Easy Caramelized Onion Mini Cheese Balls Appetizer
Servings: 12 -16 mini cheese balls
Make these Caramelized Onion Mini Cheese Balls for an easy appetizer any time of year! A savory & delicious bite-sized appetizer for a party.
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Ingredients
For the caramelized onions
- 1 large sweet or yellow onion, thinly sliced (about 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups of sliced onion)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
For the mini cheese balls
- 250 g softened plain cream cheese
- 1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 2 tbsp fresh minced chives
- 3/4 cup toasted sliced almonds, finely chopped
- Serve with your favourite crackers, baguette slices, pita chips, pretzels or wavy potato chips
Instructions
- Make the caramelized onions: In a large oven-safe skillet, add the butter over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the sliced yellow onions, salt and sugar. Stir to combine and cover and cook for 5 minutes, undisturbed. Then remove the lid and turn to medium-low heat. Cook the onions, stirring occasionally (so they don't burn), until deep golden brown and caramelized, about 10-20 minutes. Before taking off the heat, stir in the balsamic vinegar and stir until absorbed. Set the caramelized onions aside in a bowl to cool. Once fully cooled, chop the caramelized onions up into smaller pieces.
- Once the onions are fully cooled and chopped, make the cheese balls. To a bowl add softened cream cheese, shredded cheese (gruyere and parmesan), garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and fresh minced chives. Mix well to combine. Put the mixture in the fridge for 10 minutes to firm up.
- Then scoop out 12-14 heaping tablespoons (about the size of a small cookie scoop) of the cheese mixture. Form each heaping tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture into a cheese ball with your hands (wet your hands a bit when rolling if the mixture is sticking too much).
- Spread the toasted chopped almonds on a plate and roll balls in the almonds. Place on a plate or serving tray and let set in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving. Or store in the fridge in an airtight container lined with parchment paper until ready to serve later. (Make these up to one day in advance and take out 1/2 hour before serving).
- Serve with your favourite crackers, bread, pita chips or pretzels and enjoy!
Notes
- Make the balsamic caramelized onions one day ahead of time and store in an airtight container in the fridge. Remove from the fridge and follow the rest of the instructions to make the mini cheese balls.
- The type of onion matters - I do not recommend using white onions or red onions; they will not caramelize like yellow / sweet onions.
- You could substitute the Gruyere cheese with an old / sharp cheddar or white cheddar cheese.
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