: cheese ball grilled cheese sandwich

After making this cheeseball, I had some leftovers and had an idea to make a grilled cheese sandwich out of the leftovers. It was so yummy!

I used the gluten free Little Northern Bakehouse bread (which is also nut free, egg free, soy free, etc.) and I took about 1/4 cup of the leftover cheese ball and mixed in a little bit of additional dairy free shredded cheese into it.

Spread that over your bread, put it together to make a sandwich, butter the outside of both pieces of bread with dairy free butter, then cook it in a skillet over medium-low heat until the bread is golden and the cheese inside is melted.

So good!! This is a delicious way to use up a leftover cheese ball if you wanted to use it for something other than crackers.

Check out our gluten free and dairy free appetizer recipe roundup!